What if every scientist (and every author) had a unique identification number?

The March 27, 2009 edition of Science explores the issue of personal identification numbers for scientists. Why? Because it's getting difficult to tell authors apart.

A universal numbering system could aid scientists trying to stay on top of the literature, help universities more readily track staff productivity, and enable funding agencies to better monitor the bang they're getting for their buck. An effective identification number might also make it easier to find information about an author's affiliations, collaborators, interests, or simply their current whereabouts.
This article indicates that published scientific papers are growing in quantity by 3% annually. Many authors are getting married or divorced and therefore changing their names. Some journals have varying style rules for noting first names and initials. Chinese authors often transliterate their names using opinion. "At least 20 different Chinese names, many of them common, are transliterated as "Wang Hong." And, of course, there are many scientists not of Chinese descent who have common names who don't want to be confused with others.

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Bacteria that talk to each other

Bonnie Bassler, who teaches molecular biology at Princeton, explains that bacteria don't just grow and divide, grow and divide. They speak to each other and with other species of bacteria through their chemicals. Bassler studies how bacteria use chemical signals to act as coordinated social units. In this delightful TED talk, Bassler discusses how her research group has studied the manner in which bacteria talk to each other. They make chemical "words" to enable group activities (such as triggering the timing for effective virulence attacks), sensing each other through their "quorum-sensing molecules." They can also sense the difference between themselves and other bacteria. Note that each of us is 99% bacterial. Our human body consists of about one trillion of "our own" cells, but ten trillion bacteria. We have about 30,000 of "our own" genes, but we carry about 100 times more bacterial DNA than human DNA. Bacteria live as "mutualists" with us. They help us digest our food, make our vitamins, protects us from other pathogens and help us survive in numerous other ways. Rather than using antibiotics to kill bacteria (which inevitably selects for more virulent strains), Bassler suggests that a better understanding of the communications schemes used by bacteria is allowing scientists to develop potent new medicines. This is an upbeat and informative talk regarding a most ancient form of life.

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Can churches for non-believers survive?

There are some new local humanist centers springing up and they resemble churches in many ways, according to an article by USA Today. What do they do?

[They meet] monthly with about 10 families. Acosta says trips to museums and a parenting course called "Compassionate Communication" are planned. The Harvard chaplaincy also hosts "Humanist Small Group" biweekly Sunday brunch discussion and buys drinks at biweekly "Humanist Community Pub Nights." Last month, it hosted holiday-style celebrations around Charles Darwin's 200th birthday and is hosting a talk by humanist writer and director Joss Whedon of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" fame.

What is the long-term outlook for such groups? I have always assumed that there was something about traditional churches that would help keep the group intact, something having to do with a solution to the fear of death. Churches work hard to play up both the fear and the solution. Non-believers tend to have a different focus: the here and now.

The USA Today article quotes Richard Lints, a professor of philosophical theology who

doubts humanism can sustain itself in the local congregations Epstein envisions because community is not a natural part of humanism, where the individual is the ultimate source of meaning. If humanism becomes concerned with the "greater good," and a sort of natural moral order that implies, it starts to resemble religion and humanists will back away, he said. "At the heart of the humanist project is deep individualism," Lints said. "It's always going to be difficult to sustain a real robust community."

Certainly one of model of such a community has been successful, that of the Ethical Societies such as this one. Also, consider that many religions are not traditionally religious--they run along a continuum. As proof, consider the scorn heaped on Unitarian Churches by right wing fundamentalists. Here's one dramatic example.

Can non-theistic "churches" hold together? Time will tell.

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Patients sharing symptoms and treatment results: Patients Like Me

I just learned that there is a site called Patients Like Me, where people fighting diseases can share symptoms and treatment experiences. This is another wonderful benefit of being able to network using the Internet. It might even be a life-saver. Here's how the site describes itself:

Whether you’re depressed, bipolar, anxious, obsessive-compulsive, or simply want to monitor your mood fluctuations, this is the online community for you. By sharing your symptoms, treatments and mood charts, you can gain insight into what affects your mood while helping others learn from your experiences. Create a profile today to begin taking control of your health. Imagine knowing every medication, supplement, or device used to treat your disease. Imagine knowing what treatments work for people just like you — and having the ability to easily connect with those people. That’s what makes PatientsLikeMe different. Patients share their treatments and outcomes not just to help themselves, but to help others. Become part of making a difference for everyone with mood conditions today.

The site has special categories for neurological disorders, mood disorders and immune conditions. It's wonderful that patients can have information above and beyond their own health care providers--the opportunity to be a member of a larger community of like-minded people sharing ideas and encouragement.

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MIT votes open-access regarding scientific papers

According to Wired, Scientific publishing might have just reached a tipping point, thanks to a new open access policy at MIT. . . [MIT's] faculty voted last week to make all of their papers available for free on the web, the first university-wide policy of its sort. MIT's Hal Abelson argued that this move "changed the power dynamics between scientific publishers and researchers." He pointed out that publishers "have been reluctant to give up control of the informational resources they have." Open access advocates have argued that "the current scientific publishing paradigm is broken because publishers control the scientific record, not academics"

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