How the data were collected and the process used to collate the Top 100 can be found on the company’s blog (1), but a quick scan of the list reveals a number of articles that (in some cases intentionally) attract a certain kind of attention – not necessarily the right kind. Is online response predominantly driven by toilet humor? Perhaps. Evidently, the system is in its infancy, with room for improvement. Despite potential drawbacks, it was both pleasing and surprising to find two entries that represent the analytical sciences – testimony to the wide reaching impact of our field on society.
#36: Towards practical, high-capacity, low-maintenance information storage in synthesized DNA (2)
What? Computer files totalling 739 kilobytes of hard-disk storage was converted into DNA code, which was then synthesized. Result? The synthesized DNA was sequenced and the original computer files reconstructed with 100% accuracy. Featured in The Analytical Scientist: www.theanalyticalscientist.com/issues/0413/digital-versatile-dna/
#3: Direct Imaging of Covalent Bond Structure in Single-Molecule Chemical Reactions (3)
What? Noncontact atomic force microscopy used to investigate reaction-induced changes in the internal bond structure of oligo-(phenylene-1,2-ethynylenes). Result? Images revealed complex surface reaction mechanisms behind thermally-induced cyclization cascades of enediynes. How important is online response to your work? Please let us know by commenting on this article – online!
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References
- www.altmetric.com/blog/the-2013-top-100-list N. Goldman et al., Nature (2013) doi:10.1038/nature11875 (Altmetric rank: 36). Dimas G. de Oteyza et al., Science, 340 (6139), 1434-1437 (2013) (Altmetric rank: 3).