Netsurfer Science 05.06

Leonardo da Vinci performed some 30 autopsies in pursuit of knowledge of human anatomy and accuracy in its depiction. His drawings are the evidence of the lessons he took from the experience. Art of the day didn't shrink from flaying its subjects, laying bare musculature and skeleton. Michelangelo studied exhumed corpses. We still reap the rewards of their love of anatomy, in the grace of da Vinci's drawings or the verisimilitude of Michelangelo's marble masterpieces. Britain's Channel 4 has mounted an extraordinary and beautiful site that traces anatomical studies from Classical to modern times. It's full of the bizarre and intriguing - not the least of which is da Vinci extraordinary thesis on the origins of semen. Certainly most astonishing, though, whether we regard him as fetishist or educator, is the extraordinary and controversial work of Gunther von Hagens. He's the University of Heidelberg professor who has perfected the process of plastination, replacing the body's fluids with plastic compounds that preserve the specimen. Completely without irony, the text tells us that this process makes the body "suitable both for educating medical students and exhibiting to the general public". Thus, von Hagen places two flayed humans on the back of a flayed and rearing horse, echoing Classical form. Are the exposed bones, muscles and sinew instructive? There's no question. Is the posing appropriate? We'll leave that answer to you. By way of contrast, we also offer Polykarbon's tutorials on drawing for anime. It's a good deal less poetic than da Vinci and somewhat less scientific, but there's still a solid feel for geometric shapes.
Classical: http://www.channel4.com/science/microsites/A/anatomists/index.html
Anime: http://www.polykarbon.com/tutorials/index.htm

EARTH SYSTEMS
No matter where you go, there you are

Snow Home

We know that these pages designed to house only links don't get a lot of respect, but this one, All About Snow, deserves a second and third look. It's from the National Snow and Ice Data Center, so you know there were experts behind it. There's a very respectable component devoted to original content, certainly, including a gallery of snow storms, the usual Q&A, and more. We were particularly taken with the history of snow removal. It's history that reminds us that some of those things that we take for granted ought not to be taken for granted at all. Also present is a wisely chosen set of links on subjects like blizzards, snowflakes, snow removal, and lake effect snow. There's not much annotation, but have faith. The links were plainly chosen with some care.
http://nsidc.org/snow/index.html

Cloud Behaviour and Its Role in Climate Change

Oliver Morton's resume should tell you that he's not only a respected scientist, but also a politically astute one possessed of an enviable sense of words, one more worthy heir to the likes of Feynman and Sagan. He is also an editor at Hybrid Vigor, where he has published this crystal clear scholarly paper, entitled The Living Skies. But, there's more to science than just science, he notes. Cloud behavior and solar effects on climate change are improbably politicized as elements of the politically charged greenhouse effect, brought into sharp relief as "a complex and somewhat oppositional dynamic". Another of the joys of Morton's paper is that he is so attuned to the poetry of science. In his eyes, clouds are not things, but rather a process, ephemera by definition. Even if meteorology isn't among your interests, read Morton for the sheer pleasure of the experience.
Oliver Morton: http://hybridvigor.org/people/editors/
Living Skies: http://www.hybridvigor.net/earth/pubs/HVclouds.pdf

Ecology and the Politics of Survival: Conflicts Over Natural Resources in India

It's your fault. Yes, you. You, and Great Britain, and the rest of the so-called "developed world." You destroyed the economies and ecologies of India, Africa, South America and the rest of what you call the "Third World" by plundering its natural resources. You stole their trees to build warships, stripped their land of precious metals, dammed their rivers to copy American giganto-projects, forced the independent farmer and fisherman into poverty with your "modern" methods and technologies, and privatized the commons in pursuit of Capitalist ideals. Now, you're trying to convince the world that this can continue, claiming that technology and innovation and can overcome limits to resources that are, in reality, fixed. It's all here in this UN-sponsored study, first published in 1991, and now available online. It's your greedy pursuit of riches that has caused you to commit this crime. At least there's still some justice in the world: you did pay for this study with your own tax dollars. Now, it's time for a new "non-violent world order in which nature is conserved for conserving the options for survival." You should have known better. Shame on you.
http://www.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/80a03e/80A03E00.htm#Contents

