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ABATC Year in Review - 2011

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American


I was initially not going to do a year in review, but all the cool kids are doing it, so why not? It was an eventful year, after all.

The launch of this network was the #1 event of the year for me. But I also traveled a lot - every month (or so) to New York City, also to Boston, Philly, Washington DC (twice), Asheville, Winston-Salem, Flagstaff, London (UK) and Belgrade (Serbia). I did not blog much about those travels or personal stuff. And my blogging is not nearly as frequent as it once was (remember when my output was 8.2 posts per day?). A lot of the quick stuff - links, quotes, personal stuff, humor/cartoons, etc. - I moved to Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed, Google Plus, Tumblr and Posterous, leaving the blog for the most important and serious stuff only. I also have to write or edit multiple blogs now, so A Blog Around The Clock is not the only place I can focus my attention to. But here we go - the key posts of the year:

January is all about ScienceOnline, of course, but I did manage to sneak in a post that was not about it:


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Can WordPress do this?

In FebruaryI wrote my first big SciAm science post, and also went to AAAS meeting and blogged about it:

Circadian clock without DNA–History and the power of metaphor

Web breaks echo-chambers, or, ‘Echo-chamber’ is just a derogatory term for ‘community’ – my remarks at #AAASmtg

March was a fun month - lots of work, though, so not much time left for my own blogging:

A “sixth sense” for earthquake prediction? Give me a break!

Book review: Pink Boots and the Machete by Mireya Mayor

In April I tried my hand at this 'journalism' thing I am supposed to be doing now:

Giant Dino exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History, or why I should not be a photojournalist

May was noisy around here, so why not write about it:

Cicadas, or how I Am Such A Scientist, or a demonstration of good editing

Is education what journalists do?

Scientific Communication all-you-can-eat Linkfest

In June I participated in the World Science Festival and left some trail of it on the blog:

The Bezos Scholars Program at the World Science Festival

Stories: what we did at #WSF11 last week

July was the Big Month - the launch of the network, and my renewed energy for blogging:

Introducing: the new Scientific American blog network!

Welcome to A Blog Around The Clock – Next Generation.

Telling science stories…wait, what’s a “story”?

Blogs: face the conversation

August was calm, so I managed to write about science:

City Of Light: Insomniac Urban Animals

Identity – what is it really?

Hmm, just a bunch or re-posts from the archives in September, as I was spending my time in Europe...

October was back-to-work time, but I did manage to blog a little bit:

The Fracking Song

ScienceOnline participants’ interviews

Two posts I really enjoyed writing in November:

Myths about myths about Thanksgiving turkey making you sleepy

Books: ‘Reinventing Discovery: The New Era of Networked Science’ by Michael Nielsen

Not sure what happened in December, but I was quite productive blogging science, including reporting on a paper the same moment its embargo lifted:

The New Meanings of How and Why in Biology?

The wonderful quail…and what Sen.Coburn should learn about it.

Data for #drunksci: Daily rhythm of alcohol tolerance

Now I have to write the Preface for Open Laboratory anthology, and another lengthy media/blogging post before #scio12, but organization of that meeting will probably suck up most of my free (i.e., writing/blogging) time in January. Let's hope the next year is even better and productive than this one. Have a Happy New Year!