Clojure lacks a formal spec, commercial vendor support, and doesn't have the long track record of CL. Clojure also requires JVM issues to be considered (e.g., which JVM will you use?). Don't know about C FFI with Clojure, but perhaps that's another CL advantage?
For many, Clojure may be a better choice as you suggest: perhaps especially for web projects. But I think for some groups and applications, CL remains a better choice.
Yeah, I was surprised too when the project was pitched to me. At the time we did the article, a working group had proposed a revision to the Macdonald criteria that still included bidimensional products, and this paper was in part a response to the revision. I think that's why our article was interesting enough for publication.
This area is really neat to me because it seems at first to be easy: just take a couple of pictures, compare them, and there's the answer, right? But then you start thinking about differences in imaging modalities, contrast agents, calibration, signal processing, measurement axis, etc. and the problem becomes so hard I want to find something easier to work on.
Something that amazes me about Bester's writing is that neither book feels dated. Then, you think about how visionary he was in the time they were written, and it blows you away.
Of course, the other thing about Bester that amazes me is that he's so obscure, despite as you point out winning the first Hugo and for writing notable early sci-fi. Someone's knowledge of Bester has become an informal litmus test for me to get a feel for how well read someone is in sci-fi.
Neat tidbit about Bester: he's also credited with writing the Green Lantern Oath.
There are some great books on the list, however it should be a criminal offense to not include Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination (first published as Tiger! Tiger!). It's best summed up as The Count of Monte Cristo, in space. Bester's novel is in many ways the forerunner of the cyberpunk genre.
This article makes it sound like this is a new problem, e.g., "But in recent years, the postdoc position has become less a stepping stone and more of a holding tank." As was pointed out in the comments of the article, the grey-haired postdoc problem in biology has persisted for decades. It's difficult to sustain sympathy for people trapped in a endless postdoc when the problem is not a secret.
Also, have to say, the article picture showcases a great pet peeve of mine with media pictures of scientists in the lab: where is the rest of this guy's PPE? One of the nice things about industry is that safety is far more likely to be taken seriously.
For many, Clojure may be a better choice as you suggest: perhaps especially for web projects. But I think for some groups and applications, CL remains a better choice.