Before I get to the winners, I want to first thank the judges, Fraser Cain, Maggie Koerth-Baker, and Maryn McKenna, for reading and commenting on dozens of posts.

As a reminder, there are eleven awards that will be handed out. The best single post from among the following ten categories will each receive an award of $100:

• Best biology post
• Best physics, astronomy, or earth science post
• Best psychology or neuroscience post
• Best medical sciences post
• Best chemistry post
• Best podcast or video
• Best post about peer-reviewed research
• Best post by a high school or undergraduate blogger
• Best science art post (e.g. cartoon, photo, drawing, sketch, painting, etc)
• Best life-in-science post

In addition, there will be a grand prize for Post of the Year which will receive an award of $1000 and priority registration for 2014′s ScienceOnline Together, the annual conference in Raleigh that brings together scientists and science communicators from all over the world.

Without any further ado, here are the winners!

Best biology post
The Narcissism of De-Extinction by Hannah Waters

Finalists:
Gingrey is a bad doctor, says science by Christie Wilcox
Archaea Are More Wonderful Than You Know by Jennifer Frazer
Bad news for whale sharks: The world’s largest fish are being killed for bait and billboards by David Schiffman
Buzzsaw Jaw Helicoprion Was a Freaky Ratfish by Brian Switek

Best physics, astronomy, or earth science post
On the L’Aquila trial verdict: earthquake safety is about door locks, not fire alarms by Chris Rowan

Finalists:
Phenomenon of the year: Sandy’s stunning surge by Bob Henson
The Truth about Radon by Matt Herod
Why Paleontology Is Relevant by Sarah Werning

Best psychology or neuroscience post
The crayola-fication of the world: How we gave colors names, and it messed with our brains (part II) by Aatish Bhatia

Finalists:
Dr. David H. Barlow and Aversion Therapy for Gays by The Neurocritic
Exploring the Mind of the Mountain Gorilla by Kim Moynahan
Why do children hide by covering their eyes? by Christian Jarrett
Will changing your Facebook profile picture do anything for marriage equality? by Melanie Tannenbaum

Best medical sciences post
Weaving together the DNA of parenthood by Nathalia Holt

Finalists:
Llamas: Vaccine Factories For HIV by Nsikan Akpan
When You Swallow A Grenade by Carl Zimmer
Are You A Unique Medical Case? by Lutz Kraushaar

Best chemistry post
Negative temperature? by Chad Jones

Finalists:
My, What Lustrous Fur You Have by Sara Klink
Wanna buy some tetrahedral centers? by vinylogous

Best podcast or video
Palaeocast Episode 12: Paleozoic Problematica by Dave Marshall

Finalists:
Chemjobber Podcast: Chemistry Avengers: anti-chemophobia and chemistry outreach by Chemjobber
Token Skeptic Episode One Hundred And Fifty Two – On Bad Pharma And AllTrials.Net – Interview With Dr Ben Goldacre by TokenSkeptic

Best post about peer-reviewed research
The pseudoscience of anecdotes by Pete Etchells

Finalists:
Dogs and Cats in the Home: Happiness for all? by Julie Hecht
Did dinosaurs lactate..? by Jon Tennant
Science Journalism and the Inner Swine Dog by Jalees Rehman

Best post by a high school or undergraduate blogger
Students of Ethnobotany: Underneath the mistletoe by Joycelyn Cheung

Finalist:
Deforestation and Global Warming by Samantha Jakuboski

Best science art post
Nanobody by May K.

Finalist:
Photos of Starfish Up Close: What Are You Looking At? by Hannah Waters

Best life-in-science post
The Sea Has Neither Sense Nor Pity: the Earliest Known Cases of AIDS in the Pre-AIDS Era by Rebecca Kreston

Finalists:
A field guide to privilege in marine science: some reasons why we lack diversity by Miriam Goldstein
Playing in Tide Pools | Scientist in vivo by Christie Wilcox
A Dream Deferred: How access to STEM is denied to many students before they get in the door good by Danielle Lee
Does Neuroscience need a Newton? by Scicurious

Post of the Year
Re-Awakenings by Virginia Hughes

Congratulations to all the winners! Please email me so that we can arrange to deliver your prizes: jason at scienceseeker dot org

If you are a finalist or winner, here are some badges and embed codes that you can use on your blogs and websites.

