In these interviews, scientists talk to ScienceWatch.com and
offer behind-the-scenes insights into their research: reflections on
what led them to their chosen field, the motivation driving their work
in a given direction, and the challenges encountered along on the way.
These authors also offer their views on why their work has wielded
particular influence in the scientific community, as indicated by
Clarivate
citation data, and on how research in their respective fields has
progressed over time and will likely unfold in the future.
Featured interviews for March 2010 are listed below. To view featured
interviews from past months/years, visit the
Featured Interviews Main Menu.
Excerpt from the
interview: "In the US, the
average radiation dose to which we
are exposed has doubled in the past
30 years. The average dose from
natural background sources has not
changed, but what has changed is a
more than six-fold increase in the
average radiation dose from medical
imaging. The biggest contributor to
this increase in the radiation
dose..."
View Article
Excerpt from the
interview: "The main focus of
my research is the study of the
behavior of the energy of
distributed systems. To explain
more precisely the development of
my research, consider a physical
phenomenon which is described by a
differential partial equation and,
in addition, we assume that there
is an external or intrinsic
mechanism..."
View Article
Excerpt from the
interview: "Over the last
seven years, the group has
collected in excess of 200,000
images and videos of faces, irises,
and other sites imaged with a
variety of sensors. Much of the
data is made available to other
research groups and companies
working in the field, often as part
of US government-sponsored
evaluations of biometrics..."
View Article
Excerpt from the
interview: "Probiotics are
products containing live
microorganisms. Prebiotics are not
living microbes, but rather are
specific foods for the gut
microflora, i.e., they enter the
gut after digestion and fortify
only the beneficial flora therein.
Prebiotics are not digested by
humans because of their structure.
Most of my research now..."
View Article
Excerpt from the feature:
"This map is based on
research-front data for the fourth
bimonthly period of 2009, September
30, 2003-August 31, 2009 (sliding
6-year period). The map shows the
major subject areas within fields
linked together in a network based
on the same principles as our
research-front maps showing highly
cited papers. To create a
map..."
View Article
The annual Science Watch
survey of the foregoing
year’s hottest research
demonstrates that reprogrammed
fibroblast cells, genomics, and
graphene repeat their strong
showing from last year, as do
several of the featured authors.
Among 2009’s most-cited
reports, the five-year data release
from the Wilkinson Microwave
Anisotropy Probe accounted for
three of the year’s top ten
papers.
View Article
Excerpt from the
interview: "The expanded scope
of the journal from a focus on
chemiluminescence and
bioluminescence to all forms of
luminescence (chemiluminescence,
bioluminescence,
electrochemiluminescence,
sonoluminescence,
triboluminescence, fluorescence,
time-resolved fluorescence, and
phosphorescence) has..."
View Article
Excerpt from the
interview: "The discovery of
the planetary system orbiting HR
8799 (a nearby star in the
constellation Pegasus) is unique in
several ways that have contributed
to its high citation rate. It is
one of the first unambiguous direct
detections (actual images) of an
exoplanet, and also the first
multi-planet system that has ever
been imaged. These
planets..."
View Article
Excerpt from the
interview: "This month from
ScienceWatch.com, we have
listed our ranking in Clinical
Medicine by total citations. This
database, currently covering the
period January 1999 through October
31, 2009, surveys only journal
articles (original research reports
and review articles) indexed by
Clarivate. Articles are
assigned to a..."
View Article
Excerpt from the
interview: "...the biologists
at the IPCCC—about four of us
total—wanted to come out with
a statement that we had high
confidence that wild plants and
animals have responded to
20th-century climate change. But
then the economists at the
meeting—four or five of
them—thought we were making
too strong a claim. They
wanted..."
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Excerpt from the
interview: "Speciation
research is currently one of the
most active fields in evolutionary
and ecological research. The
cichlid fish of African lakes are
textbook examples of rapid
speciation but the mechanisms of
rapid speciation remain elusive.
Our work on cichlids in Lake
Victoria demonstrates the
ecological drivers and molecular
basis..."
View Article
Excerpt from the
interview: "A lot of
what we know about the natural
history of COPD and the
identification of risk factors for
disease progression has come from
epidemiology. Apart from obtaining
information that can be used for
planning health care, both for the
individual and generally,
prognostic factors also help us
identify markers for
disease..."
View Article
Excerpt from the
interview: "Our paper provides
a comprehensive review and critical
assessment of research activities
centering on the syntheses and
applications of metal nanocrystals
with well-controlled shapes and
facets. This article is highly
cited simply because it touches
upon an extremely important subject
that is being actively pursued by
many research..."
View Article