Archive by category | General

Would you like to participate in a focus group for Nature?

The editors and publishers of Nature seek the opinion of scientists at a series of focus groups this October. The focus groups will be held in San Francisco, Washington DC, Glasgow, Manchester, Oxford, Geneva and Munich. Nature is seeking 20 people in each city. You need not be a regular reader of the journal, or to have published in it.  Read more

Seymour Benzer’s approach to science

Seymour Benzer, one of the giants of twentieth-century biology, died on 30 November 2007. Benzer, who maintained an active laboratory until the time of his death, was a unique figure who made seminal contributions to physics, molecular biology and behavioural genetics. See: Obituary: Seymour Benzer (1921-2007) by David Anderson with Sydney Brenner (Nature 451, 139; 2008).  Read more

Happy holiday season to all Nautilus readers

Will you be working on Christmas Day? Richard J. Ladle et al. in Nature‘s Correspondence page this week (450, 1156; 2007) report evidence that increasing numbers of scientists are swapping party hats for mouse mats during the festive season. Take a look at their suitably decorative evidence, and I urge you to take their advice.  Read more

Summer reads at Nature Methods

“Let’s see: plane ticket, sun block, toothbrush, mp3 player – you are all set for a summer break. Wait, some reading? Well, here comes the dilemma between the latest page-turner and the pile of research article PDFs on your desk. Why not compromise and pack a good popular science book?” So starts the July editorial in Nature Methods (4, 535; 2007), aptly entitled “summer reading”. What follows is an eclectic sample of the editors’ reading lists. If you have some favourites to add, please do so at Methagora, the Nature Methods blog, which also carries an extended list of “staff picks”.  Read more