Bionic Eyes
Both Web sites come from Science@NASA, an online source for news and information about NASA-funded research. The first article describes the work of researchers at the Center for Commercial Applications of Combustion in Space, who are developing artificial bones for long-lasting, pain-free hip and knee replacements. These ceramic bones are touted as "so much like the real thing that they could actually meld with living bone." Earlier this year, researchers at the Space Vacuum Epitaxy Center in H
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
The New York Botanical Garden: International Plant Science Center
In "combining modern technologies with a century of field and laboratory research," the New York Botanical Garden's International Plant Science Center "is one of the few institutions worldwide with the resources, collections, and expertise to develop the information needed to understand and manage plant diversity." This website grants considerable access to resources from the Center, including numerous plant databases, digitized rare botanical books, online access to the herbarium collections, a
Oil, Out of Control
Oil, Out of Control is an in-depth Whyfiles story that follows from news coverage of an oil spill off Spain's northwest coast in 2002. This Web site offers a straight look at the issues surrounding this and other famous oil spills, particularly that of the Exxon Valdez off Prince William Sound in 1992. The authors make clear the allegiances of people quoted in the story, while clearly explaining both the science and politics of oil spills and cleanup efforts. The Web site also features a news re
The ALPHA Lab at UC Berkeley
The Alpha Lab at the University of California at Berkeley researches and develops robotics systems for high-precision manufacturing. Specifically, it combines mathematical algorithms and industrial automation to build low-cost, reliable tools for "feeding, fixturing and grasping." The projects section of the lab's Web site describes a number of experiments and model implementations for robotics operation. Many of these have Java applets that demonstrate the principles involved in handling differ
Chinese Space Program
China will soon make history by sending the first Chinese man to space. Scheduled for sometime in 2003, it will be the first step toward China's highly ambitious plans for space exploration.The China National Space Administration Web site (1) has a detailed description of the country's space policy. Aerospace China, a journal published online by the administration, has information on space development plans and other issues. The history of China's space program is recounted by the online Encyclo
Music Acoustics
The Music Acoustics Web site is maintained by the University of New South Wales School of Physics. General topics covered include what a decibel is, what interference beats are, what a sound spectrum is, what acoustic impedance is, and others. Specific instrument questions are also answered, such as waves in strings, flute and clarinet acoustics, Helmholz resonance, and pipes and harmonics. This very interesting site, with its many illustrations and animations, along with its easily-read text, a
Two Updates on Stem Cell Research
In a recent press briefing, stem cell research pioneers James Thomson and John Gearhart announced that, despite political obstacles and limited funding, stem cell research is progressing and clinical trials on human beings should begin within the next five years. The Why Files chronicles the first five years of embryonic stem cell research, covering the science, the politics, and the ethical issues behind this contentious topic (and a closer look at the both the promise and doubt in adult stem c
The Dana Centre
London's Science Museum and its partners have recently opened the Dana Centre, a "dynamic events space [that] will bring the hottest themes in modern science to adults-only audiences through a programme of bold and innovative events." The Dana Centre website allows virtual visitors (over the age of 18) to "take part in exciting, informative and innovative debates about contemporary science, technology and culture."Live webcasts and online discussions cover a constantly changing menu of topics, f
Brain Explorer
Brain Explorer is an educational Web site from the Lundbeck Institute that provides a highly visual and informative tour of the brain. Brain Atlas offers a good starting point, with well-designed diagrams of the brain and spinal cord, detailed explanatory information, and a handy pop-up glossary (which contains great graphics of its own). The section titled Neurological Control describes neuron structure and function. Other features include a section on brain disorders and an extensive image gal
Dream Anatomy Learning Station
This Web site contains the educational materials for Dream Anatomy, a new exhibit at the National Library of Medicine. Viewable online, the exhibit offers a somewhat macabre but undeniably fascinating survey of changes in anatomical representation over the last five centuries. Recently added to the main Dream Anatomy Web site, Learning Station provides lesson plans and activities intended for 6-12 graders. The material can be used exhibit or its online version. The lesson plans titled Beginnings
aspectj.org: Crosscutting Objects for Better Modularity
AspectJ is a Java extension with aspect-oriented functions and programming technology. Continuing with the open source movement, the developers have made AspectJ free for download from this Web site. The software implements "the clean modularization of crosscutting concerns" like performance optimizations, debugging support, and more. The compiler, several accompanying tools, and example programs are all provided in the release. There is also extensive documentation and a tutorial to help new us
California and Carnegie Planet Research
The California and Carnegie Planet Research website presents the University of California Berkeley and the Carnegie Institution of Washington's investigations of planets around other stars. In the Public link, users can find easily understandable details on the diversity of exoplanets and on planet detection techniques. Researchers can find more technical details in the Scientific Research Site including a detailed almanac of planets and data on extrasolar planets. The website features publicati
NCBI Trace Archive
The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) of the National Library of Medicine offers the Trace Archive -- "a repository of the raw sequence traces generated by large sequencing projects." The Trace Archive is the sole source of raw sequence data for projects that rely on a Whole Genome Shotgun strategy. Users can search the archive by BLAST or by a number of other query options. The archive offers trace files, fasta files, quality scores, and ancillary data. The Web site also incl
Restoration Ecology
While not a panacea, the emerging field of restoration ecology provides an important tool for environmental conservation and contributes greatly to our understanding of ecology.The first Web site is the home page of the Society for Ecological Restoration, offering a good starting point for exploring this relatively new discipline (1). The next site (2) provides an overview of the University of Wisconsin's Center for Restoration Ecology, "the first comprehensive, interdisciplinary research team a
Forever Wild?
Forever Wild? is a recently aired episode of Scientific American Frontiers on PBS. This companion Web site provides loads of online features relating to the program, which explores how scientists are scrambling "to understand the intricate natural systems on which all life depends -- before it's too late." The Teaching Guide includes two downloadable lessons and a quiz intended for grades 5-8. In the first lesson, students study the effects of biological processes on a closed system while germin
Ocean Report Guide for Educators
The Ocean Report is a series of radio segments produced for SeaWeb that highlight a range of news and issues relating to the ocean. The Ocean Report Guide for Educators offers a comprehensive educational Web site based on these short radio pieces. Compiled by SeaWeb and KIDSNET, this Web site (designed for grades 4-8) is divided into three modules: Precious, Threatened Oceans; Teeming with Life: Amazing Ocean Creatures; and Protecting Our Seas: How You Can Help. Each section contains in-depth ba
Conservation International: Biodiversity Hotspots
The nonprofit organization Conservation International (CI) aims to "conserve Earth's living natural heritage, our global diversity, and to demonstrate that human societies are able to live harmoniously with nature." This Web site from CI's Center for Applied Biodiversity Science explains how biodiversity hotspots are designated and offers visitors a look at efforts to protect "these biologically rich areas around the world under significant threat of destruction." The highlight of this site is t
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences presents its work in three main topics: environmental geochemistry and hydrology, geochemistry of the Earth's interior, and solid-earth geophysics. For each topic, the website offers summaries of the faculty's successes and current projects as well as links to the latest research news stories. Visitors can discover the equipment and technology available at the Jonsson-Rowland Science Center and the Materials Re
The Thylacine Museum: A Natural History of the Thylacinidae
This Web site is offered through C. Campbell's Natural Worlds, a "completely nonprofit, education online series which exists as a means of providing detailed information on a variety of topics within the natural history field." The Thylacine Museum, not surprisingly, is devoted to the now extinct thylacine (also known as the Tasmanian tiger). The site includes "information covering virtually all aspects of this very unique Australian marsupial." Users can browse dozens of pages of detailed artic