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• Best Science Art Post
• Best Post by a High School or Undergraduate Blogger
• Best Post About Peer-Reviewed Research
• Best Podcast or Video
• Best Chemistry Post
• Best Medicine Post
• Best Psychology or Neuroscience Post
• Best Physics / Astronomy / Earth Science Post
• Best Biology Post
• Best Life-in-Science Post

The topics with the fewest nominees are Best Science Art Post and and Best Post by a High School or Undergraduate Blogger. If you’re in one of these categories, now is your chance to nominate your best posts and have an excellent shot at winning!

Also, you may want to take a look at the already-nominated posts in your favorite topics and recommend your favorites (by clicking on the star next to the post). Only the nominated posts with the most recommendations will be reviewed by our judging panel, so this is your chance to make a difference. Bloggers, if you have posts that are nominated, point your readers to them so they can also recommend posts.

In case you don’t remember how to nominate a post, it’s really simple: just find that post’s entry on Science Seeker (hint: use the filters and search box on the right sidebar), and click the little trophy icon. Then, you’ll be prompted to identify for which of the ten categories above you’d like to nominate the post. All nominated posts are also automatically considered for “Post of the Year.”

Remember, posts can be nominated for multiple categories. If a post has already been nominated, another way to lend your support to that post is to “recommend” it, by clicking on the little star icon. Bloggers: if your posts are nominated, be sure to encourage your readers to “recommend” them!

At the end of the nomination period, the Science Seeker editors will use the total number of nominations (the trophy icon) as well as the total number of recommendations (the star icon) in order to crowdsource a list of finalists, which will be handed over to the judges, Fraser Cain, Maggie Koerth-Baker, and Maryn McKenna.

Here are the posts that have been nominated since the last update. If you see any you like, remember to recommend them. Just click the post title, and click the star icon on the top right of the page.

Don’t see any of your posts on the list? Nominate your own! Any post, video, or podcast written before February 1, 2013 is eligible. The nomination period will run through midnight on April 1, 2013.

