Who are you, dear readers?

I'm a librarian, though I sort of like the idea of becoming a sentient virus!

We haven't yet met in person, but we interact on FriendFeed regularly.

Engineer involved with stuff in outer space, which grants +3 Awesome to my "career" character stat. :-) I practice extreme skepticism which means I also question the means and methods of other skeptics, with often amusing results. I am also skeptical of ALL political ideologies, which appears to be very rare these days. I wander about between Atheist and Agnostic. I honestly don't think about it all that much. Apatheism is the proper term, I believe.

No, really! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apatheism

The Diderot and Rauch quotes there pretty much nail it.

I live in a dead, decaying land, laden with ignorance and tyrants, called Southern California. We are beholden by law to the dark fortress of ultimate evil far to the frigid North called the Statehouse in the unholy city of Sacramento. In that cursed place, many foul beasts in the form of humans toil away to find new ways to dispense ever more misery and unemployment into the general miasma.

I'm a weaver, that is I run a set of automated looms in a denim mill. Interested layperson, total stranger.

By the way, where did you get that "away from the computer" T-shirt? Me want! I googled a bit, but no happy was found.

I got that shirt for birthday from my wife - I have no idea what site she found it at (but I know it was online).

Interested layperson, total stranger. I run a set of automated looms in a denim factory.

I'm in bioinformatics, and spend most of my time working with ontologies. I started with a biology degree, and then moved slightly diagonally into bioinformatics. Though I've not yet met you in person, like Dorothea we interact on FriendFeed, and your blog's in my RSS reader. Thanks! :)

I got that shirt for birthday from my wife - I have no idea what site she found it at (but I know it was online).

D'oh! Oh well. I shall make it a cyberquest.

High school biology teacher in Wisconsin - and yes, I was fortunate enough to meet you last year at ScienceOnline '09!

I have a class blog, but I think our IT dept took it offline for the summer - grrr. Otherwise I'd link to it ;)

I make 3D biology animations for education.

Retired Jill of all trades, nature blogger, occasional commenter here, daily reader. Some science training, 'way back when.

Computer geek and interested bystander. Occasionally get sucked into flame wars.

Sentient virus here.

stranger, library student, currently graduating and regular reader of your blog!

Hi! I'm an italian biologist, high school science teacher, mother of 3 teenagers.

My name is Prem. I'm currently a lay-person from Miami, Florida.
I'm studying physics for my undergrad degree and so far enjoy your blog, even though it confuses me often.

I'm a biology undergraduate in the UK, specialising in zoology.

I blog occasionally about science, taking advantage of PLoS for the Open access and the comments from authors and others. I am also proud to be affiliated at Quiche Moraine with Stephanie Zvan and Greg Laden, both of whom you just recently interviewed from Science Online 2009. I work at a bank call center, and my interest in science was reawakened in response to checking out creationist claims.

Just your basic schlubb....

Microbio undergrad soon to begin my last year at Purdue University. Big time lurker around much of Science Blogs, but an exceptionally lame commenter/blogger. Working on that.

Microbio undergrad soon to begin my last year at Purdue University. Big time lurker around much of Science Blogs, but an exceptionally lame commenter/blogger. Working on that.

I'm an evolutionary anthropologist and am planning to defend my dissertation in September. I study contemporary human courtship from an evolutionary perspective, incorporating anthropology, psychology, biology, and economics; I also get pretty excited about parasite-mediated sexual selection and reproductive ecology. I'm a little stressed about putting myself on the academic job market in this climate, but I'm going to give it a shot and see what comes up. In the meantime, I'm working as the statistician for a nonprofit in children and family services. We haven't met and I don't have a public, science-oriented blog, but that's subject to change.

Greetings fellow circadian biologist! I'm a graduate student at Kent State University. Our lab characterizes the circadian release of various neuropeptides (NPY, GRP, VIP, AVP) from the SCN, and the effects of alcohol on photic and nonphotic phase-resetting. Your posts rock! They're enlightening, entertaining, and for me, a fantastic way to keep up on current (and past) literature.

Tenured faculty at a MRU, started out in developmental neurobiology, and have lately morphed into cancer and aging research, with emphasis on DNA damage and repair mechanisms. Though I now spend 75% of my time teaching anatomy, embryology, and neuroscience to medical, dental, and graduate students.

