clock | October 11, 2008When young, we trust ourselves too much; and we trust others too little when old. Rashness is the error of youth; timid caution of age. Manhood is the isthmus between the two extremes - the ripe and fertile season of action when, only, we can hope to find the head to contrive, united with the hand to execute.
- Charles Caleb Colton, 1780 - 1832
clock | October 11, 2008Hmmm, I have not done one of these in a few weeks, so if you depend on me for your political information, check under the fold:
The Terrorist Barack Hussein Obama:
From the start, there have always been two separate but equal questions about race in this election. Is there still enough racism in America to prevent a black man from being elected president no matter what? And, will Republicans play the race card? The jury is out on the first question until Nov. 4. But we now have the unambiguous answer to the second: Yes.
The Fraud Of Fraud:
It looks right now as if the election might not be…
clock | October 11, 2008
Now that the registration is closed (you can still get on the waitlist if you send an e-mail to info@scienceonline09.com), it's time to start preparing for the sessions. Here are some more sessions you may be interested in:
Not just text - image, sound and video in peer-reviewed literature
Alternative careers: how to become a journal editor
Providing public health and medical information to all
Art and science -- online and offline
Anonymity, Pseudonymity - building reputation online
Open Access in the networked world: experience of developing and transition countries
Social networking for…
clock | October 11, 2008We are busy preparing for The Open Laboratory 2008. The submissions have been trickling in all year, and a little bit more frequently recently, but it is time now to dig through your Archives for your best posts since December 20th 2007 and submit them. Submit one, or two, or several - no problem. Or ask your readers to submit for you.
Then take a look at your favourite bloggers and pick some of their best posts - don't worry, we can deal with duplicate entries. Do not forget new and up-coming blogs - they may not know about the anthology - and submit their stuff as well.
As we did last…
clock | October 10, 2008Increase of freedom in the State may sometimes promote mediocrity, and give vitality to prejudice; it may even retard useful legislation, diminish the capacity for war, and restrict the boundaries of Empire.... A generous spirit prefers that his country should be poor and weak, and of no account, but free; rather than powerful, prosperous, and enslaved.
- Lord John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton
clock | October 10, 2008
Registration for ScienceOnline09 is now closed -- we've hit our limit.
Send a message to info@scienceonline09.com to get your name on the waitlist as we expect some registered individuals to cancel closer to the event.
And if you cannot make it, we'll try to make as many sessions as possible broadcast live so you can participate.
clock | October 10, 2008In today's PLoS Computation Biology:
Circadian rhythm is universally present from unicellular organisms to complex organisms and plays an important role in physiological processes such as the sleep-wake cycle in mammals. The mammalian circadian rhythm presents an excellent system for studying gene regulatory networks as a large number of genes are undergoing circadian oscillation in their expression levels. By integrating all available microarray experiments on circadian rhythm in different tissues and species in mammals, we identified a set of common circadian genes lying in the center of…
clock | October 10, 2008In this weekend's New York Times: Farmer in Chief :'
Dear Mr. President-Elect,
It may surprise you to learn that among the issues that will occupy much of your time in the coming years is one you barely mentioned during the campaign: food. Food policy is not something American presidents have had to give much thought to, at least since the Nixon administration -- the last time high food prices presented a serious political peril. Since then, federal policies to promote maximum production of the commodity crops (corn, soybeans, wheat and rice) from which most of our supermarket foods are…
clock | October 10, 2008Can Genetic Information Be Controlled By Light?:
DNA, the molecule that acts as the carrier of genetic information in all forms of life, is highly resistant against alteration by ultraviolet light, but understanding the mechanism for its photostability presents some puzzling problems. A key aspect is the interaction between the four chemical bases that make up the DNA molecule. Researchers at Kiel University have succeeded in showing that DNA strands differ in their light sensitivity depending on their base sequences.
Journey Toward The Center Of The Earth: One-of-a-kind Microorganism Lives…
clock | October 10, 2008Open Access Day is on October 14th (don't tell me I did not warn you in advance!). The day will be marked with lots of events, online and offline (if you are local, you may choose to go to Duke, for instance) so watch my blog for more information on Tuesday.
What you as a blogger will probably be most interested in is the Blogging Contest!
How does it work? Well, you are all supposed to synchroblog on Tuesday (but NOT before) on the topic:"Why does Open Access matter to me?"
Write a post and publish it on October 14th, and you will be entered in the competition and you can win a bag of swag…
clock | October 10, 2008
For all the information about travel, accommodation and food, check this page on the wiki. There, you will find the code you should use when reserving a room at Radisson.
Use this map to orient yourself or find alternate hotels, etc.
The directions to Sigma Xi are here.
Radisson will send a shuttle for you to pick you up at the airport if you ask them in advance. They will also run a shuttle between the hotel and Sigma Xi Center and take you back to the airport when needed.
Use that wiki page to find room-mates, to coordinate carpooling, etc.
The meals at the Center during the Conference…
clock | October 10, 2008Hmmm my DonorsChoose projects seem to attract more people from the outside than my own readers....
So, let me sweeten it up for you a little and offer prizes!
Two people - one who gives a single largest one-time donation, and the other who gives the most over the month (the end of October) will be able to choose a special prize: either an item from the A Blog Around The Clock CafePress store, or a copy of the Open Laboratory - either OpenLab 2006, or OpenLab 2007, or if you are prepared to wait a couple of months - the OpenLab 2008.
It is just one click away...
clock | October 10, 2008Carnival of the Blue #17 is up on Cephalopodcast
Friday Ark #212 is up on Modulator
clock | October 9, 2008To cement a new friendship, especially between foreigners or persons of a different social world, a spark with which both were secretly charged must fly from person to person, and cut across the accidents of place and time.
- Cornelia Otis Skinner