| Clams befouling Tahoe invade Adirondack lake in NY By MARY ESCH 2010-09-03T18:12:35ZBOLTON LANDING, N.Y. (AP) -- A thumbnail-sized clam blamed for clouding the azure bays of Lake Tahoe high in the Sierra Nevada has now turned up in a mountain-ringed Adirondack lake renowned for its limpid, spring-fed waters.... hosted.ap.org |
Nature joins the digital age of science publishing | GrrlScientist The world's top-ranked peer-reviewed science journal continues its evolution as a scientific and academic publisherImage courtesy of Nature Publishing GroupSome of you know that I write another blog, Maniraptora, at Nature Network. I've not updated it much recently because that site has been plagued with technical difficulties for quite some time, so I've been sitting back and watching the progress of the recent improvements occurring there. I am pleased to learn that the changes I've been observing are not limited to the blog platform alone; these changes are happening across the entire Nature Publishing Group (NPG) site. I realise that most people won't find this announcement to be particularly compelling, but let me explain why this should interest you. First, an announcement by editor-in-chief, Dr Philip Campbell, about these changes is being published on a blog – the first time ever that a major science research publisher has announced such profound and sweeping changes using a digital medium. This blog announcement is scheduled to go live on the normally quiescent NPG blog, Nautilus, at the same time this piece publishes here, so after you read this, be sure to pop over there to read and share your thoughts on what you see and on what Dr Campbell has to say. These changes are specifically intended to create a more digitally friendly experience for NPG's users. While it is true that most people who use NPG's site are either scientists, academics, students or journalists, a small but growing number of people from other walks of life also access their site. By making the site more user-friendly, NPG is indicating that public interface is important to it, that it is interested in sharing scientific research with a wider audience. This means you, the science-savvy reader, so do poke around the redesigned site and share your thoughts with NPG staff about the site's usability.In my opinion, the best thing about this redesign is that NPG is launching a new and highly readable digital edition of its flagship journal, Nature. It is providing a three-month trial subscription – free! – to everyone who registers, and it will periodically ask its subscribers for feedback and help in gauging public demand. The iPad users in the crowd will be interested to learn that NPG is also developing an iPad app, as well as adding more support for other mobile devices. Of course, being a blog writer at NPG, I and my colleagues have requested that reader commenting be made easier. That said, my sources at NPG recently assured me that plans are already under way to do this, so stay tuned for that improvement. I hope this reader commenting "fix" is also extended to providing readers with the ability to comment on published scientific papers. I have not been told anything specific regarding whether there are plans to implement this feature in the future, but I am certain it will happen because both the British Medical Journal (BMJ) and the Public Library of Science (PLoS) have done this for years. When reader commenting is implemented by NPG as a regular feature on its published research, it will be a breath of fresh air for facilitating communication between scientists, academics, students and the science-savvy public anywhere in the world. Despite my criticisms, this site redesign is not trivial: it required a large investment of time and resources and thus, it shows NPG's strong commitment to continuing its evolution as a modern scientific and academic publisher – a true social good. "The changes we are unveiling to Nature now are an important step in a much longer journey," managing director Steven Inchcoombe said in a press release. Considering that NPG hosts a number of science blogs on its extensive Nature Network, I am very hopeful that this redesign indicates even bigger changes are afoot; changes in the corporate culture at NPG indicating that it is becoming friendlier to the idea that science blog writers are legitimate science communicators who possess the skills and audience access that are essential for translating and publicising scientific research. "We will continue to evolve Nature to provide the information scientists need, when and how they need it."GrrlScientistguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Capital offenders: the case against uppercase | Mind your language New York City is right to change the style of its street signs. Good, clear typography DOES NOT NEED TO SHOUTIT'S OFFICIAL: CAPITAL LETTERS CAN BE DANGEROUS.At least, that's what the US federal highway administration believes. According to the New York Post:"Studies have shown that it is harder to read all-caps signs, and those extra milliseconds spent staring away from the road have been shown to increase the likelihood of accidents, particularly among older drivers."In New York City, this will mean replacing 250,900 street signs with signs that cap up only the initial letter. So BROADWAY will become Broadway. A new font, Clearview, has been developed for the purpose. Cost: $27.6m (although, to put that figure in perspective, 8,000 signs have to be replaced every year for $110 each through normal wear and tear).Officials argue that the changes will save lives and the city's transportation commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan, also suggested that the new signs might reflect a kinder, gentler New York. "On the internet, writing in all caps means you are shouting," she said. "Our new signs can quiet down, as well."Despite hysterical Daily News coverage that said "several" New Yorkers were "outraged" by the change – it quoted three – the paper's own poll showed that two-thirds of the public is behind the switch from capital letters.It won't surprise regular Guardian readers that I agree with them. The Guardian style guide has long encouraged the gradual move away from capitals. So do other newspapers and websites, although some venerable style guides are still agonising over whether to lowercase internet and world wide web. (Be assured they will do so, perhaps in time for the 22nd century.)In part, the switch from capitals reflects a society that is less deferential than in the days when the Manchester Guardian would write something like this: "The CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER, Mr LLOYD GEORGE, presented the Naval Estimates to Ministers and Members of the House."Most readers seem comfortable with a less formal style. A grand total of two people complained about our coverage of the pope's, rather than the Pope's, recent visit to the UK. We did receive a letter last week complaining that calling David Cameron the prime minister, not the Prime Minister (a style we have been following for more than a decade) reflected a "lowering of standards", but such complaints are few.We need to be ever-vigilant, however, against the capital offenders. Politicians, civil servants and Estate Agents are three groups that remain intent on drowning us all in this alphabet soup. (Yesterday I was presented with a government statement that said: "On the Chancellor's recommendation the Prime Minister has appointed the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change to the Public Expenditure Committee ... ")Capitals do have their uses, of course. As the Urban Dictionary puts it: "Capitalisation is the difference between 'I had to help my uncle Jack off a horse' and 'I had to help my uncle jack off a horse.'"To return to traffic signs. New York's commendable decision is an echo of one taken in the UK 50 years ago, when the brilliant designers Jock Kinneir and Margaret Calvert, given the task of updating the country's chaotic system of road signs, concluded that "a combination of upper and lowercase letters would be more legible than conventional uppercase lettering". They produced a new font, known as Transport, which they felt would be friendlier and more appealing to British drivers than the stark modernist style used in continental Europe. The classic British road signage that they designed is still in use.LanguageNew YorkUnited StatesDesignDavid Marshguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Denver Zoo hatches 4 Komodo dragons By 2010-10-15T02:56:52ZDENVER (AP) -- The Denver Zoo says it's become the only zoo in the world to hatch endangered Komodo dragons for a third time.... hosted.ap.org |
Study probes links between cannabis and schizophrenia The University of Wollongong is heading-up new research into the links between cannabis use and drug induced schizophrenia. abc.net.au |