➡ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 😎 😀 ❤ hi all. this blog celebrates in particular two massive/ breakthrough milestones on the way to open/ networked science, the 2nd also mentioned on at least two other elite CS blogs.

arXiv recently surpassed its 1 millionth preprint ❗

and the NSF announced a new policy that requires its grant research papers must be openly accessible on the internet after 1 year ❗

this is a big shift because it often seems that we live in Corporatocracy and corporations rule over the government. that is probably still the case but a small yet very significant dent has now been made in this Death Star, and maybe the momentum will be for most US govt/ taxpayer funded research to be required as open network access.

networked science is in the early days (not to be confused with network science with small world graphs, big data etc, although ofc some overlap), few have even heard of it or understand it much, its still somewhat indistinct and not yet easy to define or point to. the best book/ visionary on the subject is by Nielsen and so far few are commenting on this massive paradigm shift that he has identified. but to me its as big of a modern paradigm shift as Big Data or the Algorithmic Lens which are both massive themselves, and of course all these feedback into each other.

really resonate with Nielsens book and have long recommended/ promoted/ advocated it on this site. am amazed how few have heard of it. again reminds me of gibsons aphorism, “the future is already here, its just not evenly distributed.” Nielsen says its on the level of an epochal shift like the enlightenment of the middle ages. that sounds quite plausible to me.

networked science may involve shifts in peer review systems and somehwat relatedly, scientist ranking mechanisms. it will hopefully lead to a more collaborative system that is still competitive but not in a way that rejects good/ quality science and scientists. although that may be more of an economic/ cultural problem that may transcend science itself in funding great science.

networked science has been much harder to practice than I initially expected on this blog. 😦 was hoping to see a dotcom-like explosion over a few years. but ofc that was wildly optimistic. (hey it could still happen) 😉 … nevertheless can also point to some minor successes…

there is the increasing “audience-spread-thin” vastness of cyberspace to contend with, the extreme specialization and fragmentation of science, the strong pressures and busyness of scientists. there is still not much of a “cyber social network for scientists”. where is the facebook for Phds anyway? it seems till not to have materialized. could it ever? stackexchange comes the closest but unfortunately, the experts may not always feel like earning imaginary reputation points is worth it, and the format/ conventions of the site can feel very restrictive/ constraining at times. (mathoverflow is a great exception.) 😐

but have to well remember, its a marathon, not a race. we can be sure that cyber/ networked science will be very strong over the next few decades. this coming from someone who was interested in Big Data in the early 2000s before it even had an officially hyped name.

otherwise/ elsewhere, have been busy lately & not in the mood for blogging based on personal feelings & zeitgeist. have been a bit bummed out by another personal blog site that closed. ~6yr, ~250 blogs, many dozens of msgs, lively commenting (esp compared to here!), lots of cyber connections, and a few hundred thousand hits down the drain. easy come, easy go. a buddhist lesson in impermanence/ samsara… at least I still have you guys right ❓ 😮 😦

a. nielsen

b. network science