This week sees the launch of the next big thing in science communication down under – Sciblogs, the new science blogging platform from the NZ Science Media Centre. Sciblogs is hosting 25 blogs, from scientists in Crown Research Institutes, universities and private research companies, with two dozen PhDs involved. I’m letting the side down on that score… but Hot Topic is very pleased to be on the Sciblogs blogroll as one of the founding participants. There are some established bloggers on the platform, including Ken Perrott’s Open Parachute and Jim McVeagh’s MacDoctor, and there many others that deserve a wider audience. New bloggers include Andy Reisinger, a senior climate researcher from VUW, and there’s my new favourite blog with kakapo pictures: Chthonic Wildlife Ramblings (title explanation).
All Hot Topic‘s posts are being syndicated to Sciblogs, and will appear there under our own banner, but this site will continue as before. All discussion will take place here, unless and until we can work out a way of syncing comments between the to two platforms. Sciblogs looks set to be a one-stop shop for great science coverage from New Zealand, and I wish it (and all who sail in her) well.
Spot the blogger!
It’s good to see Hot Topic taking a deserved place among scientists “who want to reach out to a general audience to explain their science and how it relates to society”. Climate science, which Gareth’s book and website communicate to that general audience, relates to society with awful immediacy.
Personally, as very definitely a non-scientist I feel a little odd about my posts appearing in such a setting, but take comfort from the fact that I do belong to the general audience part of the equation and recognise that it is science which has provided us with an understanding of the danger in which we stand.
Don’t worry Gareth doesn’t have science background either and he isn’t ashamed to claim to be an expert.
All that aside the website seems pretty good.
Actually I do have a science background: a science degree. I’ve never worked as a scientist, but I’ve written about science and technology for most of my working life, and have worked with scientists a lot over the last ten years.
‘Gareth Renowden (MA Oxon) is the author of the award-winning The Truffle Book (Limestone Hills 2005), The Olive Book (Canterbury University Press 1999) and Video – The Inside Story (Collins (UK) 1983). He has written for and worked on a wide variety of magazines and newspapers in Britain, NZ and the US. He is trying to grow truffles, olives and grapes on a small farm in North Canterbury, and is immediate past president of the NZ Truffle Association. He is a member of the committee of the NZ Meteorological Society, deputy chair of the North Canterbury Radio Trust, and a founder member of the Waipara River Protection Group.’
What was the degree? I thought an MA was a master of arts but i guess the under grad degree could have been science. Anyhow I don’t think science background is a prerequisite to have an opinion so it was a cheap dig and I shouldn’t have said it. Apologised and withdrawn.
No worries. Common mistake. At that time, Oxford didn’t do BSc or MSc degrees. Tradition. You could be Stephen Hawking and still be an MA. Subject was Human Sciences, aka “the scientific study of man”, so life science based, with a dash of sociology, anthropology, ethology, and demography thrown in for good measure.
Looks like a great site. Thanks for the heads up!
Hmm normally blogs which aggregate posts from related blogs are called Planet sites – see http://www.planetplanet.org/ – syncing comments is therefore not part of the design with that.
I look forward to following it!
Sciblogs is a bit more than just an aggregator, Sam. They are hosting blogs too (WordPress MU) — and encouraging new bloggers to use their platform (like Andy Reisinger). I could have shifted HT over to their servers completely, but prefer the flexibility of what I can do with my own set-up.
I’m still hoping that there might be seamless comment sync, perhaps using Intense Debate (now part of the WP universe)… but I’m not holding my breath.
In the meantime, I’ll be watching the stats with interest.