Open Laboratory 2007

Science bloggers Bora Zivkovic (also known as Coturnix) and Reed Cartwright, assisted by a panel of judges, are putting together an anthology of science blog posts from the past year â and Iâm honored to report that my post âPopcorn Lung Coming to Your Kitchen? The FDA Doesnât Want to Knowâ is included.

Open Laboratory 2007, like the 2006 edition before it, will be published by Lulu.com and soon available for order. You can also read all of the blog posts by clicking on the links at A Blog Around the Clock. Itâs fascinating collection, sure to amuse as well as to educate. Here are some of the posts that Pump Handle readers might find particularly interesting:

• Notes from УкÑаÑна shares the stories of workers who performed cleanup duties at Chernobyl after the nuclear disaster (and see parts II, III, IV).
• Effect Measure explains how the flu virus infects its host, and how antiviral drugs can stop it â unless the virus is resistant.
• Aetiology examines the practice of sharing breast milk for infants.
• denialism blog reviews the history of treating erectile dysfunction.
• Deep Sea News describes the threats facing the worldâs oceans (and then offers a few rays of hope).
• Pondering Pikaia describes mountaintop removal mining and the destruction it leaves behind.

There are also so terrific posts on how science is practiced, published, and communicated:

• A Blog Around the Clock considers the past, present, and probable future of the scientific paper.
• Deanne Taylor addresses science faculty diversity.
• Genomicron explains how to write a bad science story.
• Adventures in Ethics and Science delivers something âa bit like a manifestoâ on getting scientists to behave ethically.

Thanks to the editors and judges for putting the collection together!