The week on Nature Network was dominated by a major transformation in our blogs section. For three years, we’ve been using a homegrown piece of software to present the daily scribblings of our bloggers. But the site is growing and required more sophisticated technology to handle everyone’s needs. So we’ve introduced a new blogging platform called Movable Type 4 (MT4) that allows bloggers to do much more with their posts. At the same time, the content has been moved into the same site as Nature’s staff blogs.

The bloggers reacted by doing what all good science bloggers do: they experimented. Stephen Curry was quick off the mark with this wonky effort:

We think he may have cheated. Eva Amsen was on the lookout for such things and wrote a post comparing the community’s joint efforts to master the new software to sitting an exam:

This is a test of my blog on the new MT4 system….

Read all the questions before you begin the test. You do not need a calculator for this exam. You need a pencil and a pen. You may only fill out the scantron card with pencil, and only write on the supplied lined paper with a pen.

Do not turn over this page until instructed.

Turn over this page.

No, not that way, the other way.

Good. You may begin.

Getting back to science, Bronwen Dekker reports on a new protocol involving ultrasound as a method to speed up a chemical reaction.

Chemical equations seem a lot more complex than when we were at school.

Finally, we’d also like to highlight Frank Norman’s wonderful essay about his first 30 years as a ‘traditional’ science librarian:

Last year in a single day I heard two people use the term “traditional librarian” with a sneer in their voice, both people who (I thought) should have known better. If your picture of a librarian is someone in a cardigan sitting with a big pile of dusty books, carrying out arcane tasks that no-one needs any more, then it is you who is out of date, not the librarian.

Now, read on.

We’d like to acknowledge that the transfer over to MT4 was less smooth than we had anticipated and while we hope that everyone is now able to login and be reunited with their blog or leave comments on others PLEASE don’t be shy if you’re having problems. You can scan the feedback forum for updates on any ongoing issues or to leave a suggestion or email network@nature.com and we’ll help you out.****