Netsurfer Science 05.04

The Egyptian cult of the dead comes to life, so to speak, at this splendid online guide to the archaeological treasures of the Valley of the Kings. The heart of the site is an interactive atlas that zooms in on each of the 65 known tombs of ancient Egyptian royalty, while you watch video clips and hear descriptions of the particular tomb. Thousands of pictures, drawings and maps are provided, and your knowledge is enriched with articles on various topics and additional resources, all in a format which is both fun to use and easy on the eyes. Not to be missed; this may be the best Egyptology site ever.
http://www.thebanmappingproject.com/

EARTH SYSTEMS
No matter where you go, there you are

Plate Tectonics

Science grows exponentially not only because of better technology but because information can be shared so quickly. Rather than starting from scratch, new research can begin with the most up-to-date data. This site uses stratigraphic data gathered by the Deep Sea Drilling Project and Ocean Drilling Program of the International University in Bremen, Germany to draw (reconstruct), on demand, accurate maps of the world's plate tectonics. You can go from 150 million years to, for fun, a look into the future, or you can base the map on fossil distribution. Getting this type of data would be prohibitively expensive and time-consuming only a few years ago. Today, it takes just a click.
http://www.odsn.de/odsn/services/paleomap/paleomap.html

An Atlas of Speleotherm Microfabrics

Spelunking meets electron microscopy at this series of images of speleotherm microfabrics organized by Bruce Railsback at the Geology Department of the University of Georgia. Non-geologists might be forgiven for not knowing that speleotherms are stalagmites, stalactites, flowstones, and other chemically deposited cave formations. "Microfabrics" is a term for the appearance of rocks and minerals as viewed by either a petrography or electron microscope. Variations in the mineralogy, shape, size, clarity, orientation, and crystal layering result in a huge variety of forms, and the beautiful images of those forms are here for your viewing pleasure. The atlas is organized by mineral type and includes an introduction, an extensive glossary, and a bibliography.
http://www.gly.uga.edu/railsback/speleoatlas/SAindex1.html

Nanogeoscience

We as puny humans are acutely aware of the vast scale upon which the Earth exercises its influence over us. Mountains, rivers, oceans, and winds sculpt our landscapes and have major impact on our lives. But there are other geo-processes which are equally as important but which take place on a much smaller scale. Nanogeoscience is study of geological processes involving tiny particles, sometimes no larger then a few atoms wide. Such particles are involved in airborne pollution, the exchange of chemicals between the atmosphere and the oceans, and chemical processes in the soil. Recent work at the Berkeley Lab's Earth Science Division (ESD) is at the forefront of this relatively new discipline and this article gives some details about the type of fundamental research involved. The ESD website also has details about other Geoscience research going on at Berkeley.
Story: http://enews.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/ESD-nanogeoscience.html
ESD: http://esd.lbl.gov/GEO/index.html

COMPUTING AND ENGINEERING
Open the pod bay doors, Hal

Project Oxygen: The Promise of Pervasive Computing

The motto of MIT's Project Oxygen is "Pervasive Human-Centric Computing", implying that computing should be as common as the oxygen we breathe. Today we must carry computing power with us, whether in laptops, PDA's, or cell phones. The premise of Oxygen is our environment should bring computing to us and what's more it should adopt to our personalities, respect our wishes for security and privacy, and readily respond to our normal methods of communication like speech and gestures. Towards that end Oxygen is working on specific technologies to address issues in speech and vision, knowledge access, automation, and collaboration. They have software such as Cricket which is analogous to GPS in an indoor environment, the Intentional Naming System which provides resource discovery based on what services do rather then where they are, and special file systems which provide secure access to data over untrusted networks. Other efforts focus on toolkits for building applications with speech recognition and software agents. Still other work is on environments both virtual, like the Semantic Web, and physical like the Intelligent Room. Much detail with video examples on the Oxygen website.
http://www.oxygen.lcs.mit.edu/index.html

