Inspired by a question from genegeek, last week I ran a competition to define ‘evolution’ in twitter format. After collecting entries, I came up with a shortlist, which I opened up to you for voting. And 330 votes later, it’s time to announce the winners! (FX: drumroll) A copy of “My life in science” by…

Natural history painting have always had a singular effect on me. I find them at once relaxing and exhilarating. There’s something special about viewing scenes rendered by people who may have been among the first to record them with life-like fidelity. Feels like a special privilege. As you gear up (or wind down) for the…

Etienne Joly talks about his career, from being a postdoc at Scripps, through to working at the Babraham Institute near Cambridge, to landing a position at INSERM in Toulouse. He discusses the problems he had getting tenure in Britain, how difficult it is to get money to do the research you want, and just what…

How would you define ‘evolution’ in just a few words? In the competition inspired by the genegeek blog, about fifty of you had a go at this on twitter, with another 30 or so entries in the comments here on Naturally Selected. Whittling that down to a short list you could vote on wasn’t easy,…

Etienne Joly is one of our Faculty Members, based in Toulouse, France. He created a stir with his evaluation of a paper published back in 2005, debunking the urban myth of high rates of misattributed paternity. Here’s Etienne, talking to me over Skype, about the paper and how he came to find it. I’m always…

The late summer holiday has been and gone, and there’s definitely a hint of autumn in the air, here in London. Like the ever-changing seasons science marches on, and so does progress at Faculty of 1000: rumours of the new website launch are circulating, and I’ve been promised a peek at the internal beta this…

Getting a grant funded will be one of the most challenging things you face in your science career.

This is particularly acute when you’re trying for your first grant, but the challenge persists throughout your science career. It doesn’t magically go away once you become “famous.” I know of very senior, very reputable scientists who still struggle to get grants funded.

Stem cells, etc. The wires are abuzz about the potential fall-out from last week’s ruling by a federal district judge to deny federal funding for human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research. At Science, read about potential repercussions (i.e. lab layoffs); worries that the ban could extend to all hESC research, not just new grants; and…

Here in The Scientist‘s (virtual) office, we’re big fans of Isabella Rossellini, star of films such as Blue Velvet and Death Becomes Her. Recently, Rossellini has been directing and acting, and in a very strange and wonderful series called Green Porno:

It’s been a while since I gave away anything. And a tweet by Catherine Anderson (@GeneGeek) yesterday gave me an idea for a competition. So, if you’re on Twitter, give us your best shot at explaining evolution in that medium. Use the hashtag #evo140 (and yes, I know that only leaves 133 characters. Extreme). If…