COMPUTING AND ENGINEERING
Open the pod bay doors, Hal

Qbits Everywhere

If you follow the field of computer science with even half an ear you know that the future is about quantum computing. The possibility of harnessing the weird properties of quantum dynamics in the interest of computing holds out the promise of vast increases in computing power which would enable scientists to tackle ever more difficult processing problems. The problem of course is that it is fiendishly difficult to corral all those qbits for our needs. One way to keep on top of the whole field, both theoretical and practical is to visit the Qbit.org, the web page of the Centre for Quantum Computation, part of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. One of the best resources there is the "Introductions and Tutorials" section which lucidly explains much of the theoretical basis behind quantum computing - a fine resource for anybody who wants to get up to speed on the subject. The website also has a list of quantum computing related meetings and conferences, and numerous links to related resources around the world.
http://www.qubit.org/

The Basics of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

Even if the title contains the word "basics", this site isn't properly for everyone. Nevertheless, if you skip all the maths, it can help you understand, for example, a medical examination such as the magnetic resonance. NMR is a phenomenon that affects nuclei of certain atoms, when immersed in a magnetic field. This phenomenon can be used, apart from viewing the human body, also to study physical, chemical, and biological properties of matter. And no, the magnet you have at home isn't very useful.
http://www.cis.rit.edu/htbooks/nmr/nmr-main.htm

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

Dreaming Big and High and Far into the Future

The opening quote says it all. "Don't let your preoccupation with reality stifle your imagination." The NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts invites revolutionary thinking. If you doubt it, check out its list of funded studies. There you'll find details of research into space tethers and space elevators, antimatter-driven sails for deep space missions and ultralight solar sails for interstellar travel, or cyclical visits to Mars via astronaut hotels. We at Netsurfer World Headquarters and our affiliated offices can regularly be found engaged in blue-skying, so we're not going to mock these ideas; we have faith that NASA understands the difference between starting with a dream and being just plain delusional. On NIAC pages, you'll find more than a hundred dreams, complete with feasibility reports. We're also pointing you to a related page because, frankly, while the funded projects are fascinating, NIAC just doesn't do a very good job of explaining itself, what it is, and what it does.
NIAC: http://www.niac.usra.edu/
What it is: http://asgsb.indstate.edu/newsletter/v18_1/advancedconceptsfellows.html>>

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.

Segway Human Transporter
Dean Kamen
Segway

You're bound to be the first on your block come March when Segway starts shipping their handy-dandy human transporters. No, not that kind of transporter, you Trekkie, you. These are the efficient, electric two-wheelers that had tech types agog a while back. Of course, our favorite image of it comes from the episode of Frasier in which Niles gets in touch with his cool side. In a sly marketing move, Segway is providing a hand-numbered collector's print for holiday giving, the perfect IOU to the object of your affection. Our commute is 70 miles of expressway driving, each way, so it's not for us. But, something this neat deserves to find a good home. At the very least, read the description and technical specs on Amazon's pages. It's worth the trip.

Backyard Ballistics
William Gurstelle
Chicago Review Pr; ISBN: 1556523750

Tennis ball mortars, potato cannons, match powered rockets and 10 other spectacularly entertaining projects that throw things. Frankly, this is a boys-of-all-ages book since there seems to be something genetic about the desire of males to shoot things off in all directions. What makes this book a good recommendation for Netsurfer Science is the fact that it explains the physics behind each project and profiles such scientists as Alfred Nobel, Isaac Newton, and Robert Goddard. Needless to say, there's also a strong emphasis on safety. No guy will think this is a bad gift for the holidays.

The Invention of Clouds: How an Amateur Meteorologist Forged the Language of the Skies
Richard Hamblyn
Farrar Straus & Giroux; ISBN: 0374177155

For a phenomenon so pervasive (and so often the refuge of small talkers), weather really didn't start to come into its own until the early 19th century. The birth of meteorology can be traced rather specifically to a single event in 1802, to a lecture in which Quaker chemist Luke Howard proposed to one of London many learned societies that cloud formations should have descriptive names. As was practice, he fell back on Latin vocabulary, offering the evocative cirrus, cumulus, and stratus, terms still in use. From that modest kernel, meteorology sprang. Hamblyn doesn't confine himself to meteorology, though. He reminds us that its roots rest in a time when scientific lectures were an entertainment, attended by writers eager to echo new science in their own works. Not surprisingly, artists too found ways to bring science to their work. Two hundred years later, we teach Howard's innovation in grade school and weather forecasting, significantly less romantic in this age, is critical in public works budgeting, disaster planning, travel safety, and the tiny decisions we all make about how to tackle our day.

