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Nature Protocols is currently offering free access to all of volume 2 for the month of May. The current issue (vol 2, no. 5) includes:

>Immobilization of enzymes on heterofunctional epoxy supports
>Generation of a defined and uniform population of CNS progenitors and neurons from mouse embryonic stem cells
>Isolation and culture of rat and mouse oligodendrocyte precursor cells
>Synthesis of oligo-RNAs with photocaged adenosine 2'-hydroxyls
>Identification and insertion of 3-carbon bridges in protein disulfide bonds: a computational approach

As well as reading current content, at the Nature Protocols site you can also upload your own protocol directly, view movies of protocols, join the discussion forums, add comments to protocols on the site, and check out the "tools and reagents" page, in which details are provided of how to make up some commonly used reagents, as well as an updated list of all the basic equipment that researchers will need to perform the protocols published.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 30, 2007
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"Brian", a graduate student in geology, at his blog ...Or Something..., reviews science podcasts. Under the microscope are Nature's weekly podcast, Science Friday, Science Times, Science Talk and PopSci's podcast. Here's what Brian writes about the Nature podcast:

This is one of the longer ones at about 25-30 minutes and is published once a week. This podcast sums up 3 or 4 of the prominent articles that are reported in the weekly journal Nature. The format is typically a phone interview with one or more of the authors of a study in that week's issue. This is the most technical of all the podcasts listed here.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 30, 2007
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Henry Gee, in his review of the book The Discovery of the Hobbit by M. Morwood and P. Van Oosterzee (Nature 446, 979-980;26 April 2007), describes what it was like to read what seemed to be the equivalent of a description of the discovery of a unicorn:

"Many manuscripts received by Nature are full of the confidence of scientists who know precisely what they have found and why it is important. But a paper that landed unannounced on my desk on 3 March 2004 was surprising, not only for the extraordinary discovery that it reported, but for the matter-of-fact, almost muted, tones in which it was described. Reading between the lines, it seemed as if the discoverers of Sundanthropus floresianus weren't entirely clear in their own minds about what manner of unicorn they had unearthed."

He goes on to recount: "The referees responded with one accord. To be sure, the creature was strange, but the strangeness might be a consequence of its size. The skull, though, was clearly that of a member of our own genus, Homo. In addition, one referee commented specifically on the specific name, floresianus, noting that generations of students would dub it 'flowery anus'. The authors duly changed the generic and specific name to Homo floresiensis and, after several iterations, that was the name attached to the fossil when the discovery was published in Nature on 28 October 2004."
See the complete book review here.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 27, 2007
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An immunological understanding of how transcription factors direct lymphocyte lineage determination requires appreciation of the myriad ways in which they interact with and influence other cellular processes. Nature Immunology has just published a web focus containing five specially commissioned articles on the lymphocyte lineage specification factors that drive T- and B-cell development and function. This web focus is freely accessible during May, and also features an editorial and online collections of research highlights, a library of landmark publications, classic papers, essays and reviews.
From this month's Nature Immunology Editorial:" It is exciting to think that years after the initial recognition of the crucial roles played by these transcription factors during lymphocyte development, so many details of their functions remain to be understood. Only after the identification of the proteins and processes that are influenced directly or indirectly by these transcription factors can we accurately place them within the big picture of lymphocyte lineage specification."

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 27, 2007
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In the Editorial of the April issue of Nature Clinical Practice Rheumatology (3, 189; 2007), Editor in Chief Peter E. Lipsky writes: "The IF [Impact Factor] was envisioned over 50 years ago with the purpose of eliminating "the uncritical citation of fraudulent, incomplete or obsolete data by making it possible for the conscientious scholar to be aware of criticisms of earlier work" (Garfield E [1955] Science 122: 108–111). The IF has subsequently morphed into an institutionalized means of ranking the quality of scientific journals and, by implication, the individual articles published within them; for researchers, the IF influences employability, promotion, grant acceptability and bonus payments, and has been likened to a popularity contest."
Dr Lipsky discusses various flaws in the Impact Factor evaluation system, such as the lack of transparency of the formula by which the IF is calculated; that an erroneous but frequently cited article will bolster the ranking; disproportionate representation of review articles; and the differences in publication and citation frequencies in different disciplines. He asks whether his journal even actually wants an IF when it becomes eligible, concluding: "We do not feel that the current IF will reflect either our quality or our potential influence on clinical practice. Only if a new validated metric is developed that can evaluate the true quality and value of journal articles can we make real progress in improving the communication of new information in clinical medicine."
The full editorial is available at the journal's website or as a PDF here: Download file.
Comments are very welcome.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 27, 2007
Categories: Citation analysis, Quality measures | Permalink | Comments (0)

