You may have noticed that blogging on LabSpaces has exploded over the past couple of weeks. Those of us writing here are really excited about the building community, and we hope that our readers are too! Of course, with such changes come some growing pains. Our fearless Overlord and mastermind of LabSpaces, Brian Krueger (who is single-handedly posting science news, maintaining the site, and fielding the demands of LS bloggers, while doing research) wanted to clear up a few perceptions of his vision and mission in a faux interview with Ed Yong; thanks to Ed for keeping a sense of humor about it. Seriously, though, the site is in a state of flux, and plans for a redesign of the front page are being discussed. Genomic Repairman points out we want your input! Join in the conversation on site suggestions in LabSpaces forums-including what you think about weekly roundups like this and other ideas to keep our great writers from getting lost in the shuffle. And speaking of our writers...

An Englishman, an Aussie, and a Damn Good Technician walk into a blog...

This week we welcomed some new faces to LabSpaces (don't worry-I'm not getting Seussical). Englishman Tideliar starts telling Some Lies and vents his frustration about the fire raining down on another unnamed blog in which he implied that a Nobel Laureate was a twat. Aussie Odyssey brings a little age and wisdom. DGT kicks off sharing a hilarious vid about smart phones. Catherine Anderson stopped in to explain the name of her blog and what she's hoping to accomplish here. Holly also introduced her blog, From Bench to Business. We also welcomed LabMom! Kelly starts blogging about physics with posts on auroras, neutrinos, and matter-antimatter asymmetry.

Meme Attacks!

Photo from Thomas Duchnicki modified under Creative Commons License.

Over at ScienceBlogs, Jason Goldman tagged a few of us over here, who in turn tagged some of our neighbors. The idea-which seems to have originated with Blogfather Bora-was simple: Explain your blogging philosophy, motivation, and experience in 10 words. For some, that spun off into full-length posts :) Playing along are your tour guide, Dr. Becca, Dr. O, LabMom, Geeka, Evie*, Disgruntled Julie, Genomic Repairman (GR), and Tideliar. [Update: LadyScientist and DGT have joined in.]

*Anyone else notice the bizarre vortex of circumstances that tend to converge on Evie?

Spreading science

GR wants to know what you're doing to share science with the public. It turns out some scientists are getting a little help from Alan Alda.

Before departing for the UK, David Manly reminded everyone that this week was the best of the year and shared his top 3 favorite sharks.

Of course, we also have to share science with our peers. Geeka might just have problem with your experimental design; she argues that you can't choose experiment to just make your life easier, if the design fundamentally perturb the biology you're trying to study. GR says goodbye film, hello digital for Westerns (this kind, not this kind)--and why the rest of us should too.

LadyScientist is learning to toot her own horn as she goes out for postdoc interviews, and it ain't always easy, especially when you grow up being told it's not polite to brag.

Every scientist knows the importance of publishing, but there's much debate about how much and where. Odyssey provides some thoughts on how many papers you need for tenure. The priority of publishing in GlamorMags is raised by GR--and he's left feeling a little dirty about his own views. GR is also left wondering what's going on with a long lost paper--and no one can seem to fathom why anyone would leave a paper sitting so long. Then there's the issue of peer review (which we likely will be debating for the rest of my career and beyond), and Dr. Becca finds that sometimes, it's difficult to tame your internal third reviewer.

Soapboxes

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As bloggers (actually people, in general, if we're being honest) are wont to do, we've been stepping up on them.

GR & I provide a couple of viewpoints on mega-science.

LabMom ponders the evidence that our society is becoming better for women... and why that's not the case in science.

I liken being a postdoc to living in the Void and bring up the issue of healthcare (or lack thereof) for postdocs. (Expect to see more posts in this vein.)

Like many of us, Dr. O enjoys the relaxed atmosphere of academic science, but she wonders if it's too much to ask for a little professionalism in the lab.