Skip to main content

Open Lab 2010!

So this year, super science blogger Ben Young Landis was supposed to be guest editor for Open Lab, but alas, he has gotten a new job and will be moving and will no longer be able.

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


So this year, super science blogger Ben Young Landis was supposed to be guest editor for Open Lab, but alas, he has gotten a new job and will be moving and will no longer be able. So that meant that series editor Bora, aka the Blogfather, aka Papa Smurf, needed a new editor.

And he picked ME!

So I am very happy to announce that I'll be editor for Open Lab 2010, which I am very excited about, especially because I know it means I will be up to my eyeballs in awesome science writing. And you know, because now I have something to do with my hours and hours of free time :-)


On supporting science journalism

If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.


If you aren't yet familiar with Open Lab, you can go check out (and purchase!) the first four editions here.

All submissions are going to be evaluated by fellow science bloggers, and the top 50 will be selected for publication. As last year's guest editor Scicurious noted, "The end result is a wonderful compilation of the greats in science blogging, and is a rare note of permanence in the internet world, where nothing last more than about 15 minutes."

The whole project started out almost five years ago when Lulu approached Bora about putting together an anthology containing the fifty best science blog posts of all time (in the spirit of the yearly Best Science Writing books). The response was so great that in 2007, he repeated it, this time with guest editor Reed Cartwright. And in 2008, with guest editor Jennifer Rohn. And in 2009 with guest editor Scicurious.

To submit a post for Open Lab, please go to this submission form. You can nominate as many posts as you wish, and don't feel shy about nominating yourself. Each needs to be originally published as a blog post between 12-01-09 and 12-01-10 to be eligible. Keep in mind that posts that are over-reliant on multimedia or videos that don't translate well to dead-tree format will have to be excluded. But things like poems or art are encouraged!

There's lots of awesome posts already submitted, but WE. NEED. MORE. So keep on submitting!

Jason G. Goldman is a science journalist based in Los Angeles. He has written about animal behavior, wildlife biology, conservation, and ecology for Scientific American, Los Angeles magazine, the Washington Post, the Guardian, the BBC, Conservation magazine, and elsewhere. He contributes to Scientific American's "60-Second Science" podcast, and is co-editor of Science Blogging: The Essential Guide (Yale University Press). He enjoys sharing his wildlife knowledge on television and on the radio, and often speaks to the public about wildlife and science communication.

More by Jason G. Goldman