| Eyes on the tiger |
| Ocean Planet |
| Mangroves and coral reefs |
| The twisted tale of Galloping Gertie |
| The little TGV that could |
| Where's the ring? |
| Bradford robotic telescope |
| Amazing facts about black holes |
| Meteorites from Mars |
| Physics World |
| Physics education for the 'Net Generation |
| Secret garden |
| Galileo's art |
| Sights unseen |
| Hands across neurology |
| Largest medical library in the world, online |
| Ha! Wh'are ye gaun, ye crowlin' ferlie! |
| A nexus/plexus for online brain info |
| Welcome, Oinkers! Root in the pig pen |
| Eloquent cartography |
| Cultural Survival Quarterly |
| Science made stupid |
| Forensic science |
| Nifty slices of the science pie |
| ScienceNet |
| In the proud Netsurfer tradition |
| BOOK REVIEWS |
| LETTERS TO THE EDITOR |
| Contact and Subscription Information |
| Credits |
EARTH AND SKY
No matter where you go, there you are
http://nationalgeographic.com/resources/ngo/education/geoguide/tigers/
Translating a museum installation from museum floor to cyberspace is tricky at best. The Smithsonian Institution's "Ocean Planet" exhibit admirably tries to make the leap and lands, if not with a splash, at least on reasonably solid ground. The online exhibition contains all the text and most of the panel designs and images found in the travelling exhibition (currently ensconced at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry). Navigation is a bit obscure at first, but once inside exhibition halls, it's quickly apparent that text lists of exhibit subjects are the route to follow. While Ocean Planet online necessarily lacks the intimacy and immediacy of the real thing, it makes up for that shortcoming with sometimes huge quantities of links to sites for more expansive information on specific subjects. If you can't get to Oceans in Chicago, this is obviously the next best thing.
http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/ocean_planet.html
http://ibm590.aims.gov.au/
COMPUTING AND ENGINEERING
Open the pod bay doors, Hal
The twisted tale of Galloping Gertie
If you're looking for a nicely compact, perfectly illustrated lesson in resonance, visit the Tacoma Narrows Bridge - Galloping Gertie to her friends. Locals claimed that the bridge, open only a few months in 1940, rolled so badly in high winds that other cars on the bridge could disappear and reappear in the undulations. In November, beset by a mere 40-mph wind, Gertie took to her most famous gait, first pitching side to side. Then she really hit her stride, roaching and snaking her way down the length of her own body. Gracious enough to offer a good show, she waited some time before her midsection did a belly-flop with a half twist into the Tacoma Narrows. Her postmortem found that the wind's resonance had matched - then amplified - the structure's own natural resonance. The incident led to standards that demand wind tunnel testing in all new bridge design and construction. Film captures Gertie at full gallop and still photos record her death throes.http://www.ferris.edu/htmls/academics/course.offerings/physbo/MultiM/bridge/bridge.htm
Dashing through the European countryside, France's trains a grande vitesse (TGVs) set the standard for high speed rail travel. But, there's more to the story than just goin' lickety-split down the ol' rods. Traditional railroad design was only a couple of decades ago thought to have been exploited fully for its maximum efficiency and speed. Mais non, said the French. This TGV site is accessible for everyone, from tourist to model enthusiast to civil engineer. It describes an integrated system of train, track, and signalling technologies that, when combined, typically generate speeds of 300 km/h (186 mph, give or take). You can marvel at general descriptions or wallow in complex specs, as you choose. Consider that the track centers are spaced further apart than usual, to reduce the blast of two passing trains. Or that TGV lines don't use lineside signals; they're too difficult to read at speed. There's also a neat look at sound testing that includes pictures of the train generated only by its sound. Be careful at this site, dear Surfer. Even if trains aren't your thing, it will take you for an unexpected joy ride.
http://mercurio.iet.unipi.it/tgv/tgvindex.html
ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away
http://newproducts.jpl.nasa.gov/saturn/
Bradford University's astronomy department, like many academic departments, uses the Web to lure prospective students. Bradford's Web site goes that extra light-year in offering any netsurfer the opportunity to use an astronomical telescope over the Web. You must register and the software prioritizes requests for scope time, but there's a chance that the telescope will snap a pic for you when it gets around to it. We're not sure what kind of chance, though; the latest scope jobs date back almost a year, as do most of the posts in the discussion forums. At the very least, you'll enjoy the astronomy images behind the CD-ROM link.
