Innovation/Links of note/Strategy

When big data meets journalism — Tech News and Analysis

Posted on by charlie

“The Knight Foundation noted in a blog post announcing the 16 winners that data and the use of it for journalism was a big theme among this year’s contestants. When the Knight competition first started five years ago, the idea of a “hacker/journalist” who developed applications and journalistic tools around data was unfamiliar one, but the foundation noted that this is now an established position at some media outlets.”

This is just great. This year is certainly turning out to be the year of Big Data coming on the scene – folks are finding all sorts of angles and insights in their own areas. This article lists a bunch in journalism.

Read this article…

Links of note/Science

The Dirty 11: Panel Names Pathogens That Pose Biggest Security Risk for Research – ScienceInsider

Posted on by charlie

“A United States federal panel of scientists and security experts has identified 11 microorganisms that it wants designated as Tier 1 select agents, a new category of biological agents that would be subject to higher security standards than other pathogens and toxins used in biomedical research. The category would include anthrax, Ebola, Variola major and Variola minor, the Marburg virus, the virus that causes foot and mouth disease, and bacterial strains that produce the botulinum neurotoxin. At the same time, the panel has recommended dropping 19 pathogens and six toxins from the broader list of 82 agents that are currently governed by the select agent program.”

Fine by me. I’d never want to work with any of these in any case. And the “practical” uses aren’t necessarily the kinds of things I want to be practical with. Though, as with botox, what might we learn about medicine and biological mechanisms from these deadly bugs and viruses that might actually help us?

Read this article…

Innovation/Links of note/Science

New battery design could give electric vehicles a jolt – MIT News Office

Posted on by charlie

“The new semi-solid flow batteries pioneered by Chiang and colleagues overcome this limitation, providing a 10-fold improvement in energy density over present liquid flow-batteries, and lower-cost manufacturing than conventional lithium-ion batteries. Because the material has such a high energy density, it does not need to be pumped rapidly to deliver its power. “It kind of oozes,” Chiang says. Because the suspensions look and flow like black goo and could end up used in place of petroleum for transportation, Carter says, “We call it ‘Cambridge crude.’””

Wicked cool. And I’ll point out that, yes, a company has licensed the tech. It’s yet another example of Rob Langer’s formula – proven tech, high impact paper, and passionate ex-grad students working on it.

Read this article…

Links of note/Science

ScienceShot: Why Wallabies Don’t Pass Methane Gas – ScienceNOW

Posted on by charlie

“When cows digest food, they produce methane, a potent greenhouse gas, but when kangaroos chow down, their digestive tract is relatively methane-free. The difference comes down to one group of bacteria, new research suggests.”

How will this be applied to cattle to cut down on methane generation? Also (a question I have because I don’t have access to the paper), are there energy, efficiency, or source material requirement differences between a succinate- or methane-producing bugs? There might be reasons why wallabies have one and cows have the other.

Read this article…

Announcements/Science/The Narrative

Designing Biology at SXSW 2012?

Posted on by charlie

I’ve been thinking of what to do at SXSW Interactive next year around Biology.

Biology at SXSW? It’s not as far-fetched as you’d think. The trends I see are the new bio hackspaces popping up, all the open source feeling around sharing bio tools, and so much discussion around design in biology. While SXSW Interactive is really a digerati mecca, I think there’s space for spill over into biology.

And it’s not like SXSW hasn’t been courting the scientists. For example, in 2010, there was a panel on citizen science. Then in 2011, Craig Center spoke and there was a panel on biomimicry.

My current (very unformed) thoughts are that we could have a Designing Biology panel, covering synthbio, synthetic aesthetics, DIYbio, practical microbiology, folks biology, and food design. If we want to go further, we could organize some sort of workshop with folks from GenSpace, BioCurious, or the BioBus doing what they do well – getting folks excited about Biology (maybe even at a local Uni in case the BioBus can’t be there). We could also have a screening party of bio vids, such as the Synthbio Documentary.

Ambitious? Absolutely. But we need to shoot for something. And seems this might end up with many moving parts and need proper project management, marketing, and so forth (cross that bridge when we get there).

What do you folks think? Suggestions and comments, please!

I want to at least suggest something for the SXSW panel picker by July 15th (unless someone has already suggested something).

 

Innovation/Links of note/Strategy

Save $29,000 this year – The Scientist

Posted on by charlie

“The Scientist contacted researchers around the world, looking for their tips and tricks for saving money in the lab; here we present 15 of our favorites.”

I’ve been saying for years that biology has become a kit-based science, when lots of the stuff is easy to make yourself and really doesn’t waste time. Spend money where you need to and be creatively economical when you can.

Read this article…

Innovation/Links of note/Strategy/The Narrative

Culturomics: Word play : Nature News

Posted on by charlie

“The point is this: like people, ideas need a social life. Introduce them to your friends. Help them develop good contacts. It’s worth it: more than any accolade or discovery, you get the pleasure of hanging out with ideas and with friends.”

A comment by Erez Lieberman-Aiden on an article about him and his research and life. A very interesting and inspiring profile of Erez and his wife, Aviva. Erez is playful, disregards organizational and academic boundaries, and had incredible drive. He’s already done so much and I wouldn’t be surprised as to what he comes up with or ends up doing over his next 3 decades. This article is a must-read.

Read this article…

Announcements/The Narrative

PhD Comics: The Movie

Posted on by charlie

I doubt there’s a grad student, past, current, or future, who doesn’t like PhD Comics. It’s a great comic take on academic research life with a few sidebars of interesting stories in science that the writer shares.

Testament to the following, there’s now a movie:

“Piled Higher and Deeper” The Movie is a live-action adaptation of the popular online comic strip by Jorge Cham (www.phdcomics.com). It was filmed on location at and was produced in partnership with the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

For those of us in the Boston/Cambridge area, there seem to be two screening tentatively planned – MIT and Harvard. Though no details that I’ve found yet (will look harder).

In the mean time, here’s the trailer:

PHD Movie Trailer from PHD Comics on Vimeo.