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From BAM to The BRAIN Initiative: A clearer view of a major neuroscience enterprise

From BAM to The BRAIN Initiative: A clearer view of a major neuroscience enterprise

By Gabrielle Rabinowitz In February, the media was abuzz in response to President Obama’s pledge to fund the creation of a Brain Activity Map (BAM). Reporters erroneously promised a comprehensive human brain map, complete with cures for neuropsychiatric disorders, while glossing over the fact that […]

Know Thy Bias

Know Thy Bias

by Gabriel Gasque, PhD  We are biased. When evaluating someone’s competence in a professional setting, we tend to consider other factors beyond qualifications and achievements. One particularly troubling example is gender bias. We still see women as less competent for certain professional tasks, and there […]

The Fine Li(n)e

The Fine Li(n)e

By Simona Giunta ‘A scientist, in a broad sense, is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge’.  Scientist Definition: Wikipedia Is the universe expanding or contracting? How did life on Earth begin? How does damaged DNA get repaired? These are all tough questions for […]

Fiscal Cliff Part II: What can scientists do to protect the future of basic science research?

Fiscal Cliff Part II: What can scientists do to protect the future of basic science research?

By Christina Pyrgaki, @CPyrgaki In Fiscal Cliff Part I, I talked about how the fiscal cliff will affect science and what citizens should do about it. Part II is for scientists: how can we protect the future of scientific research? Researchers are trained to write […]

A 3 Billion Dollar Mistake: Why the American government should think twice about a Brain Activity Map (BAM)

A 3 Billion Dollar Mistake: Why the American government should think twice about a Brain Activity Map (BAM)

Update: The United States government has released more information about the specifics of their brain mapping project, now called the BRAIN Initiative. I break down the details and discuss the pros and cons here.   By Gabrielle Rabinowitz, @GabrielleRab In the 2013 State of the […]

On the Importance of Fun

On the Importance of Fun

By Dan Gareau, @LASER_Beam Science is a creative process and scientists are creative people who like to have fun… but scientists are not known for being flashy. A paper in Cell or Nature is typically where scientists stop and where the threshold of “success” has […]