Nuclear Physics Group
This website features the Nuclear Physics Group at the University of Birmingham's research related to understanding nuclei properties by studying the behavior of their constituents. Visitors can learn about the investigations undertaken by the five subgroups: Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions, Exotic beams studies, Laser Spectroscopy of Unstable Isotopes, Positron Emission Tomography, and Nuclear Power Energy. Students and educators can discover how under high temperature and density a quark is
ATM Technology: The Foundation for Broadband Networks
Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), one of the key technologies in the transition to broadband telecommunications, is used to transmit "data, video and voice at ultra high speeds." This home page for the ATM Forum is a good place to learn about the technology and its many applications. For people unfamiliar with ATM, the Beginner's Guide to ATM explains some of the basic principles involved in digital communication. More informed readers can download specifications, white papers, case studies, or
Project54
As part of the CATlab project at the University of New Hampshire, Project54 is an integrated system of electronic devices that allows police officers "to interact with equipment such as lights and siren, radar, etc. using speech input and feedback." This website offers a detailed description of the system and its purpose, an image gallery, and several publications and project proposals. Visitors to the site who complete a brief registration can download an interactive demonstration of the Projec
Computational Science Center
The Brookhaven Computational Science Center is a collaborative project among researchers in biology, chemistry, physics, and medicine working with applied mathematicians and computer scientists "to exploit the remarkable opportunities for scientific discovery which have been enabled by modern computers." The Center is filling a need for upgrading the computing infrastructure within the Brookhaven National Laboratory and making "the most advanced systems available to researchers throughout the sc
ALICE: A Large Ion Collider Experiment at CERN LHC
This website features the ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) collaboration's aim to "study the physics of strongly interacting matter at extreme energy densities, where the formation of a new phase of matter, the quark-gluon plasma, is expected." The Public section of the website features the construction plan for the detector located at CERN, which will be optimized for heavy-ion physics. Visitors can learn how the collaboration, consisting of one-thousand members from twenty-seven countri
Human Evolution
The first Web site is an article from the New York Times (1) detailing some recent fossil discoveries that are shaking the paleontological world (free registration is required). Another relatively recent article from Guardian Unlimited (2) discusses a scientific debate surrounding the question of whether "a Western lifestyle now protects humanity from the forces that used to shape Homo sapiens." The third resource (3) includes a likely timeline of events in the history of hominids and a tour of
Human Identification at a Distance
The Georgia Institute of Technology is conducting research on Human Identification at a Distance, with an emphasis on gait recognition. Supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the project's development of gait recognition systems and algorithms is "an example of an activity-specific biometric: a method of extracting some identifying properties of an individual or of an individual's behavior that is only applicable when a person is performing that specific action." Sev
Deep Content: Guide to Effective Searching of the Internet
This outstanding website is, without question, one of the most comprehensive online resources for learning efficient Internet search techniques. The guide begins with some fairly non-technical background about the Internet and explains why searching such a massive amount of information is more complex than it seems. The general process used by search engines to rank webpages is described. After covering the fundamentals of search engine operation, the guide discusses some best practices to use w
Quaternary Studies
First, the Irish Quaternary Association (IQUA) website publicizes its aim "to promote Quaternary studies in Ireland through its publications, and the organization of field meetings and conferences" (1). Visitors can learn about the importance of quaternary studies as well as find out the latest news and upcoming meetings. At the second website, the University of Wisconsin-Madison describes the current and recent studies dealing with "basic and applied problems in glacial geology, surficial geolo
The Common Cold
When winter rolls around and we begin to spend more time indoors, the common cold becomes an unfortunate reality for many of us. But for something as common as the cold, misconceptions about it are remarkably common as well. The following collection of Web sites provides an in-depth look at the cold and the cold virus.The first site (1) comes from the Common Cold Care Center of Cardiff University in Wales, and offers a thorough and highly readable introduction to the common cold, including secti
