Monday, February 24, 2014

Noticing Journal Clubs; Circuses; Carnivals; Science Blogs


I wonder what happened to the excellent idea of Blog Carnivals.   Maybe I just haven't been noticing?  (Like the Circus of the Spineless).  Tonight I finallhy noticed there is a phenom called "Journal Clubs).  A quick google says to me that they are common in medicine; that graduate courses are focused on them in Biological Sciences; that there are some more informal journal clubs.   A few links.

     Examples and other objects:


  • http://scienceblogs.com/
  • A good edition of ScienceBlogs: Mystery Bird: Magnificent Frigatebird, Fregata magnificens: http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/2010/07/20/todays-mystery-bird-for-you-to-644/
  • ScienceBlogs seems to have morphed (evolved) into: http://www.theguardian.com/science/grrlscientist
  •  http://www.kindofcurious.com/
  • Evolutionary Biology Online Journal Club: https://evobiojournalclub.wordpress.com/
  • The Science Teaching Journal Club.  Note what follows: 
    • The Science Teacher Journal Club is a place where we hope science teachers, and anyone else with an interest, will gather together to discuss ideas about science science education published in journals, articles, books and else where. The idea is borrowed from the original Twitter Journal Club for doctors started by @fidouglas and @silv24 and also owes a debt to @markgfh for suggesting that teach­ers might benefit from such a club.
  •  Reef Aquarium Blog: http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index.php/reefkeeping-blog
  •  

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Just some links that caught my eye: 3D Printing research equipment

Pointers toward 3D printing science equipment.  William's teacher printed many iPod cases.   I see the next step as making a case for a Samsung Galaxy S4 with a thingamajig to slip in a microscope eyepiece or another lens.    For two reasons, the Open Source character of the Thingaverse movement (as I take liberty of calling it) is HOT:

  1. They are freeliy available and can be improved.
  2. People are collaborating to make them better.
Like Free Software.



I like these:

A Great Podcast:

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/337/6100/1303/suppl/DC1
Some optical (including microscope) gear 3D printing designs. 

http://www.thingiverse.com/jpearce/collections/open-source-optics
Links

http://www.appropedia.org/Building_research_equipment_with_free,_open-source_hardware