networking
milhayser | February 18, 2010
On The Primate Diaries, Eric Michael Johnson writes "not acting our age may be the very reason why we're so successful as a species." Like the bonobo which can be seen unlocking the cage of an unrelated individual just to share food, humans may retain juvenile characteristics that help us to "cooperate and share with others." But while sharing food is laudable, telling the world how drunk you got last night can be a bit less noble. Jonah Lehrer on The Frontal Cortex calls Facebook "a perfect example of too much information" and says that despite technological platforms, "our social lives…
milhayser | January 25, 2010
Robert Burns wrote that the best laid schemes of mice and men go often askew, but Tokyo railway planners seem to have arranged things just right. Ed Yong on Not Exactly Rocket Science reports that Japanese researchers are exploring "better network design through biological principles," by setting a "slime mould" cell loose on an in vitro model of the greater Tokyo area. Food sources in the wet dish simulated nearby cities, and slime-repellant light approximated mountains and other natural barriers. As the cell grew, latching onto food sources and refining its connections, it settled into…
razib | May 28, 2009A few weeks ago I was pointed to Scitable, part of the Nature media empire. Here's how it's introduced:
A free science library and personal learning tool brought to you by Nature Publishing Group, the world's leading publisher of science.
Scitable currently concentrates on genetics, the study of evolution, variation, and the rich complexity of living organisms. As you cultivate your understanding of modern genetics on Scitable, you will explore not only what we know about genetics and the ways it impacts our society, but also the data and evidence that supports our knowledge.
Due to the…
bioephemera | March 31, 2009
My friend John Ohab is hosting a new DoD webcast called "Armed With Science." Sure, it has an over-the-top logo reminiscent of the Syfy Channel (I like to intone "ARMED WITH SCIENCE" with the same cadence as "PIGS IN SPACE!"), but the show turns out to be really well-done and interesting. Each episode is a half-hour interview with a researchers in a scientific field relevant to the military: sometimes that means SONAR or geopositioning, but they also take on general science topics like Brain Awareness Week at the National Museum of Health and Medicine. It's a nice mix of topics, and it's…
thusspakezuska | February 26, 2009Over at Sciencewomen, Alice has a post up on the topic of colleagiality that includes the story of a casual encounter with a very nice outcome:
...my seatmate was Jamie Comstock, provost of Butler University. She saw I was editing a student's paper, and asked "Faculty or student?" That was nice that she didn't presume I was a student. :-) She introduced herself, and then did I, and mentioned I was in my second year of tenure-track at Purdue. She went back to reading her book, and I went back to my paper; and then she said, "Can I interrupt you for a second?" She said she was very curious to…