iBioSeminars

I just discovered this great resource - iBioSeminars. It's a web based resource where you can watch some of the most important Cell Biologists give talks on basic research.

The website was the brainchild of Ron Vale. From the latest HHMI bulletin:

Vale, of the University of California, San Francisco, also wants to illuminate the colorful side of science, though not quite as literally. His approach: online seminars that reveal scientific fact as well as the not-necessarily smooth process of discovery, the links between fields, and the more personal side of science.

One of the inspirations for his project was his travels in India, where he noted the dearth of seminars even at top institutions.

"Some schools are real magnets for attracting seminar speakers, and they have the money to afford them," says Vale. "But the vast number of places in the world, and even in the U.S., don't have that luxury of access to top speakers in biology."

Calling most existing videos of seminars "not visually engaging" and "very focused on just the latest data," Vale says he set out to make videos that would keep the viewer's attention. One approach, derived from his collaboration with the UC Teaching, Learning, and Technology Center, is "chroma key" films--videos that can combine two overlaid images, such as of a researcher together with slides depicting his or her science.

Less than two years after its launch with four pilot videos, iBioSeminars--hosted on the Website of the American Society for Cell Biology--boasts 32 seminars on biology, and Vale has received positive feedback from numerous colleges in the United States and around the world.

Very cool.

I encourage you to go there right away and watch some of the most brilliant researchers in science explain the inner workings of life.