clock | August 29, 2008I have blogged about this a couple of weeks ago (and a couple of weeks before that) and you can see the ads all over scienceblogs.com about it, but let me ask you for one final push on this as there are just a couple of days left and still a few bucks to earn:
....the BigThink/DonorsChoose August campaign is coming along well; they've raised almost but not quite yet the maximum of $10,000......
And scienceblogs.com were a big part of that success so far!
Every click is worth a dollar - paid not by you but by Pfizer. As you can click on each one of the ten videos, with ten clicks you earn ten…
clock | August 29, 2008
Science in the Triangle is a community service provided by the Museum of Life + Science, in partnership with Blue Pane Studio. There, in one place, you can find news and information about science events and research in the Triangle area of North Carolina.
clock | August 29, 2008A nice article about Durham bloggers today (it will be on paper later, online for now). Bloggers featured or linked include, among others, my friends Anton Zuiker, Pam Spaulding, Sheril Kirshenbaum and Lenore Ramm.
clock | August 29, 2008Eyes Evolved For 'X-Ray Vision': Forward-facing Eyes Allow Animals To 'See Through' Clutter In The World:
The advantage of using two eyes to see the world around us has long been associated solely with our capacity to see in 3-D. Now, a new study from a scientist at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has uncovered a truly eye-opening advantage to binocular vision: our ability to see through things.
Sticks And Stones: A New Study On Social And Physical Pain:
We all know the famous saying: "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me," but is this proverb actually true?…
clock | August 29, 2008So, let's see what's new in PLoS Genetics, PLoS Computational Biology, PLoS Pathogens and PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases this week. As always, you should rate the articles, post notes and comments and send trackbacks when you blog about the papers. Here are my own picks for the week - you go and look for your own favourites:
Strategies for Aspiring Biomedical Researchers in Resource-Limited Environments:
Countries struggling with global health challenges desperately need local biomedical researchers to find health care solutions to address the deadly diseases that affect their populations…
clock | August 29, 2008Friday Ark #206 is up on Modulator
Carnival of Evolution #1 is up on apparently its own site.
clock | August 28, 2008There is a new letter to Nature - Postdoc glut means academic pathway needs an overhaul - which I cannot read as I have no access, but others are discussing it on FriendFeed and there have been recent posts on the topic of endless/hopeless postdoc positions on DrugMonkey and The Alternative Scientist.
Bill sums it up the best graphically:
clock | August 28, 2008Yes, you have heard right. There will be parties around the world, wherever SciBlings are, celebrating the one millionth comment on scienceblogs.com, expected to happen some time mid-September.
You can meet Sciblings and fellow-readers at parties in Michigan, Oklahoma, Iowa, Minnesota, New York, San Francisco, Vancouver, London and other places - watch all the blogs for announcements of the details.
As the North Carolina contingent here is the largest of them all at scienceblogs (7-8 SciBlings, depends on the exact date of the event and how one does the counting), there will be a big event…
clock | August 28, 2008SPARC, Students for FreeCulture and PLoS are organizing the first ever Open Access Day on October 14, 2008. This is also the 5th birthday of PLoS Biology, the oldest of seven PLoS journals.
For this occasion, the organizers have put together a nice website/blog where you can find all the information. You can watch videos (two so far, but there will be more). You can help spread the word:
You can get prizes. Or you can enter the blog contest:
Coming soon...
Prior to Open Access Day, bloggers will be invited to draft a personal post addressing the following key points:
* Why does Open…
clock | August 28, 2008There are 11 new articles in PLoS ONE today. As always, you should rate the articles, post notes and comments and send trackbacks when you blog about the papers. Here are my own picks for the week - you go and look for your own favourites:
Systems Biology of the Clock in Neurospora crassa:
A model-driven discovery process, Computing Life, is used to identify an ensemble of genetic networks that describe the biological clock. A clock mechanism involving the genes white-collar-1 and white-collar-2 (wc-1 and wc-2) that encode a transcriptional activator (as well as a blue-light receptor) and…
clock | August 28, 2008Unusual Ultrasonic Vocalization Patterns In Mice May Be Useful For Modeling Autism:
Scientists have found novel patterns of ultrasonic vocalizations in a genetic mouse model of autism, adding a unique element to the available mouse behaviors that capture components of the human disease, and representing a new step towards identifying causes and better treatments.
New Concepts In Contraception:
Latest research into dual-purpose contraceptives and non-hormonal contraception will be presented August 27 at a major scientific conference in Melbourne.
Heart Attack Prevention: Potential New Use For…
clock | August 28, 2008Tangled Bank #112 is up on Science Notes
The latest round of the Skeptic's Circle is up on Reduce to Common Sense
The 186th edition of the Carnival of Education is up on Sharp Brains
Carnival of the Liberals #72 is up on Washington Interns Gone Bad
clock | August 27, 2008I wake up every morning determined both to change the world and have one hell of a good time. Sometimes this makes planning the day a little difficult.
- Elwyn Brooks White
clock | August 27, 2008Interesting post (based on one of my favourite books which may warrant a re-reading after many years - Adler's "How to Read a Book" but adapted to online reading) How to Read by Brian Clark:
We know that people don't read well online. They ruthlessly scan for interesting chunks of information rather than digesting the whole, and they want to be entertained in the process. This is the reality that online publishers deal with, so we disguise our nuggets of wisdom with friendly formatting and clever analogies.
But that doesn't mean you should read that way.
If you've been publishing online for…
clock | August 27, 2008Why is the letter P the most useful for alliterative titles?
But back to the substance. One thing that bugged me for a long time is that I often see on blogs or hear in person a sentiment that "there are no comments on PLoS ONE". Yet I spend quite some time every week opening and reading all the new comments so I KNOW they are there and that there is quite a bunch of them already. Why the difference in perception? Is it due to the predictable distribution (a few papers get lots of comments, most get one or none, just like blog posts)?
So, when we saw this nice analysis of commenting on…