Element FYI
The Element List science blog covering science news and ephemera has moved to the home page, but you can find our old posts here in the archive.
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Submitted Oct 13, 2009 to Science Blogs » Element FYI The Smithsonian Institution is continuing its efforts to sneak its new 30-year exclusive contract to create programming based on its archives with the CBS Showtime Network past Congress and the American public to the horror of academic researchers, documentary filmmakers, and other networks, such as PBS. As explained by Carl Malamud at the Center for American Progress, the new video-on-demand channel called "Smithsonian On Demand" will have "the right of first refusal on any access to Smithsonian collections and staff. For example, if Ken Burns wishes to make a movie that makes "non-incidental use" of the Smithsonian archives or involves "non-incidental" access to staff, he could not offer his movie to PBS. Instead, he would have to offer it to the new venture." The Smithsonian-Showtime deal was conducted in secret, and the contract itself has not been made public. You can find a video webcast and a transcript of the May 25, 2006 Congressional oversight hearing on the deal here, which was chaired by Congressman Vernon Ehlers, a former research physicist and professor. Congress followed up with a slapdown of Smithsonian leaders over the issue by proposing significant budget cuts. Now, as both houses of Congress work to iron out differences in the 2007 budget, the Smithsonian Institution has sent lobbyists to Capitol Hill to convince lawmakers that everyone has forgotten about the inconsequential 30-year secret contract. Carl Malamud, who has made a career of placing government data online and for the public, recently emailed a call to action to increase public pressure on Congress to make the Smithsonian-Showtime contract public and to hold public hearings on the deal. It's too late to sign Malamud's petition, but it's not too late to contact your Congressman or call for the resignation of Smithsonian Secretary Lawrence Small.
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Submitted Apr 13, 2008 to Science Blogs » Element FYI Tsunami research, monitoring, and mitigation efforts have intensified since the 2004 Sumatra earthquake that devastated communities around the Indian Ocean. Here we've compiled links to some of the best websites about the Sumatra event and various research and education efforts on tsunamis. In this Element List feature, you can find video simulations of the Sumatra event, satellite photos, information on the earthquake that generated the event from the USGS, and more.
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Submitted Feb 11, 2007 to Science Blogs » Element FYI
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Submitted Jan 23, 2007 to Science Blogs » Element FYI Michael Arrington at TechCrunch reports on a new website called Swivel that is billing itself as the "YouTube for Data." Swivel is (or will be) an open database for uploading, downloading, analyzing, and viewing all kinds of data, from weather data to financial data. The analytical capabilities mentioned so far are correlations between datasets, such as weather and stocks. Arrington predicts that academics will "go nuts over this," but do they realize how many scientific databases exist already? Swivel may be useful as the everyman's database as well as a good place to make data accessible to others when institutional red tape makes university or other academic databases impractical or otherwise impossible. But now imagine the havoc the site could wreck when proprietary data is uploaded to the site, whether it's a scientists's stolen research data or a pharmaceutical company's drug testing data. The damage could be as bad as or worse than what traditional media companies are facing with regard to copyright violations and piracy. For an extra fee, the site provides the option to keep your data private. Now this could be handy for researchers who want a place to store datasets without the hassle of buying their own hardware. There's no word yet on what the cost of private data storage will be. Swivel is expected to launch later this week.
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Submitted Dec 17, 2006 to Science Blogs » Element FYI The Element List blog has a new address and new, fancier digs. Click here to find the new Element List blog.
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Submitted Dec 08, 2006 to Science Blogs » Element FYI A couple of little known facts about Ze Frank, video blog impresario of "The Show with Ze Frank," are that he was once a promising neuroscience student at Brown University before he left to pursue music with his band and that his father is Joachim Frank (pictured right), a molecular biologist at the Wadsworth Center and recently elected member of the National Academy of Sciences. In Wednesday's installment of The Show, Ze put his neuroscience training to use in answering a viewer's question on how best to prepare for final exams. His carefully researched tip: get some sleep.