To celebrate its fifteenth birthday year, Nature Genetics, in partnership with the Wellcome Trust, announces a conference covering research strategies progressing from genome-wide association studies to untangling the mechanisms of common diseases. The Genomics of Common Diseases conference will take place from 7 to 10 July 2007 at The Wellcome Trust Conference Centre, The Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK.
The availability of genome-wide association studies has started to redefine the genetic architecture of common diseases, and over the next three to five years will reveal new susceptibility genes for a wide range of these disorders. This is shifting the strategic emphasis of common disease genetics, from identification of susceptibility genes to understanding of mechanisms and potential applications. The following topics are on the programme:
>The state of the art in genome-wide association studies across a range of common diseases
>The transition from knowledge of susceptibility genes to understanding of mechanism
>Population genetics, genome evolution and structural variation in common disease genetics
>The usefulness of risk prediction based on genetic and other available tests
>Ethical, legal and social implications of personal genetic information.

In the meantime, don't forget the Question of the Year: What would you do if it became possible to sequence the equivalent of a full human genome for only $1,000? So far, 28 genetics researchers have provided their answers on the Question of the Year website. More answers will be added until October, so contact Nature Genetics if you work in this field and have your own suggestion.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 27, 2007
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From a Correspondence by Brian Haynes in Nature 446, 725; 2007.
ISI has recently delisted a number of publications from the Web of Science without informing the affected publishers or editors, or publishing a full list of the excisions. The motivation seems to have been to focus the Web of Science on journals and to move conference proceedings to another, little-known product, ISI Proceedings — notwithstanding the fact that many journals have special issues containing conference proceedings.
Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, an important archive in the multidisciplinary field of combustion dating back to 1928, is one of the affected publications. Because its peer-reviewed papers are presented at the biennial International Symposium on Combustion, they will no longer be listed in the Web of Science. According to ISI, the decision to exclude this publication "was not based on an evaluation of its importance to the community of scholars it serves".
This experience adds a new dimension to problems with excessive reliance on citation analyses. The Web of Science database itself is subject to unaccountable adjustments without scientific justification or regard to scientific importance.
Brian Haynes
The Combustion Institute, Pittsburgh, USA

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 26, 2007
Categories: Citation analysis, Quality measures | Permalink | Comments (1)

While on the subject of neuroscience, this week's (26 April) free podcast from Nature, "A new study of old brains", features an analysis of two damaged brains, preserved in a museum since the nineteenth century, which could force neuroscientists to rethink the area where language resides in the brain. Two brains in which Paul Broca, the French anatomist and surgeon, originally identified 'Broca's area' -- the brain's speech-processing centre -- have been scanned using magnetic resonance imaging. Oddly, the new scans show that Broca's original patients didn't have damage in Broca's area after all. Read the full story at news@nature.com.
Also discussed in this week's podcast are new studies reported in Nature on lowering inhibitions in addiction; wing shape in swifts; iron and carbon sequestration; the perfect pint; and how invasive species gain ground.
An archive of Nature podcasts and their transcripts, all freely available, is on this web page.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 26, 2007
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Nature Reviews Neuroscience is the no. 1 monthly review journal in neuroscience, with an impact factor of 20.951. In May, online access to the entire issue is free. Reviews include:
Transcriptional regulation of vertebrate axon guidance and synapse formation
Franck Polleux, Gulayse Ince-Dunn & Anirvan Ghosh
Drosophila olfactory memory: single genes to complex neural circuits
Alex C. Keene & Scott Waddell
Epigenetic regulation in psychiatric disorders
Nadia Tsankova, William Renthal, Arvind Kumar & Eric J. Nestler
Cell cycle regulation in the postmitotic neuron: oxymoron or new biology?
Karl Herrup & Yan Yang
Binocular depth perception and the cerebral cortex
Andrew J. Parker
To read these articles, and the rest of the content of the May issue, please visit the journal website.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 26, 2007
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Reuben Clements, Navjot Sodhi, David Bickford, David Lohman and Mary Posa write:

The explanatory power of videos has been harnessed by at least one online scientific journal explicating molecular biology protocols (Journal of Visualized Experiments). YouTube , which has arguably become the world's online video-sharing nexus, is a free website containing more than 70 million video clips and commanding a monthly viewership of around 20 million people. Scientists should therefore consider broadcasting environmental messages through this pipeline, which connects to an audience that primarily consists of impressionable 12- to 17-year olds.

