This morning I am sitting down at my desk with a small red notebook with the words “Google: Open Source Programs Office” on the cover. It is filled with my scrawlings from a meeting this weekend at Google Headquarters, known as SciFoo. The notebook was part of a standard meeting goody bag SciFoo dispensed, along with one of those very heavy plastic cubes that meeting organizers love to engrave as a memento of a never-to-be-forgotten experience. Since I never check baggage when I fly, I left the cube behind. SciFoo was a wonderful meeting, but not without room for improvement. I can sum my feelings up this way: love the small, empty notebook for recording thoughts, not so fond of the heavy, self-celebrating cube.

Continue reading “Letter from SciFoo: The joys and sorrows of the Unconference” →

A new prize from AAAS recognizes one of the most important things a scientist can do:

AAAS Early Career Award for Public Engagement with Science
Nomination Deadline: 15 October

Continue reading “A Prize For Young Scientists Who Reach Out” →

As I hoped, Marlene Zuk, a biologist at UC Riverside, has chimed in with her own thoughts on Friday’s post on the meaning(lessness) of sexual displays. Check it out!

Originally published August 1, 2010. Copyright 2010 Carl Zimmer.

I hope you enjoyed Sex Week (in a purely intellectual way, of course). I’m now off to a confab called SciFoo, which I’ve heard a lot about over the years and am now finally able to attend. Each year, Google and O’Reilly Media bring together a motley crew of scientists, writers, and others, and basically tell them to make up a conference on the spot. There are a whole bunch of people on the attendee list that I’ve waited years to meet in person, so it will definitely be worth the trip to California. But if there are any SciFoo vets out there with advice for making the most of the experience, I’d love to hear it.

I will try to report on my experience, either in a measured reflection next week, or in a torrent of half-baked tweets.

Originally published July 30, 2010. Copyright 2010 Carl Zimmer.