Kevin A. Zelnio Science Writing | Marine Biology | Evolution & Ecology | Music
Systematics
Evolution and Costs of Firefly Lights
Light. Its all around us and is the foundation of much of our planet. Plants on land or in the shallow seas use the power of light to catalyze a cascade of interactions that ultimately result in an amazing, complex food web of interdependent organisms. Even in the deep sea the products of light find [...]
How to Retard Scientific Progress
I found a great quote and analogy from an essay published in Current Biology by Peter Lawrence titled The mismeasurement of science. This essay takes a look at how science is measured and examines the use of impact factors and other metrics that measure scientific progress for individual scientists, academic departments and institutions. The quote [...]
Repost: Is the World of Taxonomy Ready for PLoS Systematics?
This article was originally published February 20, 2008 at The Other 95%, where a good comment thread is also archived. I am reposting because I plan on discussing open access and electronic publishing in taxonomy more and feel this article sets the mood for my future thoughts. I recently posted an update on state of [...]
What Happened to PLoS Systematics?
In May of 2008 I enthusiastically lauded PLoS ONE for publishing their first open access paper that described some new species of ants. It has been a year and half since then, have there been other taxonomists taking to this new concept of a completely online, open access forum for publishing new species? Currently, only [...]
Patenting Systematics Revisited
Alex, an entomologist at the fabulous Myrmecos blog, was also infuriated by the news piece by Pennisi (subscription required) in the latest issue of Science. His take was slightly different than my take on it a couple days ago. Alex is most upset about the pending Microsoft patent claim on, according to the language of [...]
Patenting Systematics
An interesting news piece came out today in the most recent issue of Science. Elizabeth Pennisi reports that systematists are up in arms over pending patents on methods that have been in place for dozens of years. Such as a novel “… way to use biological data that has been organized according to evolutionary relatedness. [...]
Deep Sea News
- The passing of Mike deGruy February 4, 2012 para_sight
- Interview: New anthology of tentacle porn reaches for marine conservation February 2, 2012 Miriam Goldstein
- Awareness Through Scrutiny, Not Negativity: A DSN Core Value February 1, 2012 RickMac
- Extinct life is like a box of chocolates January 31, 2012 para_sight
- I Am Science January 30, 2012 Dr. M
- Guest Post: True Confessions of a Dolphin-Loving Marine Biologist January 30, 2012 Miriam Goldstein
EvoEcoLab on Scientific American
- Guest Post: What Happens if We Call for a Boycott and No One Shows Up? January 18, 2012
- NCSE Picks Fight Against Climate Science Deniers January 16, 2012
- Mistruths, Insults from the Copyright Lobby Over HR 3699 January 16, 2012
- Scientists, Fight For Access! January 6, 2012
- The (Mis)use of Messaging in Biodiversity Loss Prevention January 5, 2012
- Cave-Dwelling Invertebrates Enjoy Exotic Cuisine December 28, 2011
On the web
