The Expanding Sciblogosphere: Musical Blogs and New Networks

The universe is expanding, and so is the science blogosphere.

Directly on the heels of the announcement last week of the big daddy meta-aggregator to end all aggregators, scienceblogging.org, there are not-one-but-two new science blogging networks that have launched in the last forty-eight hours.

Before I get to the networks, my Scibling (once a scibling, always a scibling) Abel Pharmboy aka David Kroll has moved Terra Sig over to CENtral Science. Go say hello at his new digs.

Yesterday, The Guardian, a legacy media institution, launched a small but impressive science blogging network, that will reside alongside Alok Jha's science blog that we've already come to know and love. Check out Alok's introductory post, and then check out their four new bloggers. They are: Martin Robbins, Jon Butterworth, Evan Harris and my Scibling GrrlScientist. I imagine they will probably expand their network a bit in the coming weeks and months, but I expect they'll probably keep it fairly small.

In addition, on The Guardian's main science blog, there will be a science blogging festival of sorts during September, with a real who's who of science bloggers from around the interwebz posting each day. The festival started today, with a post from my scibling Mo from Neurophilosophy, on psychedelic drugs. I, too, have been asked to participate, so look for a couple of posts from me later this month. Follow them on twitter, too: @guardiansciblog.

This morning, PLoS, home of our favorite open-access journals like PLoS Biology and PLoS ONE, launched a new blog network as well! In addition to the in-house blogs that they have (such as the everyONE blog, which includes posts by my scibling Bora Zivkovic), they have a series of other blogs - most of which should be familiar. My sciblings Peter and Travis of Obesity Panacea are there, Deborah Blum's Speakeasy Science, Sarah Kavassalis brought her blog to the party, and there are to be blogs by our friends John Rennie and Steve Silberman, and others. (And, would you look at that? David Kroll is blogging there, too!) They have a post up describing the philosophy and organization of their network, and their community manager Brian Mossop has a post up detailing the origins of the network with some good background on PLoS, their intentions to create a "niche network," and links to all the new blogs. Follow them on twitter: @plosblogs. I understand they are calling themselves ploggers, but I am pushing for PLoGsters.

This is an exciting time in for science blogging, and I have a feeling the excitement will continue. The next several weeks and months shall be interesting to watch and in which to participate.

Oh, and did you notice the new buttons below the posts here on Scienceblogs? Making it easier for you, dear reader, to share posts you like on your favorite social networking site - facebook, twitter, digg, stumbleupon, etc.