At university, I studied Greek and Latin literature (Classics), so I usually have considered myself “humanities girl.” As far as what I find interesting on your blog: I’m also interested in psychology, neurology, math and science education, botany, and linguistics. I find your blog well-written, entertaining, and refreshingly attentive to rigor and accuracy. Back when I was teaching science part-time, I even had my students read a couple of your blog posts as part of a biology unit.

Thanks!
Jane

I’m and octogenarian, trained as an industrial designer, engaged most of my professional life as a museum designer, now essentially retired but publish and edit an internet travel magazine (www.romartraveler.com ) and have always been interested in science at almost all (non-expert) levels.

My special interest is in cosmology–but a secondary one is on the evolvement of life throughout the cosmos–but especially on this rare ittle Eden we live on–planet Earth, of course. I’ve learned that, if there is one constant throughout the cosmos, it is evolution toward entropy.

I’m not directly involved in anything science-field related, but the things I do on a daily basis – sewing, dyeing, soldering (work), and cooking, gaming, exercising, are full of things we can do, because of science. And it’s amazing to learn these things and see or discover how they apply to other aspects of life.

I’ve been reading NERS for about 4 months, now. And I came to it from Wil Wheaton, to Felicia Day, to Bad Astronomer, to blogs.discovermagazine.com, to adding that url to my reader, to reading everything on a weekly, if not daily, basis. And I enjoy it immensely. How to make it better? I’ll let you know next year

Just checking in to see if I’m the only one of the Uni lot who still reads your blog regularly, and to let you know that you have some loyal support from way back when. I don’t see any comments from anyone else I know, but i bet there are more people still reading regularly.

I’m an Engineer, not a scientist. I read at the beginning because that’s what friends do, and then later simply cos you’re good at what you do. Sometimes I learn something interesting or funny which makes me smile, and your blog diverts me from thinking about work.

How long have I been reading? Since the beginning of the whole blogging adventure.

Rather late to the party but what the hell.

This is my second time joining the annual thread.

I am a former Australian public servant, now at the Australian National University in Canberra. I am an Asianist and Indonesianist, largely interested in history in general and the history of Asia in particular.

I wasn’t greatly interested in science until I started realising a few years ago just how many astonishing discoveries had been and were being made, especially in genetics. I discovered various science blogs, notably Carl Zimmer’s then discovered yours, and it’s become a regular addiction. I continue to greatly enjoy your lucid and witty writing; I’m constantly amazed how you can cover so many developments and explain complex subjects so clearly.

I’m a retired nuclear power plant operator which was a second career after another as a CID agent in the Army. I collect information and have always wondered how things work.

As a kid in the 50′s I discovered a paperback book about how to get 1001 things for free with just the use of a postcard. The cards, back then, were a penny and I sent hundreds to places like the state fish and game departments, General Electric and Disney resulting in large amounts of mail with many name misspellings. Much later as an investigator I began collecting information from publications and organizations about evidence, crime scenes, crime lab work and related technology. This led to a column in a few magazines for a few years, some technical articles and a book filled with magazine abstracts.

At the nuclear power plant I started as a security officer and was allowed to listen to audio tapes while sitting in a guard tower. Back then you could buy a cassette recorder that played tapes up to twice normal speed, with pitch correction. The internet and podcasting allow for more speed and subject variety which led to a collection of interesting audio files and later a weekly blog called “Media Mining Digest,” now six months old.

Information in the 50′s cost a penny postcard while podcasts and blogging is more complex and doesn’t cost anything. (Sure, I pay for the internet, etc., but it could be done at a library.)

I’m a newcomer to your very interesting blog and hope to provide another followup next year. Thanks for the chance to chat.

Part of the joy (and frustration) of my job is trying to make maths easier and more accessible to youngsters who have been psychologically scarred by it through their schooldays – which makes me appreciate your talent for making frighteningly complex stuff clear and accessible.

Though I left the field of science and tech professionally, I still have a deep interest in keeping up with what is happening in that world, while at the same time lacking the patience (and often the time) to do the technical self-study necessary to equip myself to keep up with current scientific literature. That’s how I came to your blog – the little driblets of science I remembered from school, combined with a minimal logical bent of mind, proved enough to make sense of your posts, in some cases even when you were describing stuff that I had no clue about whatsoever. And more than once, you reminded me that science fact is often stranger than science fiction. Over a year and a half, I have graduated from an occasional visitor to almost an “I need my daily fix” addict.

I guess what I like best about your blog is that you don’t dumb it down. As in, you make it easy to understand, but not at the expense of skipping the science and going with glib metaphors. That’s a hard balancing act, and as someone whose daily job involves trying to explain stuff to people in a simple manner, I am impressed by how you make ‘making things look easy’ look easy. Thank you!

I’m an Australian astronomer currently living and working (postdoc) in Italy. I got to your blog from a link in Cosmic Variance when you won one of your awards (Best New Discover Blog or something) about 3 years ago now, when I was a PhD student needing something interesting to read while eating at the desk in between frantically finishing the thesis. I usually try a new science blog every now and then, and this one stuck. My go-to for all bio-science info needs.

I’m sorry I can’t suggest improvements cos I like it just as it is. And I’ve discovered some new blogs/writers (e.g. Brian Switek, Jonah Lehrer) thanks to you, so you’ve paid your dues. Please keep on keeping on.