The concept of YouTube appears well-suited to improve online eco-literacy. An inexhaustible supply of short documentary clips that are viewable anytime could fare better at public outreach, as opposed to full-length versions shown at fixed times on television networks. The video commentary function on YouTube also allows scientists to contribute informed opinions.

YouTube's connectivity is another powerful feature. Videos with similar themes can be 'tagged' to one another or hyperlinked to environmental weblogs to deliver stronger messages, or even act a platform for investigative journalism, where anonymous contributors are relatively safe from the repercussions of whistle-blowing. As an example, we uploaded a video documenting deforestation within Lore Lindu National Park in Sulawesi, Indonesia .

Despite its frivolity, the most viewed clip on YouTube has attracted more than 44 million views. If the scientific community can contribute expert opinions and persuasive videos on a regular basis, YouTube could be an effective conduit to foster a deeper understanding of our roles as environmental custodians.

Reuben Clements, Navjot Sodhi, David Bickford, David Lohman and Mary Posa
Department of Biological Sciences,
National University of Singapore

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 25, 2007
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Pamela Silver writes in Correspondence this week (Nature 446, 856; 2007):
Mary Ann Holmes and Suzanne O'Connell comment on the lack of women in the academic ranks in your Recruiters article "Leaks in the pipeline" (Nature 446, 346; 2007). In the same issue, advertisements for two Nature conferences illustrate part of the problem — the poor representation of women speakers at scientific meetings.
The Nature conference "Oncogenes and human cancer: the next 25 years" features 36 speakers, of whom four are women. The "Days of molecular medicine: emerging technologies and cancer biology" conference, co-sponsored by Nature Medicine, features 19 speakers, of whom two are women. There are many accomplished women scientists in the areas covered by these meetings. There is no obvious reason why the number of women speakers should be so low.
The representation of women speakers at many meetings remains dismally poor and thus may contribute to the lack of success of women in academia.
However, this is a problem that could be easily remedied, if more attention were paid by organizers and the agencies that provide funding for meetings to the issue of whether qualified female speakers have been missed.

Pamela A. Silver
Harvard Medical School

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 25, 2007
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Biji T. Kurien, Yaser Dorri and R. Hal Scofield write:
While it is a fact that editors of scientific journals feel the pinch when authors use redundant prose (see the Correspondence by Cheryl Strauss in Nature 446, 725; 2007), it is also true that authors feel intense pain as a consequence of the differences in the style and format of reference required by many journals, as well as from the lack of general standardization criteria for units.
Many high-impact journals have a low acceptance rate, so most authors have to resend their manuscripts to other journals. At this juncture they are forced to spend long hours to reformat their manuscript to accommodate different submission requirements.
The two main methods of referencing articles in journal and book publications are the Harvard (author-date) and Vancouver (author-number) reference systems, although many journals have their own variants. There are also other reference styles, for example British Standards 1629 and 5605.
The Harvard style uses the author's name and publication date in the body of the text, with the bibliography arranged alphabetically by author. Several universities use variants of this style in their own institutions.
Vancouver style differs from Harvard by using a number series to indicate references. Bibliographies list these in numerical order as they appear in the text. The US National Library of Medicine provides sample references for about 40 different circumstances. Even though several top-tier medical journals use the Vancouver style, it is essential to consult 'Instructions for Authors' for any publication before submitting a paper. The Mulford Library at the Medical College of Ohio, for example, keeps a list of journal instructions to authors for more than 3,000 health sciences journals.
In several journals, in-text numbers cite references in superscript. Some journals require capitalization of titles, even for names, whereas others require author names in bold and yet others require the initials of the first author to be on the right side with initials of subsequent authors on the left. Some require author’s first and last name spelt out, whereas others prefer initials. Some require only the first page number, whereas others require abbreviated ranges (501-7) and yet others full page ranges (501-507). Punctuation conventions vary so widely as to drive one crazy. One journal even requires that 75% of the references in an article need to be indexed by ISI and published after 1998. Some need the volume in bold or just italics, some require the year of publication following author names, and yet others want it later on. It goes on and on.
Having a uniform submission and data expression system not only saves time for authors and readers , but can also help to eliminate citation mistakes, unnecessary headaches and speed up the submission and publication process.
Biji T. Kurien, Yaser Dorri and R. Hal Scofield
Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, 825 NE 13th Street,
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73104, USA