The Engineering Map of the British Isles

An innovative approach to the history of construction and structures, this site offers a series of interactive maps covering the entire United Kingdom - based upon the excellent Royal Ordinance Survey - which display significant engineering projects from the Roman era up to recent times. Clicking on the map or on the accompanying timeline provides the project engineer (if known), dates, map references, and a general description of the structure. But, what really makes the site special is the capacity to generate one's own timelines by choosing the era, area, type of structure, or even which engineer you would like to see. Just click on the search link to bring up this feature. There are a lot of windows to contend with and they can pop up in inconvenient places, but it's certainly worth the bother. A unique insight into the history of engineering and human geography.
http://www.engineering-timelines.com/locate/locate.folder.html

ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away

Microwave Anisotropy Probe

Discovering the secrets of the universe, no less, is the goal of NASA's Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP), whose mission is to map the temperature fluctuations of cosmic microwave background radiation, the radiant heat left over from the Big Bang. The properties of this radiation give us clues about physical conditions in the early universe and, while relatively featureless, the tiny fluctuations (or anisotropy) carry information about the initial conditions for the formation of cosmic structures such as galaxies, clusters, and voids. Check out the universe section for a brief discussion of the latest trends in cosmology, and which features pages on the various theories concerning the origin and early history of the universe. There's also a multiresolution gallery of the probe and its launch, and animations of the probe in action.
http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/index.html

MATHEMATICS, PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY
42

Superstring Theories

Science students usually learn a new theory solely from the teacher of the appropriate course. Amateur scientists have an advantage: we can read explanations by numerous different authors in the hope that, sooner or later, one of their explanations makes sense. Fortunately, this is the case with Superstring Theory. Born 30+ years ago to address the shocking contradiction between the two main theories of modern science - relativity and quantum mechanics - the latest variation, often called M theory, is finding wider and wider acceptance. The theory is almost hopelessly complex - with 11 dimensions no less - and almost impossible to verify until vastly more powerful particle accelerators come online. Perhaps because Patricia Schwartz, has been posting on the Web almost since its beginning, her Official String Theory site is the most readable, including both basic and advanced explanations, timelines, strong theory and black holes, and current controversies. The Second Superstring Revolution is more technical, but takes you even more to the cutting edge of current knowledge. Superstring Theory, one person's shot at a 'popular' explanation is most interesting for its forum where you can see scientists, usually young , duking it out about what it all means.
Official: http://www.superstringtheory.com/
Revolution: http://www.theory.caltech.edu/people/jhs/strings/
Superstring Theory: http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2002/6/7/13588/70154

Shakespeare and the Second Law

We've said nice words about this man before and now we're going to do so again. So there! Frank L. Lambert, Professor Emeritus at Occidental College, among other pursuits, is really good at explaining the second law of thermodynamics. Now, if that makes your palms go sweaty, relax. The Shakespeare site is for nonscientists and he explains it all with such zest and verve that � well, it's infectious and effective. Shakespeare is important because his masterpieces help explain human nature and what makes Homo sapiens tick. The second law, on the other hand, explains how the universe goes about its business, why your car rusts, why people get sick and die, why buildings collapse. What is remarkable, he points out, isn't that bad things happen to good people, but that so much good stuff happens to so many of us so often. Thank chemical bonds and activation energy for that and for keeping your new car from falling apart at least for a decent interval. Life is a mysterious business at the best of times. It helps if you understand some of the rules. This guy is a wonder and so is this site.
http://www.shakespeare2ndlaw.com/

Synergetics

Great thinkers are often ahead of their times, but how do those still in the present understand their ideas? R. Buckminster Fuller was one of those thinkers. He is widely admired, his geodesic dome design is world famous, and important new discoveries in science have been named after him (e.g., the bucky ball or the Buckminsterfullerene molecule). His unique "invented language," synergetics, however, has remained almost unfathomable to both scientists and lay people. Now with the Internet, and this site, scholars from around the world can help each other to understand his writings and contributions.
http://www.grunch.net/synergetics/

