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Education

Key
Strong Points
Weak Points
Ratings
Excellent
Very Good
Good

Good intro to subject
Not a replacement for a college course
Rating

2Can Support Panel
www.ebi.ac.uk/2can/home.html
The challenges of instruction in a high-level discipline like bioinformatics are numerous. For one, the subject crosses multiple areas of scientific investigation. As the 2Can site notes, bioinformatics is at the interface of the biological and computational sciences. Even this is overly simplistic, though, as subdisciplines include biophysics, biochemistry, and organismal, cellular, and molecular biology combined with database analysis, algorithm development, and computer programming. Recognizing these different facets to the subject, 2Can starts with the basics (Basic Biology) and quickly moves to descriptions of the major databases (taxonomic, nucleotide, genomic, protein, microarray, and bibliographic). Tutorials are available for nucleotide analysis, protein function, proteomic analysis, protein structure, genome browsing, and others. A section called Graphics Resource has images and these too are peppered with educational text content. While 2Can will never replace a college-level course on Bioinformatics, it does provide a nice introduction to the subject and will be welcomed by nonbiologists hoping to enter the field of bioinformatics.

Strong points: Kinase information
Narrow target audience
Rating

A Concerned Scientist: The Dicty Kinome
danielrhoads.blogsport.com/2006/03/dicty-kinome.html
If a genome refers to the genetic sequences of an organism, and proteome refers to the proteins of an organism, what, you might wonder, is a kinome? Funny you should ask. A kinome refers to the kinases of an organism, and that is the subject of this rather unusual site. Lest you think the kinome of an organism is small, click on the figure on the opening page and you’ll be pleasantly surprised. As to the ’A Concerned Scientist’ portion of the title of this page, the author, identified only as David, is concerned about religious assaults on science and toward this end describes the evolution of the kinases in the slime mold Dictyostelium. The treatment is thorough, though not at all hyperlinked, which is unfortunate.

Excellent writing
Nothing significant
Rating

ActionBioscience
http://www.actionbioscience.org
A self-described education resource to promote bioscience literacy, ActionBioscience is a product of the American Institute of Biological Sciences. The site is well along it way to achieving its aim, with seven hyperlinked bioscience challenges – Biodiversity, Environment, Genomics, Biotechnology, Evolution, New Frontiers, and Education. Under each of those headings resides dozens of outstandingly written articles on the subject. I particularly enjoyed (and learned a lot) reading articles on speciation and biodiversity (interview with E.O. Wilson), separating “fundamentalist science” from “science” (by Tim Berra), and looking for life on Mars and beyond, by Abigail Salyers. This is not the kind of site where you come looking for a quick fix of information. Instead, the numerous, well-written articles make for excellent, informative reading. Give yourself an afternoon or an evening to enjoy this one.

Nice idea
Needs better design to be useful to students
Rating

Aipotu
intro.bio.umb.edu/aipotu
I’m not quite sure what to make of a site that thinks the backwards spelling of ‘utopia’ equates with some sort of a software utopia. Aipotu was formerly known as the Molecular Genetics Explorer, and it is a free downloadable software package that attempts to simulate “the genetics, biochemistry, molecular biology, and evolution of organisms in a biologically reasonable and pedagogically relevant way.” The program contains four modules—Genetics (for explaining living things in terms of genes); Biochemistry (for explaining living things in terms of proteins); Molecular Biology (connects the first two modules to explain how genes encode proteins); and Evolution (explains how features change over time). The software looks fine as an idea, but I found it less than intuitive to use. The instructions for the program’s operation on the webpage were only slightly helpful. I’m not sure I’d recommend the current incarnation to a student hoping to learn these basic biological principles.

Vastness of collection
Nerdy
Rating

Anatomia Collection-University of Toronto Libraries
link.library.utoronto.ca/anatomia/application/index.cfm
Speaking of images, here's a collection of 4,500 plates of anatomical illustrations from the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library that spans the years from 1522 to 1867. These are almost works of art, in many cases. Visitors can search the extensive database using key words, and restrict selections by gender, view, technique, and color. Retrieved records contain images in multiple sizes with hyperlinked information to other records, all of which are nicely organized. Curiosity seekers, like myself, can also just browse through the material, book by book (95 in total). If you do, I suspect you'll find an amazing collection that will surely be useful to anyone interested in human anatomy.

Large collection of recordings
A very niche site
Rating

Animal Behavior Archive
http://www.animalbehaviorarchive.org/loginPublic.do
Hosted by the Macaulay Library of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Animal Behavior Archive is a site that covers more than just birds. Before I get started, though, the title of this one bothers me. What is a behavioral archive? How can one archive a behavior? The answer, of course, is that one can’t. One can only listen to animal sounds (over 160,000 at the site) or watch animals on video (over 3000) to witness some representation of animal behavior. With over 80 years of records and coverage of an amazing two thirds of the world’s bird species, the content is nothing to sneeze at. Come to think of it, isn’t sneezing an animal behavior? I searched the database, but turned up nary a recording. OK, that’s silly and a cheap shot. In conclusion I’ll say that if you’re looking for animal sounds, this is an easy site to recommend.

Organization, eduational content
Could be more current
Rating

Apoptosis
www.sgul.ac.uk/depts/immunology/~dash/apoptosis
By now, virtually everyone knows that apoptosis is the phenomenon of programmed cell death, but unless you're one of those junkies who scans Science every week for news on this topic, you may not know about involvement of the mitochondrion in the process. That's where the simply named Apoptosis site comes in. With a simple interface covering major topics in apoptosis (induction, role of mitochondria, Bcl-2 proteins, caspases, nuclear effects, role of nitrous oxide, etc.), the site puts visitors close to the action and makes information access a breeze. Could the site be better? Yes, it could (or should) have a news section for up to the minute news on this fast-paced subject, and the articles could be a bit more in-depth, but for newbies, it is a great start.

Vastness of coverage
Nothing of note
Rating

ASDL – Analytical Sciences Digital Library
www.asdlib.org
You may be an educator, a student, a lay person, or a practicing scientist. You may be looking for analytical measurements or innovative ways to learn more about them. You are also the target audience of the Analytical Sciences Digital Library (ASDL). You will probably be happy, as well as thankful, for the wide range of topics covered and materials provided at ASDL. One section provides e-courseware, e-labware, and e-educational practices. Other sections provide links to e-texts, animations, lab experiments, lecture materials, and tutorials. You can scan through topics and discover (in some cases) dozens of relevant, linked material. NMR alone had 19 such links. While I question how useful a site like this is for a lay person, all other groups listed above will rejoice at the materials online herein. A peer-reviewed portal done right.

Excellent articles
Nothing significant
Rating

Bad Science
www.badscience.net
Dr. Ben Goldacre has something on his mind. Maybe he is contemplating having his other ten strands of DNA activated over the Internet (did you know you have twelve strands already?) for the bargain price of $39. Far more likely, though, he is pondering the preposterousness of pseudoscience, the likes of which have a way of creeping into the media and the spam folders of our inboxes. (Miracle weight loss pill, anyone?) No scientific charlatan is safe from Dr. Goldacre’s critiques and sarcastic condemnations, which comprise his “Bad Science” column for the British newspaper, The Guardian. On this site you’ll find all of these columns, archived from 2003. In addition, you too can join the lively conversation, posting comments in response to the myriad topics included on the site. So the next time you’re tempted to take your Paypal account for a spin over some online nucleic acid activation, you might try checking out this page first

Nice images, background information
Much of the content is California-specific
Rating

Bay Area Mycological Society
www.bayareamushrooms.org/index.html
Who doesn’t love a fun site about fungus? The Bay Area Mycological Society offers an array of ways to get one’s mushroom fix (and not in that psychedelic mushroom sort of way). Dedicated to “the art and science of mushrooms,” the Bay Area Mycological Society provides information about the club’s activities and region-specific mushroom facts, although there are also resources to benefit curious readers outside of sunny California. The “mushroom of the month” profiles different species (this month is the Death Cap’s moment in the spotlight), while the “poisonings” page offers useful (and potentially life-saving) information. There are even some mushroom recipes (not to be used with the mushrooms pictured on the poisonings page!). One need not be a mushroom maniac in order to appreciate this site—indeed, it offers a nice introduction to anyone looking to tap into his/her inner mycologist.

Informative
Too retro
Rating

Beginner's Guide to Molecular Biology
www.rothamsted.bbsrc.ac.uk/notebook/courses.guide
It’s been a while since I covered molecular biology education, so I thought it was time to do so again. Aimed at beginners, as noted in the title, Beginner’s Guide to Molecular Biology may be on the cutting edge of the first retro movement among scientific websites. Consider the graphics—vintage late 90s with somewhat primitive 2-D images. Second, the organization revolves around 13 hyperlinks on the opening page. The descriptions and organization of content is straightforward and makes for an educational experience for visitors. I can’t help wondering, however, if this isn’t simply a set of pages caught in a virtual time warp.

Thorough approach
Access not always clear
Rating

BEN
www.biosciednet.org
BEN is a portal of the National Science Digital Library (NSDL) with “10,187 reviewed resources covering 77 biological sciences topics.” What, you may wonder, is a “reviewed resource?” I’m glad you asked, but to answer it I must describe BEN first. Established by the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1999, BEN (BioscienceEdNet) was designed with biological science education in mind. It provides free access to K-12 educators and college faculty to materials for use in the classroom, for use in preparing material for teaching, and for just about any teaching-related activity. Most of the material is free with registration, though there are some sections that require a paid subscription. Materials are reviewed by individual societies in the biological sciences for standards of quality and accuracy. Materials are accessible through a search engine and several browsing options.

A wide range of links and topics
Classification of links is a bit confusing
Rating

Biochem4Schools
www.biochem4schools.org
This site reminded me of a metabolic pathway map (cue the groans from anyone who had to memorize one of those), in that it took a bit of time to assimilate all of the information presented. That’s because Biochem4Schools is an umbrella site, meaning that its only content is a compilation of biochemistry-related websites. Not that I’m complaining—there are a LOT of great links. The only problem is that there are so many links that it takes some patience to sift through them. The information is divided into topics, which is helpful, but the site still requires dedication if you hope to explore all that it has to offer. Biochem4Schools was developed by The Biochemical Society in order to bring the complexities of biochemistry to us mere mortals. In this, they certainly succeed in providing a hub teeming with information. The next time you find yourself with some time to surf the net, and your unyielding curiosity for transport processes requiring ATP is getting the best of you, I’d recommend this page.

Very thorough, well organized
Figures uninspired
Rating

Biochemistry Course
www.med.unibs.it/~marchesi/subjects.html
The title of this one won’t win any prizes, but it is otherwise a nicely put together online set of information about biochemistry. Organized for teaching a course at the University of Brescia in Italy, the site greets visitors with a generic, gray opening page peppered with hyperlinks to numerous areas of biochemistry interest, including hemoglobin, DNA metabolism, muscle biochemistry, and many more. Over 50 aspects of the subject are covered. Clicking on a hyperlink brings up long pages of information including figures describing the topics in detail. While I wouldn’t use the material at the site as the only source of information for teaching the subject, I do find it to be an outstanding supplement to the material I cover in my courses. The only downside besides the vanilla interface is that the figures are pretty plain-Jane. Otherwise, this is a superb site.

Very good coverage of topic
None
Rating

Biochemistry of Metabolism
www.rpi.edu/dept/bcbp/molbiochem/MBWeb/mb1/MB1index.html
It’s rare I slip up in seeing the “big picture“ of a site, but such was the case with one of my previous reviews. In that blurb, I reported on a subset of this particular site. The subject was glycogen metabolism, and I noted that the topic was well covered. What I didn’t notice was that the educational content on the website was much bigger that just glycogen. In fact, the main site’s title, “Biochemistry of Metabolism,“ illustrates the far-reaching matter covered here. The subject is organized into two main metabolic topics, Molecular Biochemistry I and II, and other material is divided into Cellular Biochemistry, Review (basic concepts of protein structure), and Enzyme Kinetics. Each of these is as good or better than the glycogen pages I covered, raising my rating for this collection to an Excellent from Good on the first go-around.

