It is interesting to contemplate a tangled bank, clothed with many plants of many kinds, with birds singing on the bushes, with various insects flitting about, and with worms crawling through the damp earth, and to reflect that these elaborately constructed forms, so different from each other, and dependent upon each other in so complex a manner, have all been produced by laws acting around us. These laws, taken in the largest sense, being Growth with Reproduction; Inheritance which is almost implied by reproduction; Variability from the indirect and direct action of the conditions of life and from use and disuse: a Ratio of Increase so high as to lead to a Struggle for Life, and as a consequence to Natural Selection, entailing Divergence of Character and the Extinction of less-improved forms.
Thursday, January 26, 2006
This coming week will be a great one for science carnivals. First up is the Circus of the Spineless which will appear on Pharyngula on Sunday—if you've written anything about invertebrates in the past month, send the link to [email protected] by Saturday evening.
The second big event is the next edition of the Tangled Bank, scheduled for Wednesday, 1 February, at Adventures in Ethics and Science. Send links to any science writing to [email protected], [email protected], or [email protected] by next Tuesday.
Hey…and if you written something about the science of invertebrates, send the link to both!
One last thing…the schedule of future Tangled Bank hosts has been updated with an influx of new volunteers. We've got stuff lined up through July; check the list below if you volunteered to see when your turn is coming up. And if you aren't there and you want to be, send a note to [email protected] and I'll add you to the list.
1 Feb 2006 |
Adventures in Ethics and Science |
15 Feb 2006 |
Kete Were |
1 Mar 2006 |
Aetiology |
15 Mar 2006 |
Living the Scientific Life |
29 Mar 2006 |
The Island of Doubt |
12 Apr 2006 |
Discovering biology in a digital world |
26 Apr 2006 |
The Inoculated Mind |
10 May 2006 |
Science Notes |
24 May 2006 |
Science and Politics |
7 Jun 2006 |
Get Busy Livin', or Get Busy Bloggin' |
21 Jun 2006 |
Centrerion |
5 Jul 2006 |
Information Overload |
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
The latest edition of the Tangled Bank is online at Greythumb.blog. We are looking for volunteers to host future editions later this spring—drop a note to me if you're interested in spreading the word about science blogging.
Saturday, January 14, 2006
The next edition of the Tangled Bank will be held at Grey Thumb.blog on Wednesday, 18 Jan 2006. Send in those links to wonderful science writing to [email protected],
host@tangledbank, or
me by Tuesday evening.
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Tangled Bank #44 is now online at Afarensis.
A few other noteworthy links that might be of interest to readers here. The Carnival of the Liberals #3 is at Science and Politics, and the Skeptics' Circle is looking for submissions for an edition that will be out tomorrow.
It's that time of year when weblogging awards pop up all over the place. Nominations are now open for the 2005 Medical Weblog Awards and the Sixth Annual Weblog Awards (the "Bloggies"). The Koufax nominations are closed; Pharyngula and the Panda's Thumb received several nominations, so now we just wait to see if they make it to the list of final candidates. The gang at Wampum are looking for donations to help them through the time-consuming process.
Feeling literary? Science Creative Quarterly is having a Flower Mandala contest. Get inspired by some beautiful botanical images, write something, win a prize!
Sunday, January 01, 2006
Don't forget: there's a new post-holiday Tangled Bank coming up on Wednesday, 4 January 2006, at Afarensis. Send in links to your science writing now, to [email protected], [email protected], or [email protected].
Upcoming
Schedule
9 Jan 2008 |
Aardvarchaeology |
23 Jan 2008 |
The Inoculated Mind |
6 Feb 2008 |
Quintessence of Dust |
20 Feb 2008 |
Greg Laden's blog |
5 Mar 2008 |
Archaeoporn |
19 Mar 2008 |
Tangled Up in Blue Guy |
2 Apr 2008 |
Further Thoughts |
16 Apr 2008 |
rENNISance woman |
30 Apr 2008 |
Dammit Jim! |
14 May 2008 |
The Beagle Project |
28 May 2008 |
Ars Technica |
11 June 2008 |
Syaffolee |
The Tangled Bank
Welcome to the Tangled Bank, a version of the "Carnival of the Vanities" for science bloggers. A Carnival is a weekly showcase of good weblog writing, selected by the authors themselves (that's the vanity part). Every other week, one of our crew will highlight a collection of interesting weblog articles in one convenient place, making it easy for everyone to find the good stuff.
