Lists seem to be very much en vogue these days: After Bee's Top Ten Lists of unsolved questions in theoretical physics and results in string theory and LQG, this week's edition of Nature features a list of top 5 science blogs. In the news section, the top 5 list there is even expanded to a top 50 list
According to Nature's rating method, which is based on Technorati's Blog Finder ranking, cosmicvariance is the top 4 science blog, with a global ranking as the 2,174th blog.
I did not quite expect backreaction to appear on the lists, even more so since it was not registered at technorati until 10 minutes ago. However, I was puzzled first that neither Lubos Motl's nor Peter Woit's blog did make it among the top 50 blogs. But then I realised that it was not the fault of their technorati ranking. Somehow the editors of Nature seem not to count them as science blogs...
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
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What does it take to qualify as a science blog?
ReplyDeleteWhat does it take to qualify as a science blog?
ReplyDeleteFrom How our lists were made:
To mine the service for science blogs, Nature reporter Declan Butler compiled a preliminary list of sites known to Nature staff, and supplemented this with those frequently cited by other science bloggers and aggregrators.
We narrowly define science blogs as ones that, as far as can be established, are written by working scientists and are about science (not their cat).
We narrowly define science blogs as ones that, as far as can be established, are written by working scientists and are about science (not their cat).
ReplyDeleteThis is a pretty dumb definition. Worse, it's implicitly a definition of science and scientists. You can learn and teach quite a lot from your cat, even if it's not a quantum pet.
And what is a 'working scientist'? Working in science? Working on science? Working to be a scientist? Does 'work' imply 'salary' or 'employment' in science?
Anyway, according to this definition, Peter as well as Lubos would surely qualify. I can't recall any of them has ever written about cats.
Yeah Bee, good to see you joined Technorati. So you wanna Topple Motl, as most visited blog
ReplyDeleteOne talking serious Science & Physics. Go Bee go!
Cats, cat's eyes, and the one's on roads motorways and autobahns too, cats whiskers, swing a cat, cathode, cathode ray tube, cathy, cat woman, and half the world can get catty on a bad hair day. lol!
CATASTROPHE CATACLISMIC
Oh! I forgot Caterpillar
ReplyDeleteAll start with Cat
All Nature's creations
All obeying their own laws of physics. Not many 'break dancers' can dance like caterpillars on a twig. Have a nice day! Q
Motl and Woit constitute a lovely set piece. String theory is the economics of science, admitting to 10^500 different kinds of water closets yet never accepting potty training. Motl is a lone wolf treading water in a sea of politically-cowered milquetoasts. Woit criticizes but never volunteers. Science blogs both.
ReplyDeleteIf an objection does not sum to an empirical falsification then it is hot air same as its target. Skatole, norbornadiene, ethanethiol... it's all stink.
So you wanna Topple Motl, as most visited blog
ReplyDeleteOne talking serious Science & Physics. Go Bee go!
I have no intention to become a full-time blogger. I like to share my thoughts every now and then, but if I want to write about science, I need time to DO science.
It wouldn't be difficult to increase the hits on this blog. All it would take were random insults of some well known people in the community, trading on gossip I hear on the corridor, maybe one or the other post about the more disgusting habits of my office mate, details about my coworkers, collecting links and news that I found during the time I was supposed to work... It's a game I am not interested in playing.
Best,
B.
Hi Bee, you are sort of a full-time blogger. But it doesn't take much to do what RealClimate and CosmicVariance have done. Get five or more other interesting people to blog on A BLOG.
ReplyDeleteThey all bring five or ten bloggers onto the site, and ipso facto, you are in the top 5 list.
Hmmm let me see you, Christine Dantas (if she's still talking 2me) and two or three others, we link our individual blogs, reproduce some of each others posts on each others' blogs and voila you end up with a Superblog.
Always easier than being a one man band like Lubos - but he loves it, he has so much 'energy' ruuning through his veins and in his Mind he has to download it somewhere. lol!
PS - You could call the superblog Bees Atomic Kittens, yeah like the uk chart girls group no longer miaowing since they are now busy raising their own 'litter'
ReplyDeleteThe blog could cover everything from Atoms to particle physics to cats + hidden dimensions, and not forgetting German BRAs.
Hi quasar,
ReplyDeleteBut it doesn't take much to do what RealClimate and CosmicVariance have done. Get five or more other interesting people to blog on A BLOG.
They all bring five or ten bloggers onto the site, and ipso facto, you are in the top 5 list
Not sure if you noticed, but originally we had 5 other contributors to this blog. I threw them out recently coz they never wrote anything. Stefan says I intimidated them with my writings... It's though to work with me ;-)
Best, B.
QUASAR9 said...
ReplyDeleteHmmm let me see you, Christine Dantas (if she's still talking 2me)
Hi Quasar9,
Of course I am! As I recall, I have asked for some clarifications on one of your comments, but since I could not figure out exactly what you meant (the clarification was not given), I removed it. I believe some other comments were deleted by yourself. Please understand this is mostly (my) a language problem than anything else.
Best wishes
Christine
Bee, your writings ARE intimidating!
ReplyDeleteFunny: about 3 days ago I subscribed to Technorati. Initially, my blog was ranked at 81,000+ and today it has been raised to the 71,446 place. If the trend continues, I will reach the 50,000+ or so place, and that would put my blog within Nature's top 50 science blogs. So I guess, dear Bee, that we missed to do the right thing at the right time. :)
ReplyDeleteBest wishes,
Christine
Hi Christine,
ReplyDelete... yeah ... Stefan sent me a link and asked me to 'claim my blog' ... not sure I have really figured out what it's good for or what to do with it ... Your blog definitely deserves high ranking. It's very well organized and really useful. Best, B.
Hi Bee,
ReplyDeleteI just "claimed" my blog on technorati for fun, to see what would come out of this. I am not really concerned on such rankings. But it's fun to watch.
What I really wanted to have is more time to write my own things on the blog. But I just can't find the time. So for now, my blog is just for organizing material and to receive the reader's comments, which are in fact the most interesting part of it.
Your blog on the other hand is full of your own ideas, which are very interesting and pleasant to read, and informative at the same time.
Cheers,
Christine
PS- Congratulations on your new paper!
What I mean is, of course, I expect that your blog will soon be catapulted to within the top 50. We should have known about this technorati thing sometime before nature did... ;)
ReplyDelete