Somebody once said that the unexamined life is not worth living (it might have been Socrates or maybe Plato — Bartleby.com isn’t so sure). In blogs, though, scientists are examining not only their lives and work but also the surrounding social and political environment, says Laura Bonetta in an analysis in Cell.
Science and technology blogs, totaling 4 percent of all blogs, are primarily written by graduate students, postdocs, and young faculty members. For those who blog, there are more benefits than self-inspection: some receive research tips and one blogger even became an author on a paper.