http://baldrick.eia.brad.ac.uk/rti/link.html
Amazing facts about black holes
Since they were first proposed, black holes have been objects of wonderment to the imagination. The subject of more than a few Star Trek episodes, numerous sci-fi novels, and an infamous Disney film, black holes pique the curiosity of the kid in all of us. But what's the real scoop? Lake Afton Public Observatory answers the questions of your inner child, explaining how an astronaut who "tripped and fell into a black hole" would be "stretched like a piece of spaghetti". It's common knowledge for an accomplished astrophysicist, but great food for thought to anyone who's wondered how black holes really behave.http://www.twsu.edu/~obswww/o34.html
Remember the hubbub in the news a while back concerning possible bacterial fossils in a meteorite from Mars? Duelling scientists have been probing the secrets of meteorite ALH84001 for a few years now, still with no consensus on the question of life on the Red Planet. Although scientists at NASA have yet to confirm anything, they seem pretty hopeful, and their enthusiasm shows at this page about Martian meteorites. Here, ALH84001 isn't the only chunk of extraterrestrial rock in the spotlight; other meteorite finds dating back as far as 1815 and 1865 are put under the microscope. It's fascinating that we might find out so much about another planet from rocks that just happen to plunk down in our own backyards.
http://www-sn.jsc.nasa.gov/planetscience/marsmet/text.htm
MATHEMATICS, PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY
42
http://physicsweb.org/toc
Physics education for the 'Net Generation
The WebPhysics project is an initiative by nine colleges and universities to take physics education to a new level, collaborating to create interactive lessons that exploit the medium of the Web to its fullest potential in a process they call Just in Time Teaching (JiTT). These educators cite preliminary results that indicate improved GPAs and higher levels of satisfaction among their students. Lessons are updated regularly on the schools' Web servers, which are open to public browsing from the main site. Don't you wish learning physics had been this much fun when you were a freshman?WebPhysics: http://webphysics.iupui.edu/
JiTT: http://webphysics.iupui.edu/jitt.html
SCIENCE AND ART
Puttin' on the Ritz
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~agrxray/
Joseph W. Dauben of the City University of New York reveals that the interplay of science and art has a history stretching back centuries. His work, "The Art of Renaissance Science: Galileo and Perspective", presents a detailed look at the influence Italian renaissance artists had on Galileo, his view of nature, and the observations and mathematical principles he elucidated. Based on a videotape of the same name, the Galileo and Perspective site is neither flashy nor fancy, but its tale is intriguing and worth a leisurely read. The pages host a good number of renaissance artworks, so loading is a bit poky - but it's worth the wait. Anyone interested in the history of science will feel at home here.
http://bang.lanl.gov/video/stv/arshtml/lanlarstitle.html
Anyone looking for the world in a grain of sand will find it at microphotographer Dennis Kunkel's image gallery. Having spent more than two decades snapping minutiae under the gaze of both light and electron microscopes, Kunkel has witnessed the world at a microcosmic scale that is both aesthetically engaging and astonishing. His electron microscopy images are organized by subject, and thumbnails allow for quick browsing through the sometimes vividly colored images. A cockroach head magnified 200+ times and tinted purple, yellow, and green is sure to inspire nightmares, while his colorful images of bacteria and fungi inhabiting kitchen utensils are sure to have you employing a flame thrower next time you clean up. Our only complaint is the ghosted copyright graphic seen in each snap. Necessary perhaps, but it does diminish the images' beauty. Aside from that minor complaint, this is a great site for those seeking a peek beneath the surface of things.
http://www.pbrc.hawaii.edu/~kunkel/gallery/
MEDICINE, BIOLOGY AND ZOOLOGY
It's alive! It's alive!
http://www.indiana.edu/~primate/index.html
Largest medical library in the world, online
If you watch "ER", you might have seen TV docs using the MEDLINE system to retrieve research studies. But the National Library of Medicine (NLM) at the National Institutes of Health in suburban Washington, DC offers more than free international access to a mere nine million peer-reviewed journal articles. The NLM site posts grant notices, awards, and case study reports; it summarizes developments in telemedicine, biotechnology, AIDS research, and toxicology and environmental health - in addition to giving links to databases and other resources in these developing fields; it sells the latest books and government publications. This site will help consumers and professionals stay current with the changing American health care infrastructure - politically, as well as scientifically and technically. It levels the playing field for non-Latin speakers, too. Spongioform-leucoencephalopathy? No problem. Look it up.http://www.nlm.nih.gov/
Ha! Wh'are ye gaun, ye crowlin' ferlie!
