What happened? Are you all too busy?
The “Science as Sport”:http://network.nature.com/people/UE19877E8/blog/2008/09/29/in-which-science-becomes-a-sport-–-hypothetically-speaking experiment seems to have fizzled out. Although a few people (nowhere near enough) enthusiastically joined up for the trial, they seemed to lose interest. Which is a shame because it was getting quite hot there for a while—I want to know what happened with Cameron’s protecting groups, Heather’s cells and Bob’s fit models.
“Our preliminary findings are that we need more data.”
And this science blogging “challenge”:http://network.nature.com/hubs/london/blog/2008/11/21/so-you’re-not-interested-in-a-free-trip-to-california-then thing?
So far, the response reminds me of a PE teacher’s brain (a vast, uninhabited desert with the occasional neuron crying because it’s lonely). I’m going to propose that me and the other guys on the judging panel split the prize money and go drinking instead.
Unless, in the three weeks that remain, you can persuade us otherwise.
I can also be first!
And have nothing to offer but great sympathy for the lonely, weeping neuron.
Hmmmm…is it possible to produce measurable blogging results in three weeks that include the end of a very busy semester, Christmas and New Year?
Well, you’re not likely to get any work done, are you?
The Science as Sport experiment
You surely can’t be surprised at that outcome. Not for nothing does twitter rhyme with witter…
OK the rhyme with friendfeed doesn’t work but I’m sure you get the point!
I’ll cry. I bet you kick puppies, too.
I bet you kick puppies, too.
Heavens, no!
It’s much more amusing to give drugs to spiders… (you really have to see it to the end…)
Now that’s a sport!
I’m getting some work done, just not the work of research and scientific discovery. Then I plan to sleep through Christmas.
Stephen – nice ‘web’ link…
Actually you’ve inspired me to do the whole thing a little more seriously (sorry Stephen, look away now before it’s all too much!)
Stephen, I’ve looked, so you don’t have to. It’s all too much.
Thanks for the warning Henry… my thoughts exactly. Though I’m not against the idea of trying to convey results in something close to real time…
Oooh. Nice idea, Cameron.
It struck me fairly early on that if you’re after generating news feeds then you just want them automatically coming out of the lab of their own accord. Others have done a nice job with code repository commits being “auto-blogged” or auto twittered. I should say the credit for this line of thinking (or at least where I got it from) lies firmly with Jeremy Frey’s group at Southampton University.
you’re going to say ‘electronic notebooks’ very soon, aren’t you?
@Richard and Cameron
Are you guys on drugs? Seriously, who is going to read stream of the moment records of your lab activities? Piping an automated lab-book entry for you won records is one thing but I’d rather have my science slowly distilled, like a fine whisky. Old Bushmills, since you ask.
P.S. Cameron – hope to be at Diamond next Wed. Will probably be a bit frantic but are you around?
I thought you said ‘whisky’, Curry. Bushmills? Bbbrrr.
Anyway, this is for the journalists, remember?
Now I’m totally confused. You expect journalists to follow a friendfeed stream? Maybe the Sunday Times Insight team might have done that in their hey-day, while researching the back-story. But these days they want the story nicely packaged and thought out for them…
Was there a point that I missed?
No, I don’t think so Stephen: just my naivety.
My cells died.
From neglect, I might add, much as my participation in the FF room did. But I do sort of keep up my online lab notebook, and believe me, I’m not looking for hits (and a good thing, too, since there aren’t many). Just a kind of searchable log for myself. And because I know it will get up the nose of my administration if they ever stumble on it.
My cells died
I hate when that happens. 🙁
Perhaps journalists could be embedded in research labs.
(has an uncontrollable fit of giggling)
@ Richard: from all I can tell based on my recent pokings in the science journalism world I am almost 100% certain that (unless maybe it’s a big, big, commissioned story for which the author is at leisure to dig up a lot of background) no science journalist, staff or freelance, or science editor will take the time to follow ‘some labs’ real-time stream.
On one occasion, I actually pretty much got told the opposite: even research articles that are available with open access (and this is very different from science bloggers! go bloggers!!) don’t get looked at unless they’re ‘pushed’ by a universities or institution’s PR office.
Excitement. There’s plenty of it. The tragedy of Heather’s cells: minidrama after the news.
See, other people, when bored with the Science as Sport FriendFeed room just stopped using the room. But I am dedicated: when I got bored with it, I didn’t want to just stop updating for no reason, but I quit lab work altogether, put in my defense request, and finished my program. I don’t leave things half-done!
Ha, I can beat that—I left science completely!
Stephen, no, I’m not expecting anyone outside of the lab to follow any of this unless they are really interested. But what can happen on Friendfeed is that if someone finds something particularly interesting then they can “like” it and promote it to the a more “mainstream” feed. If you like, that’s the process by which the distilling gets started. The current form is more like a silo full of hops and a vat of water…but some of the things that are starting to appear might be of interest – initial structure of ion channels and things like that.
Unfortunately I won’t be up at Harwell next week because I’m going on holidays. Off to Oz for three weeks, sitting on beaches etc. Its a hard life but someone has to do it. But do give me a yell if you’re ever up on site and we can grab a coffee. Ideally not after you’ve done a 24 hour straight slot obviously
“I left science completely”
I might have…? I don’t know. I have no clue what I’m doing right now. I’m calling it “Christmas Break” until that is no longer appropriate, and hope I figure stuff out before then.
I hope you figure it out too!
Best of luck, and enjoy Christmas. You’ve deserved it.