Can you persuade an eminent scientist to start blogging? As reported at the Science Blogging 2008 conference in London on 30 August (http://tinyurl.com/5tsga9), not many senior scientists have a blog, despite the usefulness of this communication tool for education and outreach. To help scientific blogging gain momentum, Nature Network is coordinating a challenge to increase the number of senior scientists who write online. Points will be awarded for the seniority and reputation of the blogger, their previous lack of experience with blogging, the quality and quantity of posts, the blog's relevance to science and its demonstrable positive impact.

Nominations can include self-nominations, and must be submitted by 5 January 2009. (See http://tinyurl.com/6fcdjw for more details.)

The winning blog will earn the chance to be included in The Open Laboratory: The Best Science Writing on Blogs 2008. The blogger and instigator will also earn an expenses-paid trip to Science Foo Camp 2009 — an invitation-only 'unconference' on emerging technology held at Google headquarters in California.