Shelve SOPA

We at OSK strongly support the free exchange of information and creativity. We are amateurs at blogging and consequently can't figure out how to black out our site in protest of SOPA/PIPA, but below is a link telling you what you can do to help the movement to do so.

Please take action.

Open science in the public eye

I have many, many thoughts on open publishing. For now, here's the article:

Linked

Allen Institute for Brain Science Open for Science

Great WSJ article about the Allen Institute for Brain Science turning its data out to the public free of charge.

Edit: I notice the WSJ article requires a subscription; very 'un-open' of Paul Allen; regardless, I was able to read it after searching for the article on google news with keywords "Open Science Paul Allen."

"Climategate" and Openness

Here's a piece about "Climategate." While I, like everyone else, is tired of tagging "-gate" to all scandals or perceived scandals, the actual scandal relates back to a need for openness. I want to transpose this piece that goes right back to the need for Open Science, but in a slightly politicized agenda:

"Voters in a democracy do not argue about science. They argue about the authority of scientists. And scientists’ claim to authority comes from the perception that, in fact, they do not let their vanities and rivalries influence their work...scientists pursue only the truth...some prominent members of the climate-change establishment were not operating in a spirit of openness."

Facebook for Scientists and Open Science Study

Hope everyone has enjoyed his or her respective Thanksgiving traditions. Here is an interesting article on the prospects of Facebook for Scientists. Something perhaps a more titillating is this project on science as a public enterprise. It has several links discussing open science in detail. (One is a link to Lancet, to which you must register as a user [for free] to see.)

A Map of Science's Future

From the Institute for the Future, a literal map of the future of science. We, of the open science mantra, are found up in the right-hand corner under the heading of "Massively Multiplayer Data" and pretty much the entire right-hand side (the "interstellar clouds of creation").

This is only a theoretical gesticulation, but it's pretty cool that open science is right there with decrypting the human brain, finding extraterrestrial life, nanotechnology, etc.

Check it out:

http://boingboing.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/IFTF_SR-1454A_FutureofScience_Mapside_only.jpg

The Toaster Project

Here's a fun piece about an amateur scientist (among other titles), Thomas Thwaites, who made his own toaster from scratch. I saw him on The Colbert Report tonight, of which you can all try to catch a rerun, or you can watch his Ted talk here:

http://www.ted.com/talks/thomas_thwaites_how_i_built_a_toaster_from_scratch.html

It's great to see inquisitive, thoughtful minds out there who want to know how things work, even if the end product is a ridiculous fire-hazard as in this case of the toaster. Amateur scientists are an untapped resource full of good ideas and are unfairly silent due to their unfamiliarity with the entrenched publication system of academia. Hopefully opening up science can provide the platform amateur scientists need to share their data and ideas.