Blogospheric science
jstemwedel | February 28, 2007Over at BlogHer, Marianne Richmond has tagged everyone with a meme on personal media consumption. Given that I've already self-identified as a Luddite, I figured a little self-examination of my media habits might be worthwhile.
Web: Until last week, I didn't use a feed-reader. I'd get my daily fix of the blogs by clicking around (or typing the start of my regular reads' URLs into the nav bar and letting Firefox complete them for me).
Then, with the release of the spiffy new ScienceBlogs Select feed, I finally got around to setting up some subscriptions with Google Reader. I still click…
jstemwedel | February 26, 2007My humble haiku,
Clobbered in the poll -- Unless
You vote, intervene.
Voting closes February 26, 11:59 PM EST -- so act now!
(If you want to be sure you're voting for mine, I reproduce them below the fold.)
The one of my two entries with the most votes so far:
A mature science
has no need for causal talk?
Chemists shout, " 'Fraid not!"
"Underlying Stories: The Structure of Causal Talk in Chemistry and in Everyday Life"
The other haiku I submitted, which is not doing well at all:
Chlorite, iodide.
What makes such oscillations?
Perturb, gauge response.
"Experiments and theory toward the…
jstemwedel | February 24, 2007Jim Gibbon has opened voting on his academic haiku contest. I urge you to check out all the 17-syllable distillations of scholarly works, but especially those in the physical sciences category.
Two of those haikus are mine. (Technically, one of them ought to be in the humanities category, but I can see how an exploration of philosophical issues in chemistry might look like it belongs in the physical sciences.) Here's your chance to make me a winner!
jstemwedel | February 14, 2007Yes, Valentine's Day is in the top three Hallmark holidays of the year. No, it is not a holiday actually created by Hallmark, despite what half a dozen people have independently asserted to me in the last 48 hours. I am appalled that the commercialization of this holiday has people keeping score on who loves the most (and who is most loved) on the basis of overpriced flowers, jewelry, and chocolate.*
The rampant commercialism of the day notwithstanding, this seems like as good a time as any to share some love:
Love of science: Although Zuska's Joy of Science course has already kicked off,…
jstemwedel | February 12, 2007Scientists move through the world without needing badges to indicate their various achievements.This does not mean, however, that scientists might not want badges. If scientists all wore sashes of badges over their lab coats, it might well facilitate communication by letting them determine the relevant interests and experience of the other scientists with who they are talking. Badges would also provide a natural opening with which scientists could share their best stories with each other. ("What did you freeze?")Badges also help a scientist stay nimble with a needle and thread.
Below are…
jstemwedel | February 6, 2007Dave Munger tagged me with a meme about (among other things) the effect blogging has had on my life. The questions seem worthy of relection, so I'm game:
What have you learned so far from visitors to your blog? I've learned that there are a lot of people who aren't paid to "think for a living" who think for fun and do it quite well. I've learned that people with strong opposing opinions can still have rational discussions with each other. And, of course, I've learned that what my kids say is more reliably fascinating than what I say.
If somebody offered to pay for a course (or more) for…
jstemwedel | February 3, 2007During the discussion after my talk at the Science Blogging Conference, the question came up (and was reported here) of whether and when tenure and promotion committees at universities will come to view the blogging activities of their faculty members with anything more positive than suspicion.
SteveG and helmut both offer some interesting thoughts on the issue.
SteveG takes up the idea that academic blogging can often be a productive way to communicate the knowledge produced in the Ivory Tower to the broader public. Arguably, public outreach is part of the larger mission of institutions…
jstemwedel | January 24, 2007ACS LiveWire is hosting a "blogversation" (don't shoot me, I didn't coin it!) about nanoscience and nanotechnology. Here are the panelists:
Rudy Baum is the Editor-in-Chief of Chemical & Engineering News.
David M. Berube is author of Nano-Hype: The Truth Behind the Nanotechnology Buzz and the Nano-Hype blog . He is a Professor of Speech Communication Studies and Government-Industry Coordinator of Nanoscience and Technology Studies at the University of South Carolina.
Richard A. L. Jones is author of Soft Machines: Nanotechnology and Life and the Soft Machines blog . He is Professor of…
jstemwedel | January 22, 2007
While I'm readjusting to my own time zone (just in time for the start of spring semester -- whee!), I thought I'd share some pictures from the Science Blogging Conference. Here, for example, is intrepid conference organizer Bora Zivkovic. He could have sat back and just enjoyed his pre-conference dinner, but instead he stayed busy taking pictures and circulating to greet the conference-goers and find out what was going on with them. Actually, in real life Bora seems a bit more laid-back than he does on his blog. Still, compared to my typical energy level? He could be a hummingbird.…
jstemwedel | January 21, 2007The wifi at the hotel is a little tentative, so I'll save detailed posting about the Science Blogging Conference until I'm back on the west coast. In the meantime, I wanted to note some of the questions raised in various sessions during the conference:
Is it enough (for the good of scientists and/or society) for the population at large to think science is cool, or is it also important that most people have at least a basic understanding of science?
