Marine Invertebrate Larvae: A Study in Morphological Diversity
In this Web site, courtesy of Dr. Thurston Lacalli of the University of Saskatchewan, visitors will find an excellent collection of marine invertebrate larvae images. Consisting mainly of transmission electron micrographs, the image gallery may be accessed through a graphical or text-only menu. The phylogenetic tree layout of the graphical menu helps familiarize visitors with invertebrate classification. Lacalli also provides a brief tutorial intended for students new to the topic, which address
Women in Science and Mathematics
Recent comments by Harvard University President Lawrence H. Summers, regarding women and mathematics have spurred numerous articles and responses. The first article from Yahoo News (1) gives an overview of the event, his comments, and some reactions. The comment most at issue is whether or not innate sex differences might leave women less capable of succeeding at the most advanced mathematics. The second website (2) offers SummersÂ’ apology and clarifies his comments. The third article (3), alth
Prime Curios!
The University of Tennessee at Martin has one of the most expansive sites devoted to prime numbers and their significance. This page "is an exciting collection of curiosities, wonders and trivia related to prime numbers." As of December 2002, there are nearly 2,000 numbers with at least one curio. Some of the smallest numbers are interesting to peruse; however, reading every curio or researching other numbers to submit to the database is probably left to the mathematicians. One thing is certain,
Mammoth Extinction
Science Netlinks offers this Web-based lesson plan for grades 9-12. The lesson invites students to explore various hypotheses regarding the extinction of the woolly mammoth, with a particular focus on infectious disease. Students use provided worksheets to conduct online research on the topic, focusing on a 1998 American Museum of Natural History expedition to the Arctic circle to hunt for mammoth fossils. In addition to learning about the woolly mammoth and other large mammals that became extin
Fear of Physics
The Fear of Physics Web site contains more than twenty interactive physics related activities. Everything from things that spin, sound, atoms, collisions, and the Doppler effect are included. The Speed and Acceleration link teaches about movement by allowing users to choose two vehicles and change their position, speed, and acceleration. After pressing the GO button, the program runs, and students get to see how the chosen variables affect the vehicles' movements. A great collection of online le
Semiactive Damping of Cables with Sag
Vibrations in support cables can be caused by wind, rain, or other forces acting on the attached structure. This can result in premature failure of the cable or its connections, thereby reducing the cable's useful lifetime. This research paper, from the University of Southern California civil engineering department, extends the previous work of the authors on smart vibration damping techniques. Through accurate modeling of the cable and including the properties of "sag, inclination, and axial fl
MIT Media Lab: Software Agents [pdf, Microsoft Word, QuickTime, Macromedia Flash Player,
The Software Agents Group of the MIT Media Laboratory "investigates computer systems to which one can delegate tasks." Software agents are different from conventional software because they are "long-lived, semi-autonomous, proactive, and adaptive." Software Agents Group focuses on creating software that "acts as an assistant to the user rather than a tool, learning from interaction and proactively anticipating the user's needs." The website describes their various projects that use "commonsense
Astronomical Society of Victoria
The Astronomical Society of Victoria website promotes its efforts to act as a forum for a wide variety of people interested in astronomy. Users can find learn about the monthly meetings open to the public. The website introduces the Society's many sections including Computing, Cosmology and Astrophysics, Current Phenomena, and Radio Astronomy. The Newcomers link furnishes helpful lists of astronomy books, magazines, and computer software. Everyone will enjoy the fantastic images of the Great Ori
The Right-To-Know Network
The Right-To-Know Network (RTK NET) "provides free access to numerous databases, text files, and conferences on the environment." The databases of interest to those involved in the physical sciences include the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI); Biennial Reporting System (BRS); Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Information System (CERCLIS); and the Accident Release Information Program (ARIP). Users can find factsheets and links about the databases as well as related s
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
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
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.
Beat the Heat at Arizona Science Center
TryScience.com offers an unique energy learning activity called Beat the Heat. This fun and interactive lesson lets users design a house in a particular location and test it in various seasons to best utilize the heat of the sun for energy efficiency. You can choose various types of roofs, windows, solar panels, skylights, and plants, as well as the direction your house faces, to see how each of these variables effects your home's efficiency. This in-depth and intriguing exercise teaches some ve
National Geographic: Forces of Nature
This National Geographic offers entertaining Macromedia Flash Player enhanced tutorials about natural disasters. Students can make their own earthquake, discover why a volcano erupts, build a tropical cyclone, find out the characteristics of a tornado, and more. The website offers facts on historically large events as well as key information about earthquakes, volcanoes, tornados, and hurricanes. The simple glossary helps users understand the scientific terms presented throughout the modules. Ed
Unidata K-12 Weather Sites
Unidata is a community, consisting mostly of educators and researchers, which provides "data, tools, and community leadership for enhanced Earth-system education and research." In this section of the website, Unidata members suggest some of their favorite K-12 websites that educators can use to teach about weather. Along with each website link is a short description of the resource. Some websites are described as offering multimedia instructional resources and weather data, while others offer in
An FPGA Implementation of the Linear Cryptanalysis
This advanced research paper addresses an application of field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) for a computationally intensive cryptographic task. Specifically, the method of linear cryptanalysis is used to break a Data Encryption Standard key (a former standard used by the US). Prior to this work, the technique was attempted on a network of nearly 20 computers, and the key was broken in about four days. Implementing the same technique with a $3500 FPGA hardware setup, the authors report a tota
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
Garden Questions: Horticulture and Crop Science in Virtual Perspective
Garden Questions is a joint project of the Ohio State University Department of Horticulture and Crop Science and the OSU Extension's Franklin County Office. The Web site offers an archive of gardening questions and answers that's easy to use and quite comprehensive. Users may search the archive by topic, season, and keyword, or send new gardening questions by email. Many of the questions posted include helpful photographs, especially for questions about specific plants. Gardeners should find thi
The Global Sun Temperature Project
This website created by Stevens Institute of Technology and the Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education (CIESE) allows students from around the world to work together to determine how average daily temperatures and hours of sunlight change with distance from the equator. Upper elementary, middle, and high school students can participate in the Global Sun Temperature Project from March 18 to June 3, 2005. Educators can find project information, lesson plans, and implementation
National Park Service Cartographic Resources Visitor Use Maps
The National Park Service Cartographic Resources Visitor Use Maps Web site contains a wealth of free maps to view and download. The dozens of National Parks represented on the site include all of the most popular ones (Yellowstone, Smokey Mountain, Rocky Mountain) as well as many of the little known parks such as Wupatki National Monument, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, and Glen Echo Park. The highlight of the site is the number of choices users have to view or download the maps. For examp