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 24, 2007
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Language clinic.
Aydin Orstan of the Snails' Tails blog was incensed to read this part of a sentence from an article in The Journal of Molluscan Studies: "...lived there for an extensive period, predating the pinninds' mantle." What the authors meant to convey, says Dr Orstan, was that the carnivorous Cymatium specimens recovered from inside the mantle cavities of several species of bivalves had been preying on the latters' mantle tissue. He also points out that in three subsequent sentences of the article, snails are stated to be "predating on" bivalves.
'Predate' is the verb meaning "to happen before". Hence, if one is writing about prey and predators, one needs to be clear about what is meant in English, by using a term such as "were preying on" as Dr Orstan suggests.
'Predator' and 'predation' are nouns that do not have a verb form in common English usage. A literal reading of the passage identified by Dr Orstan is that the snails lived before the bivalves.
A commenter at the Snails' Tails post writes that he uses the term "depredate", but I don't think this is necessary or desirable, or even correct in this context (to my knowledge and my dictionary's).

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 24, 2007
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Via Outsell/Insights, I read that the International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical (STM) Publishers last week held its Book 2.01 Seminar in London as part of the London Book Fair. The event set out to examine where STM publishers are heading with their e-book strategies, and to look at where future developments might lead.
One of the speakers, Professor Martin Hofmann-Apitius, of the Fraunhofer Institut for Algorithms and Scientific Computing, talked about scientists´ use of book content and about the innovative applications his institution has produced to interpret chemical resonance structure diagrams in scanned text in a way that can then be used for experimentation.
There was discussion about making books available through routes that have traditionally been used by researchers to find journal articles. This year many more e-book chapters may start to be indexed by Pubmed, Scopus and other abstracting and indexing services, bringing together book and journal content where researchers can find and use it. "Good news for researchers", according to Outsell/Insights.
The Book 2.01 presentations are available from the association's website.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 24, 2007
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If you want to order reprints of your article, or extra copies of the issue of the journal in which you pubished it, or even a poster of the cover of the journal issue, there is now a central ordering page on the Reprints and Permissions website.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 23, 2007
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Call for papers!
Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics invites contributions in the following areas for two special issues publishing in Autumn 2007.
Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine:
This issue of Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics will focus on stem cell biology, adaptations in the field of drug development and regulation required to translate this biology into patient-based therapies, and the practice and ethical challenges inherent in their application to populations of patients with diverse diseases.
Molecular Medicine:
This issue will explore the translation of this new biology to novel diagnostic and therapeutic modalities characterizing molecular medicine, together with the associated developmental, regulatory, practice and ethical challenges.
To submit your work to either of these issues, please visit this link. The journal's guide to authors is available here.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 23, 2007
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The Signaling Gateway's Molecule of the Week is Rsk1, or to give it its full name, p90 ribosomal S6 kinase. Rsk1 is a serine kinase that phosphorylates the 40S ribosomal protein S6 in response to Ras/extracellular signal-regulated kinase pathway activation. Rsk1 has a role in gene transcription, cell growth and proliferation, and cell survival. The full characterization of Rsk1 can be seen at its peer-reviewed Molecule Pages
You can sign up to the Signaling Gateway's weekly e-alert to receive news of each week's selected molecule, as well as relevant news and updates for the content of NPG's other databases.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 23, 2007
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What does a good laboratory homepage look like? Show me at least one! � Pimm - Partial immortalization

At the post above, Attila Csordás asks if he is alone in his opinion that most academic laboratory web pages simply do not meet any advanced, current, dynamic web standards, even though this is crucial for them. His view is that many laboratory web pages were set up by "scientists turned web geeks" (his expression! But I like it) some years ago and have never been updated to reflect "web 2.0" and its associated multimedia opportunities.