Wayne's Word: Lemnaceae
This instructional website on Lemnaceae--aka the Duckweed family--was created by Professor Wayne P. Armstrong of Palomar College. The informative site contains concise text sections accompanied by excellent images and diagrams of duckweeds. Site visitors will also find A Key to the Genera of Lemnaceae, a Worldwide Lemnaceae Species List, and descriptions of Species of Lemnaceae In Western North America. This site is housed within Armstrong's larger website, Wayne's Word: An Online Natural Histor
Plants in Motion
Roger P. Hangarter of Indiana University's Department of Biology has created this wonderful collection of time-lapse photography that allows us "to see the movements of plants and clearly demonstrates that plants are living and capable of some extraordinary things. " The videos available show a broad range of plant growth phenomena, including germination, circadian responses, phototropism, and much more. The movies are fun to watch in and of themselves, but don't miss out on the informative desc
Exploring the Future of Learning
ThinkQuest is a worldwide collaboration of students and educators that explores "youth-centered learning on the Net." A conference held by ThinkQuest in July 2002, called Exploring the Future of Learning, focused on emerging technologies and ideas to improve global education methods. This Web site presents several articles about the conference that were written by student journalists who attended the event. The articles highlight technology trends and new innovations, as well as the experiences
Imagiverse: Engineering and Technology
Imagiverse has been developed by a team of people inspired by former students of Montessori School of Corona, Calif., who "believe that imagination is the key to learning." The group offers here a collection of interviews with people who work in various fields, including engineering and technology, as one way to "spark the flame that will lead young and old to pursue learning as an adventure through imagination." The Activities section also includes some lesson ideas such as a robotics project a
Bridge Building: Art and Science
This site is one of the most substantial, comprehensive sources on the Internet dedicated to bridge design and history. It has an incredible list of sections from which to choose, and each describes a particular bridge type or characteristic. Several pictures are included from all over the world that give examples of arch, truss, suspension, and many other bridge designs. There are also explanations of forces that act upon bridges, as well as what issues are considered when choosing the kind of
Nutrition Café
Developed jointly by the Pacific Science Center and the Washington State Dairy Council, Nutrition Café offers students three interactive games to explore the world of nutrition. The first game, Nutrient Sleuth, is an entertaining hangman-style game where students try to discover what nutrients different characters are missing based on clues and letter guesses. Another enjoyable offering is Grab A Grape, a Jeopardy-style game where site visitors try to match nutrition-related questions with answ
Puff - A Volcanic Ash Tracking Model
This website, provided by the University of Alaska and Geophysical Institute, explains the Puff-A Volcanic Ash Tracking Model project, which uses representative ash particles from volcanoes to study the advection and diffusion of ash within the atmosphere. After learning about the history of the project, visitors can find animations and images of the model's predictions for various volcanoes as well as the technical documentation. The website offers downloads of the latest version of the model,
Atmospheric Variables Plotting Page
The Atmospheric Variables Plotting Page is part of the larger Climate Diagnostics Center Web site (last mentioned in the December 6, 2000 Scout Report for Science & Engineering ), which allows users to freely plot available data online. Inputs include date (going back to 1980); variable, such as geopotential height, eddy height, relative humidity, vector winds, and air temperature among others; analysis level, plot type, map domain, as well as several formatting options. Once obtained, the plots
The Platypus: A Very Special Australian
The Australian Platypus Conservancy, "an independent organisation dedicated to conserving the platypus and its freshwater habitats," offers this informative Web site about "one the world's most unusual animals." Visitors can learn about platypus biology and ecology in the Platypus Fact File; find out how to become involved in platypus conservation efforts; read the latest platypus-related news in Ripples, the organization's newsletter; and more. The Platypus Fact File is particularly comprehensi
Igneous, Metamorphic, and Sedimentary Rock Info
Igneous, Metamorphic, and Sedimentary Rock Info, is part of the University of British Columbia Introduction to Petrology course Web site. Visitors can learn the basics of petrology, and the specifics about each individual rock type. For example, the sedimentary rock page gives definitions, normal constituents, limestone and dolostone facts, and siliciclastic rock information. One of the highlights of the site lets users go through the process of rock classification by determining its grain size,