The circadian biology posts are my favorites here; I have recommended them to a chronobiologist colleague, but he's still figuring out e-mail, and I don't think he knows what a "blog" is. ;-) I also really like the food posts and the horse posts, as well as the spirited discussion of Open Access issues.

23F, just got my bachelor's (neuro/psych double major, chem minor!), starting a Ph.D. program in a month.

You want complete honesty? I started reading your blog because I'm a night-owl, my then-boyfriend was a morning person, and he refused to believe that I was anything but lazy until I jammed a handful of your posts down his throat.

I stayed because I like knowing how things work, and you are good at explaining how certain things work. Clocks (biological or otherwise) are neat! With my background, I particularly like the very science-y posts. The more molecular bio, the better, I say! :)

Oceanographer/glaciologist/... in day job. Misc. other things, including blogger, on my own time.

I am a high school graduate looking to be an astronomer.

I am a physics undergrad at a pretty decent university who found scienceblogs through Badastronomy (Phil Plait->Pharyngula->the overmind).

I'm still not sure how well getting an actual career in science is going to work out for me, but I've learned a lot from all the greats around here, so no matter where I end up I'll still be a scientist in at least one small corner of my heart.

Actress. Free lancer (more or less).
Wisiting your blogg from time to time, when I have time.
Who I am? You'll tell me... later :-)

Drama artist and pedagogue. Free lancer (more or less)
Blogging from time to time, when I have time.
Who I am? That's kind of philosophical question. Maybe you could tell me...later :-)

Transhumanist, atheist, vegetarian. 25 years old, male, Germany. Layperson, no formal education.

I'am a biologist, PhD student in Chronobiology and Time Perception.

Canada, network sales for a large data center here, no science background but very interested. Live in a small town on the Columbia River about 6 miles north of the border. Atheist.

I'm student. in this moment I'm writing my master's thesis

Been studying dinosaurs informally since I could read and pick up a crayon. In the last few years I've been expanding outward to non-dinosaurian animals, including extinct mammals. In just the last few months, I've become obsessed with ceratopsians. I've started attending SVP annually and corresponding with professionals in the field, and I write a blog (When Pigs Fly Returns) that is mostly about my research into prehistoric life. Someday I hope to go back to school and get a graduate degree in some paleo-related field. I currently have an undergraduate degree in English (Rhetoric emphasis).

I'm 23 years old and live in western NY. I'm a medical lab assistant working my way through school. I'm a complete stranger.

Free lance health and science writer for medical pubs/sites and sometimes blogger. Also a reluctant trouble-maker. Motivated to find the true source. Publish Flesh & Stone dot net.

Just interested layperson, no background in science. 28, database designer from Russia, Murmansk/Saint-Petersburg, and an extreme night owl.

Middle-aged Texas male currently employed in the arts but doing avocational fieldwork in botany. Been interested in paleontology, biology, ecology, and other life sciences since childhood. Maybe should have pursued a science career but was not good enough at math and too afraid of labs (afraid my clumsiness would result in fires, explosions, and injuries).

Corporate librarian -- in a virtual library. I regularly visit Scienceblogs. I was turned off by science in my youth (won't say how long ago that was) but have become interested in it now that I am ... mature. Was especially inspired by the battles over the teaching of evolution in public schools. (In fact, for a time I did a blog called Evolutionary Times, which I believe you once pointed to.)

I'm a biologist with strong interests in entomology and molecular ecology. I worked in materials testing and computer support before returning to school; I did most of my graduate work in my forties. Just finished my second postdoc at Rochester; currently taking stock of where I want to go next.

Wisconsin, high school chemistry teacher, love all sciences especially astronomy and geology. Mother of an artist and a soldier (go figure), daughter of a physicist and a chemist, sister of a computer chip designer. I cruise through this whole site when I find time and read anything that looks interesting (usually over half of the blogs) but I tend not to go back into the archives. It's hard to do during the school year because it eats up an hour or so of precious time, and I've been seriously lazy this summer catching up on reading SF, gardening, crocheting and seeing the new Star Trek movie 11 times so far. My car (diesel Jetta) has a bumper sticker that reads Science Geek on Board.

Random stranger. Biomed grad, honours in genetics, passed on a PhD for an MBBS. Missing research very, very much. I aspire to put the sexy back into surgery eventually.
Your blog is awesome sauce.