Attila's post above features four laboratory web pages that he thinks are good, so do go over and take a look. He's also initiated an unofficial competiton for the best lab web page, and has received many suggestions and comments. So if your institutional web page hasn't been updated for ages (which in this context means since about 2004), check out some of the examples on offer at Partial Immortalization (Attila's blog). You can add in your own nominations or get some creative ideas, or even both.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 20, 2007
Categories: Communication | Permalink | Comments (0)

A short trial period in science publishing | nodalpoint.org
For those interested in considering a career in scientific publishing, or perhaps an internship or sabbatical to see what it is all about, Pedro Beltrao in the post linked above describes his period as a trainee at Molecular Systems Biology. Pedro provides his assessment of what a journal does and what is involved in producing it. He concludes:

I thought this was a very useful experience. I think that it would be to everyone's benefit if this type of trainee period was a standard part of a scientific education. It would give everyone more to relate to when we have to go through the publishing process either as author, referee or editor.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 20, 2007
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Nature Chemical Biology is offering readers a free 3D poster and glasses. Just go to this link to make your claim, or go here to find out more about the poster and glasses, which enable you to view and manipulate chemical compounds in 3D on the journal website. Nature Chemical Biology's May table of contents is available here. The journal has an online animated guide to navigating its site, and now features online linking of chemical structures to PubChem.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 20, 2007
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My friend and colleague Julie Clayton received an email about the opening of a Nature-inspired play in Baton Rouge, Lousiana. The email, from Vince LiCata of the Department of Biological Sciences at Louisiana State University, explains that Julie's News Feature "Out of Thailand, into Africa" (Nature 430, 136-137; 2004) was one of the inspirations for a play about the life and work of Krisana Kraisintu that he has written with Ping Chong.
Cocktail is the story of the achievements of Thai pharmaceutical scientist Dr Kraisintu in establishing the manufacture of affordable HIV treatments in Thailand and sub-Saharan Africa, as described in Julie's Nature News Feature. Dr Kraisintu developed the first triple-drug-single-pill tablets for treatment of HIV (now called fixed-drug combinations or FDCs). She also was the first to introduce such improvements as flavoured tablets for children. Cocktail depicts "the arc of her struggle against the multiple forces, both political and financial, that she eventually overcame."
The authors think that this is the first ever professionally produced play co-authored by a scientist and a theatre artist. The play is now in rehearsal and will open at Swine Palace Theater in Baton Rouge on 20 April and will run till May 6.
Dr Kraisintu plans to see the play during the second week of its run. She will be a "Chancellor's Distinguished Lecturer" and will give talks on her work. For more information, please contact Dr LiCata or see the theatre's website.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 19, 2007
Categories: Public and media | Permalink | Comments (0)

Increasing prose quality by decreasing word repetition : Article : Nature
Cheryl Strauss of the Department of Human Genetics, Emory University School of Medicine, writes:

'Increase' and 'decrease' are serviceable English words, so why is it my mission to winnow them from the prose that I edit daily? As a technical editor in a university department, I do not demand poetry from my writers; scientific accuracy and logical flow are paramount. Nevertheless, I long for an occasional fresh alternative to 'increasing' and 'decreasing' quantities, measurements and all manner of other too-familiar turns of phrase.
Must mice always have 'a decreased tail length'? I admire the professionalism that refrains from a description of 'adorable, stumpy little mouse tails', but what is wrong with 'shorter tails'? It saves two words for writers tearing their hair out over journals' word counts, and is no less precise. 'Fluoresce' is a lovely word, so why ruin its inherent lyricism with a dull 'increase'? Try 'brighter' fluorescence occasionally, or even 'more intense'.
I challenge all scientific authors: search your documents and count how often you use these two simple words, not forgetting permutations such as 'increasing' and 'increased'. You may be surprised at how frequently they rear their heads.
If so, I urge you to seek a remedy. There are times when only an increase or a decrease will do. Make those times count, and use the full expanse of the English language to broaden your prose elsewhere. Sheer repetition is anaesthetizing, and the aim (one hopes) is to keep the reader awake as well as informed. Strive for accuracy, logic and truth; but in matters of style, simple variety is a welcome spice.
From Nature 446, 725 (2007).

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 18, 2007
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Nature Reports Stem Cells will be launching very soon. The site will be a hub of information and discussion about stem cells: their biology, clinical applications, and ethical issues concerning their creation and use. The site is aimed at anyone who has an interest in stem cells, from research biologists to those simply wanting to know what stem cells are and what they do. Content will be regularly updated by the editorial team, bringing readers the latest news and research findings together with comment and analysis. A Stem Cell Primer and other introductory material should be helpful to those unfamiliar with the field. By going to the link above, you can offer suggestions, sign up to e-alerts, and find links to various stem cell focuses and podcasts already published by the Nature journals.