Interesting idea, nicely put together
Nothing significant
Rating

Biochemistry Online
http://employees.csbsju.edu/hjakubowski
Before you explore this one, read the author’s preface entitled “Why Chemical Logic?” In it, he provides a rational explanation for his arrangement of topics in teaching biochemistry and explains why they differ from more modern presentations. The approach is interesting and radical, starting with lipid structure and then moving to protein structure, carbohydrate structure, DNA/genomics/proteomics, binding, transport/kinetics, catalysis, oxidation/phosphorylation, and finally, signal transduction. Each of these items is hierarchically organized with subtopics that lead, via hyperlinks, to more information. On-line textbook lovers will enjoy the way this is laid out with extensive text descriptions interlaced with images as appropriate. After looking at the site, I was impressed enough to rethink how I will teach these same subjects in my own classes.

Search engine
Not complete, poor for casual browser
Rating

BioForge
www.bioforge.net/forge/index.jspa
BioForge springs to mind when thinking of confusing sites. If you´re like me, you´ll spend considerable time figuring this one out. The language on the opening page is of little help. Start with its self description as an “Internet-based distributive community, based around a platform of tools to allow scientists in diverse locations to work together with each other, and with those who can apply and use their research.“ Clear as mud? How about “BioForge is a means to create a dynamic protected commons of new enabling technologies, available to everyone for improvement and to use in new innovations, both commercial and noncommercial.“ Talk about written by a committee! What BioForge does is facilitate interactions among scientists through its forums and attempt to cut through the confusing mishmash of patents that threaten to strangle innovation in biotechnology. Now, was that so hard to say?

Student PowerPoints
Needs more original content
Rating

Biology 566
bioweb.wku.edu/courses/biol566
Writing this column sometimes makes me feel a bit like a voyeur. Most commonly this happens when I review sites that are lab or class sites that aren’t necessarily intended for the general traffic of the web. Nevertheless, any site that is available to everyone should also be open for review. With that in mind, I present my summary of Advanced Molecular Genetics, Biology 566, at Western Kentucky University. Like many class websites, Biology 566’s site has a table loaded with hyperlinks to its various topics. They include sections on signaling, yeast gene regulation, gene silencing, stem cells, RNA regulators, and prions. Materials appear, in most cases, to be images from books, though there are original summaries as well. Some of the best materials on the site are actually downloadable PowerPoints from student presentations. If you’re looking at online grad offerings in molecular biology, Biology 566 is worth a look, even if it is short in original content.

High-quality content
Could have more free content
Rating

Biomedia Associates Educational Biology Site
ebiomedia.com/info/about.html
Here is a site that I wrestled with, deciding whether or not to include it here due to its strongly commercial nature. I finally opted to review it, because as I got to poking around, I found a few items of general interest. Biomedia Associates is a company that sells learning programs for biology education. If the quality of their materials is as extensive and attractively designed as their web pages, they are worth checking out. I’m interested in general materials/content for biology and teaching, so I was most curious as to what I could find here. There were a few educational gems including some outstanding photography (with accompanying descriptions), a superb mystery organism gallery (some with quizzes), and an extensive collection of links. Any marketing guru will tell you that a great website lures visitors to check the commercial offerings therein, and Biomedica Associates appears to have learned that lesson well. I like what I see here and encourage anyone interested in biology education to give it a look.

Broad target audience
Resources are a bit hidden on the site
Rating

Biophysical Society
www.biophysics.org/tabid/517/Default.aspx
I remember in school being asked to define “biophysics.” Silence ensued. My classmates and I tried breaking the word down, surmising that it is the study of the physics of biological systems. But what did that mean? Somehow we couldn’t visualize how boxes on inclined planes and pulley systems (our only physics frame of reference) had anything to do with what’s going on inside our bodies. If only we had first visited the homepage of the Biophysical Society, which provides an excellent body of resources about biophysics. This information ranges from the elementary question, “What is biophysics?” to providing an in-depth, textbook look at biophysical techniques and molecular structure. What I especially appreciated about the site was the large target audience. Not just aimed at biophysics neophytes, there are a number of links to protocols, databases (such as the Protein Data Bank), and other resources for seasoned biophysicists. My only critique of the site is that this goldmine of information is obscurely located: “About us >> Committees >> Education >> Educational Resources.

Descriptions
Desperately needs more content
Rating

Blue Planet Biomes – World Biomes
www.blueplanetbiomes.org/world_biomes.htm
“Oh, give me a home in a real nice biome, where the deer and the antelope play.” Biomes, of course, are large geographic regions containing distinct plants and animals that are adapted to each environment. The site divides the land space up into 10 biomes but curiously (at least to me) doesn’t depict anything in the oceans. Clicking on a biome brings up links to plants, animals, and climate for that biome. What was decidedly disappointing was the lack of comprehensiveness of the listings. Indeed, for Rainforests, which contain some of the most diverse collections of species to be found, only 10 plants are listed. I have to wonder what the aim of the site is. The descriptions are good, as are the few pictures, but I am left wanting much more from this site.

Superb coverage of subject
None
Rating

Brain Blog
http://neuropsychological.blogspot.com
I almost hate to say it, but my brain hurt while reading through these pages. It wasn’t that the material was too dense or complicated, but, like the feeling we get when we see someone being hurt in a movie, my brain ached for the sufferers of HIV whose brains were described in the opening article on the site (at presstime) as being damaged/destroyed by the HIV virus. That’s only one of many interesting brain-related articles to be found on this informative blog. Other recent topics included coverage of computer-generated skulls for designing better helmets, Losing Betsy – A Journey Through Dementia, genetic risk factors for multiple sclerosis, and channelrhodopsin-2 – a fascinating photosensitive protein. Archives from the site are available and date back to September, 2004. Unlike many blogs which focus on raving and ranting of the creator, BrainBlog stays, shall we say, cerebrally focused on its subject and in the process delivers the most informative collection of brain-related information that I’ve come across on the Web. An excellent way to kill a couple of hours.

Interesting descriptions
Narrow focus
Rating

Bush Tucker Plants or Bush Food -Australian Native Food Plants
www.teachers.ash.org.au/bushtucker
Posing an opening question, “What is Bush tucker or Bush Food?” the Bush Tucker site then goes on to give the answer—native food of Australian aborigines. Talk about your loaded questions! The site is packed with interesting observations that make it more than simply a niche site on the Web. For example, Captain Cook sought to protect his crew from scurvy and collected greens when he landed at Botany Bay. How about this, the most famous of the indigenous plants in the world today is the macadamia nut. At the site, one can also learn about numerous bush plants via pix and descriptions. Not a site for everyone, but if exotic foods and organisms are your thing, you’ll find something here to please you.

Disease-focused
Poor educational content
Rating

CADASIL
http://home.earthlink.net/~cadasil
Cadasil is a hereditary disease affecting the brain, but I had a hard time understanding exactly what it is from this site covering it. A description at the top of the opening page provides a clue, as well as considerable confusion. Here is what it says, “CADASIL . . . is a heredity disease that affects the muscle walls in the small arteries that provide blood flow to the brain. The gene prohibits the body from making a protein; this allows the small blood vessels to be defective. The blood vessels are so small they cannot be detected by the naked eye.” Got that? The site aims to educate and provide awareness, support, and research on the subject. It also contains a fact sheet and a list of places where research is ongoing. If you have the syndrome, you’ll probably find the site of use. If you’re looking for education, however, you’ll be disappointed.

Videos on a variety of topics
No supporting material or links
Rating

Cave Biota
www.cavebiota.com
If there is anything that the “Planet Earth” miniseries taught us, it’s that there are some very interesting habitats on the earth…and some very bizarre creatures that live there. Take caves, for instance. On this website, Cave Biota, you can catch a glimpse of animals who call caves their home. Sure, there are the familiar characters like bats, but have you heard of blind white crayfish or northern cavefish? Sponsored by Hoosier National Forest and the Indiana Karst Conservancy, Cave Biota is an “evolving webumentary” (or, in plain terms, video clips from a nature documentary produced by Ravenswood Media). You can download each clip separately, and each video has its own subject. These range from “Levels of Cave Adaptation” to “Cave Salamander.” The videos offer visitors to the site a vibrant window into an otherwise hidden world.

Nice page design, great image/line drawing collections
None
Rating

Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants
aquat1.ifas.ufl.edu
While aquatic and invasive may seem to be an odd pairing for this plant website, I assure you that the information comes together nicely in the many pages of facts. The Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants at the University of Florida/IFAS has put together a nice educational site where visitors can peruse a plant glossary, learn the scientific/common names of many species, and watch videos that instruct how to identify various plants. My favorite resource on the page, however, is the collection of 175 line drawings of native, non-native, common, and rare plants. These black-and-white drawings are perfect for use as educational coloring worksheets (or for that matter, they’re a great resource for anyone who’s simply looking to add some artwork to his/her home). Especially for teachers looking to use the coloring sheets in their classrooms, there are also sheets depicting flower parts and various leaf shapes.

Simple design
Needs more scientific info
Rating

Center for Biodiversity
www.inhs.uiuc.edu/cbd/index.html
The Center for Biodiversity at the University of Illinois has a novel approach to the diversity of images on the opening page. When I wrote this article, it appeared to be a link to a non-existent photo, so a question mark was in its place. That’s not exactly the image one wants to project about a site and presumably it will be fixed soon. Focusing mainly on organisms and ecosystems in the State of Illinois, the Center for Biodiversity does, in fact, have a lot to offer. Highlights include information about the collections of fungi, annelids, botany, insects, crustaceans, mollusks, fish, amphibians/reptiles, birds, and mammals. Visitors can search through the information to locate specimens. Several sections have information on endangered or threatened species in that category. I particularly liked the section on fungi with maps and calendars showing where/when the Morels appear across the U.S.

Useful info
Limited audience
Rating

Center for Tropical Forest Science
ctfs.si.edu/datasets/bci
A small site with a small focus but perhaps big importance, the Center for Tropical Forest Science is a relatively small effort (50 hectare tree plot) established in 1980 in the tropical moist forest of Barro Colorado Island of Panama by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Six censuses of trees at least 10 mm in diameter of breast height have been performed. Amazingly enough, this constitutes over 350,000 trees, catalogued over the last 25 years. Visitors to the site can download the dataset and access similar datasets from other locations in Panama. With concerns about tropical rainforests at an all time high, projects such as these provide important data in the war of words going on with regards to this subject.

Wide variety of educational content
Plug-in issues
Rating

Chemical Education Research Group Simulations
www.chem.iastate.edu/group/Greenbowe/sections/projectfolder/simDownload/index4.html
Back in my day, if we wanted to learn something about chemistry, we had to walk the five miles to school barefoot in the snow and watch our wild-eyed chemistry teacher illustrate some wild experiment he’d dreamed up (that often involved an explosion at the end). Aye, those were the days. Kids these days have it made, all they have to do is sit down with their fancy laptops and download animations (often user-controlled) of major basic principles of chemistry. One excellent source of these sites can be found at Tom Greenbowe’s Chemical Education Research Group Simulations site. Categories include solutions, thermochemistry, reactions, kinetics, stoichiometry, electrochemistry, acid/base equilibria, measurement, gas laws, and redox titration. Most of the animations ran on my system, but not all. One suggestion though, sites like this should always provide links to all the browser plug-ins necessary to view each animation. Otherwise, users are either locked out of using them or must spend a lot of time trying to find the right one.