What's the deal with scientific publishing and the news cycle? In particular, is it scientists, scientific journal editors, the traditional…
jstemwedel | January 20, 2007I promised the folks who were listening to my talk at the Science Blogging Conference that I'd post the links to the various blog posts whose screenshots I used to illustrate my points. Here they are:
Results of "tone deafness" test published.
Reversal of Progress on Folate Supplementation
First take on a Philosophy of Science elective
Republicans made science for-profit only
ToI on reforming India's R&D
RNA Export Diagram
Gene Expression Differences between Populations
Hawaii, the New York Times, and triggered seismicity
The human factor.
Does circadian clock regulate clutch-size in…
jstemwedel | January 19, 2007Bora just said, "There are twenty bloggers here. Who's live blogging the dinner?!"
I guess the answer is: Me.
Although really, it's not like I can give a comprehensive account of the dinner, since I've mostly been sitting here conspiring with Bill Hooker and Zuska about ways to change the culture of science for the better. Given the importance of that task, I think it's almost worth missing the conversations at the other end of our table, and at the other table. (As Bill notes: The problem with these conference dinners is that there are approximately 400 conversations going on, and you…
jstemwedel | January 18, 2007I've decided that the "intersession" we have between semesters is a cruel hoax. Though it promises a few weeks in which one might actually get some writing done, what it delivers is an endless list of tasks (many spawned by bureaucracy) that one must scurry to accomplish before the next semester starts. Feh!
As I've been scurrying, I've accumulated some items I'd like to share:
1. The Science Blogging Anthology is unleashed on an unsuspecting public!
Owing in no small part to Bora's vision and energy, you can now scoot over to Lulu.com to purchase (as a download or on dead trees) The Open…
jstemwedel | January 12, 2007You may have heard that the very dangerous professor is putting his blog on mothballs so he can play more hockey. But, it's not over until the WAAGNFNP Minister of Justice says it's over. And, she says (at comment 71 on this post) "We Are All Giant Nuclear Fireball. Now Party!":
Le Blogue-WAAGNFNP Blowout Party
WAAGNFNP High Council Club
Saturday, Jan. 13th 8pm Eastern
Doors open at 7:30pm
I'll be bringing a bag of lemons, a bag of sugar, and a case of Absolute Citron, so make sure you have your USB shotglass handy.
jstemwedel | January 12, 2007Chad and Tara have spilled the beans on a highly classified backchannel discussion we ScienceBloggers have been having. Since the cat is already out of the bag (presumably a bag of beans), I suppose I'll chime in.
What basic concepts would you like me to explain here?
The idea, of course, would be for me to take a basic concept from my area of expertise and explain it in such a way that an intelligent non-expert would be able to grasp the important bits. As well, I'd want to explain why it matters to get clear on the concept, what it's good for, etc.
I'd be happy to entertain requests…
jstemwedel | January 11, 2007Hey, for those of you coming to the 2007 North Carolina Science Blogging Conference, don't forget to sign up for the dinners! There's one big group dinner on Friday, January 19, from 7 to 10 PM, and a bunch of group dinners on Saturday, January 20, right after the official conclusion of the conference.
You know you'll have fun sharing a meal with other conference attendees, some of whom you may only know through the screen. Make a date to meet them in the three-dimensional world.
For those of you who really like planning your trips, many of the restaurants in question have their menus…
jstemwedel | January 11, 2007As John Lynch points out, today marks the first anniversary of the launch of ScienceBlogs, an experiment in gathering conversations about science in a dedicated corner of the blogosphere. (Yes, I know that spheres don't have corners. Let me enjoy my mixed metaphor.)
You'd never know to look at it today, but in the beginning we were a group of 14 blogs, some of which were already heavy hitters in the blogosphere, but others of which (like mine) you'd probably never heard of. Indeed, the recruitment and the weeks before the launch were a little mysterious. ("Psst! Hey kid! You wanna join…
jstemwedel | January 9, 2007Liz reminds us that Paper Napkin has declared the second week of January to be National Delurking Week.
What does this mean?
It means that if you are a reader of a blog but have not commented on that blog, you should "delurk" by leaving a comment to indicate that you're out there. Good person that you are, you shouldn't just do it on this blog you're reading right now -- you should also do it on the other blogs you may read this week where you haven't commented before.
Trust me, the bloggers to whom you delurk will appreciate it.
jstemwedel | January 8, 2007As some of you will have noticed, I'm scheduled to give a talk at the 2007 North Carolina Science Blogging Conference in just under two weeks. This morning, I finished (kind of) working out that talk.
A few things worth noting:
This is not a completely drafted speech or anything like that. It's a talk, and one that's meant to set up a discussion among conference participants. However, given that it covers terrain I think about quite regularly, I have a very good sense of what I'm going to say.
Indeed, the real labor here wasn't in hammering out the logical structure of my remarks, but in…
jstemwedel | December 6, 2006It started when someone asked Dr. B. for advice about starting a Ph.D. program with three kids in tow. Since then, the question has been bouncing around the academic blogosphere, with posts you should read at Academom and Geeky Mom. Although this is absolutely the worst time in the semester for me to fire on all cyliders with this one, regular readers know that I've shared my own experiences in this area, so I can't stay completely out of it.
A brief recap of the current conversation:
Dr. B. notes the many ways graduate programs set things up that are easier for the childless than the child…