Science Blogs
Blogs, magazines, and articles, mostly science and research related.
473 listings
Submitted Jun 07, 2006 to Science Blogs Computers make us more productive. Yeah, right. Lifehacker recommends the downloads, web sites and shortcuts that actually save time. Don't live to geek; geek to live.
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Submitted Jun 06, 2006 to Science Blogs » Element FYI Dr. Robert 'Bob' Gagosian, Director of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) since 1994, announced yesterday that he is stepping down as Director of WHOI in six weeks. Jim Luyten, WHOI Executive Vice President and Director of Research, will step in as Acting Director until a replacement is found. WHOI is the largest private, independent marine research facility in the United States and operates one of the world's top marine science graduate degree programs jointly with MIT. A tipster writes that Bob is not leaving directly for another job, but that he wants to do something 'for the community.' Could he be heading to Washington, D.C.? The science world waits with bated breath....
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Submitted May 21, 2006 to Science Blogs CONELRAD is the creation of writers who grew up in the shadow of the BOMB and all its attendant pop culture fallout. We wish to share our collected interest, experience and obsession with this strange era and thereby provide as much information as possible to the public. This is not to say we're living in the past! The Day After Trinity is now and forever more and we will reflect that reality here. From apocalyptic Y2K scenarios to the Russians redirecting their ICBMs at our shores, CONELRAD is always on the Eve of Destruction. Watch our News Wire and check the old Atomic Clock from time to time and you'll always feel safe.
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Submitted May 09, 2006 (Edited Jun 12, 2006) to Science Blogs » Element FYI You're not a truly dedicated grad student until you've spent a night, or perhaps a whole weekend, working and sleeping in the lab. But sleeping on the floor, even with a small sleeping mat, can be uncomfortable, assuming you have room to stretch out in the first place. The Computer Bed from Flying Beds.com has been making the rounds on the blog circuit this week. During the day, it's a roomy desk, and at night it folds down into a bed without dumping the contents of your desk all over the place. It comes in several stains as well as black and white. At a price of over $2000 plus the twin mattress, this may be out of reach of most grad students, but the construction seems simple enough that you could build one for yourself. (via Make)
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Submitted May 08, 2006 to Science Blogs » Element FYI The employees of the San Diego Zoo, Wild Animal Park, and department of Conservation and Research for Endangered Species (CRES) have joined together to write a collective blog about living and working at - what we'll collectively call here - the zoo. And wouldn't you know it, the latest blog post is about a couple of pigs from Nairobi who are proud new parents - no, we're not talking about Brangelina's celebrity spawn, but a pair of red river hogs from the Wild Animal Park's Nairobi Village. (In case you couldn't tell from the picture.) The San Diego Zoo Weblogs mostly cover the animals, but also cover various events, such as the local student science awards, construction and reconstruction of various exhibits at the parks, and the joys of meal time with the animals. Since there are many contributors, there are new posts almost everyday and often more than once per day. Check it out.
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Submitted Apr 16, 2006 to Science Blogs » Element FYI Who knew there were so many brain researchers on postage stamps? Dr. Eric Chudler at the University of Washington collects commemorative postage stamps of famous brain researchers from around the world and posts pictures of the stamps on his website. Sweden seems to have the most brain doctors on stamps, followed by Portugal and Germany. Dr. Chudler is Director of Education and Outreach at the University of Washington Engineered Biomaterials lab. He also maintains a website of neuroscience research commemorative postage stamps. (via Improbable Research)
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Submitted Apr 01, 2006 to Science Blogs » Element FYI Have a great idea for a documentary film? If your research leads you to the door of the Smithsonian Institution, you may be in for a rude surprise. According to the NY Times, "On March 9, Showtime and the Smithsonian announced the creation of Smithsonian Networks, a joint venture to develop television programming. Under the agreement, the joint venture has the right of first refusal to commercial documentaries that rely heavily on Smithsonian collections or staff. Those works would first have to be offered to Smithsonian on Demand, the cable channel that is expected to be the venture's first programming service." Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns said, "I find this deal terrifying. It feels like the Smithsonian has essentially optioned America's attic to one company, and to have access to that attic, we would have to be signed off with, and perhaps co-opted by, that entity." In response to criticism, Jeanny Kim, a vice president for media services for Smithsonian Business Ventures, said, "It's not our obligation to help independent filmmakers sell their wares to commercial broadcast and cable networks." Isn't this the pot calling the kettle black? Margaret Drain, a vice president for national programs at WGBH, said, "I'm outraged that a public institution would do a semiexclusive deal with a commercial broadcaster." The Smithsonian received $615,097,000 from Congress in 2006 to cover salaries, expenses, and facilities capital, and is requesting $644,394,000 for 2007. According to the Smithsonian 2007 budget request to Congress, "Some of the greatest works of art in this countryor the worldare at the Smithsonian. The Smithsonians art museums, the Freer, the Sackler, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the National Museum of African Art, the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York City, the Smithsonian American Art Museum and its Renwick Gallery, and the National Portrait Gallery, collectively, are the third most visited art complex in the United States." The Smithsonian Institution also includes the Air and Space Museum and the National Zoo. And now, other than viewing the Smithsonian museums in person, their works may only be available to you though your paid cable subscription to Showtime.