• Exploring the Mind of the Mountain Gorilla by Kim at Endless Forms Most Beautiful.
• L’étude anti-OGM: comment s’assurer des médias favorables by plapointe at Medias et science.
• Le cas de Will et William West et la fin du bertillonnage by Ariel Fenster at Le blogue d’Ariel Fenster.
• Canine Neuroscience by CAPB at Companion Animal Psychology.
• On the L’Aquila trial verdict: earthquake safety is about door locks, not fire alarms by Chris Rowan at Highly Allochthonous.
• Crowdsourcing predictions by Pete Etchells at Counterbalanced –  SciLogs.com.
• Why I hate neurons by Pete Etchells at Counterbalanced –  SciLogs.com.
• The beautiful simplicity of visual illusions by Pete Etchells at Counterbalanced –  SciLogs.com.
• Your step-by-step guide to the perfect sandwich by Pete Etchells at Counterbalanced –  SciLogs.com.
• Sigman’s cherry-picking problem by Pete Etchells at Counterbalanced –  SciLogs.com.
• The pseudoscience of anecdotes by Pete Etchells at Counterbalanced –  SciLogs.com.
• Quality over quantity by Pete Etchells at Counterbalanced –  SciLogs.com.
• Eye evolution made easy by Pete Etchells at Counterbalanced –  SciLogs.com.
• Thinking laterality: steps, jumps and wonder-whorls by Cobb Hecht at Do you believe in dog?.
• Curating Creativity by Jalees Rehman at 3quarksdaily.
• There Was No Couch: On Mental Illness and Creativity by Sisyphos at Fragments of Truth.
• Monkeys Reject Food From People Who Are Mean To Fellow Humans by Sisyphos at Fragments of Truth.
• Seven Myths About Obesity And Weight Loss? by Sisyphos at Fragments of Truth.
• Happier Children Earn Higher Wages When They Become Adults by Sisyphos at Fragments of Truth.
• Are Scientists Divided Over Divining Rods? by Jalees Rehman at The Next Regeneration.
• The ENCODE Controversy And Professionalism In Science by Jalees Rehman at The Next Regeneration.
• Is Cannabis Usage “Related” to Strokes? by Jalees Rehman at The Next Regeneration.
• Can the Source of Funding for Medical Research Affect the Results? by Jalees Rehman at Scientific American – Guest Blog.
• Accuracy of Medical Information on the Internet by Jalees Rehman at Scientific American – Guest Blog.
• Archaea Are More Wonderful Than You Know by Jennifer Frazer at The Artful Amoeba.
• 2012’s record events put climate in mind by andyextance at Simple Climate.
• Can we trust climate models? by andyextance at Simple Climate.
• Diabetes and hispanic health; we are what we eat by Ivan Fernando Gonzalez at ScienceSalsa.
• Projected warming set to exceed civilisation’s experience by andyextance at Simple Climate.
• Evidence rethink puts CO2 and ancient warming back in sync by andyextance at Simple Climate.
• Cave deposits reveal permafrost concern by andyextance at Simple Climate.
• The Truth about Radon by Matt Herod at GeoSphere.
• Iconic authors help reveal record early flowering by andyextance at Simple Climate.
• Climate limits room at the global dinner table by andyextance at Simple Climate.
• Warming brings home the value of a meal by andyextance at Simple Climate.
• 2012’s record events put climate in mind by andyextance at Simple Climate.
• Can we trust climate models? by andyextance at Simple Climate.

In case you don’t remember how to nominate a post, it’s really simple: just find that post’s entry on Science Seeker (hint: use the filters and search box on the right sidebar), and click the little trophy icon. Then, you’ll be prompted to identify for which of the ten categories above you’d like to nominate the post. All nominated posts are also automatically considered for “Post of the Year.”

Remember, posts can be nominated for multiple categories. If a post has already been nominated, another way to lend your support to that post is to “recommend” it, by clicking on the little star icon. Bloggers: if your posts are nominated, be sure to encourage your readers to “recommend” them!

At the end of the nomination period, the Science Seeker editors will use the total number of nominations (the trophy icon) as well as the total number of recommendations (the star icon) in order to crowdsource a list of finalists, which will be handed over to the judges, Fraser Cain, Maggie Koerth-Baker, and Maryn McKenna.

Here are the posts that have been nominated so far. If you see any you like, remember to recommend them. Just click the post title, and click the star icon on the top right of the page.

Don’t see any of your posts on the list? Nominate your own! Any post, video, or podcast written before February 1, 2013 is eligible. The nomination period will run through midnight on April 1, 2013.

