I’m going to guess that most people reading this have at least heard of Twitter, if not used it themselves. Presidents tweet government policy, literal revolutions have been fostered on Twitter, and celebrity feuds consume the tabloids. But what is it? And how might it help your science? Twitter is just a platform… on the …
“Social media is a waste of time”, “You should be writing grants”, “Spend more time at the bench and less time on Twitter” I don’t really want to wade into this discussion too strongly… there are a number of great resources out there documenting the utility of social media in science and science communication (examples …
I was recently encouraged to post this video I made with a couple of classmates while I was in graduate school at the University of Texas at Austin (the other “actors” are Laura Reed, now a PhD student in water resources at Tufts University, and Sarah Taylor Lange, who just finished her PhD in concrete …
The two greatest scientific breakthroughs of twentieth century, if we measure by increased life expectancy, were improvements in our ability to kill microorganisms (drinking water disinfection and the invention of antibiotics). Perhaps as a remnant of these advances, it seems to me that the average citizen has a largely abiotic mindset, seeing microorganisms as agents …