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Submitted Mar 12, 2006 to Science Blogs This is the personal site of Evan Williams. It has been up since 1996, in blog form since 1999. My current job is CEO of Odeo, Inc., a startup based in San Francisco, where I've lived since 1998. Previously, I was co-founder and CEO of Pyra Labs, makers of Blogger, now part of Google, where I worked most of 2003-04. I'm originally from the cornfields of Nebraska. You can find more about me on the webbut don't believe everything you read.
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Submitted Mar 12, 2006 to Science Blogs A Web Log of Mass Spectromery Web Sites and Other Links and Items of Interest.
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Submitted Mar 12, 2006 to Science Blogs LabLit.com is dedicated to real laboratory culture and to the portrayal and perceptions of that culture science, scientists and labs in fiction, the media and across popular culture. The site is intended for non-scientists as well as scientists, and the goal is to inform, entertain and surprise. LabLit.com was conceived partially as a response to the misleading or stereotypical images of science and scientists that abound, and partially in recognition that modern science is a unique and intriguing world worthy of wider exposure. And its denizens are often burning with untapped creative potential, which emerges in a number of remarkable ways in labs around the globe.
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Submitted Mar 11, 2006 to Science Blogs » Element FYI It was only a matter of time. The NY Times reports that online publisher Blurb has created BookSmart, a free, downloadable software program that can turn your weblog into a hardcover book, which can be purchased online for as little as $30. There are various formats and templates to choose from. Authors also will be able to create their own little bookstore on the Blurb website. There are supposedly some glitches that remain in the current beta release, but these reportedly will be fixed before the first official version is released online. |
Submitted Mar 11, 2006 to Science Blogs » Element FYI The 2006 edition of Science and Engineering Indicators, published in late February by the National Science Foundation and available online, reports on various science and engineering (S&E) trends across the United States such as the number of S&E degrees awarded, labor and salary statistics in S&E fields, research and deveopment funding, and S&E indicators broken down by state. The map at right shows the percentage of S&E doctorates as a share of the total workforce for each state in 2003 (click to enlarge), indicating which states are most attractive to S&E doctorates and where the most job opportunities for S&E doctorates are likely to be found. S&E fields include physical, life, earth, ocean, atmospheric, computer, and social sciences; mathematics; engineering; and psychology. The study also covered public interest, knowledge, and attitudes about science, and found that most Americans get their science news from television followed by the internet, which is "the preferred source when people are seeking information about specific scientific issues. In 2004, 52% of National Science Foundation survey respondents named the Internet as the place they would go to learn more about a scientific issue such as global warming or biotechnology, up from 44% in 2001." Despite the Bush administration's stated opposition to stem cell research, only 36% of those surveyed said they were opposed to medical research that uses stem cells from human embryos, down from 51% in 2002. And for those considering a career in science, "Scientists share (with doctors) the top spot in the Harris poll of occupations having the most prestige." The report itself is meant to be policy neutral, so the NSF has provided its recommendations based on the report in a companion document, America's Pressing Challenge - Building a Stronger Foundation.
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Submitted Mar 11, 2006 to Science Blogs The Ludwig von Mises Institute is the research and educational center of classical liberalism, libertarian political theory, and the Austrian School of economics. The Mises Institute works to advance the Austrian School of economics and the Misesian tradition, and, in application, defends the market economy, private property, sound money, and peaceful international relations, while opposing government intervention as economically and socially destructive.
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Submitted Mar 08, 2006 to Science Blogs » Element FYI
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Submitted Mar 03, 2006 to Science Blogs » Element FYI With so many science programs getting the ax - nevermind what Bush said in his State of the Union Address, scientists who depend on NSF, NIH, and NASA funding, among others, are suffering this year - it's good to hear of a field that is growing. This week's issue of Science has two special feature articles on careers in systems biology, which is an emerging interdisciplinary field that combines biology with physics, computer science, chemistry, mathematics, and engineering. If you're having trouble finding a postdoc position in, say, astrophysics, you might have better career prospects in systems biology. The two feature articles focus separately on careers in Europe and the United States, which is considered the leader in systems biology research. The Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) in Seattle, Washington is the article's poster child for a successful young lab. ISB is an independent research institute founded in 2000 by Leroy Hood after he "concluded that he couldn't arrange a successful marriage between computing and biology in the academic environment of the University of Washington." According to the Science article on the US market, "systems biology is in heavy demand. 'Systems biology is very fashionable. Until it is fully established in all of the major universities, there will be a lot of hires, either new hires or professors that are reminting themselves,' predicts David Galas, a researcher at ISB and vice president and chief scientific officer of the Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus, Ohio. Roger Brent (pictured), president and research director of the independent Molecular Sciences Institute (MSI) in Berkeley, California, agrees. 'I'd say that this is a time in which a talented young person who demonstrates an ability to make real contributions can pretty close to write their own ticket in terms of what they can do academically and intellectually,' he says."
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Submitted Mar 02, 2006 to Science Blogs Science blog by William Connolley, climate modeller at the British Antarctic Survey and RealClimate blogger.
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Submitted Mar 02, 2006 to Science Blogs The miscellaneous ramblings of a surgeon/scientist on medicine, quackery, science, pseudsocience, history, and pseudohistory (and anything else that interests him) by Orac. Orac is the nom de blog of a humble pseudonymous surgeon/scientist with an ego just big enough to delude himself that someone, somewhere might actually give a rodent's posterior about his miscellaneous verbal meanderings, but just barely small enough to admit to himself that few will.
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Submitted Mar 02, 2006 to Science Blogs Daily news and views from a postdoctoral fellow in cell biology by Alex Palazzo in the Department of Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School.
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