A lay enthusiast of most things scientific. Though I never got a degree, I've accumulated over 140 hours of undergraduate study. Most of those hours are in Music, English, and History. Someday I will complete the required history survey courses and music appreciation to actually get a degree.

Nah... scratch that. I won't do it as I no longer care about a degree. I might take a course that interests me, but I won't take one because it's required.

I'm an old lady now, retired from years of clerical work in the timber and oil industries and, most recently, from the non-profit sector.

It is the 10 years spent in non-profit work (both paid and volunteer) that has turned me into a conservative. I've recently read (at your suggestion) your posts listed under ideology and find them... well, shallow.

However, I think you are trying to make sense of what you know as best you can. You are a relative newcomer to these shores and cannot be expected to have an understanding of long-term political identities or ideals as they have developed in this country.

So, I disagree with you emphatically at times, yet admire the science you do.

umm... gee, how do I follow that comment? hmph.
well, I'm Mimi (duh) from Potspoon! and have lurked on your blog for a while and occasionally go into bursts of commenting, then lapse into lurkerdom again. Biologist that is not working at the moment and pretty anti-government... not anti-constitution, there is a difference. Live in the USVI but am a native Floridian. I think we are bloggy buddies now.

Iranian, 26 yrs old Biochemical engineer, and doing my MBA. Struggling hard at the moment to get my vote back ;) . Working in Daanapharma.com in EBiz & Strategic Development, Fond of science.
Got to know your blog around 2 years ago, when I somehow found about google reader.
I'm no blogger, but real active in Social Nets and study their effects on societies like Iran.
Would be glad to help anytime.

Iranian, 26 yrs old Biochemical engineer, and doing my MBA. Struggling hard at the moment to get my vote back ;) . Working in Daanapharma.com in EBiz & Strategic Development, Fond of science.
Got to know your blog around 2 years ago, when I somehow found about google reader.
I'm no blogger, but real active in Social Nets and study their effects on societies like Iran.
Would be glad to help anytime.

Iranian, 26 yrs old Biochemical engineer, and doing my MBA. Struggling hard at the moment to get my vote back ;) . Working in Daanapharma.com in EBiz & Strategic Development, Fond of science.
Got to know your blog around 2 years ago, when I somehow found about google reader.
I'm no blogger, but real active in Social Nets and study their effects on societies like Iran.
Would be glad to help anytime.

Iranian, 26 yrs old Biochemical engineer, and doing my MBA. Struggling hard at the moment to get my vote back ;) . Working in Daanapharma.com in EBiz & Strategic Development, Fond of science.
Got to know your blog around 2 years ago, when I somehow found about google reader.
I'm no blogger, but real active in Social Nets and study their effects on societies like Iran.
Would be glad to help anytime.

Iranian, 26 yrs old Biochemical engineer, and doing my MBA. Struggling hard at the moment to get my vote back ;) . Working in Daanapharma.com in EBiz & Strategic Development, Fond of science.
Got to know your blog around 2 years ago, when I somehow found about google reader.
I'm no blogger, but real active in Social Nets and study their effects on societies like Iran.
Would be glad to help anytime.

Former MSc Pharmacology, IT Consultant, Bookstore owner, parent, and general layabout. Now retired and total layabout.

Danish-Australian IT-Consultant, living in Copenhagen, Denmark. Though I hold a B.Sc. degree (Computer Science), I won't claim to be anything but an interested layman (who blogs on different science subjects from time to time).

Been reading this blog from the start, and your older blogs almost from the start.

Always hard to categories your relationship to someone you've known for years through the internet, but haven't met in real life. Acquaintance might be the most fitting category.

I'm an infrequent visitor but try to catch up from time-to-time (like tonight.)Friend of PZ. Claim to fame is I hosted a reception for Richard Dawkins and PZ at The U of Minnesota in March of '09. Undergrad: secondary ed., history, political science. Grad school: MEd, special education for emotional and behavioral disordered learners (U of Minnesota). Was religious (Lutheran) now atheist thanks to PZ, Dr. Scott Lanyon, Richard Dawkins and others. Stumbled into science researching why my learners were so agressive and violent. Discovered memes through Dr. Susan Blackmore as result who lead me to Dawkins, who lead me to PZ and all the others ending in coming to this blog and leaving this comment. I follow astronomy and Phil Plait and other astronomers also follow Jerry Coyne. Love this blog and your accurate, well researched information...thank you much for taking the time to attend to this blog.