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Submitted Dec 08, 2006 (Edited Feb 01, 2009) to Science Blogs » Element FYI If you are considering making the jump from academia to biotech, check out the "Industry Insights" online seminar series produced by NatureJobs and the Stanford School of Medicine Career Center (SoMCC). With only two video segments so far, the "series" is a little thin, but the choice selection of companies represented makes the series particularly informative. In the first installment, Michael Alvarez, founder and director of SoMCC, speaks with Hal Barron, Senior VP at Genentech, named in 2006 by Fortune magazine as the best company to work for and by Science magazine as the top employer and most admired company for the fifth year in a row. In the second segment, Alvarez speaks with Nandini Tandon, venture partner with MDS Capital, about biotech invesment and careers combining science, banking and finance. Tandon's PowerPoint presentation slides (shown above) are also available on the website.
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Submitted Dec 06, 2006 to Science Blogs » Element FYI Element List will be undergoing a few changes over the next few weeks. For one thing, we're looking for some hired help in reviewing new and cool science websites. If you're interested in earning a little extra money, send us a brief, 150-300 word review of a science website that you particularly enjoy or find useful in your research. We will also consider below-the-radar science news items. If we like your blog article, we'll pay one or two beers worth, depending on length, and include a byline with a link back to you. Send submissions to info@elementlist.com.
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Submitted Dec 01, 2006 to Science Blogs » Element FYI At least three videos of the East Java volcanic mudflow have been posted on YouTube over the past few months. Between the photos and the videos, it seems that ordinary people have had limited access to the flooded area, since many familiar scenes have shown up more than once. In each of the videos below, however, the 'reporters' appear to have had some special access to get closer to the crater by virtue of their being a BBC reporter, an oil company employee, or a charming tourist.
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Submitted Nov 30, 2006 to Science Blogs » Element FYI The American press seems to be largely ignoring the huge environmental and humanitarian disaster in Indonesia that began in May when a mud volcano erupted during drilling in East Java. Thanks to the internet's series of tubes, we can now turn to sites like Flickr for photos of the volcano and local residents as they cope with the disaster. Flickr photo contributors have posted some amazing pictures of the mudflow, such as the top right picture of the crater by Greenpeace, the bottom left picture taken by Farl on a roadside in Sidoarjo, East Java, and top left and bottom right pictures of residents celebrating the end of Ramadan in late October by Mata Adalah Cahaya. Mata has an excellent Flickr slideshow of her pictures here. See also pictures by Bromund Volker. |
Submitted Nov 29, 2006 to Science Blogs » Element FYI How did Larry Small get the Smithsonian Secretary job in the first place? For one thing, he's never led a research institution, museum, or a non-profit before. Instead, his entire professional life has been spent in ... banking. Twenty-seven years at Citicorp. Eight years at Fannie Mae. Guess all that banking experience would mean that he knows something about making money with other people's stuff. As this 2002 article from Archeology magazine entitled "Crisis at the Smithsonian" suggests, it seems that Small has been on the path to selling out the Smithsonian for quite some time:
Small pleaded guilty in January 2004 to a misdemeanor violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act for his collection of Amazonian bird feathers that allegedly included feathers from endangered species. |
Submitted Nov 29, 2006 to Science Blogs » Element FYI The countdown is on to find a gift for every geeky friend and familiy member you have. Tracking down those one or two perfect gifts can be hard. What do you give a geek who already has everything? Why, give them the hottest gadget of the season, of course. No, not a video game player. A DVD Rewinder! The one and only DVD Rewinder from DVDRewinder.com spins disks backwards and plays rewind sounds in MP3 format. You can even download new rewind sounds and load them onto the rewinder through the MP3 port. But this handy gadget does more than rewind DVDs. It also rewinds CDs and video games. A built-in compartment also holds disc cleaner, providing simultaneous cleaning and rewinding capability. Just read what customers like Josh Wickham have to say.
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Submitted Nov 27, 2006 to Science Blogs » Element FYI The fallout has been swift and harsh over the Smithsonian's secret deal with Showtime Networks to provide the network right of first refusal over commercial documentaries that make significant use of Smithsonian materials. The Interior subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee has responded by placing limitations in the FY07 budget allocation, including "limiting the Smithsonian's ability to execute any contract or legal agreement which could limit public access to the Smithsonian collections. In addition, the bill reduces the Smithsonians salaries and expenses account by $5 million."
