New Video Techniques for Monitoring Health
A fascinating set of new video techniques being developed at MIT hint at how cameras might someday intervene in crib death, help diagnose heart disease, and more.
The Levitating Slinky — A Simple System, a Mind-blowing Result
Hi-speed cameras capture something you’ve probably done, but never really seen — the levitating Slinky.
Ready for Some Pizza — Visualizing Pizza Delivery in NYC and Beyond
Tracking pizza deliveries tells us a lot about one of our major cities, its inhabitants, socioeconomic aspects, and more.
A Two-Week Vacation — Let's Watch Movies Until July 9th!
It’s time to kick back, take some time off, and watch some videos. So that’s what we’ll be doing for the next two weeks.
Informed Consent and Big Data — With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility
Consent and confidentiality concerns around “Big Data” in medicine should give enthusiasts for a data-rich scientific world pause. Things are more complex, and the answers so far are inadequate.
Money Talks — How Audience Priorities and Publishing Incentives Can Lead to Unusual OA Behaviors
Two separate but coincidental stances toward money and OA show that when it comes to getting things done, there’s nothing quite as useful as the right incentive — even when it turns OA principles on their head.
The Challenged Association — Remaining Relevant Requires More Than Cosmetic Change
With the world changing radically, associations are struggling to attract and retain members, offer satisfying programs, remain financially efficient, and look into the future. A new book provides a lot of sound advice in very little space.
Bar Bets You Can't Lose — A Guide for Your Upcoming Meetings
A British explication of some nifty bar bets you can try on your friends.
Correction: NLM Does Not Charge for PubMed Data
Oops. Sorry.
Not Free, Not Easy, Not Trivial — The Warehousing and Delivery of Digital Goods
The idea that digital goods have no ongoing cost and can therefore be free has several problems, the basic one being reality itself.
Ask the Chefs: "What Is the Most Important Advance Publishers Have Made in the Past Decade?"
How have publishers changed over the past decade? What have been the most important advances? The Chefs tackle the question, with some surprising answers (they might have even surprised themselves).
The Hitler Meme Hits Peer Review and Having His NIH Grant Application Rejected
Two funny videos of processes in scientific life which many of us can use a good laugh about. Warning — Hitler, unsurprisingly, swears like a sailor when he’s frustrated. The peer review send-up: And, if you want more, there’s the […]
The Outside Context Effect and Book Publishing Dominance
Is the Internet simply an irresistible “outside context” event for traditional book publishers? Two interesting articles make it clear that it may be, if wielded aggressively. The “outside context problem” was described in Iain M. Bank’s book “Excession,” in which […]
The ALPSP Report on Six-Month Embargo Mandates — STM Journals Die Slowly, Social Science Journals Die Quickly
The ALPSP study of the possible effects of a six-month embargo for journal content shows that humanities and social science journals are more at-risk, but the entire industry could find the precipice if such mandates were to take shape.
We're All Publishers Now? Not So Fast
An exchange at the recent SSP Annual Meeting put the concept of “everyone’s a publisher” into stark contrast with reality. We’re not publishers. We’re unpaid writers for publishers like Facebook, Twitter, and WordPress.