The 420 print and web readers who responded to our survey about national origins were born in 67 different countries and currently reside in 45 countries. A remarkable 36% of respondents presently work in a place other than their native homeland, and 59% have lived in more than one country for three or more months. "I was born in England, live in Belgium, work in Germany!" says one reader. The countries with the largest percentages of non-native scientists moving in are the United States, Can

Snapshot | The Sporting Scientist Outside of the lab, everything's game Scientists crave that endorphin rush: 85% of the 312 respondents to our recent survey say they actively participate in sports or athletic activities more than once per month -- 53% get into a sweat more than once per week. Nearly 30% participate in team sports, with soccer the most popular pick; 29% participate in competitive sports, with tennis the game of choice; and a hearty 82% participate noncompetitively in athlet

Click for larger version of survey graph (27K) A survey of 314 of our readers provides a picture of their science-reading habits. The majority, 56%, spends more than three hours per week reading primary research articles in print and online, and 10% read more than 10 hours per week. We asked respondents which multidisciplinary journals they read frequently. Naturally, The Scientist came out on top - these are readers of The Scientist after all - with 80% reading or skimming more than half t

Snapshot | The Eclectic Reading Habits of Scientists When it comes to reading nonscientific books, the interests of our readers would fill a library. The 322 readers who completed our survey have books on fly fishing, science fiction, politics, and philosophy, sitting on their coffee and bedside tables. One reader has a self-described "voracious" appetite: "I usually have at least three books going at all times." They also read newspapers: 62% do so on a regular basis, with the New York T

A rowdy crowd of white-coated scientists, many recruited from the ranks of readers of The Scientist, upheld the community's braniac reputation by coming out on top in a televised national IQ test. "Test the Nation," a Fox television special, aired on June 9 in the United States. The show pitted scientists against groups of teachers, celebrities, students, hard-hatted construction workers, muscle-shirt-wearing body builders, and blonde women. The scientist group scored highest with an average

Snapshot | Scientists and Their Religions  Click for larger version (58K) We asked our readers about the religious traditions in which they were raised and the ones to which they are now affiliated. The number of responses--nearly 500, out of 3,000 invitees--and the many strongly stated comments show how seriously our readers take this subject. "Religion is basically dangerous," says one; "Religion is important in my life," says another. The majority, 87%, were reared in a religious t

Snapshot | A Week in a Scientist's Life It's about multitasking--and spending serious time at work  Click for larger version (43K) Our latest Snapshot survey reveals that 347 of our readers spend an average of 52 hours per week working. The range is large, from a sweatshop level of 95 hours to an enviable 30. Our readers spend their time on the predictable tasks, with performing experiments, writing, and reading requiring more than 50% of their time. However, some interesting juxtaposi

 Click for larger version (45K) A past Snapshot showed that more than 80% of scientists regularly watch television. We surveyed 317 readers to find out what they turned on. Not surprisingly in these difficult times, more than 80% frequently watch news and news programs. A solid 68% click on science documentaries, followed by more escapist fare--movies and comedy programs. Our readers' favorite regularly watched program, and most preferred all-time show, is CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

Snapshot | Married to Science  Click for larger version (40K) And some even like it Of the 308 surveyed readers of The Scientist who are married or in long-term relationships, 36% have scientists as partners, 8% working together in the lab. More than 100 respondents commented on such an arrangement--most are enthusiastic, or at least content with their lot. Most who work with their scientist partners extol the benefits of cooperation and mutual understanding. Said one: "It's great to

 Click for larger version (22K) We surveyed 261 readers to find out if they regularly check citations to the papers they have written and whether they think that citations are important. More than 70% of respondents check citations to their papers in ISI's Science Citation Index or Web of Science, with 40% checking more than once per year, and over 20% checking more than once per quarter. The average interval between checks is about nine months. Over 65% of respondents consider it import

 Click to view larger version (11K) We surveyed 340 readers to find out if they are members of professional scientific societies, and why they join. A majority of readers, 82.4%, belong to at least one society, and a remarkable 21.4% belong to four or more societies. Important reasons that a majority of scientists join professional societies include: participation in meetings and conferences (67.4%), association with fellow scientists (65.6%), and subscriptions to research journals (60.1

The Scientist surveyed 485 readers to find out how they keep up with the (nonscientific) news. More than 98% of readers stay abreast of current events, and more than 70% use three or more media. Most popular is television news, with 71.1% watching regularly, closely followed by news Web sites (68.8%). Daily newspapers and Sunday newspapers follow with 57.2% and 47.9%, respectively. About 2% admit to not keeping up with the news. CNN is the overwhelming favorite among the more than 70 TV channel