You might have noticed last week, the launch of JoVE, the journal of visualized experiments which gives quick, free, video how-to?s on laboratory protocols. As someone who loves techniques but hates reading dry materials and methods sections, this is a darned neat idea. Blogger Pimm tracked its web awareness here, and apparently it spiked after a Nature News piece compared it to YouTube.

If production quality improves from what we?re seeing for the now admittedly meager collection ? reportedly friends and acquaintances of founder Moshe Pritsker provided the first videos ? I?d say it?s fairer to compare it with a good cooking show. Just as the science of cooking yields to artistry at the stove, the finer points of bench work are the true art in science. This apparently isn?t the first foray into science-video repositories, and I bet it won?t be the last. Videos like this could cut down troubleshooting time considerably.

Moreover, there?s a great opportunity to create some new science stars. Who, after all, doesn?t have a running commentary going through their head as they run through the little tricks that make their experiments work sublimely? Now you can find an audience. Next question: where do we sign up for tryouts on the Iron Tech?