Time again for our Website of the Week, when we showcase interesting and innovative online destinations. Our web guide is VOA's Art Chimes.
This week, it's a site at the intersection of science and blogging, where scientists can get opinionated and don't have to be peer-reviewed.
BLY: "Scienceblogs.com is a conversation about science and a community of people who are passionate about science and its place in society."
Adam Bly is the founder of ScienceBlogs.com, where 67 writers have their say on a wide range of mostly science-related subjects.
BLY: "Ah, everything from the minutiae of squid and particle physics to sort-of big social issues of the fight between creationism and evolution, the place of science in policy making and global warming."
The breadth of subject matter can be, well, breathtaking, and the personality of the individual bloggers comes through in their writing, not to mention the quirky names they choose for their blogs. Chaotic Utopia is written by a Colorado student who recently posted about fractals. The highly respected Effect Measure blog keeps a skeptical eye on public health issues. Stranger Fruit is the work of a university biologist.
Traditionally scientists have spoken through their work, which appears in scientific journals and can be pretty incomprehensible to non-scientists. Adam Bly says ScienceBlogs.com gives scientists a more conversational way of communicating with the rest of us
BLY: "It really has become a new way for scientists to speak directly to the public. It's created a new soapbox for scientists to talk to the people who, by and large, are funding their research and who have a vested interest in the outcome and consequences and byproducts of scientific research."
We reached Adam Bly in Switzerland, where he's exploring the possibility of a German language version. You'll find informed opinion on science and society at ScienceBlogs.com, or get the link from our site, voanews.com.