Wide variety of educational content
Plug-in issues
Rating

Chemical Education Research Group Simulations
www.chem.iastate.edu/group/Greenbowe/sections/projectfolder/simDownload/index4.html
Back in my day, if we wanted to learn something about chemistry, we had to walk barefoot into the snow 5 miles to school and watch our wild-eyed chemistry teacher illustrate some wild experiment he’d dreamed up (that often involved an explosion at the end). Aye – those were the days. Kids these days have it made – all they have to do is sit down with their fancy laptops and download animations (often user- controlled) of major basic principles of chemistry. One excellent source of these can be found at Tom Greenbowe’s Chemical Education Research Group Simulations site. Here, a wide variety of animations and tutorials can be downloaded and viewed. Categories include solutions, thermochemistry, reactions, kinetics, stoichiometry, electrochemistry, acid/base equilibria, measurement, gas laws, and redox titration. Most of the animations ran on my system, but not all. One suggestion – sites like this should ALWAYS provide links to all the browser plug-ins necessary to view each animation. Otherwise, users are either locked out of using them or must spend a lot of time trying to find the right one.

Free, peer-reviewed articles
None
Rating

Chemistry Central
http://www.chemistrycentral.com
A site that declares “Open access is a sustainable model for the publication of chemical research,” Chemistry Central is bound to make some waves, and friends too. At this online, peer reviewed journal, all research articles are available for free access and can be reused and redistributed, as desired. The authors also retain copyright. Wow! It doesn’t get much better than this. Articles at the site can be accessed by browsing or via a search engine. An online blog on the opening page follows relevant news items, available by hyperlink. Visitors to the site can upload articles for consideration and can even download a poster to help promote the journal. One of the best publications of its kind that I have seen, Chemistry Central is leading the way for open access to scientific information. I’m sure chemists and anyone interested in scientific publishing will love it.

Emphasis on accuracy
Needs to expand
Rating

Citizendium
http://en.citizendium.org
With a name that literally means a citizen’s compendium of everything (how’s that for ambition?), Citizendium bills itself as “an encyclopedia project and more.” As one might guess, the project is another Wiki aimed at credibility and quality, with less of a focus on quantity. From what I saw of the biology and natural science offerings, it looks very promising. It appears the effort is just getting off the ground, with only about 1000 articles, so the site’s creators refrain from considering it strictly as an encyclopedia at this time. Citizendium’s strategy for accuracy is based on two principles. First, contributing authors must use their real names – no anonymous contributions. Second, information is added to as a result of “gentle expert oversight.” Will Citizendium succeed? I’m guessing it has a difficult challenge ahead of it. The more expert oversight used, the more expense is involved and expense has been an issue with the biggest such effort, Wikipedia. Here’s hoping however, that Citizendium achieves its lofty goals, though

Links to company offerings
Poor Web design
Rating

CleanTechnica—Technology Inspired by Nature
cleantechnica.com
Here’s a welcome breath of fresh air in a world struggling with polluting old technologies. CleanTechnica is a beautiful news site covering the latest trends in clean technology. The emphasis, not surprisingly, is on renewable energy sources, less toxic electronics, and more efficient information technology. Headline articles at press time included “Solar Power from Balloons,” “Nanoflowers Could Lead to Superior Batteries,” “Sunflowers: A Fuel of the Future?” and “San Antonio Generating Gas from Sewage.” Articles appear about twice a day and are superbly written. There is a LOT of content to be had here. Information is sorted into about 20 categories. Best of all, most of the articles have a positive angle, so you actually feel good reading them. When was the last time that happened to you?

Very good coverage
Doesn't help its audience very well
Rating

ClinLabNavigator.com – Clinical Laboratory Reference
http://www.clinlabnavigator.com
An excellent site has 1) useful information; 2) covers a topic with considerable interest to visitors; 3) is nicely organized; and 4) has a clear purpose. ClinLabNavigator.com bats about .750, in this respect, with a LOT of useful information about clinical lab tests. The topic of clinical lab info is certainly of interest to many people. In addition, the site is organized pretty well, with an alphabetical scheme that works reasonably well. With over 500 lab test interpretations to report on, the site covers its topic well. What the site, unfortunately doesn’t do is identify its target audience and help them to see what the site has to offer. Clearly, much of the information is aimed at the general public, but I’m sure their first impression of the site is that it is aimed at techie people. That’s very unfortunate and could be dealt with very simply on the opening page or via a simple “About this site” section. Ideally, the site could expand, providing technical info for professionals and general info for non-techie visitors. Hopefully that will happen soon.

Informative animations
Uneven
Rating

Communicating at an Unknown Rate
www.johnkyrk.com
ou want quirky? OK. Start with the title of this educational site. I’m not quite sure what it means. It certainly doesn’t describe (at least as I see it) the contents of the site, which are animations relevant to cell biology. Topic areas include amino acids/proteins, cell function overview, cell anatomy, cell membranes, chromosome structure, glycolysis, evolution, and more. Each of these uses animations to illustrate the various principles. The site scores points for its clever uses of an expanding calendar for showing the universe, beginning at 14 billion years ago to the present, but loses points for inaccuracies (the section entitled DNA makes RNA is misleading in places and wrong in other places—there are more than 64 tRNAs, for example, as well as more than two rRNAs). In places the videos are very informative, for example, translation, and in other places, like evolution, the motion just seems to get in the way.

Documents, news
A lot of boring miscellany
Rating

Convention on Biological Diversity
www.biodiv.org/default.shtml
The Convention on Biological Diversity website derives from a document signed by 150 world leaders at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. Dedicated to promoting sustainable development, the organization recognizes that biodiversity includes not only the plants, animals, and microorganisms of ecosystems, but also the people and their needs for food and the basics of life. The site provides mostly an overview of official documents, but it also has informative news items on a regular basis. Its online report of the Year in Review for 2006 is attractively designed and easily accessible. Other features include a listing of job opportunities, an outstanding press room with news from all over the world, and a video produced in 2006. The meat is a little hard to pick off of the bones here, but it is worth the time and effort.

Wide selection of offerings
Nothing significant
Rating

Current Science and Technology Podcasts
www.mos.org/events_activities/podcasts
I’m a big iPod user, so I’ll probably buy one of the first iPhones when they come out, but I must confess to not downloading too many podcasts. Don’t get me wrong, I think this format is a great idea. I am just more of a reader than a listener when it comes to scientific information. Podcasts, however, are catching the world by storm, both in audio and video formats, and the scientific world is warming to them, with virtually every major publisher providing audio in that format or planning to do so. A broad source of scientific podcasts can be found in the Current Science and Technology Podcasts site. Where other publications provide material focused on the discipline(s) in their written journals, this site spans a wide spectrum of science, including Health/Biology, Earth/Space, Tech/Engineering, Nanotech/Nanomedicine, and Events/Presentations. There’s also a section of videocasts.

Well thought out, thorough
None
Rating

DAISIE Experts Registry
daisie.ckff.si/
You’ve got to love the DAISIE acronym of this site. Standing for Delivering Alien Invasive Species Information for Europe, DAISIE is an expertise registry that “links and mobilizes current expertise in biological invasions, to contribute knowledge and data to meet the requirements in dealing with invasive alien species.” The list of experts is impressive – over 1600 of them from 91 countries covering over 3000 taxa. The aim of the site is to allow visitors to identify relevant experts to contact and the means of doing so is simple. By clicking on a set of search options, users can locate experts by field, by name, by country, or by taxon. Even better, these various selection options can be combined for searches that help to better narrow down the extensive information retrieved. There’s little not to like here. The site delivers on its promises and puts users quickly in touch with experts to address this important problem.

Brilliant idea done well
None
Rating

Devonian Times
www.devoniantimes.org
An informative site with a very clever opening page, “Devonian Times” reports on “All the news that is in the record.” They’re referring, of course, to the fossil record. The Devonian Period ran from 417–354 million years ago (MYA), and the creator of the site, Dennis Murphy, wins my high praise for putting this into a newspaper format. The top of the opening page identifies the paper’s home as Fram Formation, Euramerica with a date of Sunday, 382 MYA. Headline stories include a “Fishapod from the North” with a subheading of “Gaps in the Fossil Record are Diminishing.” Clicking on any of the story links leads visitors to informative stories on the fossil record. I can’t think of a better way to get people reading stories about evolutionary history. One of the best ideas I’ve seen in a long time.

Outstanding breadth
None
Rating

DigitalBookIndex
www.digitalbookindex.com
A few years ago, digital books were all the rage. There was talk that digital books would replace traditional publishing, and while they have made inroads in many places, the print publishing industry is still in pretty good shape. What has happened in the interim, however, has been enormous expansion of digital offerings and the DigitalBookIndex is a great place to stay on top of it. Access to the site requires free registration and you can opt out of receiving additional info. After you’re in, you can search the lists by author, title, keyword, subject, or publisher. Books are available in PDF, HTML, and a variety of formats. There are free versions (out of copyright) and books for sale through the site. Perhaps I’m a purist, but if I’m going to pay for a book, I prefer to have it in printed form. Still, an awesome set of titles and a very well-organized collection.

Abundance of well organized information
Nothing significant
Rating

Discover Life
www.discoverlife.org/
With a mission to “assemble and share knowledge in order to improve education, health, agriculture, economic development, and conservation throughout the world,” Discover Life has lofty aims and goes the distance to see that it succeeds. The opening page is deceptively simple, housing a search engine and links to 12 content areas. Included in this list are some pages with mother lodes of information, most of which include beautiful pictures. The not so humbly titled All Living Things section succinctly divides life into 15 categories and then subdivides those amazingly well. The Tree of Life section takes another approach to organization, and it too is useful, though a bit nerdy in appearance. Other useful sections include IDnature guides (assists in identification of species), Education (materials and much more), and Invasives (invasive species info). I wasn’t sure what the Global Mapper was aimed at doing relative to discovering life. With an interface like Google Maps, it is great at giving satellite views of the planet, but that is about it. Overall, though, this is a wonderful site that hits on almost all cylinders.

Excellent educational materials
None
Rating

DNA From the Beginning
www.dnaftb.org/dnaftb/
I reviewed this one a few years ago when it was housed under the Cold Spring Harbor website, but now it is on its own and it is time for an update. Focused strongly on education and history, DNA From the Beginning divides content on the opening page into three areas—Classical Genetics, Molecules of Genetics, and Genetic Organization/Control. Each section is superbly organized, with photo galleries, audio/video, problems, links, and more. Altogether, the site contains 41 modules under the headings above and each one is informative, well described, and easy to understand. This may be the best basic information about DNA and the molecules of life to be found anywhere on the Internet. A must link for anyone interested in teaching molecular biology, DNA From the Beginning is a no-brainer to recommend here.

Well written articles
None
Rating

Endotext.org
www.endotext.org
Take a peek at the opening page of Endotext.org and you'll get a glimpse of some nasty problems: pituitary disease, diabetes mellitus, adrenal disease, and thyroid problems. If you tie these various things together, you'll get a glimpse of what the site is all about: "a web-based source of information on endocrine disease directed to physicians around the world caring for patients with these problems," or so the online blurb says. Endocrine problems are no small health issue. Besides the topics listed above, they include everything from gigantism to sexual differentiation. Clicking on any of the site's heading leads to sub-headings and clicking on these leads to superbly written articles, complete with references. I can see why physicians like this site and I recommend it to anyone interested in this category of human health issues.

Posters
Nothing significant
Rating

ePosters.net – The Online Journal of Scientific Posters
http://www.eposters.net
Has this ever happened to you? You spend weeks/months putting together data for a meeting which you assemble into a poster. You go off to a meeting and stand beside your poster like Howdy Doody for a couple of hours answering questions to anyone who comes by and then poof (!), the meeting is over and you’re left with a poster in hand, but nothing to do with it? Well, it has happened to me and I’m sure I’m not alone. It is a waste of info to just throw it away, but previously there wasn’t much to do about it. Now, thanks to ePosters.net, your efforts are not for naught. Instead, they can live on via the Web on this interesting site. Posting is free for academic submissions and uploaders retain their copyright. Is there a downside to this? I couldn’t find any. There are prizes for the best poster and the corporate sponsors online are there to help keep this a free access site. One of the best ideas I’ve seen come down the pike in a long time.

