350 years of scientific publishing

The Royal Society are celebrating the 350th anniversary of Philosophical Transactions, the world's first science journal.

Philosophical Transactions, first published in 1665, pioneered the concepts of scientific priority and peer review which, together with archiving and dissemination, provide the model for almost 30,000 scientific journals today.

You can read more about the history of Philosophical Transactions or visit the exhibition of archives in London.

As part of the 350th anniversary celebrations, all Royal Society journals content is free to access until the end of March 2015. and there is a programme of events and activities

New streaming video resource - JoVE Science Education

We now have access to a new online resource - JoVE Science Education. It is a video database dedicated to teaching laboratory fundamentals through simple, easy to understand video demonstrations.


Please try it out and send your comments/feedback to me - s.godsell@bbk.ac.uk - as we are gathering usage statistics and feedback to see if we wish to renew it next year.

We have subscriptions to four sections:

General Laboratory Techniques
This collection exhibits how to use standard pieces of laboratory equipment essential in many experiments, as well as how to perform basic laboratory functions. Each video is paired with additional video resources for you to view practical applications of the technique and other complementary skills.

Basic Methods in Cellular and Molecular Biology
This collection demonstrates how to execute basic techniques commonly used in cellular and molecular biology. To enhance your understanding of the methods each video is paired with additional video resources to show practical applications of the techniques and other complementary skills.
Essentials of Neuroscience 
This collection provides an introduction to the field of neuroscience. These videos offer a glimpse of neuroscience at the professional level, through an exploration of five major branches of study: neurophysiology, neuroanatomy, cell and molecular neuroscience, behavioral neuroscience, and developmental neuroscience. In addition to presenting the key questions asked by scientists from these subfields, the collection describes some prominent methods used by today’s most brainy researchers, while making exciting discoveries regarding nervous system function.
Essentials of Behavioral Science
This collection presents the fundamentals of behavior neuroscience. It is sub-divided on the basis of different aspects of human behavior such as learning, memory, cognition, movement, addiction and behavioral disorders. The videos briefly explain the neurobiology of behavior, discuss concepts behind prominent techniques, introduce important questions being asked by scientists and provide protocols to run behavioral experiments.

New journal for Earth Sciences

 We now have access to the Journal of the Geological Society from 1971 up to present via the eLibrary.

Journal of the Geological Society (JGS) is the Geological Society of London's flagship journal, publishing only the most topical and highest quality articles covering the full range of the Earth sciences. The Journal features short communications, interdisciplinary articles and reviews in key areas, and is one of the key titles for researchers in the geosciences.

You can access it via this link with your Birkbeck IT account 
http://bit.ly/1D5gKtq

Science magazine now available online!

Many of you have asked for this subscription, and now it's available from 1880 right up to the latest issues via the eLibrary. Log in at the link below.

http://tb2tn4ax7t.search.serialssolutions.com/?V=1.0&N=100&L=TB2TN4AX7T&S=I_M&C=0036-8075

Interview with Professor Ian Crawford

Professor Ian Crawford of Birkbeck's Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences was interviewed on "Is Moon mining economically feasible?" at space.com http://www.space.com/28189-moon-mining-economic-feasibility.html

Read some of Prof. Crawford's recent publications about the Moon via the Birkbeck eLibrary:

• Lunar exploration: opening a window into the history and evolution of the inner Solar System (at Arxiv.org)
• Western Oceanus Procellarum as seen by C1XS on Chandrayaan-1 
• Numerical modeling of lava-regolith heat transfer on the Moon and implications for the preservation of implanted volatiles
• Scientific preparations for lunar exploration
• Back to the Moon: The scientific rationale for resuming lunar surface exploration 
• Geology, geochemistry, and geophysics of the Moon: Status of current understanding
• A brief review of chemical and mineralogical resources on the Moon and likely initial in situ resource utilization (ISRU) applications

Your Birkbeck IT account is needed for access to most of these.

A Rough Guide to Spotting Bad Science

With more and more information out there, sometimes bad science slips through the net. Here's a handy infographic guide to spotting it. See the full article at http://www.compoundchem.com/2014/04/02/a-rough-guide-to-spotting-bad-science/

Making waves with the Qatar Digital Library - British Library Science blog

The British Library's Science team has posted an interesting article on how the Qatar Digital Library has helped to unearth valuable information about past tsunamis:



Making waves with the Qatar Digital Library - Science blog