Small Worlds is a new initiative organised by Alan Cann at the University of Leicester (and of the excellent Microbiology Bytes) that aims to encourage scientists to use the immense power of web 2.0 in their professional lives.

Alan points out that although scientists were the pioneers of the internet, we have been slow to latch onto the idea that it’s latest incarnation, web 2.0 (a.k.a. “the read/write web”), can be an extremely useful tool for forming professional collaborations among groups and individuals.

The Small Worlds project hopes to overcome this by providing information on how scientists can use services like Twitter, Seesmic, Delicious, Friendfeed etc. to build their network and, crucially, by encouraging us all to make a concerted effort to link up.

One group who could particularly benefit are early stage research scientists who lack an adequate mentor/peer support structure around them, for example those in small research groups, who could use web 2.0 applications to build a network of fellow researchers whose experience they can draw upon to help with their professional development.Such a network can also provide valuable moral support at an often difficult period career period!

Many of our readers fall into this category, so I’d encourage you to head along to the Small Worlds project site and start getting yourself networked!

If you use web 2.0 in your professional life already, drop us a comment on your experiences.

COME AND GET IT! Hot blog posts around the intertubes, served up from the feed reader.

More classroom science blogs: the collection continues
Calling all scientists and science-fans: you can help with science education by letting students know you’re interested. How? Go and comment on classroom blogs and wikis.

Emerging Model Organisms
A new book is coming out from Cold Spring Harbor Protocols, of the same title.

Author’s initial entry: Autism’s False Prophets
Finally, science pushes back against antivaccine lunacy.

Gaze into the crystal ball - Nobel Prize Predictions
Who do you think will win?

David Goldstein on the failure of genome-wide association studies

Varmus on “The Cure” for Cancer
Some of the Nobel Laureate’s thoughts on an oversimplification of cancer biology.

A bacterium’s-eye view of life
An informative post on E. coli’s major life challenge: living life at low Reynolds’ Number.

Whirlpool of scientific thought
Stream-of-consciousness whirlpools emerge from a grant-writing process.

With all of our recent talk about how SDS-PAGE works and how to improve your gels, I wouldn’t want to give the impression that running protein gels is easy or foolproof.

On the contrary, just like everything else in research, SDS-PAGE can go wrong in a multitude of ways. And if you took a peek inside some of my old lab books you would have all of the proof you need about how easily this technique can make you look like a fool.

But luckily, I don’t have to air any dirty laundry in public to show you, because someone else has done something similar already.

As part of a lab guide for an experimental biology course at Rice University, David R. Caprette has pulled together an “SDS-PAGE Hall of Shame“. It’s made up of photos of gels produced by course students, as well as some from the university’s research labs, that have gone horribly wrong for all manner of reasons.

As well as providing entertainment for ghoulish (science geek) onlookers, the gallery is, of course for educational purposes. It is intended as a troubleshooting resource; by clicking on the picture that looks most like your poor, messed up gel you will be given a pearl of wisdom that suggests what you might have done wrong so you can remedy it in the future.

But perhaps the best things about it is that in an uncertain world, it shows that everyone else has protein gel disasters too. And most of us can probably take comfort from that.

Popular voting is open for the Nikon Small World competition. This thing is great, revealing the beauty of the extremely small in images such as the above one from last year’s competition.

Small World is regarded as the leading forum for showcasing the beauty and complexity of life as seen through the light microscope. For over 30 years, Nikon has rewarded the world’s best photomicrographers who make critically important scientific contributions to life sciences, bio-research and materials science.

It looks as though every imaging technique, from photon- or electron-based to computer generated images, has at least one representative entry. I figure that most people will vote for something related to their field (or major). Or am I wrong - is there a particular imaging technique that people find more aesthetic, regardless of background in science?

Image: Dr. Eric Hwang at The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA - Retinoic acid-induced P19 neuronal aggregate (40x)

It’s Friday again, so what do you say we hit the feed reader and see what’s goin’ on Around the Blogs…

We Are Science
There is no “Science.” There is no “Academia.” These things do not exist as coherent entities, any more than “The Market” does.

Linkage and the Antibiotic Resistance Problem
New data show that antibiotic resistance genes travel together, at least in E. coli isolated from farms.

Science Writers Need Science History
…science writers need to recall some history. [...] In other words, scientists already knew fifty years ago that some segments of DNA that did not encode proteins were useful.
[But be sure to check out SciPhu's counterpoint for this specific instance.]