• Social Networks Matter: Friends Increase the Size of Your Brain by Eric Michael Johnson at The Primate Diaries.
• Night Owls Get a Coffee Break by Dirk Hanson at Addiction Inbox.
• March conservation madness: endangered species mascots in the NCAA basketball tournament by WhySharksMatter at Southern Fried Science.
• Chimps are our closest relativesÉ but not for all of our genes by David Winter at The Atavism.
• Bad news for whale sharks: The worldÕs largest fish are being killed for bait and billboards by WhySharksMatter at Southern Fried Science.
• Parasite Insights: Using Lice To Map Socialization by NerdyChristie at Science Sushi.
• How severe are shark population decreases, and how do we know? by WhySharksMatter at Southern Fried Science.
• Ophthalmology of the Pharaohs: Antimicrobial Kohl Eyeliner in Ancient Egypt by bodyhorrors at Body Horrors.
• The Good Housekeeper: GBV-C Co-infection with HIV by bodyhorrors at Body Horrors.
• Playing in Tide Pools Ê| ÊScientist in vivo by NerdyChristie at Science Sushi.
• Everything You DidnÕt Want to Know About Cockroaches by bodyhorrors at Body Horrors.
• Traumatized animal radically changes diet and behavior in an unhealthy way: the real story of the Òvegetarian sharkÓ by WhySharksMatter at Southern Fried Science.
• How I cured my imposter syndrome by Jacquelyn Gill at The Contemplative Mammoth.
• The crayola-fication of the world: How we gave colors names, and it messed with our brains (part I) by aatish at Empirical Zeal.
• Parasitic flower pirates genes from its host by Christie Wilcox at Science Sushi.
• The crayola-fication of the world: How we gave colors names, and it messed with our brains (part II) by aatish at Empirical Zeal.
• Kangaroo court: an unjust criminal justice system for animals in National Parks? by WhySharksMatter at Southern Fried Science.
• Mythbusting 101: bulking up with bull shark testosterone by Christie Wilcox at Science Sushi.
• An 8th grade WhySharksMatter gets career advice by WhySharksMatter at Southern Fried Science.
• Genetics study reveals 79 potentially new species of sharks and rays: what does it mean for science and conservation? by WhySharksMatter at Southern Fried Science.
• The man behind the Rainbow by Guest Posts at Biofortified.
• Springtime is for Swarms by Karl Haro von Mogel at Biofortified.
• The Good Fight by Eric Michael Johnson at The Primate Diaries.
• South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley slashes funding for coastal science and sustainable development by WhySharksMatter at Southern Fried Science.
• The horrifying physiological and psychological consequences of being Aquaman by Southern Fried Scientist at Southern Fried Science.
• Q&A with Okanagan Specialty FruitsÕ president Neal Carter by Anastasia Bodnar at Biofortified.
• Exploring the Mind of the Mountain Gorilla by Kim at Endless Forms Most Beautiful.
• You want that? Well I want it, too! The neuroscience of mimetic desire by Scicurious at The Scicurious Brain.
• The importance of being Aquaman, or how to save the Atlantean from his briny fate by Southern Fried Scientist at Southern Fried Science.
• The psychology of doping accusations: Which athletes raise the most suspicion? by Melanie T at PsySociety.
• STOP THE PRESSES, we cured heroin addiction. by Scicurious at The Scicurious Brain.
• Sure, women cannot get pregnant from rape. Also, all mean people are ugly and puppies are immortal. by Melanie T at PsySociety.
• Orange sweet potato champions biofortified foods in Africa by chariscook at Biofortified.
• The fruits of climate change by MaryM at Biofortified.
• The fruits of climate change by MaryM at Biofortified.
• Why organic must turn to science to survive by Unknown at Communicate Science.
• Orexin and Binge Eating Rats by Scicurious at The Scicurious Brain.
• The Sports Psychology of Academia: Playing the Game and Staying Sane by scicurious at Neurotic Physiology.
