Tomorrow sees me hit the road (well, the rails, really) for the start of my conference season. First up is the 2009 International Symposium on Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry (ISMSC 2009) in Maastricht in The Netherlands. This brings back fond memories of my first trip to an ISMC conference (in the days before the macrocyclic and supramolecular chemistry meetings decided to merge) back in 1998. The venue was Turtle Bay on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Brownie points for anyone who can spot me in this photo!

Next up, is a trip to the 2009 Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting – and this year the meeting is dedicated to chemistry (with some climate concerns thrown in for good measure). The Lindau meetings bring together Nobel Laureates and young researchers from around the globe and is not your typical conference that consists of lectures and poster sessions. The laureates and researchers are thrown together for the best part of a week; for lectures, discussions and dinner – the social programme is integrated with the scientific one.

Last year at Lindau the focus was on physics and Nature produced a series of videos featuring conversations between students and Laureates – you can see all of them here. This year, we’re doing a similar thing, so look out for some videos later in the year.

I’ll be blogging from both meetings and perhaps tweeting too… so keep an eye out for what’s going on.

Stuart

Stuart Cantrill (Chief Editor, Nature Chemistry)

Who says you need to leave the city and go on expensive vacation to see wildlife this summer? With a metro card and an iPod you can take a tour of the flora and fauna along the number 7 subway line. Safari 7 (presented by UrbanOmnibus – a project of the Architectural League of New York) is a fun-filled tour of New York’s urban ecosystem. This project is collaborative effort between Janette Kim & Kate Orff, of

Columbia University’s Urban Landscape Lab, and graphic designer and teacher, Glen Cummings.

The tour begins in Manhattan’s Times Square, goes under the East River, through various residential areas and parklands, ending in Flushing, Queens. Using podcasts (created by students in a seminar on urban ecology at the Barnard and Columbia Colleges architecture program), the tour examines nature and wildlife along many stops on the train. Currently, there are twelve episodes (stops) available for download, with more to be added throughout the summer. Episodes can be downloaded in mp3 or mp4 (iTunes slideshow) formats.

Episodes available:

Germs / 42 St – Times Square

U Thant Island / Grand Central – 42 St

Oysters / Vernon Blvd – Jackson Av

Dope Fish / Hunters Point Av

Squirrels / Queensboro Plaza

Dogs / 40 St – Lowery St

Ecology of Death / 52 St

Courtyards / 82 St – Jackson Hts

Reef Condos / 90 St – Elmhurst Av

Pigeons / Junction Blvd

Chickens / 103 St – Corona Plaza

Flushing Meadows / Willets Point – Shea Stadium

So what are you waiting for? Hop on the train and have a listen.