Altruism in Bacteria? Allowing Yourself to Die for the Good of the Species
A recent study by Ackermann, et al in last month’s Nature, shows a form of altruistic behavior being practiced by Salmonella typhimurium.

Marketing Science in the Public Square
Just this week, the Washington Post’s Monday science “page” was reduced to a 1/2-page feature article, plus a 1/2-page ad. This science feature article will appear only every second week.

David Goldstein on the failures of genome-wide association studies
In the New York Times yesterday, Nick Wade profiles highly-regarded geneticist David Goldstein of Duke University, who provides the most sober assessment I have yet seen in the mainstream press about the outcomes of the genome-wide association study frenzy:

Highlights from the blogsphere this week include 25 million year beer, googlising your lab culture and, of course, the LHC rap.

Careers talk with Mr Big. Jonathan at Working the Bench shares some enlightening, and somewhat sobering, excerpts from a recent conversation he had with an industry leader on science careers.

Old beer. Aminopop covered recent work in which a 25 million year old yeast was revived, and then used to make beer. Yum!

Research Posters 2.0. Berci at ScienceRoll picked up on a new addition to SciVee, the science video sharing site. Now you can upload your research poster and make a postercast video to talk people through it.

Googling your lab. At Mario’s Entangled Bank, Mario outlines the lessons he thinks academic labs could take from Google’s famously generous work culture.

…and finally…

We couldn’t go through this week without at least mentioning the LHC project. Nobel Intent highlighted the excellent LHC rap, that explains what the project it all about.

As I noted in last Friday’s Around the Blogs post (and for a day put up the wrong link), Pamela Ronald has an article up for anyone interested in the pro’s and con’s of genetically engineered or genetically modified crops. In 10 Things About GE Crops to Scratch from your Worry List, there are brief but succinct explanations of why common arguments against GE crops are without merit.

The first two myths are the most critical to set straight. For instance, the notion that GE crops require more pesticides - the opposite is actually true - “In China, cotton farmers were able to eliminate 150 million pounds of insecticide in a single year by using GE varieties.” (Just for a significant example)

Or the notion that corporate control of GE seeds forces poor farmers to buy seed each year - “Although the US seed industry is dominated by large corporations, this was the case before GE came into play. In some less developed countries, such as Bangladesh, national breeding programs distribute seed (GE or conventional) freely to farmers who can then self their own seed. For example a flood-tolerant gene cloned in my lab and used to develop new varieties in collaboration with colleagues has been distributed to Bangladeshi farmers through national breeding programs. The farmers are now saving the seed to share with neighbors.”
Read more »

Should I hire a postdoc or a technician? - Thoughts about managing an academic research lab.

Animal Rights Extremists kill at least a dozen mink - “….by releasing them from a mink farm. This is what happens when you set animals free without regard to the consequences.”

Used Postdocs - “Please dispose thoughtfully of your used postdocs.”

The Ends Justify the DNA - Informative post on Next Generation Sequencing and its applications.

10 Things about GE crops to scratch from your worry list (Sorry - link corrected) - As John Tierney points out, many consumers worry about things that are not actually a threat to human health or to the environment.

Useful RNAs? - “If more than 90% of the genome is ‘junk’ then why do cells make so much RNA from it?”

Evolution as the Recycler of the Cell’s Tools - Part 2 of a 3-part series on issues raised by the book The Plausibility of Life.

How to get scientists to adopt web 2.0 technologies.

Late last year, a handful of individuals spawned an idea, calling for a presidential debate on science in the United States. They started a website and called it Science Debate 2008, and received a vocal response.

For much of the last ~9 months since then, it seemed that the candidates from both parties were intent on ignoring such a call (or at least that was my cynical impression). It almost seems that one requisite for political advancement is to pander to opponents of scientifically-sound public health, science education, climate change mitigation, energy, environmental protection, and research policies. Even the Democratic candidates do so.

But lo and behold!, Barack Obama has responded to 14 ScienceDebate questions. And his answers are even halfway decent!
Read more »

Alex Dent’s hilarious cartoons that caricatured the turmoil of life as a postdoc are a must see. Alex produced most of his cartoons during early 90’s, and lit up many an edition of the NIH Catalyst newsletter, until he finally gave up cartooning in 2002. Read more »