This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
By Rose Eveleth
So it's 2013 everybody. There are all sorts of reasons to be excited about that. The world didn't end, the Emancipation Proclamation turned 150, and it's the first year since 1987 to be made up of four different numbers. We're* pretty excited for another reason - we're launching a big new project! It's called Science Studio, and it's brand spankin' new for 2013.
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Regulars here at SciAm blogs probably know all about Open Lab. If you don't, it's a yearly roundup of the very best science blogging, nominated by you, judged by other bloggers and journalists and published in a very snazzy book. We love Open Lab, but we were a little sad because there's a lot of great science journalism out there that isn't found in typed words - it's made of sound or graphics or animations. So we got to thinking - what if we had an Open Lab for multimedia?
Well, we’re going to make that happen! Thanks to a generous grant from the National Association of Science Writers, we're well on our way to introducing Science Studio - the best online science multimedia. To get the rest of the way, we’ve just launched a Kickstarter. If we’re successful, you’ll have an amazing yearly collection of science to listen to on your run, drive or in the office.
We’re definitely hopeful it’ll succeed, so we’re opening for nominations now. This year we're focusing on audio pieces - all the best sciencey stuff that filled your ears this past year. Just like Open Lab, you can nominate your favorite pieces of audio - whether that's a show about the nature of time, to a podcast about superbugs. You can find more information at our website, thesciencestudio.org. The nomination form is there too (and below, just in case you're click averse).
Once all your nominations are in, we'll pick the very best and publish them online and as a podcast series. And next year we'll do more - not just audio, but multimedia, graphics, animations and the like. It's really just the beginning, and we couldn't be more excited. So, what are you waiting for, donate toward making it happen, and nominate something already!
*Who's we? Science Studio is run by Rose Eveleth, Ben Lillie and Bora Zivkovic and funded in part by the National Association of Science Writers.
Image credit: Maki Naro: sci-ence.org