Two things will distinguish us from the original "Carnival of the Vanities": 1) we are specifically restricting ourselves to articles in the field of science and medicine, very broadly defined, and 2) we've got a different name. Our weekly compendium of great science weblog articles will be called the Tangled Bank, after Charles Darwin's famous metaphor.
Submissions
Are you a weblogger? Have you recently written something you are proud of, that you think other people with an interest in biology, medicine, science in general, or just the general workings of the natural world might find worth reading? Let me know! Send an e-mail message to [email protected] containing the words "Tangled Bank" somewhere in the subject line, and a link to your article, along with a sentence or two of descriptive summary. Don't hesitate, don't be shy, don't wonder if your work is good enough—flit right into the bank with the rest of us elaborately constructed forms.
This is an egalitarian activity. You do not have to be a Ph.D., you don't have to write articles with ten-syllable words, you don't have to discuss esoteric details. All you have to do is express some enthusiasm for the natural world or encourage study of the same.
The host will review your entry, and if it meets our generous standards, it will be included in that week's Tangled Bank. Our recommendations:
- The subject should be on biology, medicine, or natural history. We will define those categories very broadly, and it's sufficient that you show some passion for the science of the natural world.
- Your entry should reflect your point of view and your writing; give us something more than a couple of links with a brief comment.
- I would like to encourage positive stories; while the occasional cranky rant against creationist legislators or evil malpractice lawyers, if well written, might fit in, entries that talk about the really cool stuff of life are more appropriate.
- The Tangled Bank is apolitical. While we as individuals may care very much about the policies of right vs. left, the focus here should be on the universal subjects of science, not the latest crime against scientific study by the political party you like least.
- Only make one submission per weblog per week. Be selective and pick the best of your writing.
Anyone can submit an entry. Even if you don't routinely write about medicine or biology, if you just happen to have written about your gall bladder surgery that week or the pileated woodpecker that has taken to waking you every morning, if you think you've said something interesting and insightful, send it in.
Hosting
Hosting the Tangled Bank for a week requires a bit more commitment. Ideally, we'll be able to rotate hosting duties among a number of people, minimizing the effort any one person has to put into it.
- Your weblog should have some focus on science or medicine or natural history, but we're very liberal in interpreting this. Are you interested in promoting good science? You're in.
- You should submit your site to me, PZ Myers, and I'll put you in the schedule.
- The week before you host the Tangled Bank, the previous host will announce your e-mail address and solicit submissions, and I'll also announce it here at Pharyngula. You might also want to scout around and look for worthy articles in various weblogs, too.
- Organize the submissions into an article on your weblog, and publish it. Send me notification, and I'll enter a link to it here and generally try to trumpet its existence.
Other Carnivals
Meta Carnival
I and the Bird
Philosophers' Carnival
The Bharteeya Blog Mela
Bonfire of the Vanities
Carnival of the Capitalists
The Kissing Booth
Carnival of the Canucks
The BestOfMe Symphony
The Carnival of the Cats
Carnival of The Consumers
The SciAn Melt
Carnival of the Godless
Grand Rounds
Steal this badge!
Spread the word about the Tangled Bank—you can link back to us using the code below.
<a href="http://tangledbank.net/" title="The Tangled Bank"><img src="http://pharyngula.org/images/tbbadge.gif" alt="The Tangled Bank" width="88" height="31" /></a>
<a href="http://tangledbank.net/" title="The Tangled Bank"><img src="http://pharyngula.org/images/ttbbadge.gif" border="0" width="80" height="15" alt="The Tangled Bank" /></a>