We at The Scientist are all a-flitter because we're now on Twitter. Starting this week, you can sign up to receive our "tweets" at twitter.com/TheScientistLLC.

Twitter is a simple messaging service that allows users to share brief text updates -- otherwise known as tweets -- of up to 140 characters. (The last sentence was exactly 140 characters.) Readers can receive Twitter posts on the Web, on their mobile phones, via instant messaging, RSS feeds, Facebook, and various Twitter-dedicated applications.


The Scientist plans to use this micro-blogging service to alert you of breaking stories as they happen. Why wait for tomorrow's daily e-mail when you can be alerted to the news right now?

We also hope our Twitter hub will help readers stay connected, allowing you to let each other know what you're doing in the lab and elsewhere.

Signing up is easy. Just go to our Twitter site, register for a new account if you don't already have one, and click on the "follow" button under the picture of the magazine cover.

Alternatively, we also offer two basic RSS feeds: The NewsBlog feed, which posts all the latest news stories we write, and the News feed, which tracks only what's sent in the daily email.

Confused? Perplexed? Technophobic? Write to us with any questions at mail@the-scientist.com.