Gallery of Fluid Mechanics

We've all been fascinated by beautiful images of the splashes of falling drops or of waves and wakes. Science and aesthetics combine in this compelling online gallery of fluid dynamics, the science of the properties and behavior of gases and liquids. Way-cool images include the shockwaves generated by a supersonic car, strange and unearthly vortex flows, condensation forming around aircraft when they go supersonic, wind tunnel images, and much more. One can also learn some of the basic principles of the multifaceted science, which encompasses aerodynamics, hydrodynamics, acoustics, and related fields, and without which the design of structures, aircraft, vehicles and power systems would be impossible. Certainly worth a look.
http://www.eng.vt.edu/fluids/msc/gallery/gall.htm

Einstein - Image and Impact

More than simply the 20th century's most famous physicist, Albert Einstein was also a man of deeply held beliefs and thundering contradictions. An instinctive pacifist, he lent his name and prestige toward urging the development of nuclear weapons. An active proZionist, he also appealed for the commutation of death sentences given to Arab rioters in British Palestine. In his own words, "My passionate sense of social justice and social responsibility contrasted oddly with my pronounced lack of need for direct contact with other human beings and human communities". The Center for the History of Physics (CHP) of the American Institute of Physics presents the life, works, and contributions of this giant in a series of illustrated pages that trace his intellectual development, his rising fame (which includes the famously ridiculous photograph of Einstein in an North American Indian war bonnet) and his fundamental influence on physics, in particular, and the world, in general. The texts and captions in the sections on his theoretical works have links to other CHP exhibits, and the site is edited into a long and short version - a nice touch - allowing viewers to choose between a quick skim and an in-depth investigation. The exhibit concludes with his essay, "The World As I See It" and includes an explanatory page on the creation and organization of the site.
http://www.aip.org/history/einstein/

ARCHEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY
What is past is prologue

Paleoclimate Modelling

This is the home of the Paleoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project, the aim of which is to develop and evaluate climate models. It's a serious place not intended for idle amusement, but for sober study. In fact, if you stumble across this without having much background in the subject you'll probably just end up scratching your head. Won't do any harm but the fact is it's intended for professionals and provides access to newsletters, summaries and, sometimes, the full text of papers presented at paleoclimate modeling conferences, a database, and important links. The state of the art in climate modeling is such that there is great variation among them in terms of their predictions about the future. Testing models backwards, by looking at paleohistory, is one way of comparing them and figuring out how to refine them. And you know, even for these guys it's not all work and no play; check out the goodies section and the PMIP song for a smile or two.
http://www-pcmdi.llnl.gov/pmip/

Netsurfer Recommendations

Items our staff likes and you might too. Click on the cover or title to order the item at a hefty discount from Amazon.com and Beyond.com and send a few pennies our way as well.

Body Heat: Temperature and Life on Earth
Mark S. Blumberg
Harvard University Press; ISBN: 0-674-00762-X

Mark Blumberg's compact little work is a treat. Like others of our favorites - One Good Turn: A Natural History of the Screwdriver and the Screw or James Burke's Connections - Body Heat takes us on a delightful and intriguing trip through the rationales and accidents of history of that which we take for granted. We'll never think of being warm-blooded in quite the same way again, not the least because Blumberg's colloquial style is a perfect match for the complexities he limns with such clarity. His gift is the ability to take the small facts and observations of science and knit them into larger cohesive and comprehensive sense. No, you won't earn your doctorate in physiology with Body Heat as your principal text - but you'll smile your way through the pages and come away with a richer understanding of just how remarkable is life on Earth.