• An open letter to my newborn niece by Southern Fried Scientist at Southern Fried Science.
• Have a Beer with Kevin Folta by Karl Haro von Mogel at Biofortified.
• CanÕt sleep, havinÕ sex! by Scicurious at The Scicurious Brain.
• The Trouble with Teacup Pigs by Southern Fried Scientist at Southern Fried Science.
• Sleeping Beauty: magic or hypocretin? by Scicurious at The Scicurious Brain.
• The Sea Has Neither Sense Nor Pity: the Earliest Known Cases of AIDS in the Pre-AIDS Era by bodyhorrors at Body Horrors.
• Why do children hide by covering their eyes? by Christian Jarrett at BPS Research Digest.
• WeÕre all wearing the same genes by Anastasia at Biofortified.
• Superlatives: Kings of Polyene Mountain by See Arr Oh at Just Like Cooking.
• Science Journalism and the Inner Swine Dog by Jalees Rehman at The Next Regeneration.
• ItÕs not the stress that counts, itÕs whether you can control it by Scicurious at The Scicurious Brain.
• #Chemjobs: Fellowship Freefall by See Arr Oh at Just Like Cooking.
• Coral Recruits Goby Bodyguards Against Seaweed Assasins by Christie Wilcox at Science Sushi.
• To Nurse or To Forage? DNA Methylation Defines Honeybee Behavior by D. Tan at EpiBeat.
• Love and Learn: "Nematocin", the nematode oxytocin by scicurious at Neurotic Physiology.
• Math is hard: the use of complex equations decreases the chance a paper will be cited by David Shiffman at Southern Fried Science.
• Myths Come From Values, Not From Ignorance by Cedar Riener at Cedar’s Digest.
• Somatic Mosaicism: Genetic Differences Between Individual Cells by Jalees Rehman at The Next Regeneration.
• Why did Proposition 37 Fail? by Karl Haro von Mogel at Biofortified.
• Why did Proposition 37 Fail? by Karl Haro von Mogel at Biofortified.
• Does Neuroscience need a Newton? by Scicurious at The Scicurious Brain.
• Your Questions: What letters aren’t on the periodic table? by Chad Jones at The Collapsed Wavefunction.
• What’s the highest number you can name? No, higher than that. Nope, higher still… by Chad Jones at The Collapsed Wavefunction.
• Time Reversal Asymmetry by Chad Jones at The Collapsed Wavefunction.
• Science: The MythBusters Way by Chad Jones at The Collapsed Wavefunction.
• Clarity and simplicity in science! by Chad Jones at The Collapsed Wavefunction.
• A Moldy Cantaloupe & The Dawn of Penicillin by bodyhorrors at Body Horrors.
• Spocktacular by See Arr Oh at Just Like Cooking.
• You scratch, I scratch! The social contagion of itch. by Scicurious at The Scicurious Brain.
• Chemistry ‘Rules of Acquisition’ by See Arr Oh at Just Like Cooking.
• ÒIt Is An Opportunity For Great JoyÓ by Jalees Rehman at The Next Regeneration.
• DonÕt Pee On It: Zinc Emerges As New Jellyfish Sting Treatment by Christie Wilcox at Science Sushi.
• What Do We Owe to the Next Species After Us? by Emma Marris at The Last Word on Nothing.
• Your Questions: Holograms by Chad Jones at The Collapsed Wavefunction.
• The dopamine side(s) of depression by Scicurious at The Scicurious Brain.
• PolitiFact calls claims of menhaden declines ÒMostly FalseÓ, is completely wrong by David Shiffman at Southern Fried Science.
• The dopamine side(s) of depression, part 2 by Scicurious at The Scicurious Brain.
• When You Swallow A Grenade by Carl Zimmer at The Loom.
• Sandy Hook and Useless Common Sense on Guns by Cedar Riener at Cedar’s Digest.
• The Best Science Resources on the Internet by Chad Jones at The Collapsed Wavefunction.
• John Kuhn: NFL Chemist by See Arr Oh at Just Like Cooking.
• Friday Weird Science: The evolutionary psychology of the romance novel by scicurious at Neurotic Physiology.
• Finding a needle in a haystack: How RecA slides in to the rescue by Ian Le Guillou at A Chemical Life.
• Armchair Psychiatry and Violence by Jalees Rehman at The Next Regeneration.
• Desert Island Chemistry: Simple as Fe-S by See Arr Oh at Just Like Cooking.
• 13 wrong things about sharks that conservation advocates should stop saying in 2013 (and what they should say instead) by David Shiffman at Southern Fried Science.