Much useful information
Poor organization
Rating

ExonHit
www.exonhit.com
This site is hosted by ExonHit Therapeutics, an enterprise that focuses on alternative RNA splicing with several products in development. These include a small molecule in Phase II development for Alzheimer’s disease. The site is not just about the company’s products, however. One informative section discusses RNA splicing. Another elaborates about medical applications for which alternative splicing has health consequences, and these make for interesting reading. An online search engine called Splice Array Portal gives researchers important tools to measure/detect differences between alternatively spliced mRNAs. A set of tutorials is also available, as is an informative FAQ section. A commercial site with a gentle, rather than an overwhelming approach to its subject, ExonHit is a very useful site. I just hope they manage to get over the numerous FDA hurdles enroute to approval for the drugs they are designing.

Well written articles
Nothing significant
Rating

Fight Cholesterol
www.fightcholesterol.org
Like the headline “Love Your Mother,” the title of this site is one that no one will argue with. Starting on the opening page with the latest news in the field of cholesterol levels in people, Fight Cholesterol takes no prisoners in dealing with its subject. Content on the opening page includes informative articles ranging from basic (What is Cholesterol) to practical (Choosing the Right Food to Reduce Cholesterol) to informative (Your Cholesterol Levels). All of the articles are readable, and even the placement of Google Ads around the content is tasteful and doesn’t interfere with viewing. Indeed, some of the ads themselves are additional sources of information. Full access to the site requires registration, which is free. Overall, I found Fight Cholesterol to be informative and a useful health-related tool.

Very interesting design and potential
Only an alpha release
Rating

Freebase
http://www.freebase.com/
Freebase is an open, shared database of the world’s knowledge, or so it says on their opening page. Given that the system contains over 3.2 million topics, their claim may not be too inaccurate. The real test of a site for me is how well it deals with scientific information and it was with that in mind that I surveyed Freebase. Prominent on the opening page is a Science/Technology section with a pop-up menu that leads directly to Biology. Under that subsection, I was a bit frustrated at the lack of hierarchy to get me to material I was interested in. The online tutorial showed options not yet apparently enabled in biology for searching for information, so I wasn’t able to test the depth of Freebase information for biology. I was, however, very impressed by the design I saw in the tutorial, so it will be interesting to see how this one plays out. I note that the pages are currently only in alpha release, so there is a long way to go. Still, Freebase looks to be a very promising marriage of a Wiki and a search engine. Come back later for this one.

Gorgeous pix, useful info
None
Rating

FungiPhoto.com
www.fungiphoto.com
Mycologists will marvel at the beautiful images presented on this site, while nonmycologists will—wait, what is mycology again? This branch of botany deals with all things fungal, and there is no better introduction than through the pictures of mushroom photographer Taylor Lockwood. On this site, Lockwood presents a large collection of fungi photos, conveniently labeled into categories such as “toxic and deadly” and “edible.” My one critique is that Mr. Lockwood does not label the photos with the names of the mushrooms. I suppose, though, that if I ever find myself out in the wild with nothing to eat, visual cues will be much more useful than species classifications in discerning fungal friend from foe. If the photos don’t satiate your mushroom curiosity, there is also an interactive game. I can think of no other website where one could happen upon a screen that reads, “As you hear the Czar and his party laughing at your mycological misfortune, you die!”

Nice hierarchical design
None
Rating

Genentech BioOncology Cancer Therapy Research
www.biooncology.com/bioonc/index.m
Everyone has heard of Genentech, but many researchers may not be aware of the company’s BioOncology site. With a focus on highlighting the company’s products targeting angiogenesis, apoptosis, signaling, development, and immunology, the BioOncology site has a lot of ground to cover. Navigation of the attractively designed site is fun in places (check out the History of Innovation timeline), informative in others (see Clinical Trials), and commercial elsewhere (click on Products). For a commercial site, BioOncology is surprisingly free of ads and doesn’t get in your face as you navigate. Other features of the site include a segment devoted to careers with the company, a lot of attractive graphics paired with intelligently written technical descriptions, and an animation or two thrown in (though these were not particularly informative). Overall, BioOncology is a solid effort from a solid company, and you don’t have to fret about overly commercial content.

Great design, useful for students
None
Rating

General Chemistry Online
antoine.frostburg.edu/chem/senese/101/index.shtml
Way back in the early days of this column (1998), I was one of the first reviewers to report on this well-designed, educational page. It seemed like now might be a good time to provide an update. Put together by Fred Senese at Frostburg State University, the site excels in several areas. The first is a common compound library. In it, users enter the name of a compound and a search engine retrieves data about the molecule, which includes links to PubChem, Webbook, and MSDS info. Chime structures and spectra are included where relevant. Second is a section entitled Exam Survival Guide. It provides practice exams and “ten ways to pass your next exam” that will be popular with students. A glossary covers many of the terms and can be sorted by topic. Last, a set of Construction kits help students to “build” chemical equations, convert units, and construct ionic compounds. Clearly a labor of love, General Chemistry Online has been around long enough to be called a classic of web education.

Informative
A molecular focus needed
Rating

Giant Equisetum
www.fiu.edu/~chusb001/giant_equisetum.html
If you’re a botanist, you probably recognize Equisetum as a horsetail plant, but if you’re not, like me, you probably had visions of bizarre, exotic organisms. Turns out, I wasn’t far off. Giant horsetails are, in fact, rather unusual looking and their description as giant is accurate. With sizes up to 20 feet high and stems nearly as thick as one’s wrist, the plants aren’t what you commonly keep indoors. Native to South America, the plants are perennials with an anatomy that has been described as “unique among plants.” “What’s the hook,” you’re probably wondering. OK, here goes—Equisetum is an unusual collection of plants that takes up and accumulates silicon in its tissue. Scientists have observed that these plants resist many bacterial and fungal infections and are now spraying silicon solutions on other plants to help prevent the spread of disease. Learn more about these unusual plants at this informative site.

Simple explanations
Could be more in depth
Rating

Glycogen Metabolism
www.rpi.edu/dept/bcbp/molbiochem/MBWeb/mb1/part2/
I love teaching glycogen metabolism because there is probably no other area of biochemistry where one can explain so many physiological phenomena, including hormone action, energy metabolism, liver function, and ties to other pathways, such as glycolysis, the Cori cycle, and gluconeogenesis, as well as diseases, such as diabetes. I'm always pleased, then, when I can find a site that helps me teach this material. I'm happy to report such a site in the form of the aptly named Glycogen Metabolism site hosted at an institution I've never heard of, the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Yes, the graphics are pretty simple here and the site really could use a bit of modernization, but it does a nice job of covering the basics of the topic in simple-to-understand language. I'll point my Elementary Biochemistry students to it when they can't make sense of my own teaching.

Rating

Human Genetics, Science Projects, Science Experiments
www.labaction.com
You’ve gotta like a site whose stated aims are “we make efforts to provide the biology community with the latest videos/movies/information on human genetics, science experiments, science projects, biotechnology, current biology news and much more.” Better yet, the site is “community driven.” Even better yet, the range of videos and information is jaw-dropping. When you visit the site, start at the hyperlinked panel on the right side of the opening page. There you can click on animations/videos covering DNA replication, DNA helicase action, RNA interference, protein assembly, and the ATPase synthase complex. There are WAAAAY more animations and other materials at the site that I can list here. Check it out. You will not be disappointed.

Excellent material
Nothing significant
Rating

Human Genetics, Science Projects, Science Experiments
www.labaction.com
You’ve got to like a site whose stated aims are “providing the biology community with the latest videos/movies/information on human genetics, science experiments, science projects, biotechnology, current biology news and much more.” Better yet, the site is “community driven.” And, even better, the range of videos and information is jaw-dropping. When you visit the site, start at the hyperlinked panel on the right side of the opening page. There you can click on animations/videos covering DNA replication, DNA helicase action, RNA interference, protein assembly, and the ATPase synthase complex. There are WAAAAY more animations and other materials at the site that I can list here. Check it out. You will not be disappointed.

Images
Most of the site very uninspired
Rating

IIS Home
access.afsc.noaa.gov/ichthyo
If you want to give someone the ultimate nerd test, ask if they’d like to check out the Ichthyoplankton Information System (IIS). This actually works on two levels. First, if they are in fact interested, they qualify as a nerd. Second, if they like the layout of the site, they almost absolutely have to be one. That’s not a compliment, actually, either for the nerd or for the site. The focus of IIS is data on the early life history stages of fishes in the northeast Pacific. The opening page, which is all in black, is kind of dramatic looking, but the inside pages are a bit of a disappointment. First, the Content panel on the left of the page is a great way to organize the 20 items it contains, but virtually every item, unfortunately, links to a paragraph or so of rather boring text. There are all kinds of ways this could be organized better. One highlight, though, makes the site worth noting. It is the hyperlink labeled “Taxon Search” at the top of the page. Clicking on that brings up an enormous collection of images of developing fish organized taxonomically. If everything else at the site were done as nicely as this, the site would be world class.

Good coverage of bad science
Bad layouts of good articles
Rating

Improbable Science
dcscience.net
There’s the likely and the unlikely, the possible and the improbable. What follows is most certainly improbable. Continuing the series on “science gone bad” is Improbable Science, a creation of David Colquhoun who, some might say, has seen the light a bit by expanding his offerings to include “good science.” First, though, the bad. It is quite good, actually, if making people aware of bad science is a good thing. David does a credible job of tackling things done in the name of science that aren’t all that scientific. The layout of his pages is definitely “bad.”The center section deals with his current rants, whereas others are left as links in the Recent Posts section. Tighter organization is called for, but if you want a single post that gives the flavor of the site, check out the link titled “University Abandons Homeopathy Degree.” As for the “good science,” it’s a description of how David thinks science should be administered on a campus. I’ll leave its “goodness” to the reader to decide.

Student power points
Needs more original content
Rating

Index
bioweb.wku.edu/courses/biol566/
Writing this column sometimes makes me feel a bit like a voyeur. Most commonly this happens when I review sites that are lab sites or class sites that weren’t necessarily intended for the general traffic of the Web. Nevertheless, any site that is available to everyone should also be open for review. With that in mind, I present my summary of Advanced Molecular Genetics – Biology 566 at Western Kentucky University. Like many class Web sites, Biology 566’s site has a table loaded with hyperlinks to the various topics. They include sections on signaling, yeast gene regulation, gene silencing, stem cells, RNA regulators, and prions. Materials appear, in most cases, to be images from books, though there are original summaries, as well. Some of the best materials on the site are actually downloadable PowerPoints from student presentations. If you’re looking at online grad offerings in molecular biology, Biology 566 is worth a look, even if it is short in original content.

Useful info on mammalian species
Bizarre organizational scheme
Rating

Index for Mammalian Species - Virginia Hayssen
www.science.smith.edu/departments/biology/vhayssen/msi
I’m a little puzzled by this site. The material itself isn’t really confusing. It is in fact pretty straightforward—a summary of our current understanding of the biology of an individual species. What is ambiguous, however, is the way in which the designer of the page chose to organize things. As you will see, the webpage has a nice, systematic, taxonomically organized list of species in the left frame of the opening page. Clicking on a hyperlinked order brings up a listing of family info in the right panel. The family data is not linked to anything though. On the other hand, if you click on PDFs at the top of the right panel on the opening page, you get a listing of PDF files full of information about over 700 species. The problem is that these files are organized not in any systematic way but rather by year. I’m not sure what the year referred to is about nor why anyone in their right mind would look for info about species this way. The PDFs, though, are informative, but be prepared to look for a needle in the haystack if you’re searching for info on a particular species.

Very informative
Nothing significant
Rating

Indian Institute of Spices Research
www.iisr.org/spices
Perhaps I’m stereotyping a bit here, but when I think of spices, India is the place that comes to mind. What better place, therefore, than India for an Institute of Spices Research? Organized amazingly simply, the site provides mostly educational material about dozens of spices, including many that Americans may not be familiar with. These are organized in a pop-up menu on the opening page. Selecting a name brings up descriptions of the botany of the spice, its aroma/flavor, and culinary/medicinal/other uses. Also at the site, one can learn how to obtain planting materials. A small set of selected links rounds out the site. In summary, the site is very informative and well-organized, with one exception—there is no button to click to get back to the pop-up menu after one leaves the page.