Vision and Art: The Biology of Seeing
Margaret Livingstone, David H. Hubel
Harry N Abrams; ISBN: 0810904063

Vision is truly an amazing sense. Not only does it involve the reception of electromagnetic radiation by a complex biological organ of the eye but also even more complicated processing of data by all the associated structures and ultimately by the brain. Toss in the whole theory of aesthetic on top of that and you have a truly wondrous subject. In this fascinating and quite readable book the authors look at the science underlying art, specifically focusing on the biology of vision. Specific works of art are used to illustrate how they shape our perceptions of things like color, depth, perspective, and even emotional tone. This should be required reading for all visual artists, and is surely a fun and educational romp for any art fan.

Right Hand, Left Hand: The Origins of Asymmetry in Brains, Bodies, Atoms, and Cultures
Chris McManus
Harvard Univ Pr; ISBN: 0674009533

Why are most people right-handed and how are their brains different? Why do tornados spin counter-clockwise in the northern hemisphere and the other way in the south? Why is European writing from left to right and Arabic and Hebrew from right to left? How do we know that Jack the Ripper was left handed? The notion of handedness has deep cultural roots for us humans touching everything from science, to art, to religion. McManus traces this deep connection to our assymetric bodies, products of millions of years of evolution and perhaps tied to the fundamental assymetries present at the birth of the universe. It's a fascinating book, and not just for left handers or those who have trouble telling right from left in this right-centric world.

For more selections, check out the Netsurfer Library at http://www.netsurf.com/nsl/

MEDICINE, BIOLOGY AND ZOOLOGY
It's alive! It's alive!

Pharmaceutical Research

Like all regulatory bodies, the US Food and Drug Administration imposes costs and slows innovation. That's the price we pay for ensuring safety and effectiveness. From Test Tube to Patient is a series of articles totaling some 99 pages that gives a good feel for this balance between social good and cost, and is probably a necessary and useful primer for both critics and friends of the existing regulatory environment for pharmaceuticals. The FDA does more than review applications for new drugs. The case studies show that it also monitors quality, intervenes when quality problems emerge and may help resolve manufacturing problems as well as allocate supplies to the most needy recipients if supplies of critical drugs are threatened. The publication is interesting, well written, and fairly frank. It also provides some useful insights into some recent actions and decisions including why direct consumer ads for prescription drugs are allowed in the US.
http://www.fda.gov/cder/about/whatwedo/testtube.pdf

The Thylacine Museum.

Chances are you'll never see one of these wonderful animals, ever, and that's the tragedy at the heart of the information here. The more you learn at this excellent memorial site, the more regret you feel about that. More familiarly known as the Tasmanian wolf, or Tasmanian tiger, the thylacine was, in fact, neither wolf nor tiger. It was a marsupial. Unfortunately this sleek, beautiful creature was considered a threat to Australia's ubiquitous sheep and hunted mercilessly during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Once common to much of the Australian region, its habitat eventually shrank to just the island of Tasmania - and then, suddenly, it was gone. None has been seen in the wild since 1930 and the last captive animal died in the Hobart Zoo in 1936. Now only the black and white movies remain, expressive, poignant reminders of a species probably lost to the universe forever.
http://www.naturalworlds.org/thylacine/index.htm

The Museum of Human Disease

Ever wonder what cirrhosis of the liver or a malignant brain tumor really looks like? Those of us who aren't physicians or medical students almost never get to see the actual physical effects of disease on our internal organs. Well, here's your chance, if you're not squeamish. The Pathology Department. at the University of New South Wales, Australia presents this fascinating resource for its students and the general public. One can click on interactive images for the index with thumbnails, or go right to the individual links on the homepage. Each specimen photograph has clickable hotspots that bring up descriptions of various aspects of the diseased organ or tissue, as well as a case history, a description of the specimen, and comments on the particular disease. The site also provides links to other online pathology resources. ANTHROPOLOGY, SOCIOLOGY, ECONOMICS AND GEOGRAPHY
http://www.med.unsw.edu.au/pathology/pathmus/

