Articles by F. Key Kidder

Do good science, develop a network, enjoy the bounce

Researchers are watching closely as Republicans, Democrats, and the White House negotiate a federal R&D budget

By most accounts, a majority of scientists remain skeptical about the value of using social media platforms to communicate aspects of their research

Emotion and cognition, are not just discrete, independent operators, but are interwoven in mental life

In today’s uncertain climate, greater secrecy is beginning to preempt patenting as the intellectual property (IP) tool of choice among segments of the scientific community.

Social media arouses conflicting value judgments in the scientific community. 

It has been over 40 months since President Obama signed the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) into law in September 2011, climaxing years of feverish legislative wrangling. AIA was heralded as a game-changer, the dawning of an equitable intellectual property (IP) regimen that rewarded research scientists and innovators beset by ineffectual patent processes and procedures.

The barbarians were at the gates, the handwriting on the wall. Their digital firepower was unstoppable.
Without further ado, they stormed the ramparts, overrunning scientific strongholds. There is no turning back now. Social media is a juggernaut, its impact profound and already making itself felt in ways that few could have envisioned.

It is a paradox of modern life that we are more connected with greater numbers of people, but we talk less. Studies report fewer face-to-face interactions in developed nations. Interpersonal chats are becoming briefer.

“All sound and fury signifying nothing” pretty much sums up the scientific establishment’s take on Twitter, Facebook, and company at the dawning of social media. Given researchers’ reputation as a media-averse, socially restrained crowd, social media seemed the worst of all worlds.