Cool Links

"Open Access - Open Data" is an expert conference being held December 13th-14th in Cologne that will take a closer look how the Open Access movement has developed within the last five years and what is going to happen within the next five to ten years. Additionally, it will investigate the "Open Data Movement" that is gaining acceptance (see Jean-Claude Bradley).
Four verses about recombinant protein expression, NMR spectroscopy, X-ray Crystallography and Cryo-Electron Microscopy.   

Really, what more do you need to know?



H/T Paul Shin
Having surveyed Russian language media sources, JOTMAN.COM contributor Sanjuro reports on the fires sweeping across Russia:
Yes, a song you would probably never hear otherwise, "Bad Romance", by an artist you will never listen to, Lady Gaga (think Katy Perry, except with no talent) ... except made awesome because it is played on beakers in the lab.

So supposedly this girl quits her job using a dry erase board instead of keeping it simple with an email to the boss and emails her entire office 33 Photos explaining it all ...  here's one:

HPOA girl quits

Funny stuff, but given the credibility of the site, this hit 8.5 on my B.S. Richter scale.
Among the great disappointments of modern life is the fact that something as fun as a giant inflatable slide springing from the side of a massive flying machine exists—but may only be used in near-death situations, when one is least inclined to enjoy it.
Microfinancing is a term most commonly used to describe the financial services provided to help people out of poverty. Now the term is being applied to research projects funded by numerous small contributions of money. Over the last 3 years, a number of microfinancing initiatives for science research have emerged in the US.  

One example is the Open Source Science Project.

Pop science?  Sure, people will donate to cool stuff or pet beliefs, but it also will increase science literacy, says the article in Chemistry World.
I can't speak for any of you but the only thing worse than going to a coffee shop and not being able to find a seat because the mid-1990s fad of 'free Wi-Fi' in there made slackers hang out all day has been, in 2010, having them talk on their cell phones while we order the coffee to go.

Have you been to Spain?   You will get shot doing using a laptop and talking on a cell phone in a coffeeshop there.   Sitting in a Spanish cafe for two hours and drinking a tiny espresso while girl watching is a time-honored ritual and one of the only things we should emulate about Spain.  
What do you do when you get stuck with no pay by a crappy publisher?  Not much, except never work without a contract again.   

Freelancer DeLene Beeland dispels the notion that it's always balloons and ponies out there - though the 4 years I have done this have been a total blast.
Click image to see full size

1960s ads for modern websites
You remember Friendster, right?  No?  It is a social media cautionary tale about hubris and taking the money while it's good.    Friendster was one of the original social media networks, long before Facebook, and in 2003 they were offered $30 million in pre-IPO Google stock and in 2008, a year before it sold for under $30 million, Friendster turned down a $150 million buyout.   The Google stock would have been worth $200-800 million.  Basically, it was run stupidly.   When you get acquired by Kuala Lumpur-based MOL, a payment systems seller heard of nowhere outside Asia, you have fallen far.
Alexey Bersenev does not mean Scientific Blogging as in, you know, us, but rather scientific blogging in general, when he writes on his perspectives in Scientific blogging as a model for professional networking online.
I don't think this needs a lot of introduction - but if it does, they are talking about electro-surgery instead of old-fashioned scalpels.  Electro-surgery, which uses concentrated electric currents, has been around since 1914 but this is a new ... area of experimentation.

Who are the test subjects for this?  And why not use a laser?   You'll have to read to find out, but Dr. Tsai said no penises were harmed during the course of the experiment.
Foldit, the company that has made protein folding mastery into a game used by more than 75,000 people, has had an article accepted in Nature and they want all of their participants to be with them on the cover.  Yes, all 75,000.   Sounds like Science 2.0 to me.   It will look something like this:



Why is this cool?   Foldit is a company that is squarely in the heart of the participation aspects of Science 2.0.   Making protein structure prediction and protein design into a fun game means the whole world can help, and still have a good time doing it.
In case you are one of those people running out to buy a copy of Andrew Morton's new unauthorized (whatever that means) biography of Angelina Jolie and are unsure of the many subtexts that just have to exist in each event of her life because she is famous, Jen Chaney and Liz Kelly of the Washington Post are here to help guide you with meaningful questions to ask at the next Book Club meeting.   Take that, Oprah!

You can probably even relate the events to your own life to make it more interesting.  To wit:

Did you let your 14 year old daughter take over your bedroom and have her boyfriend move in with you?  
Sometimes eeeevil corporations (aren't they all eeeevil?) give a green light to cool ideas, so let's give it up to Volkswagen for their The Fun Theory award - the idea being that if you make something more fun, they will be more inclined to do it.  Even if it's good for them.

The link above has lots of fun theories on the environment, healthy, behavior, etc. but in the meantime check out this clever way they get sloths in Stockholm to take the stairs!
... no, better, if only we had an open source, downloadable, multi-scale, virtual catalog of the mouse brain and its cellular constituents.

Wait, now we do!

In 2009, British men made 16.4% more auto accident claims during the Summer than other seasons - and 25% % of men have had a crash or near miss in Summer compared to only 17% of women.

The reason?  Well, women are less easily distracted and apparently men will look at anything in a skirt.


Did you lose your place in this article because of this pic?  Behavioral psychologists claim 25% of you did.
Well, now there are 7 stages of Mitosis;  Interphase, Prophase, Metaphase, Anaphase, Telophase, Cytokinasis and ...

... Delicious!


Kevin Van Aelst art - see more here.