I was pleased to read that there are now over 1.5 million ORCID IDs in existence. If you didn't know, ORCID provide unique identifiers to researchers. Once you have an ORCID identifier, you can start linking all of your research to that identifier. If you change name, or if you suffer from having a very common surname, ORCID makes it easier to track your contributions to science.

From their about page:

ORCID is an open, non-profit, community-driven effort to create and maintain a registry of unique researcher identifiers and a transparent method of linking research activities and outputs to these identifiers. ORCID is unique in its ability to reach across disciplines, research sectors and national boundaries. It is a hub that connects researchers and research through the embedding of ORCID identifiers in key workflows, such as research profile maintenance, manuscript submissions, grant applications, and patent applications.

I'm hopeful that ORCID will one day become the glue to tie together all scientific output. Written a blog post, or grant, or git commit message for some piece of scientific software? There is no reason why these couldn't all be 'digitally signed' with your ORCID identifier.

If you don't have an ORCID ID — and yes I appreciate that this is somewhat of a clumsy nomenclature — you really should register now.