Farscape: The Complete Season I
Producers: David Kemper, Brian Henson; Cast: Ben Browder, Claudia Black.
ASIN B00006G8ES

Look, we don't want to get into a dust-up with Babylon 5 fans, so we'll just say that Farscape, the anti-Star-Trek, anti-Star-Wars, anti-antiseptic space adventure, ranks among the best science fiction ever produced for any visual medium. Marked by audacious stories, cunning writing, fiendish humor, difficult characters, and an incendiary love story, it's currently the subject of a viewer campaign to reverse Sci Fi channel's surprise decision to cancel the series that made Sci Fi's identity and reputation as a viable alternative network. Season I spends about two-thirds of its episodes setting the scene and beginning character development - then, with the introduction of the charming, sympathetically dastardly Scorpius - begins the complex, thoroughly compelling series arc that takes viewers on the kinds of completely unexpected journeys that are possible only in science fiction. If the full season isn't your cup of Raslak, pick from among the smaller selections. We rank this series with the likes of The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And, dammit, we want it back, too, so don't forget to tune in to Sci Fi when Farscape returns in January with what we fervently hope won't be its final 11 episodes.

The Next Fifty Years: Science in the First Half of the Twenty-First Century
John Brockman (Editor)
Vintage Books; ISBN: 0375713425

Editor John Brockman is a well known literary agent specializing in representing science writers. He has assembled 25 notable scientists and science writers to speculate on what will happen in science over the next half century. The selection of writers is impressive, as is the broad range of topics they tackle. The book is divided into theory and practice with, for example, theoretical subjects addressing cosmology, the nature of consciousness, and extraterriestal intelligence. Topics such as DNA science, quantum computing, and interplanetary exploration are examples of the practical side of future research. Anyone with a broad interest in science over a wide selection of fields will find the book to be a fascinating preview of the next 50 years.

Fart Proudly
Benjamin Franklin
Enthea Press; ISBN: 089804801X

Ben Franklin, for all his high-mindedness, had a devilish sense of humor, displayed proudly in Fart Proudly. It's not one long treatise on the subject, but rather a collection of smartly satiric commentary on subjects like science, freedoms, and the press of the day. Rightly revered for his political acumen, he should also be appreciated as a forerunner to later American satirists like Mark Twain and Ambrose Bierce.

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

MATHEMATICS, PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY
42

Heavy Snow

Electron microscopy can make even the most mundane objects look intriguing. But, the transformation works the other way, too. Snow, for instance, does not respond well to the glare of microscopy. If you need evidence of that sentiment, see the Electron Microscopy Snow Unit Page. Using a low temperature scanning electron microscope, the folks at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center photographed snow crystals. Oh, we know it has to be done. We know it's important research. But, we never thought that we'd see a snowflake or a snow crystal that looked leaden. The Beltsville researchers know this is the case. The two photographs on the front page, of the same crystal under different light, are the perfect illustration. The stereoscopic offerings, though, return lightness to the images. Unfortunately, there's little in the way of commentary or annotation.
http://www.lpsi.barc.usda.gov/emusnow/default.htm

ARCHEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY
What is past is prologue

Personal History

Site owners worldwide strive to make their sites uniquely valuable, but few succeed as well as Ibis Communications does with its EyeWitness pages. The site isn't large by most standards, but it's cleanly designed, easily navigable, and lovingly crafted with an unerring mission. From ancient times to the 20th century, people have recorded the events that they experienced, from the destruction of Pompeii to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. EyeWitness combs the record for first-person accounts of times gone by or turning points in history. Among scores of personal accounts there are those by a monk who saw Thomas Beckett murdered, a minister who sat through trials of Salem's witches, a Continental Army officer who attended the execution of Nathan Hale, the officer in charge at the death of John Wilkes Booth, a minister assigned to anti-slave interceptors patrolling the Atlantic, and survivors of the London Blitz. Artifacts of history can make events feel distant. First person accounts bridge that distance.
http://www.ibiscom.com/index.html

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

Remember That Face Scene from "Silence of the Lambs"?

CNN reports this week that facial transplants are no longer the exclusive domain of science fiction or cannibalistic serial killers. Advances in microsurgery and drug therapy mean that patients - especially those living with catastrophic malformations caused by trauma or diseases such as cancer - might benefit from the transplant of skin, fat, muscle, and bone. However, there's some suggestion that even organ donors would draw the line at surrendering their faces. And, of course, there's a whole new ethical can of worms to be debated by the British Association of Plastic Surgeons. Plastic surgery is more often synonymous with reconstructive surgery than it is with cosmetic surgery. Still, cosmetic surgery uses the same techniques. For a gander at what happens during plastic surgery, visit Steven Denenberg's excellent facialsurgery.com pages. He feels a mission to educate, and he does so admirably. A caveat, though: Even people comfortable with images from surgery should brace themselves for the sight of faces laid open by scalpel, hammer and chisel.
CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2002/HEALTH/11/28/face.transplants/index.html
Facial surgery: http://www.facialsurgery.com

