I apologize for the long stretch without updates, but I should be back to normal posting now.  I’ll try to work out a schedule to keep (e.g., Friday linkposts, Tuesday journal reviews, etc), and I’ll post it when I’ve come up with something I’m confident I can keep up with.  But, for today, I’ll just post a few interesting articles, podcasts, and blogs I’ve come across the past several weeks.

A New State of Mind – a very interesting and informative article on neuroeconomics research currently underway at Baylor College of Medicine‘s Human Neuroimaging Lab in Houston, TX.  It’s also a good profile of Read Montague, the director of the HNL.  He’s done some fascinating work on the role of reward in cognition.  For more, check out his book, Your Brain is (Almost) Perfect: How We Make Decisions.

On the technology side of things, Texas senator John Culberson is doing some interesting things with social media (such as Twitter and Qik) and government.  Check out this Houston Chronicle article about his new ideas – is this really the direction politics should be headed?  Barack Obama is one of the (if not the) most followed users on Twitter.  I  like the idea of governmental transparency, but I’m not sure if a 140-character message is the right way to  do it.  Anyway, I admire his innovation (if not his politics).

Teach the Controversy – these are some fantastic science t-shirts.  Can’t remember where I first saw them, though I’m sure either Digg or Reddit is to blame.

NeuroSpeculation – I finally found another undergraduate neuroscience blogger.  It looks like this is more of a research blog,  but still some very interesting and throrough discussions.  Hopefully we’ll be able to find some others and maybe create some kind of undergraduate science blogging community.

This Week In Science – a very entertaining and informative general science news podcast.  I find it especially helpful for keeping up-to-date with science policy news, an aspect of science I’m becoming more and more interested in.  If you know of any other good sources of science policy news, or any other comment/suggestsions/ideas, shoot me an email at neurotechnica shifttwo gmail dot com or drop a comment below.

Please forgive the mess and subsequent inconsistency of this site while I work out a few kinks.  I’m new to wordpress, so I’m still trying to figure out how themes work, how I can manage the site in a way that makes sense to me, etc.  While I get everything set up, I suggest checking out the following sites & blogs:

Frontal Blogotomy – (ice)picking away at current neuroscience

The Frontal Cortex – Jonah Lehrer’s neuroscience blog (he’s a great writer, I strongly recommend his work)

SEED Magazine – my favorite popular science magazine, definitely one that I think is worth buying in print for the quality photography, etc

PLoS One – a very diverse journal that deserves a great deal of credit for publishing unique and well-done research on a variety of topics, ranging from the acoustics of violins to whether time slows down in frightening situations.  Also, all articles are open access – always a plus.  (I’ll try to avoid linking to articles that are locked away by the big publishing companies)

Prof. Zeki’s Musings – Dr. Semir Zeki’s blog on neuroscience and life.  Only a few entries, but they’re pretty interesting.

Engadget – a premiere gadget blog, sure to satiate any geek’s appetite

TWiTLive – Leo Laporte’s streaming video network.  Watch a TechTV alum record netcasts in his new Petaluma studio.  Always entertaining and informative.

There will be plenty more linkposts in the future, but hopefully this is a good start.  Let me know your thoughts, ideas, etc in the comments.