Metal Storm
The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is exploring a unique application of biometrics technologies: a handgun that can recognize its owner and only fire when being held by that person. This innovation could make it impossible for a criminal to steal an officer's firearm and use it against other people. Metal Storm, the company that is working with the NIJ to develop the gun, has presentations and technology descriptions on its home page.
From Jungle to Lab: The Study of Life's Complexity
San Francisco's Exploratorium showcases the work of researchers at the Natural History Museum in London and Las Cuevas Biological Station in Belize, who are investigating the nature and diversity of life. From Jungle to Lab is part of the Exploratorium's Origin Project, created to explain how scientists explore "the beginnings of the universe, of matter, of the earth, and of life itself." This well-designed Web site contains loads of multimedia features, such as a slide show of Las Cuevas (inclu
Predictions 2005
Gartner, Inc., which provides research and analysis on the global IT industry for clients worldwide, offers annual predictions for the year ahead in the areas of technology, application, and industry. This section of the website highlights the firm's 2005 predictions for technology. Some of the technologies addressed in this issue include open source software, public network infrastructure, and mobile and wireless technologies. The full document must be purchased, but visitors may browse through
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
Drought Resources and Information
The Drought Resources and Information Web site is maintained by the Utah State University Extension Water Resource Issues Team, which was created to "address information needs related to water conservation and quality in agriculture and urban settings." The site provides information on several subjects including landscape irrigation, agricultural water uses, home water conservation, drought and weather monitoring, and more.
Café Scientifique
Café Scientifique, supported by the independent research-funding charity Wellcome Trust and many local sponsors, "is a forum for the discussion of important and interesting scientific issues that is much more informal and accessible than a public lecture." Visitors can find out the current locations of the meetings throughout the world as well as read newspaper articles featuring a few of these gatherings. At the website, users can find out what to expect when attending Café Scientifique gathe
UK Particle Physics, Astronomy, and Space Science (PPARC): Frontiers
The Frontiers publication offers the latest news and activities of the Research Council's funded projects and the UK Particle Physics, Astronomy, and Space Science's (PPARC) funded scientists. Produced three times a year, each issue is easy to navigate with quick links to the space science and particle physics articles on the Contents page as well as a keyword search. The website offers archives of the publication since 1997. Each issue contains five sections: the Contents, Editorial, Update, Fe
ANSTO: Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation
The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) "is responsible for delivering specialised advice, scientific services and products to government, industry, academia and other research organizations." Researchers can learn about the Organization's ion beam analysis, accelerators, environmental systems, and additional facilities, capabilities, and services. The website offers pdf files of the organization's annual reports, news flashes, and media releases. Individuals can learn
USC Institute for Creative Technologies: Graphics Lab
The Graphics Lab is part of the University of Southern California's Institute for Creative Technologies. The lab performs research on computer graphics and modeling techniques such as image-based lighting, range scanning, and animation. This is all made possible by a U.S. Army contract "to advance the state of immersive training simulation." The Lab's homepage offers many details on the various projects within each research area; there are several publications that can be downloaded to complemen
Sloan Digital Sky Survey
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey "will map in detail one-quarter of the entire sky, determining the positions and absolute brightnesses of more than 100 million celestial objects" as well as "measure the distances to more than a million galaxies and quasars." The website details the Astrophysical Research Consortium (ARC) mapmaking strategies, timelines, survey progress, and project goals. Visitors can view the many fantastic images collected at the Apache Point Observatory, the site of the SDSS tel
Museum of Southwestern Biology: Mammals
The Mammal Collection at the University of New Mexico's Museum of Southwestern Biology (MSB) "contains over 118,000 specimens, mostly from the southwestern United States, Mexico, Central and South America, but there are also large holdings from other portions on North America, Japan, Africa, and Eurasia." MSB offers a searchable database of the Mammal Collection with search fields for Order, Family, Species, Continent/Ocean, Country, Sex, Season, and more. MSB specimen loans are available to "re
Consensus CoDing Sequence Database
The Consensus CoDing Sequence (CCDS) Database "project is a collaborative effort to identify a core set of human protein-coding regions that are consistently annotated and of high quality. The long-term goal is to support convergence toward a standard set of gene annotations on the human genome." CCDS project collaborators include the National Center for Biotechnology (NCBI), European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI), Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (WTSI), and University of California, Santa Cruz
ARS Water Database
From the Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory of the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) comes the ARS Water Database Web site. The database is a collection of precipitation and streamflow data from small agricultural watersheds in the United States, including variable time-series readings sufficient in detail to reconstruct storm hydrographs and hyetographs. Users can choose from any US state to view available data. Each station is listed along with its location, coverage area in acres,
PSRC: Physical Sciences Resource Center
Developed by the American Association of Physics Teachers, "the Physical Sciences Resource Center (PSRC) is a web-based databank that provides K-20 teachers links to a wide range of teaching and learning resources in the physical sciences." Users can search the numerous resources by topics, type, or keyword. With each entry, the website provides a description, information on the author, subjects covered, level, intended users, resource types, possible costs, and other useful facts. Interested in
National Estuaries Day
Get the most out of National Estuaries Day (October 5, 2002) by visiting this Web site from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Follow a link to Estuary Live!, which offers online interactive fieldtrips through a number of estuaries around the nation. Guided tours of eight estuaries will be webcast live October 3 and 4, supplemented by videos from a number of other estuaries. Internet participants "will have an opportunity to see the fascinating creatures that make estuar
Astronomy
As part of the University of California Santa Barbara Library, the Astronomy subject Web page contains dozens of links on the subject. Sites are categorized in indexes and gateways, NASA pages, observatories, organizations and associations, current topics, interactive resources, and periodicals. If all that isn't enough, the site even has an astronomy picture of the day.
Fractals, Chaos
Paul Bourke of the Astrophysics and Supercomputing department at Swinburne University of Technology is the author of this massive resource on fractals and chaos. He gives examples of many different kinds and classes of fractals, including the Mandelbrot set and various attractors; and brief explanations accompany each one. A substantial introduction to fractals covers the underlying principles and connection to chaos theory. Many stunning, high resolution fractal image galleries show elaborate p
Virus World
Created by the Institute for Molecular Virology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, this Web site offers high quality virus images that may be used for seminar presentations or any other noncommercial use. Users can choose from American Society for Virology conference poster images, enhanced EM pictures, and images of virology-related book and journal covers. Images may be searched by virus name; the results page will provide links to summary information from the Protein Data Bank and to the
Vision Systems Design
Vision Systems Design is a magazine that provides comprehensive information and analyses about "machine-vision and imaging components, boards, assemblies, software, and systems." Its online version is free and has many Web-exclusive features available. For example, Back to Basics is a series of technical articles about a certain topic; the February 2003 issue has articles on FireWire interfaces, infrared systems used to increase vehicle safety, and much more. Technology news and industry trends
The Solar Decathlon
In October 2002, teams of students from universities around the US competed in the Solar Decathlon, an eleven-day event that challenges the participants "to design, build, and operate the most effective and efficient solar-powered house." The Solar Decathlon homepage features information about the contest, the different designs, and the experiences of each team. Contestants also share their insight into energy conservation and solar power by providing some tips for consumers. An especially inter