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Submitted Nov 27, 2006 to Science Blogs » Element FYI The Java mud volcano that was triggered by drilling last May shows no signs of stopping more than six months since the first eruption. BBC News reports that the mud volcano is erupting at a rate of 130,000 cubic meters per day compared to 5,000 cubic meters per day last spring. The land around the volcano has subsided five meters since the eruption and is expected to subside even more as the outpouring of mud leaves a deep crater behind. Indonesian government officials are currently pursuing a plan to divert the mud into the sea through large plastic pipes and dredges, a plan which has alarmed environmentalists. More than 12,000 people have been forced from their homes by the disaster, and at least 11 people were killed last week in a gas pipeline explosion triggered by the mudflow. Residents have complained that neither PT Lapindo Brantas nor the Java government have done much to stop the mudflow or help displaced residents. According to Al Jazeera, PT Lapindo is a subsidiary of Indonesia's second largest publicly traded energy company, which is controlled by the family of Aburizal Bakrie, the senior cabinet minister of the "people's welfare."
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Submitted Nov 19, 2006 to Science Blogs » Element FYI |
Submitted Nov 19, 2006 to Science Blogs » Element FYI |
Submitted Nov 16, 2006 to Science Blogs » Element FYI It's that time of year again when grad students are nearing the finish line on their theses and searching for *gasp* a real job. If you haven't lined up a job or post-doc yet, check out the new Science Jobs section on Element List. We've compiled a bunch of great science job websites from dedicated science job listings (Scienteur, APS Careers) and science magazine job classifieds (The Scientist Careers), to job boards from major science research labs (Lucent/Bell Labs, Los Alamos National Lab, NIH). We're adding new science job listings sites all the time. If you don't see a favorite site of yours, send us a tip.
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Submitted Nov 15, 2006 to Science Blogs » Element FYI Smith Magazine is all about helping you get your story out. Of course, to get started, it's helpful to know exactly which tools are available for you to get your story out on the web, which, let's face it, is the only medium that really matters anymore. So which tools are best and also free or cheap? Well, Smith mag has put together a handly little DIY Media Toolbox, which is essentially a guided tour of all the most popular blogging and networking sites in use today. Aside from the obvious sites like MySpace and YouTube, there are others such as LiveJournal for networking, iFilm for videos, Newsvine for news, Deviantart for art, and Moveable Type for blogging. The list includes about 30 sites with descriptions that are complete enough to help you decide which ones might be best for you. (Image by *rufftoon from Deviantart.)
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Submitted Nov 15, 2006 to Science Blogs » Element FYI Honeywell is hosting videos of interviews and science lectures with Nobel Laureates on the Honeywell Interactive Nobel Studio. Mario Molina, winner of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his discovery that man-made chemicals are damaging the ozone layer and pictured at right, discusses science careers and global warming. Physics Laureate (1988) Leon Lederman discusses particle physics, the Big Bang, and his discovery of two kinds of nutrinos. Steven Chu, Physics 1997 Nobel co-winner for the "optical tweezers" laser trap, discusses science as a career, energy issues, and the work that led to his winning the Nobel Prize. The Laureate Lecture currently features Horst Stormer, co-winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Physics for discovery of the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect.
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Submitted Nov 15, 2006 to Science Blogs » Element FYI More and more universities are taking advantage of the internet to create their own mini TV networks on the web with streaming video. The University of California may have one of the most extensive catalogues of new videos covering events, lectures, and special made-for-the-web video programming as it covers all of the campuses within the UC system - and they all can be found on the UCTV website. Featured online video programs include State of Minds, a professionally produced 30-minute news magazine covers news and people from all of the UC campuses. The Teacher's P.E.T., airing Monday through Thursdays at 4 PM Pacific time, presents the latest news on research and education for grade school teachers and is divided into subcategories, such as science and history. The Med Ed Hour, which airs every week on Tuesday though Thursday at noon Pacific Time, covers news in medicine and health care for medical professionals. Professionals can even earn continuing education credits by watching some of the MedEd programs. Best of all, all of the videos are available as downloadable podcasts for your iPod.
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