{"id":8384,"date":"2013-05-24T11:48:53","date_gmt":"2013-05-24T10:48:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/ofschemesandmemes\/?p=8384"},"modified":"2013-05-24T13:43:58","modified_gmt":"2013-05-24T12:43:58","slug":"best-of-nature-com-blogs-scilogs-com-and-scitable-18-24-may","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/ofschemesandmemes\/2013\/05\/24\/best-of-nature-com-blogs-scilogs-com-and-scitable-18-24-may","title":{"rendered":"Best of nature.com blogs, SciLogs.com and Scitable: 18 \u2013 24 May"},"content":{"rendered":"

Careers for scientists away from the bench<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many postdocs end up leaving the lab \u2013 so what other opportunities are out there? The\u00a0Nature Jobs<\/em>\u00a0Blog<\/a>\u00a0discusses a recent workshop at the University of Helsinki centred on careers away from the bench:<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\"Which<\/a>

Which way now?
ISTOCKPHOTO\/THINKSTOCK<\/p><\/div>\n

One theme that emerged during the conference was the idea that the traditional career path has changed \u2013 these days, your career trajectory will likely be dotted with dips and plateaus as you build skills or change directions. Changing jobs \u2013 even when related to your current field \u2013 can be daunting, but there are plenty of steps you can take to initiate that process whilst in your current role\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Continue to the\u00a0post\u00a0<\/a>which includes\u00a0a list of possible job roles.<\/p>\n

Scitable Relaunches Their Blog Network\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nature Education\u2019s<\/em> Scitable<\/em>\u00a0relaunched their blog network this week, and to tie in with this we hosted a Q&A with Ilona Miko<\/a>:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Root<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n

Of the ten new blogs launching this week, seven are group blogs that concentrate on specific fields of science (neuroscience, psychology, geology, oceanography, physics, evolution and environment) while three are individual blogs with a more personal focus (mentoring, philosophy of physics and astrobiology, and science news).<\/em><\/p>\n

The group blogs aim to educate and entertain by tackling the fundamentals of their fields and answering relevant questions that you may have thought of\u2026 but never got answers to.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

You can keep updated with the latest Scitable news on Twitter; their hashtag is\u00a0#scitable<\/a>. If you have a favorite blog, they also have RSS feeds available on each blog\u2019s landing page.<\/p>\n

India\u2019s no to dolphinarium<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>Subhra Priyadarshini<\/a>\u00a0explains in the Indigenus Blog<\/a>\u00a0that\u00a0last week India\u2019s ministry of environment and forests banned creation of any dolphinarium across the country:<\/p>\n

\n
\"A<\/a>

A fisherman with a Gangetic dolphin.
CAPGD 2010<\/p><\/div>\n

The ministry…observed that since the endangered Gangetic dolphin is India\u2019s national aquatic animal and\u00a0a highly intelligent and sensitive species, it is morally unacceptable to keep it captive for entertainment purpose.\u00a0The ministry has advised state governments to reject any such proposal for dolphinarium by organizations or agencies.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Gangetic dolphin was accorded the national aquatic animal status in 2009 when the\u00a0100 million year old species was found to face the danger of extinction within the next decade if not protected ferociously.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Further details can be found in\u00a0Subhra’s post<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s great to be a woman scientist; it\u2019s challenging to be a woman scientist<\/strong><\/p>\n

In her latest post<\/a>, SciLogs blogger\u00a0Stephanie Swift<\/a>\u00a0reviews an event run by the\u00a0Canadian Science Policy Centre<\/a>\u00a0that looked at\u00a0the status of women in science and technology:<\/p>\n

\"RosieTech-1024x681\"<\/a>Yet, as it turned out, it was actually a wonderfully empowering, evidence-based look at women working in STEM fields (or maybe I just thought so because I travelled to the meeting listening to the Spice Girls – the ultimate in female power).<\/em><\/p>\n

Wendy Cukier<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Dr. Maydianne Andrade<\/a>\u00a0first described that while overt gender discrimination no longer exists (for a recent convert to the ridiculously sexist show Mad Men, this is good news), subtly muted gender discrimination does. We have to acknowledge this reality, even if it doesn’t affect us personally.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

California stem-cell agency discloses grant-review conflict\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Leroy<\/a>

Leroy Hood
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS<\/p><\/div>\n

Ewen Callaway<\/a>\u00a0reports in the News Blog<\/a> that\u00a0Leroy Hood, head of a prominent research institute in Seattle, Washington, violated conflict-of-interest rules when he reviewed a friend\u2019s grant:<\/p>\n

The 2 April letter was first reported by the\u00a0California Stem Cell Report<\/a>, an independent blog that covers the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), a US$3-billion agency established in 2004.<\/em><\/p>\n

Hood, a DNA-sequencing pioneer who is president of the Institute for Systems Biology, reviewed a $24-million application to CIRM that included Irving Weissman, a stem-cell scientist at Stanford University in California. Hood and Weissman are good friends and own a ranch together in Montana \u2014 a fact that Hood did not disclose when he completed a conflict of interest disclosure.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Further information can be found in Ewen’s post.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Refurbished Alvin submersible returns to sea<\/strong><\/p>\n

Brian Owens reveals in the News Blog<\/a>, that after a two-year, US$41-million upgrade, the venerable Alvin submersible is about to return to sea:<\/p>\n

\n
\"Alvin<\/a>

Alvin will soon be back in business after a two-year hiatus.
BRIAN OWENS<\/p><\/div>\n

On 25 May, the research ship\u00a0Atlantis\u00a0will leave the\u00a0Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Massachusetts with Alvin on board, bound for Astoria, Oregon. After a series of US Navy certification cruises in September and a scientific-verification cruise in November, Alvin will return to full service in December studying the deep ocean off the US Pacific Northwest.<\/em><\/p>\n

The main improvement in this first phase of the Alvin upgrade is the new titanium sphere where the sub\u2019s three-person crew sits. <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For more on this, see\u00a0Nature\u2019s<\/em> feature story \u2018Deep-sea research: Dive master<\/a>‘.<\/p>\n

Post America Depression<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the Trade Secrets Blog,\u00a0<\/a>Juliana Chan<\/a>\u00a0talks about meeting\u00a0Nobel Laureate\u00a0Dr. Shinya Yamanaka:<\/p>\n

\n
\"Leaving<\/a>

Leaving the bustling science scene in the United States can have its effects<\/p><\/div>\n

As I am about to start a tenure-track faculty position in Singapore, I asked Dr. Yamanaka what was the biggest challenge he faced as a junior tenure-track professor. He told me that after leaving San Francisco, where he\u2019d made his big iPS discovery, and arriving in Japan, he suffered from \u201cso-called PAD \u2013 Post America Depression.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

This was around 1999, and the scientific environment in the States was much better than in Japan, he said. In his lab at the Nara Institute of Science and Technology, he found he \u201ccouldn\u2019t get good funding; I couldn\u2019t get good support from other scientists.\u201d And for the first three years, he couldn\u2019t publish any papers. This eventually had him considering going back to the clinic, away from academic research.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

More advice from\u00a0Dr. Yamanaka can be found in\u00a0Juliana’s post.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Out West<\/strong><\/p>\n

Finally, if you want to learn more\u00a0about\u00a0canyon geology, check out Paige Brown’s latest<\/a>\u00a0post:<\/p>\n

\"Secret<\/a>

Secret Canyon, Page Arizona. (C) Paige’s Photography.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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