# Summary of #hplusroadmap IRC Discussion (Dec 22, 2016)

* A discussion about scientific publishing highlighted the challenges of reforming academia, with participants noting that despite initiatives like Sci-Hub (whose founder was nominated for Nature's 10), academic publishing has tremendous inertia due to scientists' careers and reputations being tied to traditional journals.

* Participants debated how scientific experimentation should be reformed, suggesting that reputation should be tied to simplifying complex techniques rather than creating "science stunts," and that failures should provide substantial information (10-20 bits of data) rather than just 1-2 bits.

* The discussion critiqued the "publish-or-perish" culture in science, noting that the current structure rewards quantity over quality and produces many uninteresting failures that don't advance knowledge significantly.

* A detailed technical conversation explored microfluidic systems for cell culturing, specifically discussing methods for encapsulating cells in droplets, cell sorting, and techniques for droplet fusion and electro-coalescence for extracting cells from microfluidic emulsions.

* Participants discussed the emergence of several new citizen science books, including "Citizen Science" by Caren Cooper, which was described as a valorization of citizen science projects.

* There was a brief exchange about nanopore sequencers, with the assessment that they currently have poor accuracy, especially on repetitive DNA stretches, but remain useful for applications like pathogen detection.