Programs
Needs more content
Rating

Invent Now
www.invent.org
I guess the designers of this site decided that their opening page had to take the word “invent” to heart, so they created a novel interface to provide access to the content inside. As we all know, not every invention is a success, and the opening page is a poster child for it. When are designers going to learn that consistency combined with intuitiveness makes for a functional interface? OK, complaints aside, what are the offerings here? To start, Invent Now is a nonprofit organization that aims to foster the “spirit and practice” of invention. It sponsors the Collegiate Inventors Competition, an Inventors Hall of Fame, Camp Invention (for kids), an invention workshop, and a museum. Other information on the site includes descriptions of patents/how to patent, and a handful of useful links. Though I really like the programs the group offers, I’m disappointed that there is not more material on their website.

Attractive graphics, good writing
Not enough online content
Rating

Ion Adventure
www.ionadventure.com
I like the full name of this site—Ion Adventure in the Heartland. It conjures up some very interesting images and the word adventure gives it a fun twist. That’s an important perspective for a topic such as electrophysiology that some people might not otherwise find all that interesting. With a deft touch, Dale Dubin, M.D., an expert in EKGs, leads visitors through selected topics from his recently released book. Like other book promo sites, Ion Adventure suffers from inadequate online coverage, but this is not totally surprising given the desire to sell books. If the actual book is as informative as the few pages on this Website, it will provide important educational material and just might make this sometimes-dreary subject interesting to read about.

News, descriptions
Terribly clunky opening page
Rating

Japanese Encephalitis Prevention Network
jepn.org/jepn
On the subject of deadly diseases, let us not overlook Japanese Encephalitis (JE). A cousin of West Nile virus, this is one to look out for. Whereas West Nile virus kills about 1% of the people who develop symptoms, JE kills one in three and leaves many survivors with brain damage. Like the West Nile virus, JE is transmitted by mosquitoes and can also be carried by birds and pigs. The disease has spread from Japan to India and Australia, and about 50,000 cases are reported annually. The website is a bit of a disappointment, though. It has a clunky opening page interface, which devotes most of its space to creating maps and graphs. The Latest News section gets the short end of the deal on the right side of the page. This disease has much potential human impact, so the page designers need to get serious about their work. A remake of their site would be a good first step.

Superb coverage of topic
None
Rating

JCE Digital Library
jce.divched.org/jcedlib
If you’re interested in chemistry education, you probably already know about the Journal of Chemical Education’s online digital research. One of the most popular topics young scientists like to get their teeth into is chemistry. That was certainly true for me. If I could have accessed instructional material like what JCE offers when I was in high school, I gladly would have. Cutting a very broad swath through the subject, JCE’s site provides everything from the molecule of the month (rendered in 3-D) to numerous structures, classifications, rules for naming, online tutorials, practice test questions, QuickTime/Flash movies, videos (for sale), external links, and more. Though the site is aimed at instructors, I’m sure when word gets out among high school students about what is offered here for free, they’ll come in droves. One of the best education-related sites I’ve seen to date.

Photographs
Needs more breadth
Rating

Julian H. Miller Mycological Herbarium
www.plant.uga.edu/mycology-herbarium/welcome_eng.htm
Fungi enthusiasts unite! That seems to be the theme of this informative site, produced by the Julian H. Miller, Mycological Herbarium at the University of Georgia. The site, aptly subtitled as Mycology, aims to show how fungi affect daily life. Sections cover frequently asked questions, Mushrooms and Art, Mushroom Stamps, and an outstanding collection of pictures. While the site focuses mostly on Georgia fungi, it also provides coverage of tropic fungi that are pretty impressive. If you’re looking to identify a particular mushroom, the What is A(n) section may be of benefit to you. While I felt the site could have done a more thorough job of covering its topic, there is little to complain about the information actually there. Definitely worth a look-see.

Useful links
Not well organized
Rating

Kramer's REMARKable WebSite
www.mansfield.ohio-state.edu/~dkramer
An interesting site with an unusual opening page, Kramer’s REMARKable website is different things to different people. If you are a student at Ohio State University, the pages are headliners for botany classes offered by Dr. Kramer. If you’re a wanna-be botanist, the site’s links to outside botanical information are relevant and useful. If you’re a teacher, the site’s links, entitled Teacher’s Academy, are sure to please. Last, if you’re thinking about a career in botany, the link to the Botanical Society of America’s pages on the subject will surely be of interest. There are a few aspects of the site that need work. The opening page, complete with Dr. Kramer’s phone number is unusual, but also not a very efficient use of space. Also the site’s Index page is kind of higgledy-piggledy in its layout. It wouldn’t take much to tidy this up and improve the appearance of the offerings considerably. Here’s hoping it happens.

Easy access to useful information
None
Rating

Lab Tests Online
www.labtestsonline.org
Here’s another one of those ideas I wish I had. A visit to the doctor prompts lab tests routinely. Even as a scientist, do you understand how each test works and what it tells? Probably not. Imagine you are not a scientist and you’re trying to decipher what your doctor has called for or what the results of a test indicate. To the rescue comes Lab Tests Online, a public, nonprofit resource put together by the “lab professionals who do the testing.” The opening page of the site is attractively designed and gives a good guide to the contents that include an excellent section of news and a scrolling set of search terms that bring up information as soon as the user clicks on one. These come in three categories: Tests, Conditions/Diseases, and Screening. The one-click interface is one of the cleverest implementations I’ve ever seen and it makes navigation around the site almost instantaneous. Best of all, the descriptions of the tests, conditions/diseases, and screenings are short without being too terse, informative, and hyperlinked to other material for additional information. A great health-related site.

Important coverage of an important subject
Nothing significant
Rating

LabLit
www.lablit.com
If you’re looking for a science site with a distinctively different angle, LabLit may be what you’re after. Conceived with an aim to demolish misleading stereotypical images of scientists, the site aims to provide “real laboratory culture” and is aimed at both scientists and nonscientists. The name is a bit of a play on words, alluding to realistic literature portrayals of scientists. Perusing the offerings at the site, I discovered that the list of recommendations is not restricted to printed media, but also includes plays and even TV shows. The site’s archives contain original works divided into 15 categories, including humor, essay, editorial, poetry, profile, and fiction, to name a few. The site’s creator, Dr. Jennifer Rohn, welcomes contributions from readers and I heartily recommend aiding the effort. A great idea that scientists should embrace. You have nothing to lose but your lab jackets.

Informative
Could be broader
Rating

Leeches!
dnr.metrokc.gov/wlr/waterres/bugs/leeches.htm
When I read the opening line on this site, “When you think of leeches, you probably don’t get warm fuzzy feelings,” I thought it sounded like something I had written, so I had to include the site in this listing. As Leeches! points out, these organisms have gotten a bit of a bad rap. They actually are pretty harmless. They are a source of food for fish, ducks, and turtles and are abundant in the summer. Though most people think of the medical use of leeches in days gone by as a way of bleeding patients, the site points out that there are medical applications of these interesting creatures even today. As most people know, leeches are notorious for producing important substances in their bite such as a potent blood anticoagulant (hirudin), a local vasodilator, and a local anesthetic. The combination of these turns out to be useful for everything from helping to heal black eyes and treatment of strokes to controlling inflammations of the inner ear and preventing gangrene. No wonder the physicians of days gone by marveled at the wonders of these creatures. An informative site about an unusual organism.

Informative
Could be broader
Rating

Leeches!
dnr.metrokc.gov/wlr/waterres/Bugs/Leeches.htm
When I read the opening line on this site, “When you think of leeches, you probably don't get warm fuzzy feelings,” I thought it sounded like something I had written, so I had to include the site in this month’s listings. As Leeches! points out, these organisms have gotten a bit of a bad rap. They actually are pretty harmless. They are a source of food for fish, ducks, and turtles and are abundant in the summer. Though most people think of the medical use of leeches in days gone by as a way of bleeding patients, the site points out that there are medical applications of these interesting creatures, even today. As most people know, leeches are notorious for their very potent blood anticoagulant (hirudin), a vasodilator, and an anaesthetic. The combination of these turns out to be useful for everything from helping to heal black eyes and treatment of strokes to controlling inflammations of the inner ear and preventing gangrene. No wonder the physicians of days gone by marveled at the wonders of these creatures. A very informative site about an unusual organism.

Sem Cell Tutorial
Nothing Significant
Rating

Life Sciences at Michigan
www.lifesciences.umich.edu/index.html
What caught my eye at this academic site was its on-line tutorial linked through the opening page, Stem Cells Explained. Hosted at the University of Michigan, the site does contain other features, but Stem Cells Explained is one of the best on-line sources on this topic that I’ve found anywhere. Stories include the basics of stem cell science, an interactive (actually multimedia) tutorial, a list of researchers at the University of Michigan, and a section of questions and answers. There are subtle and not so subtle hints about their graduate program mixed with some of the content on the pages, but I can’t think of a better way to get potential graduate students interested in a program than what the designers of these pages have done. A great way to get a message across without getting in the visitors’ faces.

Well designed and written
None
Rating

LiveScience.com
www.liescience.com
The wondrous things I read at a very early age in publications like Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, and Scientific American stoked my interest in science. The numerous mind-bending facts and mysteries I came across in these magazines always brought me back for more. A sense of the spectacular tinged with an aura of mystery is a must in order to interest kids in science. LiveScience.com has a good understanding of these principles, with an attractively designed opening page and eye-catching headlines, such as "Deadly Ecosystem – In Your Pillow", "Insects' Amazing Rubber Made in Lab", and "Mystery Ocean Glow Confirmed in Satellite Photos." LiveScience.com has a bit of something for everyone, not just kids. Its tightly organized design (7 categories of information) complementing a scrolling list of headlines, helps the site succeed as a fun to read news source.

Full of excellent examples
Unintuitive navigation
Rating

Logical Fallacies: The Fallacy Files
www.fallacyfiles.org
When we refer to fallacies, we are describing things that are mistakes, and if they are logical fallacies, they are mistakes in reasoning. It is impossible to read the news today or (worse) watch the news and not be inundated by fallacies. Attempting to oversee and provide a handle on fallacies is The Fallacy Files, a labor of love of Gary N. Curtis, a Ph.D., from Indiana University, whose background is logic. His collection of fallacies and categorization of them is remarkable. I have been making noise for some time about the need to develop better online sources of biochemistry content for use in teaching to replace textbooks and I haven’t gotten very far, but looking at Dr. Curtis’ work, I’m pleased to see that other disciplines are farther along. Fallacies are listed alphabetically on the site, though, for a site designed by a logician, navigation is not exactly what I’d call logical. It is easy to get twisted around and lose what you came looking for. On the plus side, there are superb examples and writing at the site, so Logical Fallacies is a mixed bag.

Fun, very approachable
Nothing significant
Rating

MadSciNet: The 24-Hour Exploding Laboratory
www.madsci.org
Here’s a fun one I covered a few years ago, and they have grown tremendously, so it’s time for another look. First of all, how can one not like a site that describes itself as a “24-Hour Exploding Laboratory”? Yes, there is some silliness here, but the beauty of this site is the whiz-bang factor that makes it fun for kids of all ages. That, in turn, stimulates imaginations and encourages interaction. The site’s Ask a Scientist segment is well done. A few questions posted at the site show interests that include chemistry, anatomy, biochemistry, zoology, and other sciences. The questions are clever and the answers are informative. Every effort appears to be made to answer questions in a friendly manner, which will serve the important purpose of encouraging students to be comfortable to ask more questions. An excellent educational idea.

