Hydrology Technical Group
"Hydrology Web is a site that hosts a comprehensive list of links to Hydrology and related Hydrology resources." Maintained by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's Hydrology Group, the site provides a wealth of resources related to the subject. Links are provided to companies, conferences, data, projects, publications, research, universities, and more.
Global Crop Pests Identification and Information
This Web site from the Cornell Institute for Food, Agriculture, and Development contains a newly developed prototype of the "Global Crop Pest Identification and Information Services in Integrated Pest Management (IPM)." Available in English and Spanish, this online guide aims to "increase crop pest diagnosis and IPM information capability among extensionists and farmers of developing countries." Users can search the site by crop or pest name; for example, clicking on a particular crop name will
Problems to Enjoy
Problems to Enjoy presents an enormous selection of mathematics problems for middle and high school students. Teachers will find it especially useful; divided into four categories and three grade levels, the problems are easily searchable. Eventually, the site's creators hope to "build up a comprehensive library of problems in a format that is simple to access, download and customize." The collection is already quite substantial. Number problems, algebra, geometry, and statistics are the main to
Low Dose Radiation Research
The US Department of Energy's Low Dose Radiation Research Program supports research that investigates the health risks from exposure to radiation at low levels. This Web site provides an overview of radiation biology, up-to-date information and archived results from program-related research, and other resources for the benefit of researchers and the general public alike. Some research projects include comparing low dose radiation to endogenous oxidative damage, determining thresholds for radiati
Chaos Lab: An Orderly Pursuit of Disorder
Chaos Lab is a great piece of software that teaches users about fractals and chaos theory. The menu-driven interface is extremely easy to use; however, a significant drawback of the software is its poor documentation. This can make experimenting with the settings more fun, but it would be helpful to have better explanations of the more obscure functions. What Chaos Lab lacks in documentation, it makes up for in the remarkable visual representations of famous fractals. The Mandelbrot and Julia se
What is Climate Change?
This site is offered by Canada's Natural Resources Department. The main page describes the basics of the phenomenon, while the links tell about the impact of climate change on health and safety, communities, land resources, water resources, and coastal regions. Although specific to Canadian regions, the site will give visitors from all over a good introduction to the potential problems of global warming.
BSA: Global Software Piracy Study
The Business Software Alliance published its eighth annual Global Software Piracy Study in June 2003, which reflects the spread of illegal copyrighted software distribution in many countries around the world. The study's homepage features regional highlights that summarize piracy rate trends, while the study itself can be viewed by following the easily overlooked link on the right side of the page. In addition to providing statistics for over 90 countries in 2002, the document also includes hist
Optical Storage in China: A Study in Strategic Industrial Policy
This unique paper, published in September 2003, discusses the current state and development of the Chinese high-tech industry. The author "begins with a brief overview of industrial policy for the electronics sector in East Asia, then discusses the relevant policies for two successive generations of optical storage: Video CD and DVD." The analysis of Video Compact Disc technology and its use is particularly insightful, since it is relatively unknown outside Asia. A brief look at other areas in t
21st International Conference on Yeast Genetics and Molecular Biology
This Web site presents abstracts submitted for the plenary and poster sessions of the International Conference on Yeast Genetics and Molecular Biology in Göteborg, Sweden (July 7-12th, 2003). These abstracts are available though the _Saccharomyces_ Genome Database (SGD) at the Department of Genetics at the School of Medicine, Stanford University. Users may easily browse or search the material, or follow links to find out more about SGD and the upcoming conference.
Alaska Fisheries Science Center: Understanding Fish Bycatch Discard and Escapee Mortality
The Alaska Fisheries Science Center's (AFSC) latest Quarterly Research Report features research on fish bycatch discard and escapee mortality conducted by the AFSC. Readers will find a summary article for the report on the main Web page. The entire 9-page report details "systematic bycatch research conducted over the past 10 years in the laboratory of the AFSC's Fisheries Behavioral Ecology Group," and may be downloaded as a PDF document. The Web site also contains links to detailed reports from
SARS in the Context of Emerging Infectious Threats
This Web site contains proceedings from the recent New York Academy of Science conference: "SARS in the Context of Emerging Infectious Threats." Virologists, epidemiologists, or anyone else interested in SARS should appreciate this timely and informative resource. Free registration allows users to access a number of informative materials. Sections include Coronavirus Biology and Pathogenesis, Approaches to Vaccines and Drug Development, and more. Conference highlights and a complete conference t
Maps That Teach: US and World Geography
Created by Owl and Mouse Educational Software, this resource uses interactive maps to teach geography. The site provides both Map Puzzles and Interactive Maps. Map Puzzles are downloadable and must be run on Windows. They challenge users to piece together the States of the United States or the countries of the world's continents, depending on the puzzle used. Interactive Maps allow users to move their cursor over a basic regional map. As the cursor hits each country, its name appears. The page a
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 Federal Commons
In 1999, the Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act was passed in order to force the development of federal electronic grant processing. A result of the legislation, the Federal Commons portal gives "grantees (state and local governments, universities, small businesses, etc.) full service grants processing across all functions in the grant life cycle." While providing only an entrance to various grant institutions and services, the Federal Commons helps to eliminate the maze-lik
Science and Safety, Making the Connection
The Council of State Science Supervisors (CSSS), a professional organization composed of science education specialists, has recently released a guide to science safety entitled Science and Safety, Making the Connection. The free, downloadable document covers how to purchase, dispose, and store chemicals; how to clean up spills; safety equipment recommendations; and more. Any educator involved in laboratory work of any kind will find that this document contains very valuable and important informa
Dartmouth Symposium on the Future of Computer Music Software: A Panel Discussion
This article, which appeared in the winter 2002 issue of the Computer Music Journal, is an edited transcript of the Dartmouth Symposium on the Future of Computer Music Software. The topics discussed at the event varied widely, but most were centered on experimental software as opposed to normative utilities like mixers and virtual studios. By following this subject track for the symposium, participants shared their viewpoints about the evolution of computer music software and highlighted current
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
The New Zealand Geographic Place Names Database
The New Zealand Geographic Place Names Database, offered by Land Information New Zealand, contains more than 40,000 official and non-official place name entries from the mainland of New Zealand. Searches can be done by partial name or by location; results yield a description of the place (such as a beach or hill), its district, and its latitude/longitude. Additional searches can also be done to include all place names surrounding an area. Although intended to assist in the production of core top
Worldwide Ocean Optics Database
Created and maintained at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, the Worldwide Ocean Optics Database (WOOD) contains several hundred datasets, gathered over time from much of the world's oceans, specifically on optics. The data can be searched via an applet or a text-based query system that includes parameters such as date, depth, salinity, upwelling radiance, turbidity, secchi depth, and many more. The site provides several downloadable software programs that allow users to fu
Insect Mouthparts
This Web site contains a pictorial guide to insect mouthparts, a complicated topic served well by this simple yet effective tutorial. Created by University of Ottawa entomology professor Dr. Houseman -- using material adapted from Digital Zoology (on CD from McGraw-Hill) -- this site provides labeled diagrams and high quality photos of chewing, siphoning, piercing, sponging, and combination mouthparts. Users may view images by category or click through the entire set in sequence. The photographs
