incits: Technical Committee T10
This organization's Web site is a repository of information about computer input/ output (I/O) interfaces. The T10 Technical Committee works to oversee the development of voluntary standards for low-level interfaces, specifically "the Small Computer System Interface (SCSI)." A large collection of these standards and related technical reports is provided on this site. Many variations of SCSI are documented, as well as other interfaces, such as IEEE 1394 and fibre channel. The standards cover arch
Lichen Determination Keys
Published by the Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum (BGBM), Berlin-Dahlem, this Web site serves as on online guide to lichen identification. Users can choose from articulated identification keys for a large number of taxa, or follow links to keys organized by geographical region. There is also an interactive lichen identification database. The Web site has been recently updated to include a key for the genus Stereocaulon in Tropical America. Users should note that the keys listed are created by
National Pollutant Release Inventory
The National Pollutant Release Inventory is maintained by Environment Canada and provides access to pollutant release information for facilities located throughout Canada. The data can be searched by chemical name and location, and results provide detailed information on the substance, its release, its disposal, and its transfer at a particular facility.
International Journal of Bifurcation and Chaos (IJBC)
The International Journal of Bifurcation and Chaos is "widely regarded as the leading journal in the exciting field of chaos and nonlinear science." Feature articles from previous issues are available online as free samples, along with papers and letters, as long as you provide your name and email address. They also offer to send free emails with updates on the current issues's table of contents. Access to the full journal is available only by paid subscription. Links to information on related b
Digital Library and Archives: Journal of Technology Education
The Journal of Technology Education (JTE) is a biannual publication that focuses on "technology education research, philosophy, and theory." The fall 2002 issue has five articles written by teachers and professors from around the world. A very interesting article examines how elementary school students respond to technology-related questions. Specifically, they are asked about suitable materials for building bridges, and their answers are categorized to identify commonalities across different ag
Friction Stir Welding
Probably the best resource to learn about friction stir welding (FSW) comes from the entity that developed the technology. The Welding Institute (1) offers a thorough overview of FSW and its advantages over other types of welding. The University of Cambridge (2) maintains another informative Web site about FSW. This is a more visual resource, allowing the visitor to view images and video clips that show FSW equipment and how the process works. Three introductory slide presentations are also avai
Everything you Need to Know About Sewerage
The state-owned Company South East Water, which provides water and sewerage services to customers in the southeast of Melbourne, presents the Everything you Need to Know About Sewerage Web site. Visitors will learn about the composition of sewage and how it is treated, the history of sewage treatment, where and how materials should disposed of, and more.
Robber Flies (Asilidae)
This Web site focuses on "one of the largest and most abundant families of present day insects" -- the Robber Flies. Maintained by Fritz Geller-Grimm of the Museum Wiesbaden in Germany and Cornell University graduate student Torsten Dikow, the site includes a variety of information on many aspects of these insects. The Asilidae section contains many resources that are most appropriate for an advanced or research audience, including identification keys, species and distribution databases, and lit
Salamander Feeding Movies
This Web site is compiled by salamander biologist Stephan Deban, who offers a look at a number of different feeding strategies used by salamanders. High-speed video clips of twelve different salamander species are available for viewing, accompanied by brief descriptions of each species and their particular feeding behavior. This Web site is easy to navigate and interesting to visit, even for those unfamiliar with the field of salamander biology.