Corralling All Those Loose Milliseconds

We're very surprised by the relatively small use to which distributed computing has been put, 'though we're not surprised by computer owners' resistance to it. Still, if people are willing to submit to the vagaries of peer-to-peer file-sharing, it seems more than a little dissonant for those same people to disdain distributed computed on grounds of security and privacy. C'mon. You have a whole lot of spare CPU cycles just lying around, doing nothing. Put them to good use, why don'cha? Probably the best known of the distributed efforts is SETI@home, but there's a handful of other such programs that deserve equal attention, tackling everything from AIDS and cancer to indexing the Web and mapping Mars. InfoAnarchy has compiled a list of distributed projects. Rightly, it cautions that participants should examine the projects and their guarantees (or lack thereof) about privacy. We won't urge you to any particular project, but we will say that when that Great Accounting comes, we'd sooner have had a hand in fighting AIDS with folks at the Scripps Research Institute than one in creating virtual sheep.
http://www.infoanarchy.org/?op=special&page=dcom

Taxing Flatulence

It sounds like the latest eccentric Brit comedy. Laugh if you will - and you will - but you'll soon be sobered by the economics and environmentals at stake. There are suggestions that farmers and their livestock might soon face flatulence quotas or taxes. (We assume that the quotas prescribe maximums, not minimums.) And, it's all because of the depletion of that pesky ozone layer. Shorthand: it's the greenhouse effect. Estimates for New Zealand, where animal emissions account for 55% of all greenhouse gas emissions, put windfall (hee!) tax revenues at between 2 billion and 5 billion NZ dollars over four years. (Divide that number roughly in half to yield US dollars.) In Ireland, there are already suggestions for flatulence credits like US industry trades now. Kangaroos, interestingly, are fart-free. Predictably, an American political candidate tried to make political hay of the science. As for Netsurfer, well, Arthur's on the line to our brokers right now. Dump the tech stocks; we're bullish on Beano.
Ireland: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/662397.stm
NZ: http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010520103041.1y4o72zc.html>>
'Roos: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/2023371.stm
Political hay: http://www.junkscience.com/sep98/cows.htm

Thank you, Mr. Brain

Always reliable, ready to help, Marshall Brain puts his How Stuff Works site to good use answering the great questions of the day. Never too long-winded for our preferences, in response to a query about what causes flatulence, he offers a succinct page plus a handful of links. Then, once you're at HowStuffWorks.com, be sure to bookmark it. It's one of the most enlightening sites anywhere on the Web.
http://www.howstuffworks.com/question46.htm

ANTHROPOLOGY, SOCIOLOGY, ECONOMICS, AND GEOGRAPHY
All that we see or seem

Accounting for Modern War Crimes

Bard College hosted an international conference in 1998 to reexamine the legacy of the Nuremberg trials, 50 years on. Nuremberg is often solemnly invoked as the model for restoring order and justice after the bloodletting of World War II. But, conference members ask, how just was Nuremberg? Can it be said that its three-trial model has helped account for the grotesque slaughters in Cambodia, the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda? Can the United Nations peace keeping efforts prevail, or will might always equal right?
http://www.bard.edu/hrp/atrocities/index.htm

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

Shining Light on Junk

Properly speaking, we shouldn't saddle this link with a place under Junk Science. One of our must-reads, month in and month out, is the Skeptical Inquirer, house organ of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP). You may recall CSICOP as the organization most famously represented by Carl Sagan and Steve Allen. The Amazing James Randi, debunker extraordinaire, handles that role now. The Inquirer addresses much more than the paranormal, of course. Bigfoot, urban legends (snuff films, specifically), and dowsing represent only a small sample of the subjects covered. The Inquirer isn't a huge publication, so the two or three articles and shorter items that it puts online each month represent a generous portion of its hard copy content. Check that content carefully. You might be surprised by how much received wisdom even we skeptics take as gospel.
http://www.csicop.org/si/

RESIDUE
We can't be sure what else is out there

Elementymology on the Move

Dr. Peter van der Krogt advises us that his Elementymology & Elements Multidict, recommended in NSS 5.01, has taken up residence at a new address.
Find him now at http://www.vanderkrogt.net/elements/.

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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: Jason Alderman Jonathan Baum Davide di Lazzaro Michael Luke Bruce Rappaport
NETSURFER SCIENCE © 2002 Netsurfer Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. NETSURFER SCIENCE is a trademark of Netsurfer Communications, Inc.