• Researchers bring new focus to the science of blinking. by Chad Jones at The Collapsed Wavefunction.
• Five organisms with real super powers that rival their comic book counterparts by Andrew David Thaler at Southern Fried Science.
• Negative temperature? by Chad Jones at The Collapsed Wavefunction.
• What the Dalai Lama can teach us about temperatures below absolute zero by aatish at Empirical Zeal.
• Bluefin Tuna and the Tsukiji Fish Auction: caution in drawing conclusions from record breaking prices by Andrew David Thaler at Southern Fried Science.
• Overly honest methods Ð how experiments really get done by Raj Mukhopadhyay at Wild Types.
• What-a-Ouabagenin! Grams on Demand by See Arr Oh at Just Like Cooking.
• A "Novel" Concept by See Arr Oh at Just Like Cooking.
• Fake Feces To Treat Deadly Disease: Scientists Find They Can Just Make Sh*t Up by Christie Wilcox at Science Sushi.
• Friday Weird Science: Hot Hot High Heels. by scicurious at Neurotic Physiology.
• The Sounds of Synthesis by See Arr Oh at Just Like Cooking.
• Archaea Are More Wonderful Than You Know by Jennifer Frazer at The Artful Amoeba.
• Fisher-Price Synesthesia by The Neurocritic at The Neurocritic.
• Optical wormholes: punching virtual tunnels in space via metamaterials! by skullsinthestars at Skulls in the Stars.
• Gingrey is a bad doctor, says science by Christie Wilcox at Science Sushi.
• Tell Job With Window by See Arr Oh at Just Like Cooking.
• Explaining my research…sort of. by Chad Jones at The Collapsed Wavefunction.
• The Monty Hall Problem and a lesson in statistics by Chad Jones at The Collapsed Wavefunction.
• A need for nature by kate.prengaman at Xylem.
• Open-and-Shut Case by See Arr Oh at Just Like Cooking.
• Silent reading isn’t so silent, at least, not to your brain by scicurious at Neurotic Physiology.
• Why are East Africans so dominant? by UKSportSci at UKSportSci.
• Middle-distance running, Kenyans, and anti-climaxes by UKSportSci at UKSportSci.
• The Muddled Debate About Pesticides and GM Crops by Steve Savage at Biofortified.
• The Muddled Debate About Pesticides and GM Crops by Steve Savage at Biofortified.
• Dr. David H. Barlow and Aversion Therapy for Gays by The Neurocritic at The Neurocritic.
• Scientists redefine the habitable zone: Wait…we’re not in it? by Chad Jones at The Collapsed Wavefunction.
• Troxler’s fading by Chad Jones at The Collapsed Wavefunction.
• Science is not a certainty by UKSportSci at UKSportSci.
• My, What Lustrous Fur You Have by Sara Klink at Promega Connections.
• Friday Focal Mechanism: the HimalayasÕ long tectonic shadow by Chris Rowan at Highly Allochthonous.
• Who would be on your fantasy #science team? #scio13 by Matt Russell at Taking Science to the People.
• The Physics of Phootball by Chad Jones at The Collapsed Wavefunction.
• Let me handle that, IÕm a professional: A case for letting science writers tell of scientistsÕ discoveries by Matt Russell at Taking Science to the People.
• Let me handle that, IÕm a professional: A case for letting science writers tell of scientistsÕ discoveries by Matt Russell at Taking Science to the People.
• Wanna buy some tetrahedral centers? by vinylogous at Not the Lab (NTL).
• Slow Down, Bob by See Arr Oh at Just Like Cooking.
• Mardi Gras at the Leprosarium by bodyhorrors at Body Horrors.
• Immune system "remembers" pathogens it has never seen before by Chad Jones at The Collapsed Wavefunction.
• Podcast: Chemistry Avengers: anti-chemophobia and chemistry outreach by Chemjobber at Chemjobber.
• New Directions In Scientific Peer Review by Jalees Rehman at The Next Regeneration.
• Virtual Chinook by Sarah Boon at Watershed Moments: Thoughts from the Hydrosphere.
• The most preventable shark attack of all time? by David Shiffman at Southern Fried Science.
• No, bot flies are NOT a viable weight loss option by Morgan Jackson at Biodiversity in Focus.

