Just realised I forgot to add...
D N A said:
I think this ^ is a good idea, but maybe we could keep it separate to the themes and just have a thread running where bloggers/readers can post science questions they'd like answering, and someone with the right area of expertise could write a blog post answering it if they wanted to. Is that the kind of thing you meant, D N A?
That would work well for the cross-posting idea. If someone answered my question, I would be happy to write an intro for any answers. I often don't go out of my comfort zone into somewhere like physics but if someone with a similar background suggested it, I might try it = maybe lead to some new readers?
I'm happy with the suggestions. Can we wait to do the women in science topic? I think it would be good to do something lighthearted and the women in science often touches on balance like we had with the last theme.
How many sci-fi fans amongst our writers? On more than one occasion, I've seen a news headline here or an article elsewhere that reminds me of something only dreamed of in sci-fi not too long ago. So I propose a theme around what sci-fi got (more or less) right-before reality caught up. I think it would be a fun counterpoint to pet peeves re: science in pop culture :)
Re: the next theme, I think one about choosing a lab/mentor would be poignant in the near future, since many peeps will be starting graduate programs soon. But I also agree with DNA that it would be nice to have a lighter theme.
Re: when, I lean toward once a month-third Tues. (or thereabouts) worksfor me.
Please can I write about GATTACA? I like the third Tues in the month...
@Belle, HAHA, David Manly actually writes a blog for some other comic/scifi site! You should ask him about it sometime. I can't remember the name of the place though. It's like nerd troopers or something like that.
Hey wow, I'm late to this discussion. I do like the themed topics - I'm voting for once a month, or maybe every other month. The "things that pissed me off about TV/movie science" topic sounds awesome, but it seems a bit more like an anecdote than a whole blog post (maybe I'm wrong)? I also friggin' love scifi tv & movies (and videogames!) and could totally talk about that forever.
I think a cool topic, at least for those of us who aren't anonymous, would be to summarize your first, first author paper, and talk about how those results stand today.
Brian, that's a great idea. You will force me to go back to my past...
I'm torn on the anonymity thing - I've had trouble with a stalker in the past so I don't really want to have 'Catherine Anderson's blog' but then again, my name is so common. I think I'll stick with the name of DNA for the blog but will make my name accessible. Does that work?
Do you want to do something light for this upcoming session and then do the first first author post?
It's up to you guys, I'm just putting ideas out there.
Well, a way to get around the anonymity thing would be to summarize the first paper that was influential to your science. Was it a cool paper from C/N/S? Or something from a more field specific journal? I mean, we all know that (for instance) Biochem Belle works in biochemistry, so if she summarized a biochemistry paper it wouldn't give her away (I don't mean to pick on BBelle, you were just the first person who came to mind). :)
All that being said, for our first topic, I like the idea of picking a mentor. I just had to go through this and I think it'd be helpful for a start of the school year type thing.
Picking a mentor is a great topic. I wonder if people would be interested in hearing about picking a mentor-slash-boss from a technician's point of view? I mean, I've only picked two, but the process is obviously different than picking a grad lab, for example. LabMom, would you be interested in chiming in on this topic?
DGT, one of the great things about this group is the wide range of experiences, and I think people would definitely be interested in hearing your perspective.
DGT, if we didn't want your perspective, I wouldn't have asked you to join the fam. Don't be a wall flower! Everyone can dance :)
All I meant was that the things a tech looks for when deciding to join a lab is probably a bit different than what a grad student/postdoc looks for. Oh, and don't worry that I'm somehow reticent to voice my opinion - that has never been my problem. :)
this seems to have slipped down the forum so i thought i would bump it back up again!
my vote would go to something like "a day in the life" or "what i wish i knew before starting..." (the latter may be more relevant given the time of year?) because i know i could write something about that. a lot of people seem to like the idea of "choosing a mentor" though so maybe that should be next? either way i think we should come a decision soon...
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