Excellent coverage
None
Rating

Main Page - OpenWetWare
openwetware.org/wiki/Main_Page
Oh boy, I like the idea of this one. Starting with the catchy title, OpenWetWare is a research-based site that promotes “the sharing of information, know-how, and wisdom among researchers and groups who are working in biology & biological engineering.” Contributors to the site come from all over the map, ranging from Boston University to U.C. Berkeley. Foreign institutions are represented too, including Imperial College and the Indian Institute of Sciences. The site overflows with protocols, equipment information, strains/vectors, safety info, course information, help forums, and links to career resources. The open source movement has turned the computer industry upside down and OpenWetWare appears well-targeted to do the same for biotechnology information. Bravo!

Ambitious approach
Unrealized promise due to many broken links
Rating

Mathematical Equations-EqWorld
eqworld.ipmnet.ru/index.htm
Speaking of mathematics, the catchy EqWorld site, hosted in Russia, aims to provide an interface for all things mathematical. The stated aims of the site are to "help the widest possible audience of researchers, university teachers, engineers, and students to sail more easily through the ocean (of) mathematical equations (differential, integral, functional, etc.) and their solutions." The site is divided into topic areas that include Exact Solutions, Methods, Auxiliary Sections, Software, and Education. Clicking on some topics, such as First Order Differential Equations, brings up a list of such items with hyperlinks that lead to PDFs with more information. Clicking on other topic areas, such as Integral Equations, leads to hyperlinked areas full of broken links. That's too bad, because the site could be a great online textbook if all of its links were fixed. Hopefully this will happen soon.

Good theoretical coverage
Needs more content in some areas
Rating

MERLOT – Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching
www.merlot.org/merlot/index.htm
As seen in recent columns, there has been a bit of a surge in sites for teaching. MERLOT is another of these and its focus—multimedia for learning and online teaching—is a hot topic. The site will undoubtedly be popular with students and faculty alike. Though some specific offerings (biology, for example) are sparse, the Conceptual Models section was packed with useful material, and the section on Interactive Lectures was quite informative, with a lot of food for thought. The Teaching With Data section too was well thought out. Some of the content on the site is only available to members, but registration is free, so that’s not a problem. MERLOT largely succeeds at what it tries to do and is worth attention from online teachers or anyone thinking of designing such a course.

Organization, many online resources
None
Rating

Microbial Life Educational Resources (MLER)
serc.carleton.edu/microbelife/about/index.html
“Who are the extremophiles?” asks one of the links on the right side of the page. No, they’re not skydivers or extreme skateboarders. Rather, these extremophiles are organisms that live under what humans would deem extreme conditions. (For instance, I generally try to avoid hangouts that are devoid of oxygen.) Extremophiles comprise one of the major themes found on this site—the other being marine microbial life. So, in one convenient location, one can get both a peek at the lifestyle of the piezophile and familiarize oneself with the foraminifera. In addition to offering a good deal of information about microbial critters, this site also provides educational information regarding lab techniques used by microbiologists (FISH—you won’t find this in the ocean!) and topics of interest in the field. Part of the National Science Digital Library, MLER is user-friendly and filled with information.

Clarity of information, links to other resources
Some organisms don't have much information
Rating

Model Organisms for Biomedical Research
www.nih.gov/science/models
What do a frog, a filamentous fungus, and a water flea have in common? They are all model organisms for biomedical research. This aptly named site through the NIH brings all model organisms into the spotlight—so move over, mouse and zebrafish! The website profiles 13 model organisms, explaining why each has been used in biomedical research, and in what capacity. (Who knew that the water flea has been the star of biological investigations for over a century?) For many of the organisms, there are additional links to sequence databases and other species-specific resources. The only “work in progress” organism appears to be budding yeast, for which there is not yet any information listed. Aside from that, though, the site seems to have model organisms covered, from Arabidopsis to zebrafish.

Interesting and free
Not peer reviewed
Rating

Modern Microscopy
www.modernmicroscopy.com/main.asp
Another approach (and a slightly more traditional one) to communicating information about the subject of microscopy is that taken by the Modern Microscopy journal. The effort is not a staid, old library shelf publication, however. Rather, it is an online publication and it appears to be a good one. Published by The McCrone Group in Westmont, IL, Modern Microscopy has been in existence since 2003 and, of concern, the number of articles it has published has been decreasing since day one. For example, there were five listed in 2003, four in 2004, three in 2005, one in 2006, and none yet in 2007. Yikes! Numbers, of course, don’t mean anything if the quality of article is not high. I’m not a microscopist, so I am not a good person to comment on that. I will note, however, that the reviewers of the journal appear to be in The McCrone Group, making this something less than a peer-reviewed journal. Is Modern Microscopy worth saving? I’ll let you be the judge.

Wide range of links
A bit too commercial
Rating

Molecular Biology Gateway
www.horizonpress.com/gateway
Horizon Press is one of those sites that has been out there for a long time that I haven’t covered here, and it is high time I did so. Hosts to several useful websites in molecular biology, the one cited here, Molecular Biology Gateway, contains an impressive number of links. After starting with a link to books they publish, Highly Recommended Reading, the site moves to more relevant topic areas, including Genomics and Bioinformatics, PCR, Journals/Books, Protocols, Technology, General Molecular Biology, Virology, and Microbiology. Many of these links are sort of circular, leading back to Horizon Press sites/books, but there is enough “break through” to make the site worth a visit. Google ads makes another appearance, and the commercial side of the site is not trivial, but there is literally something here for molecular biologists of all types.

Very well designed, extensive, interactive
None
Rating

MOLIT
molit.concord.org
Here’s a project I can strongly endorse. MOLIT is the title of the Molecular Literacy Project, an educational effort aimed at enhancing the teaching of science and technology. With a specific focus on training students for careers in biotechnology and nanotechnology, the project has admirable goals. Towards reaching them, MOLIT offers a database of educational materials organized in six general categories—Core Activities, Concepts/Disciplines, Technologies, Standards, Molecular Foundations, and Everything. Within these subject areas are hundreds of activities that range from DNA/protein synthesis to nanomachines. Java-based software provides excellent demonstrations of some of the concepts. Advanced users of the site can build integrated models from the provided materials. This is an outstanding educational resource that science educators everywhere need to be aware of.

Educational uses
Needs updating
Rating

Monosaccharide Browser
www.terravivida.com/vivida/monosaccharide
The monosaccharide browser is a carbohydrate-based site with a fairly narrow focus. Designed in 1999, it probably was rather high-tech in its time, what with having been written in Java and its ability to project molecular structures on command. It appears, unfortunately, not to have changed with the times, as its focus solely on monosaccharides and lack of support for more sophisticated imaging formats leaves it mostly as a tool for beginning students learning the structures of monosaccharides. In this sense, the site does in fact have some use as it is a great way to quiz oneself on molecular structure in a sort of flash card format. There is a need on the web for broader coverage of carbohydrates, so it would be nice if the monosaccharide browser got updated.

Medically relevant site
Could be a bit better organized
Rating

Mycology Online
www.mycology.adelaide.edu.au
I’ve reviewed so many mycology-related sites that I’ve lost track of the count but I don’t recall covering one from down under before. Fungi are everywhere and though other sites tend to focus on mushrooms, this one’s main interest is medical mycology. One caution to readers before diving in—some of the images show fungal infections of people that are not for the squeamish. Hosted at the University of Adelaide, the medical focus of Mycology Online is a welcome addition to the numerous health-related sites on the web. Information is nicely hierarchically organized within each of the main topic areas, though these overlap. In addition, the opening page could use both a bit of sprucing up and collection of the topic areas into one big grouping. Those are relatively minor gripes, though, as there is a lot of useful medical information to be had here, with pictures helping in identification.

Animations
More content needed
Rating

N Formation Design
www.nformationdesign.com
This company appears to be specializing in 3-D media and although the main focus seems to be on research and the life sciences, there are other projects on the site. The organelle section, for example, when activated, shows a rotating 3-D image (in Java) of budding yeast with internal organelles. The designers chose to keep the image simple, which is good for educational purposes (for which it is intended), but is disappointing from a technical perspective. Users can click on boxes depicting sub-sections of the image for more info and the entire figure can be rotated and zoomed. Another model of the yeast cell cycle was similarly designed, though it showed an animation of the process instead of a rotating still image. Overall, the quality of the videos was adequate for undergraduate instruction, but there just weren’t enough of them. The company needs to get to work producing more of these for their site to be of broad general interest.

Broad, general info
Could be more scientific in approach
Rating

NAFEX
www.nafex.org
NAFEX is an acronym for the North American Fruit Explorers, which immediately brings to mind the question, what exactly is a fruit explorer? Sadly, the question is not directly answered at the Website, but it appears to have something to do with individuals interested in the discovery, cultivation, and appreciation of fruits and nuts. The page notes that these people are "amateurs" who "love" fine fruit. Good enough. The main purpose of the organization is to work together and share ideas. Hence, the website provides a library to loan old and out of print books by mail, a magazine called Pomona, a nursery supply list, a good collection of links, and a few features specific to the organization. Overall, the NAFEX site provides useful information for fruit explorers of all types.

Excellent articles
Geeky
Rating

National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoirs
www.nasonline.org/site/PageServer?pagename=MEMOIRS_A
Here’s a group I’d both like to be a member of and at the same time, I’d pass on joining if the opportunity were given to me. I’m schizophrenic that way. Perhaps it would be safe to say I wouldn’t welcome admittance anytime soon, but I’d still like to be “qualified” for it. I’m speaking, of course, about the Biographical Memoirs of deceased members of the National Academy of Sciences. OK, yeah, this is something for the geekiest of the geeks—science nerds who appreciate history or vice versa. Either way, this is a Win-Win Website for anyone with fondness for these subjects. I learned a lot looking through the site. For example, when I couldn’t find Carl Sagan’s obituary, I did a bit of research and discovered he had been turned down (!) for membership in this prestigious organization. There are other gems to be found, as well as a great collection of some of the most fascinating biographies of scientists you’ll find anywhere.

Information from the highest source
None
Rating

National-Academies.org
nationalacademies.org/evolution
I don't know about you, but if this "Intelligent Design" thing gets any bigger, I may go move to a cave. No, I don't desire to live a Bin Laden lifestyle, but neither do I wish to live in a world where science is not at the center of it. The teaching of evolution is under attack by the religious right and the best way to win the battle is to fight back. Enter the National Academies of Science with an outstanding collection of "books, position statements, and additional resources on evolution education and research." Though I don't expect the hardcore believers in Intelligent Design to be swayed by scientific arguments, I hope the majority still can be.

Well-organized
None
Rating

NEOUCOM
www.neoucom.edu
I don’t believe that in the 12 years I’ve been doing Best of the Web I’ve ever covered or even seen a page from this university system with its unusual acronym. Standing as a shortened way of saying NorthEastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy, NEOUCOM (why not NEOUCOMP?) hosts a collection of impressively organized links spanning a wide range of medical topics—including anatomy/ embryology/development, brain, cloning/genetic engineering, diabetes, geronotology medical education, physiology, nephrology, and much more. Under each subheading, visitors will find links to books, journals, databases, audio/visuals, and other websites relevant to the topic. Someone has gone to a lot of trouble to pull all of this together and, best of all, to organize it in a fashion that makes access to the information trivial. Bravo! I wish more sites were as superbly organized as this one. Definitely worth a look-see.

Coverage of hot news topics
Nothing significant
Rating

NIH Radio
www.nih.gov/news/radio/index.htm
As the speed of Internet connections has increased, so too has the volume of content hosts are willing to provide. One of the most useful of these is NIH Radio, which provides streaming audio content on the many health topics covered by the agency. The audio files are readily placed onto an iPod or played on a laptop. New audio files are posted weekly and are available as transcripts. Discussions cover late-breaking health news. With report archives going back to 2005, NIH radio is a must listen production that will likely make it onto the calendars of everyone interested in the latest health-related news. Kudos to the NIH for putting these together.