Note: These posts are listed in chronological order according to when the post was published, so multiple posts from the same blog are not necessarily adjacent to eachother.

For those of you who weren’t there, our big news is our first contest. The grand prize winner will receive $1000 and a guaranteed spot at Scio14. The guaranteed spot garnered more enthusiasm from attendees than the cash:

The most-requested features were:

• People want to be able to load older blog posts in to the site. Right now, the site only reads posts that are still in your feed. We will look into finding ways to load up older ones!
• People would like to be able to group together similar blogs, forming pseudo-networks on ScienceSeeker. This would be a way to have a single feed for multiple blogs. This is something we’ve already been thinking about, but we’ll move it up the priority list.
• People want to be able to more easily search by post-level tags: “I want to see all the posts which are tagged ‘genetics.’” This is doable now, but there isn’t an easy user interface for it. We’ll work on that soon, too.

Let us know if we missed any requests.

It was great meeting so many of you face to face. See you next year!

We hope that these awards will be a way to feature several of the most outstanding blog posts, podcasts, or videos from the past year, as well as serve as a way for those who are perhaps unfamiliar with our website to play and explore.

There will be a total of eleven awards handed out. The best single post from among the following ten categories will each receive an award of $100:

• Best biology post
• Best physics, astronomy, or earth science post
• Best psychology or neuroscience post
• Best medical sciences post
• Best chemistry post
• Best podcast or video
• Best post about peer-reviewed research
• Best post by a high school or undergraduate blogger
• Best science art post (e.g. cartoon, photo, drawing, sketch, painting, etc)
• Best life-in-science post

Click here to see the posts that have been nominated

In addition, there will be a grand prize for Post of the Year which will receive an award of $1000. No single post can win more than one award, including the grand prize.

We’re also pleased to announce that the judges for the inaugural Science Seeker Awards are Fraser Cain, Maggie Koerth-Baker, and Maryn McKenna. We’ll be introducing you individually to each judge in the coming weeks here on the Science Seeker News Blog.

How does the nomination process work?

The nomination process will run from February 1, 2013 through midnight on April 1, 2013 (so, really, the evening of March 31 is the time for last minute nominations).

It’s really simple to nominate a post: just find that post’s entry on Science Seeker (hint: use the filters and search box on the right sidebar), and click the little trophy icon. Then, you’ll be prompted to identify for which of the ten categories above you’d like to nominate the post. All nominated posts are also automatically considered for “Post of the Year.”

Posts can be nominated for multiple categories. For example, you might notice that the post you’d like to nominate has already been nominated for “best post about peer-reviewed research,” but could also be nominated for “best biology post.” If you’d like to nominate the post for a new category, that’s fine.

If a post has already been nominated, another way to lend your support to that post is to “recommend” it, by clicking on the little “star” icon.

At the end of the nomination period, the Science Seeker editors will use the total number of nominations (the trophy icon) as well as the total number of recommendations (the star icon) in order to crowdsource a list of finalists, which will be handed over to the judges.

The judges will collectively determine the winner for each of the ten categories, as well as the overall grand prize winner. The winners will be announced on May 1, 2013.

What posts (or podcasts, or videos) are eligible?

Any post, podcast episode, or video that was first published between February 1, 2012 and February 1, 2013 are eligible for the Science Seeker Awards.

To nominate a post, however, the blog has to be indexed by Science Seeker. If your blog, podcast, or video series is not yet indexed by Science Seeker, don’t worry! The submission process is simple. Just click the button that says Add Site on the top menu. (Find detailed instructions here.)

Any questions?

Feel free to leave a comment here on this post, use the contact form, or tweet us @SciSeeker. For more detailed questions only, email Science Seeker Associate Editor Jason G. Goldman: jason at scienceseeker dot org

Update: Modified categories to add “earth science” to Physics/Astronomy category

We believe that the SubjectSeeker code can be used to collect news and discussion on almost any topic, and this is just the first example.

We have been working for several months with Mathblogging to help them move to the new platform, and we couldn’t be more thrilled with the results. Here’s an excerpt from their official announcement:

To celebrate ScienceOnline 2013, we’re very happy to announce the launch of the new and improved mathblogging.org!