Islam and Science

Science began with Aristotle but took off in the l6th century with Sir Francis Bacon, then Newton� Wrong. Long before Bacon, the Islamic world had produced great scientists and great science. Respectful of what had gone before, the Islamic world may even be credited with preserving the words of Aristotle and Ptolemy. From astronomer Al-Tusi to physicist Al-Haytham theories of light, for 500 years - while the Catholic Church preached intolerance - the Koran urged believers to pursue scientific knowledge as proof of the greatness of the Creator, and Arabic was the language of learning. Sadly, this tradition has been lost in modern times through dogmatic trends in Islam and the impoverishment of the East. A fascinating history.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/30/science/social/30ISLA.htm

SCIENCE AND ART
Puttin' on the Ritz

Flatland

Anyone with an interest in physics or mathematics has, at least a nodding acquaintance with "Flatland", Edwin A. Abbot's 1880 classic short story that describes the denizens, life and culture of a two-dimensional universe. The protagonist of the tale is a square (Flatland's inhabitants are polygons). In the second half of the book, he receives a visit from a sphere - in other words, a creature of three dimensions. Abbot's purpose here was to show how we might perceive higher dimensions. "Flatland" was written before the development of the theories of the unified picture of space and time in the early 20th century - now we would say that Flatland has 2+1 dimensional spacetime. two space dimensions and one time. This would have interesting ramifications for Einsteinian physics as far as gravity is concerned. Check out what the physics of Flatland would really be like in our Einsteinian universe, especially in relation to time travel, in this site that explores the theoretical physics of Flatland. Fom those wacky folks at Cal Tech. Time Travel in Flatland?:
Flatland: http://www.whatrain.com/flatland/index.html
http://www.theory.caltech.edu/people/patricia/lctoc.html

SCIENCE IN CONTEXT
The Time Machine

US Science - The Statistical Overview

One of the things modern governments are good at is gathering and publishing statistics. It's no surprise then that the US National Science Foundation produces large amounts of data on the scientific environment in this country. For example, at press time the website of the NSF's Division of Science Resources Statistics (SRS) prominently featured two recent studies. Science and Engineering Indicators 2002 is a massive report which covers just about everything to do with the institutions of science in the US - we can't possibly do justice to it in our short item. The other report is Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering which is pretty much self explanatory. The SRS website has a Publications archive brimming with studies on topics such as education, the science workforce, research and development activity, infrastructure, information technologies, databases, and many other topics. It's a massive collection of information which amply illustrates the vast scope of the US scientific establishment.
SRS: http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/stats.htm
Indicators: http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/seind02/start.htm
Women and Minorities: http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/nsf00327/start.htm

PSEUDOSCIENCE, BAD SCIENCE, AND WORSE
I rarely use it myself, Sir. It promotes rust.

Museum of Hoaxes

What we really want to do here is tell you our favorite hoax story. We particularly liked the story of Freewheelz.com, the satirical take-off of the dot.com economy published in Esquire, and its wonderful postscript, if it's true, but there are so many great put-ons here that singling out any single one for special mention is impossible. From TV-jamming bras to free gas from OPEC, fat-sucking socks to the incredible story of the woofen poof, the Museum of Hoaxes is stuffed full of delicious tales about how busy bamboozlers have been hoodwinking us over the centuries. Isn't it amazing how well these things manage to fool many of us, time and time again! Confident you'd never fall for any of these? Well, don't be too smug about it; take the neat gullibility test, which is funny (and sad). It might surprise you how many nutty things you do believe. This is a wonderful place for a rainy weekend, although you don't have to wait for the rain to enjoy it, and that's no hoax.
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/index.html

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CREDITS

Publisher: Arthur Bebak Editor: Judith David Contributing Editor: Production Manager: Bill Woodcock Netsurfer Communications, Inc. President: Arthur Bebak Vice President: S.M. Lieu	Writers and Netsurfers: Jonathan Baum Davide di Lazzaro Michael Luke Bruce Rappaport Elizabeth Rollins
NETSURFER SCIENCE © 2002 Netsurfer Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. NETSURFER SCIENCE is a trademark of Netsurfer Communications, Inc.