clock | March 6, 2009As you may have noticed, I'll be in Boston next week.
On March 8th, I'll go to the Science Cafe:
THE TOPIC:
It may seem Hollywood, but there are many accomplished scientists currently scanning the skies for signs of alien intelligence. What are they looking for? Flying saucers and little green men?
Actually, think talk radio and TV soap operas. We've been broadcasting signals like these for around 80 years, and some are powerful enough to reach other star systems. So there is a chance that aliens are out there broadcasting similar signals--signals we may be able to detect.
But how will we…
clock | March 6, 2009Post with the Most on Tom Paine's Ghost:
A $100 cash prize will be awarded for the most aesthetically powerful multi-media blog post.
Post content is limited only by the bounds of imagination.
Submissions will be selected and judged on the basis of four criteria:
1. Clarity
2. Originality
3. Integration (at least three forms of media must be utilized, images, text, movies, audio, etc.)
4. Power (the post's ability to motivate readers to action).
Submissions will be accepted until April 2, 2009.
clock | March 6, 2009From SCONC:
Tuesday, March 10
7 p.m.
Science Cafe, Durham: Re-Kindling Wood Energy
Duke professor Dan Richter does his bit at "Periodic Tables," talking about Europe's new alternative fuel -- firewood. He says Advanced Wood Combustion, AWC, might provide North America with a clean, affordable, abundant, and decentralized stream of renewable energy. Broad Street Café, 1116 Broad Street. http://ncmls.org/periodictables
clock | March 6, 2009Climate Change Affecting Europe's Birds Now, Say Researchers:
Climate change is already having a detectable impact on birds across Europe, says a Durham University and RSPB-led scientific team publishing their findings to create the world's first indicator of the climate change impacts on wildlife at a continental scale.
Diversity Of Birds Buffer Against West Nile Virus:
North American scientists studying West Nile virus have shown that more diverse bird populations can help to buffer people against infection. Since the virus first spread to North America it has reached epidemic proportions…
clock | March 6, 2009*****************************************************************************
CALL FOR PAPERS
International Conference for Digital Libraries and the Semantic Web (ICSD2009)
September 8-11, 2009 - University of Trento, Trento (ITALY)
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Digital libraries, in the central view of the term, focus on storing and organizing digital objects and providing access to these objects through professional or user-generated metadata or content-based search (full text, image content, full musical score). In an expanded view, DLs…
clock | March 5, 2009I have a very modulated way of dealing with my anger. I have always tried to understand the other person and invariably I've discovered that somebody who rubs you the wrong way has been rubbed the wrong way many times.
- Fred McFeely Rogers
clock | March 5, 2009I And The Bird #95 is up on Birds O' The Morning
Carnival of the Blue #22 is up on Malaria, Bedbugs, Sea Lice, and Sunsets
Carnival of the Green #169 is up on Turning Transparent in a Green World
Grand Rounds 5:24 are up on Health Business Blog
Friday Ark #233 is up on Modulator
clock | March 5, 2009
I know you have all been trembling in anticipation! But the day has finally arrived - the third science blogging anthology, The Open Lab 2008, is now up for sale!
This year's guest editor, Jennifer Rohn, did a fantastic job of putting together the best anthology ever! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Jennifer is a pro, so she assembled a team:
Richard Grant was the assistant editor (yes, the posts were really, professionally edited this year, and thus much improved in the process).
Maria Brumm did the technical part, the typesetting, starting out with the template designed last year by…
clock | March 5, 2009Lemurs: Secret Social Drama Among Humanity's Distant Cousins:
The guys were all stressed out. There were new infants in the community, and the guys knew from experience that that's when invaders were likely to come and kill the babies, particularly the male infants.
Birds Move North With Climate Change:
For the first time, researchers have documented a shift in breeding ranges for northerly species in North America. The study parallels findings in Europe.
Tropical Lizards Can't Take The Heat Of Climate Warming:
From geckos and iguanas to Gila monsters and Komodo dragons, lizards are among the…
clock | March 4, 2009There never did, there never will, and there never can exist a parliament, or any description of men, or any generation of men, in any country, possessed of the right or the power of binding and controlling posterity to the 'end of time,' or of commanding for ever how the world shall be governed, or who shall govern it.... Every age and generation must be as free to act for itself, in all cases, as the ages and generations which preceded it.
- Thomas Paine
clock | March 4, 2009There are 26 new articles in PLoS ONE today. As always, you should rate the articles, post notes and comments and send trackbacks when you blog about the papers. You can now also easily place articles on various social services (CiteULike, Connotea, Stumbleupon, Facebook and Digg) with just one click. Here are my own picks for the week - you go and look for your own favourites:
Mating First, Mating More: Biological Market Fluctuation in a Wild Prosimian:
In biology, economics, and politics, distributive power is the key for understanding asymmetrical relationships and it can be obtained by…
clock | March 4, 2009....to PZ Myers for getting a monthly writing gig in The Guardian. This is going to be fun to watch! The other three science writers they hired also sound interesting.
clock | March 4, 2009I've been having fun lately watching this guy struggle with the 21st century realities of scientific publishing which has a lot of parallels with the struggle that journalistic curmudgeons have - too steeped in the 20th century model to have the courage to think in a new way:
Socialism in science, or why Open Access may ultimately fail:
OK. So here's the argument: Science needs to be made known through publishing. In order for science to be published, we need a team of people who will do the job of supervising the review process, editing, storing, and distributing bite-sized pieces of science…
clock | March 4, 2009'Holds' on NOAA Administrator & Science Advisor Confirmations. Call Senators Now.:
The Washington Post is reporting that Senate votes to confirm Jane Lubchenco as NOAA Administrator and John Holdren as Science Advisor are currently being obstructed by a Democratic Senator. Quoting multiple unnamed sources, the Post says that New Jersey Democrat Robert Menendez has placed an "anonymous hold" on the nominations in order to try to gain leverage for some issues related to Cuba that he's interested in.
The Latest Outrage: Holds on Holdren, Lubchencho:
The Washington Post (the news part)…
clock | March 4, 2009From here:
Tim O'Reilly makes the argument for Open Publishing @ TOC 2009 from Open Publishing Lab @ RIT on Vimeo.
Drawing upon his real world experiences, Tim O'Reilly shares his thoughts on Open Publishing, why its a good idea, and how to make it work. This video was taken on the floor of the 2009 O'Reilly Tools of Change conference in New York City.
For more information on Tim O'Reilly (and why he knows what he's talking about), head to oreilly.com/ or follow him at: twitter.com/timoreilly
You can read (and download) "What is Web 2.0" at:
oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/…
clock | March 4, 2009First Fossil Brain: Shark Relative That Lived 300 Million Years Ago Yields Very Rare Specimen:
A 300-million-year-old brain of a relative of sharks and ratfish has been revealed by French and American scientists using synchrotron holotomography at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF). It is the first time that the soft tissue of such an old fossil brain has ever been found.
Evidence Appears To Show How And Where Brain's Frontal Lobe Works:
A Brown University study of stroke victims has produced evidence that the frontal lobe of the human brain controls decision-making along a…
clock | March 3, 2009There are two times in a man's life when he should not speculate: when he can't afford it, and when he can.
- Mark Twain