Open Notebook Science (ONS) is “the practice of making a researcher’s laboratory notebook, and all associated supporting data, public in as close to real time as possible,” says Dr. Jean-Claude Bradley, Associate Professor of Chemistry at Drexel University in Pennsylvania and pioneer of ONS.

The first ONS research project was Bradley’s UsefulChem project.  He opened the walls of his lab to make all data open to the public through a wiki and blog mashup. By doing so, his experimental data can be indexed and harvested by both human and computational agents.

While his open approach is not the standard for science (especially in Chemistry), ONS is gaining rippled momentum in the scientific community as more and more scientists are seeing the value in collaborating on lab experiments.

What is the Difference Between ONS and Open Access?

Open Access (OA) and ONS are similar in that data is shared freely.  Open Access means there is no charge to the reader when the article is published.  Typically, a library has to pay for journal subscriptions, but Open Access journals are made free via the web.

The main differences between OA and ONS are timing and detail.  In ONS, the scientists are working and documenting their research live. Both successes and failures are published.  This is not the standard for science where only successes are published (even in OA).

In OA, the articles are polished and can happen any time after an experiments concludes.  The publication is not live, and all of the failed experiments are removed.

Nature is an Open Access scientific journal devoted to environmental biology.  Their material is made free to the public, but it is polished work and not the raw types of work found in Open Notebook science.

Some OA journals are peer reviewed and some are not.  The OA Librarian has awesome resources on the topic if you would like to learn more.

What are the Benefits and Risks of ONS?

While losing the right to a patent can be financially devastating, the effects of producing faster research can help cure world killers.  Bradley estimates that we can cut down the time it takes to go from lab to medicine by 10-15 years with Open Notebook Science.

While pre-tenured faculty and research scientists need peer reviewed publications and patents to advance in their fields, many tenured scientists are able to contribute to the body of knowledge without much risk.

Time will tell is Bradley’s predictions are right, but, in the meantime, here are some tools for getting started.

How to get started

If you want to be start an Open Notebook for your scientific experiments, you need a few simple tools and a commitment to publishing successes and failures in real time.

Tools:

1. A Blog with RSS Feed
2. A Wiki
3. An RSS Reader
4. A Social Network
5. A digital still camera
6. A digital video camera

Methods:

1. Keep a computer in the lab
2. Document all steps, materials, and findings (good and bad) as they happen on your wiki notebook
3. When possible, take pictures or video of experiments
4. Write a summary for the blog BEFORE you leave the lab.
5. Publish your blog so that it gets pinged by your RSS feedburner.
6. During down time, keep current with other similar experiments using your social networks and RSS reader.

A Good Blog and Wiki Mix (Bliki)

Dr. Bradley uses Blogger and Wikispaces to create his Bliki environment, but any blog or wiki platform will work.  If you would like to explore and compare wikis, try wikimatrix.

You can learn more about wikimatrix from our article here and learn about another free program called intodit here. While Blogger is super powerful because it is owned by Google, there are lots of other blogging platforms out there.

Timely publishing is the key to ONS, and experiments should be documented in as near real time as possible. When possible, pictures and videos should be included in the bliki.  It is crucial to make sure that you connect your blog and wiki so they are seamless.

A Good RSS Reader

Open Notebook Science requires that a scientist keeps up to date with the experiments of others.  For example, in the Bradley Lab at Drexel, undergrad and grad students are working on a inhibitor to Enoyl Reductase, the root cause of malaria.

It is important for scientists to report their findings immediately while the details are fresh, so that others around the world can duplicate or enhance an experiment in their own labs.  Likewise, it is imperative for scientists to read the work of others so they can add to the body of knowledge.
RSS readers are a dime a dozen, but Google Reader is one of the best.  The students can write collect notes from other online notebooks, create notes in text, save and share notes, email notes to other team members, and organize materials very easily.

Open Notebook Science is about sharing data consistently in real time.  Bradley predicts that, in the future, humans won’t be needed to aggregate data.  But, for now, we have to collect and disseminate data the old fashioned way…by talking about it! Social networks like Facebook and Twitter allow for instant sharing, and Bradley uses FriendFeed to collect it all in one location.

The Wrap

Will Open Notebook Science change the nature of the scientific community? Probably not.  But, if more people share their data in real time, we can help people around the world combat disease.

Do you share your scientific data in real time?  Why or why not?

