Of Schemes and Memes Blog

Best of Nature Network, NPG staff blogs and Scitable: 5 – 11 November

This is the weekly round-up of the best content on the Nature Network, Scitable and NPG staff blogs. We now also create a weekly Communities Happenings post where you can read more about events such as Science Online NYC, tweetups, and which conferences NPG staff are attending. We also include social media news and occasional science writing-related job opportunities at NPG.

Flocking

GrrlScientist asks in her latest post, what particle physics, statistics and poetry have in common. The answer is…. a flock of Eurasian starlings, Sturnus vulgaris. Find out why in her post, which includes a video capturing many thousands of European starlings as they settle in to their evening roost:

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Onto flocking of another kind, with Graham Morehead who this week has been discussing Flocking of the Mind, comparing it to the beauty seen in a flock of starlings. He suggests in his latest offering (without mathematical support) that consciousness is a flocking of the mind:

The flock itself seems to have life. The flock dances, soars, and undulates. No bird is in charge of a flock. It is neither chaotic nor static. Flocking behavior emerges as a natural consequence of the bird-to-bird interaction. Computer models exhibit flocking behavior using only three parameters. Nature might be just as simple.

Do you agree with Graham’s ideas? Find out more and join in the online discussion.

Medical technology

The Spoonful of Medicine blog has discusses how a new probe which can image both the structural anatomy of artery walls, as well as the biological activities within them, could one day help detect blood clots before they cause problems. Farouc Jaffer, director of the Cardiovascular Molecular Imaging Program at the Massachusetts General Hospital’s Center for Molecular Imaging Research in Boston, together with Guillermo Tearney and Hongki Yoo from Mass General’s Wellman Center for Photomedicine, created their new catheter-based device by combining two microimaging techniques which doctors have traditionally performed separately. Watch this video below where Tearney explains the kinds of images and animations that the device produces:

Find out more in their post.

Science IS cool enough for school

This week’s guest blogger is Shreena Patel, Scientific Projects Manager for Exscitec. In partnership with Imperial College Outreach, they provide hands-on practical activities for students to raise aspirations in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM).

As outreach providers for Imperial College, over the past 12 years, Exscitec has provided bespoke courses for school students of all ages and abilities. Whether it’s building robots, synthesizing compounds or discovering who committed murder most foul through forensic testing, we try to take STEM off the textbook page and into the real world. In a nutshell, we try give students that ‘wow’ factor that will change the way they look at STEM.

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Find out the other ways they make science “cool” for school children in the post.

Science to business

James Taylor, CEO and Co-Founder of Precision NanoSystems, an innovative startup at the convergence of nano-, micro-, and bio-technology, has been contributing to the Trade Secrets blog this week, revealing how he was able to navigate his career from bench to business:

Graduate or postgraduate studies are designed as a scientific training ground for a career as a scientist or professor. The knowledge gained is narrow and the skills learned are specific. For anyone serious about transitioning off the bench, you will need to actively pursue additional experiences and skills outside of your research work. There are many ways to do this during your degree, and I found that volunteering at an organization in an area of interest is one of the best ways to get your feet wet.

You can find more useful tips in his post.

Nature podcast

Each week, Nature publishes a free audio show hosted by Kerri Smith, Geoff Brumfiel and Geoff Marsh, highlighting content from the week’s edition of Nature. This week’s Nature Podcast includes: an expanding universe mystery; how primates became sociable; a test-drive in a nanomobile; the real risk of earthquakes in the middle of the United States. Make sure you subscribe for free to the Nature Podcast by copying and pasting this URL into iTunes or your preferred media player: Nature Podcast rss feed.

Science blogging

One post which seemed to be particularly widespread across the blogosphere this week was written by a Scitable blogger, Khalil A. Cassimally. In his post he asks, What Is The Place Of New Science Bloggers In Today’s Science Blogosphere? He raises some controversial points:

There are a number of reasons why science blogging networks cannot keep increasing in size. The important thing to grasp is that a blogging network is not meant to be as dynamic as the web. A reputable network presents readers with a set of respected bloggers which readers either trust or grow to trust. Readers need not like all the bloggers in a network but the successful networks are those who host bloggers with whom different sets of readers have become familiar with. This is actually a major selling-point for any network: familiarity or a feeling of community.

Discussion on this post certainly picked up and you can read Ed Yong’s response over on Google +. Feel free to join in the ongoing discussion.

Conference notes

Finally, how do you take notes at conferences? Take a look at what Raf Aerts’s notes look like when he forgets his black Moleskin notebook:

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