With the first part of the academic year in full swing for many, discussions about teaching, new jobs and prizes are rife.

The importance of educating the next generation of scientists should never be underestimated and, writing at Endless Possibilities, Katherine Haxton muses (http://go.nature.com/KoKlgn) on the start of a new year and the cyclical nature of updating and improving her teaching materials. She finds it frustrating that many lecturers are probably all trying to source the same sort of examples, such as NMR spectroscopic data or activation energies, and suggests that these resources should be pooled and shared, perhaps through a password-protected website.

More irreverently, Twitter users have been sharing their ideas on how to #explainsciencebadly, including, “the Earth is orbiting the Sun because it can't find a place to park”; Vittorio Saggiomo collects a few of the best over at Labsolutely (http://go.nature.com/fBuJAS). What will your contribution be? Returning to more serious topics, after surviving the steep learning curve and challenging research, finding a job after finishing your PhD can be tough, as Tom Branson at Chemically Cultured writes (http://go.nature.com/czmuyI). He reflects on his experiences and gives some advice for other job-hunters out there, including looking at volunteering and considering what you want in the future.

And of course, who isn't talking about this year's Nobel Laureates in Chemistry, our celebrated scientists at the top of their game? At Everyday Scientist, Sam gives a nice overview (http://go.nature.com/N1ZsIm) of the achievements of Betzig, Hell and Moerner, as well as reminding us that the Simpsons predicted Moerner's Nobel recognition back in 2010! Finally, Fluorogrol finds ways for the rest of us to console ourselves over our lack of Nobel-worthy efforts at Better Living Through Chemistry (http://go.nature.com/mkcJyt).