In previous articles I’ve touched on relationships before. For example, I wrote about some uniquely geeky ways to ask someone to marry you on the Internet using Google Maps. The problem again is that you need to meet someone first before you can ask them to marry you. I also covered Randomate, a speed dating service that you can use with your webcam, but maybe you’re not the kind of guy that does the whole speed dating thing.

Well, thanks to Facebook, it no longer matters that you’re in front of the computer most of the day, because you now have an entire world of wonderful, single women at your fingertips. The only remaining problem is, how does a geek get Facebook girls to notice him?

How A Geek Can Get Facebook Girls To Notice Him

There’s one thing that I’ve got to make clear – I’m basing this article on the assumption that you’re looking for a future wife, not a one-night stand. This is important because as girls mature, the things that they consider important typically change. By the time they are in their twenties (or in college), they’ve been through the same sickening cycle so many times with the sort of guys they dated in high school, that by their 20′s they realize the sort of guy they really want to marry.  Not all women, mind you – others come to terms with this very early in their teens.

So what sort of guy is it that women who are ready to settle down really want? Well, having three sisters who have each gone through this cycle, I’ve observed that he’s the sort of guy that:

• Is confident, can stand up for himself, but is willing to bend sometimes.
• Can be soft and understanding when the situation demands it (but not all the time!).
• Truly loves women for their gender, not for their looks (see below).
• Is exciting and spontaneous at times.
• Loves kids.

Now, I realize that I’m completely categorizing women in this introduction and many women reading this may take issue with such sweeping generalizations. For that, I apologize, but the goal here is to help geeky guys come to terms with what most women want. Now, at this point in your Facebook experience, you’ve probably amassed a fair number of women from your past already – from high school, college, past jobs, associations and other friends.

This isn’t like in the 90′s when hardly anyone was using the Internet, and finding an attractive women online was nearly impossible. Today, you’ll find countless women on Facebook who are beautiful, nice, family-oriented and looking for a guy just like you (they perhaps just don’t realize it yet). Many of these women are divorced or single, and actively looking for a good man, even though it may not be apparent on their Facebook profile. So how do you draw their eyes toward you without coming across as arrogant or intrusive?

Tip #1 – Convey Your Healthy Love Of Women

The secret to attracting the attention of these potential dates is by conveying, through your actions and profile updates, exactly what kind of man you are. The idea is to focus on those characteristics of men that they are looking for (see the list above).

For example, if you want them to see how much you love the female gender simply because women are beautiful both inside and out – portray how deeply you feel about your niece or your sisters. Make it obvious that you both love, and are loved, by many other women in your life.

This works mostly because women at this stage in their lives are used to guys boasting about their accomplishments and their skills, but by using your status updates to communicate with affection and kindness to the women already in your life, they’ll spot your status recognize that you’re a pretty sweet guy.  Before long, they’ll wonder if there’s a way they can get any of that sweetness too (especially if there isn’t any in their life at the moment.)

Tip #2 – Show That You’re Adventurous & Fun

While they may be looking for a little stability and a family, there’s always a small voice inside women (and men) that cries out for adventure, mystery and spontaneity. Sometimes they want to be swept up off their feet and whisked away to a secret, secluded hideaway for a romantic weekend. These are the things they dream about, and these are the things that you should portray about yourself. How? Well now that’s where technology comes into play. Sign up with one of the popular photo sharing sites and start posting photos of your trips, no matter how mundane you may think they are.

Sharing your photo adventures (even if it’s just a short hiking trip), proves that you get up and get out and explore the world. It shows that you’ve got what it takes to put a bit of spark and excitement in her life.  Want to do one even better? Run a blog to chronicle your adventures and post the updates to your Facebook account!

It’s one thing to see how exciting your life is through your Facebook profile updates, but when you have a blog, it’s even greater proof that you take your excitement and fun very seriously.

Tip #3 – Show How Much You Love Kids

I grew up with three sisters, and I’ve known many of their friends of all ages, and if there’s anything that they all share in common it’s that just about all women rank a respect and love of children as one of the top-ranking criteria for the man they decide to marry. Now, the odds are pretty good that you have someone in your life with children – maybe a brother or sister with kids. Take every opportunity to spend time with them, and take lots of snapshots. Obviously these won’t be fabricated photos (because you really do love kids don’t you?) – but they will be proof positive of how much you do love spending time with, and playing with, kids. Show how much of a kid at heart you really are.

It’s like a force of nature – a law of physics – if you’re near either little kids or puppies, before you know it there will be a crowd of women around you. It’s the God’s honest truth. I don’t make the rules, I’m just helping you understand them so that you can turn your Facebook account into a magnet to attract the kind of women that you want.

