flâneur

The first transmissions from Science House

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The idea was simple: academia is a big ship, and it turns slowly, if at all. But there’s no reason for us all to be on the same ship, fighting over the helm. Instead, we should launch lots of little ships that can explore the seas in all directions. That’s what a Science House does. It’s like a hacker house for basic research, a freestanding lab that does science and posts it directly to the internet, like this. You could form a Science House around any niche—a Weird Biology House, a Speculative Physics House, etc. This summer, it’s happening! I’m running a prototype Science House, thanks to a grant from Emergent Ventures. The focus of this house is training. We’re bringing a couple of aspiring scientists together, sticking ‘em in a house, giving ‘em some money and mentorship, and letting ‘em set sail. It’s kind of like a PhD program except it doesn’t give you clinical depression. The two inaugural Scholars of Science House are already publishing their work to the world. I’m excited to

Photo cred: my dad Back in September, I laid out a plan for Science House. The idea was simple: academia is a big ship, and it turns slowly, if at all. But there’s no reason for us all to be on the same ship, fighting over the helm. Instead, we should launch lots of little ships that can explore the seas in all directions. That’s what a Science House does. It’s like a hacker house for basic research, a freestanding lab that does science and posts it directly to the internet, like this. You could form a Science House around any niche—a Weird Biology House, a Speculative Physics House, etc.…

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