Plus, There's No Emoticon for 'Eureka!'

Social networks for scientists generally "make two assumptions that doom them to failure," says David Crotty, the Executive Editor of CSH Protocols, at Scholarly Kitchen. And those assumptions are that researchers network and communicate openly with others in their field constantly. However, as Crotty says: "Scientists tend to have fairly small trusted circles, and opinions (at least negative ones) are only expressed within these small groups." Crotty follows that post up with one noting that NIH is funding $12.2 million project to develop a "Facebook for scientists." "If there's any hope for success for such a network, the NIH is probably the best bet as the host and organizer," he says.