Water Research Network
Self-described as a "multidisciplinary database of research, researchers, and institutions dealing with fresh water issues all over the world," the Water Research Network (WRN) is a product of collaboration between the University of Bergen, Norway, the Norwegian Research Council, and the Government of the Netherlands. Active since October 2001, WRN invites researchers from various disciplines to submit information about their water research projects (free registration is required). While the sit
The Brighton University Resource Kit for Students
The Brighton University Resource Kit for Students (BURKS) is an archive with "compilers, tutorials and reference manuals for dozens of different programming languages, a dictionary of computing with over 13,000 entries...a vast amount of useful software, information about the Internet itself, and much more." BURKS is primarily intended for individuals who do not have access to an Internet connection, which is why the collection mostly consists of resources from external websites. The collection
Rainforest Cooperative Research Centre
The Rainforest Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) works "to support the sustainable use, management and conservation of Australia's tropical rainforests through world-class research, training and technology transfer." The eight Rainforest CRC research programs include Functional Ecology and Global Change, Canopy Processes and Dynamics, Restoration Ecology and Farm Forestry, and Aboriginal Collaboration and Capacity-building in Research. In addition to providing information about the research acti
NASA Tech Briefs: Engineering Solutions for Design and Manufacturing
NASA Tech Briefs is a monthly magazine that summarizes technologies developed through NASA research and their commercial applications. Free of charge, the magazine's Web site has much of the information that is published in print, while also offering an easy-to-navigate interface. The Tech Brief Library is an archive that dates back four years in twelve different categories, ranging from mechanics to software. The Technical Support Packages have even more detailed information in downloadable Ado
World Soil Resources Map Index
From the US Department of Agriculture's office of Natural Resources Conservation Service, the World Soil Resources Map-Index Web site contains nineteen global maps as well as several regional and country maps related to soil. The global maps include such topics as Global Soil Regions, Soil Temperature Regimes, Water Holding Capacity, and Wind Erosion; the regional maps contain information from Afghanistan, Africa, Albania, Lithuania, and Indonesia. Each map contains information on its specificat
Earth Observatory: Melting Snows of Kilimanjaro
Satellite photos of Mt. Kilimanjaro have become recently available from NASA's Earth Observatory, a "freely-accessible publication on the Internet where the public can obtain new satellite imagery and scientific information about our home planet." Taken in 1993 and again in 2000, these photos chronicle the dramatic disappearance of Kilimanjaro's glacial ice cap, a sensitive indicator of climate change that some scientists believe may vanish altogether by 2015. The Web site provides links to othe
National Diatom Database
Single-celled diatoms are "powerful indicators of environmental conditions as they respond quickly to environmental changes, and are widely utilized in stratigraphic investigations." The Geological Survey of Canada's National Diatom Database contains two components, the first of which includes about 5,000 diatom samples, their description, and precise geographic location. The second has 1,500 entries that give "information on the environmental and ecological tolerance of individual diatom specie
National Coal Resource Assessment
The National Coal Resource Assessment (NCRA) is a project of the US Geological Survey Energy Program. The project's homepage has lots of information and documents about the five main regions that were the focus of the study. Many professional papers, executive summaries, and factsheets are free for download. There are area maps of each region, as well as photographs that show current and historical views of mining practices. The Mining Info/Videos section has a link to an interesting paper -- Su
Grothendieck Circle
This is the website for a long-term project called the Grothendieck Circle which aims to make publicly available (and in some cases translate) the material written by and about mathematician Alexandre Grothendieck. They also hope to provide biographical material on Grothendieck's life and his origins. As of this report they have posted several of his writings along with other online resources of his work. Given that many of his texts are unpublished or are out-of-print, the collection is one-of-
Condor: High Throughput Computing
Condor is a popular software tool developed by the University of Wisconsin at Madison Computer Sciences Department. It is a type of batch system that distributes computationally intensive jobs to multiple workstations, thereby creating a grid-style environment and speeding the processing time. Universities and other research institutions can download Condor at no charge, provided they agree to the license terms. The software can be installed on UNIX or Windows machines. Full documentation is giv
Fibre Optics Technology
As part of the Flexible Learning on the Internet initiative, this Web page gives a very descript overview of fiber optics technology. The site covers everything from fiber optics manufacturing to its technological capabilities. Several basic equations that govern fiber optics properties and operation are mentioned, but the material is not overly mathematical. It explains how light travels through the cable as a signal and how a fiber's structure effects the propagation of light. Three video clip