Easy access to important info
None
Rating

Office of Research Integrity
http://www.ori.dhhs.gov
Related to the subject of plagiarism (and, in a sense, a broader aspect of it) is that of Research Integrity. Helping to guide researchers in this matter is the Office of Research Integrity, hosted by the Department of Health and Human Sciences. Like the Plagiarism.org site above, the Office of Research Integrity is a one place to visit to see all that concerns ethics of research in federal grants from the U.S. Public Health Service. At the site, visitors will find a wealth of news articles, discussions, conference info, ways of dealing with misconduct, an extensive list of policy information, newsletters, handbooks, annual reports, and educational materials on the Responsible Conducting of Research. If you’re looking to learn more about ethical considerations of scientific research, the Office of Research Integrity’s site is an outstanding government resource to consult.

Educational content
Commercials
Rating

Olympus Microscopy Resource Center
www.olympusmicro.com
Recently I was asked by someone pushing their own commercial website what it took for me to list a site in this column. I replied that it had to have materials that would be useful to the visitor, and useful didn’t translate as “an online product catalog or tech info thereof.” In other words, it had to have material that was not dependent on what the company was selling. The Olympus Microscopy Resource Center, with a lot of technical information on light, color, techniques info, a microscopy primer, and other extensive information not dependent on a particular microscope meets these criteria nicely. Included also are informative, interactive Java-based tutorials on subjects covering much of the lingo of microscopy, which are simple and easy to understand. To be sure, Olympus does, in fact, cleverly tuck commercials for their products amongst the many things they offer at the site, but is that really any different than TV shows with commercials embedded in them? Worth a visit.

Interesting search engine
A lot of noise to signal
Rating

Omgili
http://www.omgili.com
Here’s another site that is a bit hard to encapsulate and, to be honest, it doesn’t have a strong science component, though aspects of it clearly touch science. My reason for including it here is its unusual focus (“Find out what people are saying”) that goes to the heart of what Web communications should be all about. Teasers on the opening page give clues about the site’s functions—Tap into people’s Personal Experiences; Solutions to Problems; Ideas and Opinions. What I like about Omgili is also partly what I dislike about this site—It’s like a search engine focused on blogs. If 90% of the blog material is junk (possibly a conservative estimate), then there is a lower signal-to-noise ratio to deal with. There are ways of doing this, though, and hopefully the organizers of the site will employ them. The few searches I did looked promising, and an advanced search function also helps to sort through undesired material. Check it out and let me know how you like it.

Good potential
Potential unrealized as yet
Rating

OMICS
omics.org
When it comes to Omics, the topic doesn’t get covered better anywhere than at the wiki for the subject maintained by Omics.org. On the page, users will discover everything from definitions of Omics to lists of Omics and Omics projects. A nice figure of various omes is available for free download. The open design of the site actually provides everything for free access, which is a big plus. There are links to numerous Omics biosites, though I discovered that some of them were broken. There are links to conferences and a list (empty, actually) of prominent omists. In general, I’m rather disappointed at the offerings of the site. It seems it should have more connections to active Omics work than it does. While I might be expecting a bit too much (I often do), I think there is significant potential for improvement, and I hope the site’s designers put more content in the pages soon.

Excellent coverage
Narrow audience
Rating

Online Continuing Medical Education Sites
www.cmelist.com/list.htm
It’s not easy being a physician as medical advances make the headlines of newspapers, weekly. The mountain of information is enormous, and I probably don’t need to get started on the patient load and the fact that physicians almost have to be married to their career. How can a conscientious doctor stay up to date? This is where continuing education comes in. Bernard Sklar’s Online Continuing Medical Education (CME) page is an amazing collection of information on CME, with links to over 275 online CME sites, 15,000 activities, and 25,000 hours of AMA Category I CME credit. Yes, many of these cost for credit (surprise!), but they help physicians to deal with one of the most important things they must do–keep informed on important new medical information. Unfortunately, no one can increase the number of hours in a day.

Links
Broken links
Rating

Origins of Life Links
www.resa.net/nasa/links_origins_life.htm
What is the earliest evidence for life on Earth? If you click on the links at this site, you’ll discover it is a “page not found.” If you move on to read about life beginning on Earth 3.85 billion years ago, you’ll find the same information. Basically, the earliest information about life on Earth is not found. Could that be a perverse joke? The site’s evolutionary timeline is not so consistent with an actual running tally of major events in the history of life on this planet. Apart from the early oversights of the page, Origins of Life has an abundance of info relating to early life on Earth. The famous Stanley Miller experiment is another “page not found,” but other important information in links can be found through Access Excellence. Sadly, the “page not found” is the most common page on the site, so be prepared to be frustrated as you navigate through the impressive sounding links of the site. Though the annoyances are large, the Origins of Life Links page does have several interesting pages of content.

Good view of facility
Could do a better job on research component
Rating

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)
www.pnl.gov
The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, WA, is one of 10 Department of Energy national labs. With an aim to provide facilities for fundamental research and innovation, the PNNL focuses on preventing/countering acts of terrorism, increasing U.S. energy capacity while reducing the dependence on imported oil, and reducing the effects of energy generation and use on the environment. Yes, that is a wide-ranging agenda! The lab has advanced capabilities in microbial and cellular biology, including strong programs in systems biology, cell biology/biochemistry, fungal biotechnology, proteomics research, and molecular computing. Visitors to the site can learn of the numerous PNNL research initiatives, access its publications, scan job-related material, and follow the latest news. Though the site could do a better job of emphasizing the excellent work being done at the lab, it is still worth a visit.

Fascinating speakers
None
Rating

Peoples Archive
www.peoplesarchive.com
I haven’t covered a history-related page here in some time, so it is with great pleasure that I present the Peoples Archive (the site is missing an apostrophe, so I’ve kept their convention). What the Peoples Archive contains is an amazing number (in the thousands) of stories presented in online videos of 35 famous newsmakers (mostly scientists). The list is impressive, ranging from Francis Crick and Sydney Brenner to Benoit Mandelbrot and Francois Jacob. One can listen to Francis Crick talk about the book that influenced him and Sydney Brenner discussing why he wanted to be a scientist. Most discussions are based in personal history and include discussions of the subjects/topics/discoveries for which each person is best known. Additionally, you can download transcripts of each story, and users can also define the quality of the video download corresponding to their bandwidth. Peoples Archive is a great activity for one of those days where you have some time to kill and you don’t want your brain to rot from viewing other web offerings.

Well written, topical
Nothing significant
Rating

Pharyngula
scienceblogs.com/pharyngula
I’ve covered the main scienceblogs page before in this column, but I recently discovered a subsection of it that is too important to ignore. Dubbed Pharyngula, the page’s subtitle, “Evolution, development, and random ejaculations from a godless liberal”, kind of says it all. The author in question appears to be P.Z. Myers, a professor at the University of Minnesota. Morris and his writings are fun, hip, and squarely in the face of anyone with an antiscience bent. Hot topics on the site when I visited were “The Strange Case of the Woman with a Breast on Her Foot”, “Anti-Vaccination Foolishness in Minnesota”, and “How to Teach a Religion Class”. If you’re tired of the attention antiscience folks are getting in the mainstream news, this is the site for you.

Organization, coverage of topics
None
Rating

Photobiological Sciences Online
www.photobiology.info
Confused about what exactly photobiological sciences entail? Well I expect that you’ll find your visit to this site to be illuminating. Photobiological Sciences Online is an educational website from the American Society for Photobiology, and it addresses questions ranging from “What is photobiology?” to “What are the components of the phototaxis signaling pathways of bacteria?” (Photobiology, by the way, is the study of biological phenomena involving nonionizing radiation. As for phototaxis signaling pathways, well, you should probably go check out the site for yourself.) The information on this site is divided into 15 modules (bioluminescence and photophysics, to name a few), and these, in turn, contain various subtopics. In addition to the modules on this page, there is also a list of suggested reading. With its clear organization and comprehensive coverage of various topics, Photobiological Sciences Online won’t leave you in the dark.

Excellent articles
Nothing significant
Rating

Plagiarism.org
http://www.plagiarism.org
If you’re like me, you probably think of plagiarism simply as copying someone else’s work. If you take a look on the very informative Plagiarism.com site, however, you’ll discover more serious sounding definitions, which include the words “theft”, “stealing”, and “using without crediting the source.” In an era of unprecedented access to information, there is also unprecedented opportunities for plagiarism, as any professor who has ever had to sort through term papers knows. Combating the problem with information is this excellent site, which covers the topic from every conceivable angle, including the different types of plagiarism that exist, guides to preventing plagiarism, descriptions of proper ways to cite sources, a description of copyright laws, and much more. Plagiarism.org is a one stop shop for stopping copying and it just might make a difference.

Excellent educational idea
Needs more material online
Rating

Plant Cell Biology on DVD
www.plantcellbiologyondvd.com/
This site looked awfully familiar me, but a search of my database didn’t turn up any hits of it having been covered before. Perhaps it previously had a different name. In any event, Plant Cell Biology on DVD provides “a comprehensive atlas of micrographs illustrating structure-function relationships in plant cells” and is, as one might expect, a product with many applications educationally. Though the site is aimed as selling/distributing the DVD in the title, it does offer numerous samples from the product and these should help even uncertain potential buyers to decide on the value of the product. The DVD appears to be the result of efforts of an emeritus professor (Brian Gunning) at Australia National University. The cost of the DVD is $100 (Australian). Here’s to an educational tool that is simple, yet very useful. Kudos to the designer for the idea.

Site navigation tutorial, various image collections
Poor visual appeal for some pages (i.e., yellow text on white background)
Rating

Plastination at the Medical University of Vienna
www.meduniwien.ac.at/plastination
Plastination of the body is a growing trend—and no, I’m not referring to the enhancements of Hollywood starlets. Plastination is a process of preserving specimens, whereby the water and fat from the specimen are replaced by a resin. Three major resins used with this technique are silicone, epoxy, and polyester. So what are the advantages? For one, medical students can learn anatomy without smelling like cadavers themselves. Additionally, plastination permits better imaging of the specimens. A great assortment of such images can be found at the Medical University of Vienna’s plastination website. Image collections include “neuroanatomy,” “limbs,” and “thorax,” among others. The thorax collection even includes a 3-D tour through the heart. All of the images are accompanied by anatomical labels, which can be turned off in “exam mode.” A tutorial guides you through the site, including the slightly obscured silver icon in the middle of the screen that gives more information about the technique.

Nice multimedia resources
Site design, not much beyond an introductory level
Rating

Principles of Parasitism
www2.biology.ualberta.ca/parasites/ParPub/home.htm
I’ll be honest—this site isn’t exactly pretty to look at. (But then again, are parasites supposed to be pretty?) Produced as part of a zoology course at the University of Alberta, Principles of Parasitism offers a nice collection of animations and movies to introduce one to the world of all things parasitic. From protozoa to digenea, from nematoda to arthropoda, you’ll find an assortment of animations that illustrate the life cycles of various critters. There are also some rather robotic-looking diagrams to represent the organ systems in the host that are affected upon infection. As a multimedia educational website, Principles of Parasitism succeeds in providing easy-to-understand modules to parasite neophytes, though it is certainly only a small sampling of the discipline. Once you’ve had your first taste, you will surely find yourself hungry for more.

Excellent articles
Could use more profiles
Rating

Profiles in Science
profiles.nlm.nih.gov/TL
I am of the opinion that we, as scientists, are not very good at getting out the word about our profession. The public has a great curiosity about science and a lot of respect for scientists, but for some reason, we seem to be unable to make the public aware of more than a handful of outstanding researchers. It is for this reason that I welcome sites like the National Library of Medicine’s “Profiles in Science” site, which highlights the accomplishments of 20th century leaders in biomedical research and public health. At the main page, visitors will find informative profiles of over 25 scientists in Biomedical Research, Health/Medicine, and Fostering Science/Health. Excellently written articles highlight the work of Salvador Luria, Arthur Kornberg, Linus Pauling, and Rosalind Franklin, to name a few. This is the place to go for anyone interested in the 20th century history of the biological sciences.