The first in the Nature Reports series, Nature Reports Avian Flu, was launched earlier this month.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 18, 2007
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Via Pedro Beltrao, I'd like to welcome a newcomer to the blogosphere: officially launching today is The Seven Stones, the blog of the journal Molecular Systems Biology. From The Seven Stones' "about" page:

The Seven Stones is the blog of Molecular Systems Biology, the open-access journal published by the Nature Publishing Group and EMBO, which covers all aspects of the rapidly growing and interdisciplinary field of systems biology at the molecular level. Why a blog? A forum for open discussions with a dynamic content is a natural extension of Molecular Systems Biology open-access philosophy and we would very much like to see this blog develop into a vibrant exchange platform for all scientists interested in the fields of Systems and Synthetic Biology. The topics that will be discussed will include all aspects of Systems and Synthetic Biology, including technical matters, general scientific issues and societal aspects. To help retrieve entries but also to provocatively probe the extent of the field of Systems Biology, we will classify all blog posts using a set of nested subject categories (visible on the left navigation bar), somewhat reminiscent of a 'pocket' ontology for research fields in Systems Biology. The blog will be seeded by the Editors of the journal, but posts from our readers are more than welcome. Please send us your posts.

Initial posts on The Seven Stones include George Church on the lack of protocols in cell and molecular biology; and Thomas Lemberger on "A visual wiki for biological notation?" ; and VelociMouse unleashed.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 17, 2007
Categories: Publications | Permalink | Comments (1)

Q: Message: Dear Editor(s),
Regarding the "duplicate publication" policy: Does a doctoral thesis count as "previously published"? i.e., can I submit work that was part of my doctoral thesis?
thanks,
MR

A: Dear MR
No, a doctoral thesis does not count as "previously published" and yes, you can submit work that was part of your thesis, with an appropriate citation.
Best wishes
Maxine

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 17, 2007
Categories: Policies Feedback | Permalink | Comments (1)

A reminder that tickets are now on sale for the Royal Institution evening public lecture series on polymathy and science chaired by Oliver Morton, Chief News and Features Editor of Nature, programme organized by Sara Abdulla, publisher of Macmillan Science books and of Nature Network. Do come – and please spread the word to others who might.
On Wednesday of this week, 18 April, John Whitfield will talk on D’ Arcy Wentworth Thompson: ‘The last man who read everything’ Wednesday's lecture follows from last month's talk by Andrew Robinson on Thomas Young: ‘The last man who knew everything’
These lectures will be followed by a debate on 16 May 'What happened to the polymaths?', about whether interdisciplinarity is alive, dead, possible, desirable, vice or virtue.
Venue: The Royal College of Surgeons of England, 35–43 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PE
Tickets: www.rigb.org ; (+44) 0 20 7409 2992
Details: 7-8.30pm. £8/£5 Ri Members, RCS Fellows/Members and concessions. (The Royal Institution is on tour while its building undergoes a refurbishment.)

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 16, 2007
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Professor Stephen Seligman writes:
Nature's News article on Darwin and the 20-year publication gap (Nature 446, 478-479; 2007) discusses some of the controversies surrounding the reasons for the 20-year delay between the time that Darwin began to think about evolution and the publication of Origin of Species.
Whatever the cause of the delay, there is little disagreement about the chief factor that forced Darwin eventually to publish (The Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th edn VII, 840-843; Cambridge University Press,1910). On 18 June 1858 he received a letter from A. R. Wallace, then at Ternate in the Maluku Islands, describing a theory of natural selection strikingly similar to his own. Darwin, taken aback by the realization that he could be scooped, consulted colleagues, who sent Wallace's essay, together with an abstract of Darwin's work, as a joint article that was read in a meeting of the Linnaean Society on 1 July of the same year.
Thus a procrastination of two decades was ended in 13 days. Both men had been stimulated by reading Malthus on population. While lying ill with fever in Maluku, Wallace developed the theory of natural selection in two hours and completed his essay in three days. By modern standards, both men would have been eligible to share a Nobel.

Stephen J. Seligman, MD
Research Professor
New York Medical College
Valhalla, New York 10595, USA

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 16, 2007
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Last week, Nature announced its 2007 awards for scientific mentoring, in this editorial (subscription required: 446, 584; 5 April 2007). Nature is this year inviting nominations of outstanding scientific mentors in South Africa. The closing date for nominations is 31 May and we will announce the winners on 21 September 2007. The Editor-in-Chief of Nature, Dr Philip Campbell, will present the awards at a special event in Cape Town.

Further details about the awards, including how to make a nomination, the process, the prizes and the judges, can be found here.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 16, 2007
Categories: Author benefits, Careers</