I am not suggesting that you present yourself as something that you’re not – but if you have all of these great characteristics, you should be portraying them on your Facebook profile!  Trust me, if you follow these three basic techniques for updating your Facebook account, before you know it you’ll have single women asking you for your phone number.

If you don’t believe me, try it, and then come back here to share your success stories in the comments section below!

Edible/Inedible Experiments Archive

This list of fun and very simple experiments should quickly bring back fond memories from your childhood. The experminents involve simple items that you can find around your house and they should not take too long to setup. My personal favoriites are the Baking Soda Volcano and Soda Geyser.

Evil Mad Scientist

This web sites motto is, “Making the World a Better Place, One Evil Mad Scientist at a Time”, and each week they feature a new do it yourself project. These projects are a bit more advanced then the ones from the previous web site and you may have to go out and purchase some things to create your own project, but the ideas are way cool. Since I am a robot nut, I was partial to the Bristlebot, which was a tiny vibrating robot made from the head of a toothbrush.

Joey Green’s Mad Scientist Experiments

These fun and easy experiments involve common materials you will find around the house. Joey Green presents hundreds of little-known uses for well-known products, but his science experiment section is a true treasure.

Mad Scientist Party

Why not get some of your friends together and host a mad scientist party? This site will tell you all you need to know about hosting such a party, including invitations, games, and even an evil eye cake.

PBS Zoom Science

The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) hosts a very popular kids show called Zoom science. Not only does the associated web site include fun experiments seen on the show, but you can even send in the results from your own wacky science experiment and they may feature it on the show.

Steve Spangler Science Experiments

Steve Spangler performs science experiments for a weekly local television show, but his web site features some really fun and simple science experiments you can do at home. Steve tries really hard to make science fun.

Know of some other resources for wacky and fun science expermiments? Let us know about them.

Of course not. OK, science is indeed complicated and not always easy to grasp. But that actually makes it exciting since it offers a challenge. And finally, you’re already taking advantage of many reactions based on scientific research at your home. There is soap (a.k.a shampoo, detergent, dish liquid), the vapor-compression cycle (a.k.a refrigerator or freezer), and electricity (a.k.a electrical light, internet, electronic devices).

Here are the resources for 3 fun DIY science experiments that you can easily do at home.

1. Frozen Bubbles

The sad thing about soap bubbles is that they don’t last very long. Here is an idea how you can preserve them for a bit, at least if it’s cold enough outside.

First you need to create a beautiful soap bubble and then you need to keep it alive long enough for it to freeze. That can be done out in the cold or – if you have access to it – with the help of dry ice. If you have space in your freezer that might work as well.

Bubbles

You’ll find everything about soap bubbles, how they work, why they shine in all colors of the rainbow, and the best recipes on this page.

Dry Ice Bubbles

At About.com you’ll learn how to best freeze your bubbles using liquid nitrogen.

Cold Bubbles

At HowStuffWorks they tell you how to do it with just cold weather.

2. Extract Your DNA

DNA is the hard drive of life. So much information is stored in such a simple structure and you have massive amounts of it in your body. Did you know that the total length of all the DNA in your body lined out to a single string would suffice to make 70 trips from the earth to the sun and back?

Instructions

This site has very simple instructions on how you can extract DNA from your cheeks. It doesn’t hurt – promise!

What this will not show you is a single string of DNA, not even several, at least you won’t be able to identify them as such. What you will see will be jelly like, maybe just a clump of it. But that is your precipitated DNA which was released from the nuclei of your own cells. As a control you can do the same procedure just with tap water that didn’t touch your mouth. The control should lack the jelly things.

If you find this experiment too simple with way too little details, check out the instructions for How to Extract DNA from Anything Living at the Genetic Science Learning Center of the University of Utah.

It’s the same principle of course, but the article provides more background information and requires more material.

3. Make Light with Fruit

Fruit is not only healthy, they can also be used to produce electricity and light. Don’t believe it? Well…

Fruit Battery

Again, About.com shows how it’s done. This requires a bit more than regular household articles. You’ll need not only some fruit, but also copper, zinc (e.g. nails) and a small light bulb.

If these experiments excite you, check out the following websites for more.

The Science Explorer

Science Toys

At Home Astronomy

So what is your favorite DIY science experiment? What do you find fascinating in or about science?

Image credits: rometree, Zanastardust, clix, sardinelly