So demanded Robbie Burns in "To a Louse". We speak little to lice now - and seldom if ever write odes to them - but they were at one time believed to originate from human sweat, making them, thus, inevitable. Bees were thought to spring spontaneously from the carcasses of rotten cattle. Early facts about insect-borne diseases: Charles Darwin contracted Chaggas Disease while in South America; Xerxes lost 300,000 men trying to conquer Greece; more than a million aggressive Europeans died in the crusades; Napoleon sent 25,000 men to stop the Haitian revolution - 22,000 died. There's not a lot of depth to this site chronicling the influence of insects on human history, but what's there is fascinating. Great to share with friends at lunch, especially as the world faces El Nino's insect-borne aftermath.http://www.ento.vt.edu/IHS/
A nexus/plexus for online brain info
"Neuroscience for Kids" is more than its title admits. You'd expect this site to include a virtual tour of the nervous system, experiments and activities to help you learn about the brain, links and lists of resources relating to the nervous system, and even a form to subscribe to a newsletter - and it does. But it also has some unexpected features, like a place for you to keep notes as you browse (they're eventually e-mailed to you) and the Neuroscientist Network, where you can ask questions of real neuroscientists. Clearly, site maintainer Eric Chudler makes use of survey responses the site also elicits.http://weber.u.washington.edu/~chudler/neurok.html
Welcome, Oinkers! Root in the pig pen
Everything you never wanted to know about swine husbandry is in this superb site maintained by the Extension Swine Husbandry Staff at North Carolina State University! What's to Eat? covers nutrition and feeding; I smell money! covers economic and resource topics; I smell something else! includes, among other things, a Swine Odor Task Force Report. The site is, in fact, the very model of an industry resource site, right down to the provision of pig graphics which you may download.http://mark.asci.ncsu.edu/
ANTHROPOLOGY, SOCIOLOGY, ECONOMICS, AND GEOGRAPHY
All that we see or seem
Cartographic communication: http://www.utexas.edu/depts/grg/gcraft/notes/cartocom/cartocom_f.html
Called by Newsweek "the conscience of anthropology", Cultural Survival Quarterly believes that the survival of indigenous peoples depends on preserving their rights to decide how to adapt traditional ways to a changing world. Articles explore interconnected issues that affect indigenous and ethnic communities, including environmental destruction, land rights, sustainable development, and cultural preservation programs. The Web version of this hard copy journal may or may not include full text. (We were browsing the site one Sunday morning at just the moment its spring issue came online, and the extent of the content seemed to change.) There's a listing of back issues, but no e-archive, so you'd best get it while it's hot.
http://www.cs.org/csq/csqinternet.html
SCIENCE LITE
Where are you, Mulder?
http://www.moonboy.com/sms/
RESIDUE
We can't be sure what else is out there
http://users.aol.com/murrk/index.htm
Nifty slices of the science pie
The Armchair Scientist brings nifty scientific news to your monitor, which may or may not be perched in front of an armchair. The infrequently updated pages (one update in the last five months) boils down reports into readable summaries of advances beyond the typical. The current cover feature spotlights the regular patterns formed by the frictional interactions inside an otherwise random vibrating granular material. Another article looks at personal area networks - devices which send electronic data literally through your skin - and a third surveys advances in particle physics technology. The Armchair Scientist may be slow, the writing may at times lack crispness, and the organization could use a second look, but you'll probably absorb every last drop.http://www.areacom.it/html/arte_cultura/loris/armchair.html
You may have thought that only presidents, billionaires, and 007's megalomaniacal dversaries had access to a staff of, say, 11 scientists and over a 1000 volunteers eager to research and answer any imaginable question. Now that power is within your grasp! ScienceNet is an organization with such resources, ready to respond to your questions - provided that they fall within the general areas of archeology, paleontology, biology, medicine, chemistry, engineering, technology, environmental science, geography, earth science, mathematics, computer science, physics, astronomy, social science, or psychology. You may also query or browse over 5500 on-line documents that answer questions already asked. Answers are geared to the education level of the inquirer, so you needn't fear embarrassment. Articles, interviews, and radio programs are also provided for your perusal. So was that, "add water to acid" or "add acid to water"? Don't take a chance! Ask the experts!
http://www.campus.bt.com/CampusWorld/pub/ScienceNet/first.html
CORRECTIONS AND UPDATES
Make it so
In the proud Netsurfer tradition
Yes, yes, the URL is incomplete. In our eagerness to bring you all - well, several - things good, we fell short in perfecting a few addresses. We wouldn't want to give these excellent sites short shrift, so take note of the correct URLs. We also have a handful of reports of other broken links; we've tried them all, though, and everything else is copacetic.Indonesian fire maps: http://www.state.gov/www/global/global_issues/fires.html
Defacing Mars, passing on Cydonia: http://www.msss.com/mars/global_surveyor/camera/images/4_6_98_face_release/index.html
Houghton Mifflin molecule of the month: http://www.hmco.com/hmco/college/chemistry/resourcesite/molecule/molecule.htm