JoVE: the Journal of Visualized Experiments

We just stumbled upon a great resource, a scholarly journal that Nature calls the "YouTube for test tubes". It's actually an all video format journal, something you don't see very often in the halls of academia. So, by JoVE, what is it exactly? (I'm sure I'm the first person to make that joke about this journal...) Well, from their website:

"Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE) is a peer reviewed, free access, online journal devoted to the publication of biological research in a video format. JoVE was established as a new tool in life science publication and communication, with participation of scientists from leading research institutions. Visualization greatly facilitates the understanding and efficient reproduction of both basic and complex experimental techniques, thereby addressing two of the biggest challenges faced by today’s life science research community: i) low transparency and poor reproducibility of biological experiments and ii) time and labor-intensive nature of learning new experimental techniques."

You can check out their website at http://www.jove.com/ or you can find them indexed in the PubMed database.

Nature's Publishers Make Genome Papers Available Through Creative Commons License

From the Nature website: "In the continuing drive to make papers as accessible as possible, Nature Publishing Group is now introducing a 'creative commons' licence for the reuse of [papers reporting full genome sequences]. The licence (see http://www.nature.com/authors/editorial_policies/license.html) allows non-commercial publishers, however they might be defined, to reuse the pdf and html versions of the paper. In particular, users are free to copy, distribute, transmit and adapt the contribution, provided this is for non-commercial purposes, subject to the same or similar licence conditions and due attribution."

Click here for full article from nature.com.

Tech Review's 10 Emerging Technologies 2008

Technology Review presents their list of the 10 technologies that they think are most likely to change the way people live. Technologies profiled include: modeling surprise, probabilistic chips, NanoRadio, wireless power, atomic magnetometers, offline web apps, graphene transistors, connectomics, reality mining and cellulolytic enzymes.

Virtual Astral Projection

Two teams of neuroscientists have made a breakthrough in the study of "out-of-body experiences," according to this week's issue of Science. About one in 10 people report having had the strange sensation of floating away from their bodies at some point in their lives. According to the new studies, it's now possible to induce that feeling of astral projection in the lab. Read more...>>

(Source: Slate.com)

As a Stevens user, you have full-text access to Science magazine. Check out the report in its entirety here.

(Off-campus users will have to configure their browser settings to access online library resources.)

Science, Simpsons Style...

In honor of the recently released Simpsons Movie:

Part of The Simpsons' greatness is a willingness to find the humour in absolutely everything — including science. Executive producer Al Jean, the show's head writer and a Harvard mathematics graduate, talks to Nature about how to get a laugh out of Euler's formula. Read more...>>

Also check out the top ten science moments in The Simpsons, as chosen by Nature's editorial staff.

(Source: http://www.nature.com/news/index.html)

Did you know that Stevens users have full-text online access to Nature journal? Check it out here.

Wanted: Savvy Grads in Math and Science

The pharmaceutical and medical technology industry is a leading source of jobs in New Jersey, but concerns have been raised whether there will be enough college graduates with the math and science education necessary for employment in the field.

A new report entitled “The Workforce Needs of New Jersey’s Pharmaceutical and Medical Technology Industry” issued by the HealthCare Institute of New Jersey (HINJ) warns that there may not be enough qualified workers to fill projected job openings during the next several years.

The report, prepared by the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University and based on a survey of HINJ member companies, identified significant employment opportunities for product and marketing managers, clinical scientists, regulatory affairs managers, medical doctors, biostatisticians and engineers.

Read the NJBIZ.com article in its entirety here.