Lovely Weather, Rainy Day Reading

Comic credit: PhD Comics

The weather has been lovely this week in Washington, DC. As usual, as soon as we don't need to be at our desks (read: Saturday), the forecast turns gloomy. But, it means we'll have plenty of time to read up on stuff we missed this week. Here are five things we haven't missed (and don't think you should either):

1. Last week's budget deal made its way through Congress this week, and now awaits President Obama's signature. Read these Science stories for more on how the deal affects research funding overall, as well as the NIH and NSF in particular.
2. The royal wedding is just two weeks away, and Cell has an amusing, scientific perspective on the union of Prince William and Kate Middleton. (If you don't have a subscription, there's a summary here.)
3. Looking for a job in public service? This book tells you how you can get paid to change the world.
4. You've heard of the dot.com bubble and the housing bubble, but is there a higher education bubble? If so, is it about to burst?
5. Ed Yong explains how breast cells may be able to revert to stem cells. What would that mean for the future of stem cell research?

Finally, if you like Earth Day activities, get a head start this year and submit a photo or video to the Consumer Electronics Association's contest to show what you'll be celebrating. Submissions are due April 17th, so be sure to get yours in soon!

Happy reading and we'll see you next week!

Coming Attractions: An Advocacy Survey

Photo Credit: jorge.correa on Flickr

It’s Friday, and you’re probably thinking about whether or not you want to see a movie this weekend. Well, how about two free movie tickets to help you out?

Complete the survey below and help Research!America improve its website and advocacy resources. Plus, if you provide your name and email at the end, you’ll be entered to win a pair of free movie tickets.

Only complete survey responses will be entered into the drawing. The survey closes March 18, with the winner announced soon after. Take about 10 minutes now and you could be seeing movies on us.

Take the Online Advocacy Resources SURVEY

Mystery Labs Revealed

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Mystery Lab Contest this week - submitters and guessers alike. The winning image is from Day 1!

Congratulations to Nicole, who describes her work as follows:

"My general field is engineering or biomedical engineering. This image is from an intermediate step in a computer vision project aimed at better detection of breast cancer in mammograms. The original image is an x-ray of the breast, or mammogram, and through automated image analysis my goal is to determine if the normal structure of the breast tissue has been disrupted by abnormal growth, for example cancer.

Radiologists train for years to be able to detect abnormalities in mammograms with their natural equipment, i.e. their eyes and their brain. The goal of my project, and projects similar to mine, are to teach computers to "see" images at least as well as a human can, and perhaps to add to human abilities with additional mathematical tricks that computers can use and are not easy for humans to do."

Nicole is currently a PhD working on her MD in Chicago. She'll be receiving her copy of Unscientific America: How scientific illiteracy threatens our future soon and we look forward to hearing more about her research and career. We already know she's a good communicator, because she got the message out and received 43 comments for a total of 9,847 points!

Our other contestants also deserve kudos for submitting amazing research images.

• Day 2's image of electron microscopy (in this case, white light scattered by gold nanorods) comes from the University of South Carolina.
• Day 3's image of auditory sensing is from the Brain and Behavior Laboratory at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
• Day 4's image is of quantum physics - trying to accurately measure Planck's constant - at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Remember you can always submit photos of your research to the New Voices Images from Around the Lab series by emailing an picture to hbenson at researchamerica.org. We look forward to seeing your research!

Mystery Lab Contest - Day 4

This week on New Voices we'll be sharing images of research submitted by readers. Help your fellow researchers win the contest by guessing what type of research is being done based on the image below. Can today's image beat yesterday's? Come back tomorrow to see who won and find out what's been going on in the Mystery Lab!


Today is the last day of the Mystery Lab Contest , but you can always submit photos of your research to the New Voices Images from Around the Lab series by emailing an picture to hbenson at researchamerica.org.

Mystery Lab Contest - Day 3

This week on New Voices we'll be sharing images of research submitted by readers. Help your fellow researchers win the contest by guessing what type of research is being done based on the image below. Can today's image beat yesterday's or Monday's?

You can submit your entry into the Mystery Lab Contest by emailing an image to hbenson at researchamerica.org. If we receive more submissions than we have room for in the competition, those images will be considered for our Images from Around the Lab series.

Mystery Lab Contest - Day 2

This week on New Voices we'll be sharing images of research submitted by readers. Help your fellow researchers win the contest by guessing what type of research is being done based on the image below. Can today's image beat yesterday's?


You can submit your entry into the Mystery Lab Contest by emailing an image to hbenson at researchamerica.org. If we receive more submissions than we have room for in the competition, those images will be considered for our Images from Around the Lab series.

Mystery Lab Contest - Day 1

This week on New Voices we'll be sharing images of research submitted by readers. Help your fellow researchers win the contest by guessing what type of research is being done based on the image below.
You can submit your entry into the Mystery Lab Contest by emailing an image to hbenson at researchamerica.org. If we receive more submissions than we have room for in the competition, those images will be considered for our Images from Around the Lab series.