Among our new features are:

• Our editors! A group of dedicated bloggers who regularly share their favorite pieces, right on the front page — it’s like our Weekly Picks, only better!
• A user system – register an account & claim your blog today, add comments to posts just like our editors do and have them tweeted right away.  And you can look forward to more features in the near future!
• An easy way to add sites: just paste the link and we’ll do the rest.
• A better search — easy to get to, easy to work with, easy to find stuff.
• A robust API — to build personalized searches, feeds and whatever you can think of (with more in the making).
• Moar social media!!11!eleventy!! — three new twitter accounts will give you the Editor Picks, the Notes and the firehose feed, with more to come in the future. Google+ and other platforms soon to follow.

Congratulations to Mathblogging.org! We look forward to working with them — and many other sites — in the future!

Details on the new features (from our help page):

Using Tags

ScienceSeeker organizes information in two different ways. Topics are the general subject areas that each source site uses. Each site can have two topics. For example, the Bipolar Beat blog is categorized under “Psychology.”

Tags are used to categorize individual posts. For example, Bipolar Beat usually makes posts that are more specific than just the general topic of “Psychology”, and ScienceSeeker captures all the tags that the blogger used to categorize the post. Click on the “…” icon next to any post on our site to see the post profile page, and you will see a list of all the tags the author added to the post. For this post, the authors also tagged it with “Career,” “disability”, “bipolar disorder”, “social security disability” and “ticket to work.” Click on any of those tags to see a list of all posts from every source on ScienceSeeker using that tag.

Note: Any tag that starts with a Capital Letter is actually a Topic, and will bring up all posts from sources using that topic in addition to individual posts using the tag.

You can also add your own tags to a post.

• Log in to ScienceSeeker
• Click on the icon for the post you want to tag
• Click the “+ Add Tag” button.
• Add the tag you would like in the dialog that appears.
• Choose “Public” if you want everyone to see the tag, and “Private” if the tag is just for your personal use.

Using Groups

Groups are a powerful tool for following and sharing posts about topics that interest you most. You can create, follow, and edit groups, and soon we will add even more ways to interact through groups.

• To see the most recently-formed groups, click on the Groups tab at the top of the ScienceSeeker home page
• Clicking on a group name will show you the most recent items from that group, let you know who manages the group, and shows you the tags that apply to the group. For example, the group “Some big bang posts” tracks posts with the tag “big bang.”
• If you are logged in to your ScienceSeeker account, you can recommend, comment on, or follow the group by clicking on the appropriate link at the top of the group page.
• To create your own group, Login and hover over your user name to bring up a menu. Click on the “My Groups” link.
• Type the name of your group and a description.
• Click on “Create Group”.
• Add the tags you would like this group to track. You can use tags you create, or official ScienceSeeker topics. When you type in a topic name it will appear capitalized, and will bring up both individual posts with that tag and all posts for sources categorized with that topic.
• Optionally you can upload an image to serve as the header for the group. Important: The image must be at least 1000 x 125 pixels. You can crop larger images to correct size, but smaller images will not work.
• To modify or delete a group, click on the “+” sign next to the group name in your list under “my groups”.

Jason is is a doctoral candidate in developmental psychology at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. For several years now, he has been a dynamo in the world of science online. His blog The Thoughtful Animal never fails to engage readers and has received numerous honors. His writing has appeared in Scientific American, BBC Future, The Guardian, The Best Science Writing Online 2012, and elsewhere. He edited the 2010 edition of The Open Laboratory.

Jason has also been a content editor here at ScienceSeeker and at ResearchBlogging.org, sifting through hundreds of posts on psychology and neuroscience to highlight the most interesting and innovative research and discussion.

Jason’s own research focuses on the evolution and architecture of the mind, and how early experiences affect innate knowledge systems.

Please join me in welcoming Jason to the ScienceSeeker team!