Links, original online information
Scattered topics covered
Rating

Reptiles & Amphibians - NBII
www.nbii.gov/disciplines/herps
From plants, we move to reptiles and amphibians. The only connection I can make is that neither group controls its own body temperature. Described on the site as %perhaps the most maligned and misunderstood members of the animal kingdom,% amphibians and to a lesser extent, reptiles are in the news due to rapidly diminishing numbers. Hosted by the National Biological Information Infrastructure, Reptiles & Amphibians reminds us that these organisms are critical components of the food chain. Clicking on the News links, however, gives a ’broken link’ message for each one. This is not something I look for in an information-based site, particularly a .gov site.

Vast coverage of topic
Nothing significant
Rating

Revolution Health-Start Your Revolution
www.revolutionhealth.com
I liked the title of this one enough to take a look and I’m pleased that I did. If there’s something I want to see a revolution in, it is health. While the site doesn’t actually lead any revolutions in healthcare, it does a pretty good job of providing useful health information and important news. The opening page prominently features a section entitled Health News Headlines, which features up to the minute news on important health topics. Though it displayed two topics clearly related to health at press time (insulin levels and diet success/anxiety risk for heart patients), it also had the curious headline about Jerry Falwell’s death. This seems to be an isolated health issue, at best. That’s a minor complaint, though, as the rest of the site abounds with useful content. Highlights include 12 learning centers (e.g., autism, cancer, back pain), top 10 healthy living centers (e.g., fitness, food/nutrition, pregnancy), and medicine chest (e.g., allegra, lipitor, viagra). Other features include videos and writings from numerous expert bloggers in health. There’s a lot to like here.

Good scientific coverage
A bit scattered
Rating

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
www.kew.org
I was curious about how useful this website would be. Many such botanical offerings are simply a display of pix from around their gardens. This one was different. To start with, there are sections of the site devoted exclusively to scientific research, data, and education. Within each category are sub-sections that will be of considerable interest to researchers. They include the Plant C-Values Database, the DNA Bank Database (22,000 samples of plant genomic DNA stored at -80°C), an annual Kew Scientist publication (in PDF format), course information (including the On Course PDF Newsletter), fellowships, internships, as well as standard information about the Kew collections that one might expect to see at a site like this. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised. While I won’t say that the website for scientists is as solid as the Kew gardens is for botany, overall I do think most visitors will find something useful here.

Thorough approach
A bit weak in some content areas
Rating

SAW - Science and Art Writing
www.sawtrust.org
As noted above, there is a tremendous amount of misinformation in the press regarding science and scientists. Helping to sort the wheat from the chaff is SAW, with its initiative to break down traditional barriers between the arts and the sciences. Toward this end, the site provides profiles of artists and scientists side by side on the page and glamorizes the important role of writers who help to communicate scientific information broadly. A section specific to teachers is important and wide ranging (numerous high schools in the U.K.). To stimulate creative interactions between the arts and the sciences, SAW provides a competition on poetry. While the offerings seemed to me to be a little on the thin side, SAW is, nevertheless, an informative site for anyone interested in the relationship between the arts and the sciences.

News items interesting
Thinks of itself as a blog
Rating

Science Blog
www.scienceblog.com/cms/index.php
I don't know about you but whenever I hear the word blog I picture some antisocial, opinionated yoyo with a Website spouting out opinions for the world to hear. I know that's not fair in many cases, but there are way too many blogs out there created by people who fit this description. (No, for the record I don't run a blog). Science Blog is a cut above many of these sites in providing news from multiple sources. Better yet, the news articles are interesting. How about “How Coffee Reduces the Risk of Pancreatitis?“ On the downside, the site is a bit overrun with advertisements for my tastes, but that may be a small complaint. I did find everything I saw to be interesting reading, which is very rare for a site with the word blog in it. Perhaps another name might be in order.

Experiments targeted well for audience
Mostly for kids
Rating

Science Experiments
www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hall/1410
I've avoided geocities sites in the past because they are too volatile—sites often disappear rapidly. I decided to take a chance on this one, however, hosted by Stephen Fuller, who describes himself as a Lab Dad, and he is a science instructor in Kansas City. The reason I decided to write about his pages is that they are so well done. Organized in a lab notebook format, the experiments he describes range from biology to chemistry to physical science, earth sciences, and food sciences. The target audience for the experiments is described as approximately high school, but I found several of them that would be of interest to college students, as well. This is a great way to introduce new students to science and to help train students already interested in science.

Abundance of well-organized information about Japan
Needs to have more scientific content
Rating

Science Links Japan
sciencelinks.jp
If you’re looking for evidence that English is the universal language of science, you’ll have to go no further than Science Links Japan, which is not only written completely in English, but a Japanese translation isn’t even visible at the site. Self-described as a “Gateway to Japan’s Scientific and Technical Information,” Science Links Japan lives up to its billing as a central point of access to science in the country. The opening page splits coverage among topic areas of News, Press Releases, Opinions, and Links. It also provides access to a bibliographic database and links to over 450 journals, institutes, job info, and a database of researchers. Whew. This site takes no prisoners. Subsections are too numerous to mention but they include intellectual property links, online journals, surveys, and white papers relevant to Japan over 30 portal sites. If you’re looking for info about Japanese science, you’ll almost certainly find it here.

Wide-ranging categories
Not enough podcasts
Rating

Science Show
www.abc.net.au/rn/scienceshow/default.htm
Have you seen the Science Show site? Produced by the Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC), Science Show is nothing if not sprawling. The opening page provides links to the most recent podcasts that can be downloaded. For “reader” types like me, there are also transcripts of each of the audio files. Interesting show titles include “The Science Show Versus God (Richard Dawkins interview)”, “Jane Goodall and Chimpanzees”, and “SILLIAC (Australia’s first computer)”. Science Show spans the gamut of science, with many offerings of interest to biotechnology. Categories of shows include Microbiology, Biology, Biotechnology, Chemistry, Genetics, Cloning/DNA, Health, Infectious Diseases, Medical Research, Neuroscience, Plants, R&D, Stem Cells, and Vaccines/Immunity. Whew! It took me a long time just to look through all of the materials. Unfortunately most of the older shows are not yet in podcast format, but transcripts are available. If you’re looking for a one-stop shop for transcripts and podcasts, this is the place to find them.

Humor
Some polish needed
Rating

Science Songs
www.sciencsongs.net
I haven´t done a humor-related site in a while, so as I was writing the above review, it occurred to me that it was time for another one. The Science Songwriters Association (SSA) was formed in 1999 to promote science using songs. I´m quite a fan of this topic myself (www.davincipress.com/ metabmelodies.html), so I toured their site with keen interest. What I found was, for the most part, quite pleasing–numerous science songs in disciplines, including astronomy, physics, and chemistry. Many are very clever with words to the tune of popular songs. Some are completely new melodies and lyrics, and several recordings on CD are available for sale. While I was a bit disappointed in the lack of attention to the meter of the lyrics compared to the melodies, most of what I saw was fun and funny.

Good interactive exercises
Options very limited for biologists
Rating

Sciencecourseware.org
www.sciencecourseware.org
Looking for interactive, online simulations for the life sciences? Have I got a URL for you. Enter the sciencecourseware address above into your browser and then sit back and peruse the offerings at this education-based site. Serving interests from the geological and environmental sciences to biology, Sciencecourseware provides interactive simulations, tutorials, and inquiry-based activities. All good, to be sure, but there is also a big ‘Gotcha.’ The actual offerings online that are freely available, at least for the biological sciences, are pretty limited. They consist of an exercise in Drosophila inheritance and several things listed as ‘in development’ or coming soon. If you click on the Biology Labs Online, you discover a group of 12 different lab activities, but access to the full content requires a paid subscription to Benjamin Cummings’ website. Hmm. The geologists and environmental scientists have it better off with several apparently free offerings. Let’s hope biologists get equality here and soon.

Excellent potential
None
Rating

SciTalk
scitalk.org.uk
Here’s a novel approach to science writing. With a subtitle, “Scientists and writers need each other,” SciTalk has the rather interesting aim of opening the eyes of fiction writers to using science and scientists in their novels. This appears to have a distinctly different angle than science fiction writing, for which there is no shortage of scientific interest. Rather, the idea is about improving the image of scientists as portrayed in literature with the hope that this will, in turn, encourage young people to pursue careers in science. I like the basic idea here of attempting to destroy the stereotype of scientists as socially inept white males in lab jackets, and the plan is clever. Hundreds of fields of scientific investigation are listed and under each field, a few scientists and their research interests are listed. These scientists can then be contacted by writers and provide meaningful feedback for stories. This seems to be a win-win-win situation, as the causes of the writers, the scientists, and the readers are all advanced. A deceptively simple idea that just might make a difference.

LOTs of videos
Infomercials
Rating

Scitalks: Smart People on Cool Topics
http://www.scitalks.com/
Imagine grabbing a group of outstanding scientists, getting them together, and filming them talking about or demonstrating scientific principles. That’s part of the idea behind Scitalks: Smart People on Cool Topics, a media-rich site that will probably grab your attention for at least a few videos, if you visit it. Containing an amazing array of streaming media on topics spanning all of science, Scitalks is a site that must have an awful lot of bandwidth to serve its users. Visitors can select individual topics to pick items of interest to them. I picked Biochemistry and saw Judah Folkman discussing the discovery of angiogenesis inhibitors and Keith Campbell talking about the cloning of Dolly the sheep. On the downside, I also saw some material that was not a very thinly disguised infomercial for biochem products. Unfortunately, I guess, into each life a little rain must fall.

Well organized, topical
None
Rating

Scitizen
http://scitizen.com/
I have to say that I really like the title of this site and I wish I’d thought it up. Scitizen’s subtitle is “Bringing Science Closer to Society” and I can’t think of a more aptly named site. With a format best described as open news source (contributions are welcomed from everyone), the opening page is not unlike a newspaper, with headlines and story lead-ins below that hyperlink to outside articles. The topics that are covered span a wide range of the biological sciences, including technology, biology, and environmental sciences. Sub-categories, include stem cells, biodiversity, future energies, climate change, and more. To be a contributor requires users to register at the site, but that is not at all uncommon for sites of with this sort of content. I found the quality of articles (some of which are YouTube videos) to be outstanding and their topicality cannot be doubted. An outstanding site that I will keep bookmarked on my computer.

Great idea
Uncertainty of views of peers
Rating

SciVee/Make Your Research Known
www.scivee.tv
Oscar Wilde once said that there is only one thing worse than being talked about and that is not being talked about. Young scientists might have their own take on this statement, but in general, most of them will lean toward getting publicity instead of ignoring it. I recently became aware of SciVee, an interesting site aimed at helping researchers to “make your research known.” While the skeptical may say that the traditional means of doing this, publishing in peer-reviewed journals, should suffice, others will argue that publicity sometimes brings unexpected benefits that may lead to grant funding. The site focuses on videos illustrating the scientists and/or their work. Users create an account, log in, upload the video and then publish the “Pubcast.” It’s that simple. Indeed, the trickiest step is probably making the video itself. Interested? Check out this interesting idea.

Information material about sea snakes
Not for everyone
Rating

Sea Snake Homepage
homes.jcu.edu.au/~sci-bhl/
I’m not much of a fan of snakes and I’m even less fond of ones that are in water. A page devoted to sea snakes is just wrong from my perspective, but sometimes a columnist just has to stretch his/her limits for the readers. This is one of those times. From the site, I learned that there are about 70 species of these creatures in the oceans and that they account for almost 90% of the sea reptiles alive today. They breathe air, but can stay under water for 30-120 minutes. In fact, the front page of the site is extraordinarily informative for the biology of these organisms. Other features of the Sea Snake Homepage include basic information about dealing with venomous sea snakes, conservation information for these organisms, and a very brief listing of terms unique to sea snakes. While it isn’t extensive and no molecular considerations of the organisms are presented, the site does, in fact, have a lot of interesting information. I’m glad I checked it out.

Shock value
Could have more breadth
Rating

Silent Spring Institute
www.sciencereview.silentspring.org
achel Carson turned the scientific world upside down with her 1962 book, Silent Spring, in which she brought to light to the American public the concerns of environmental problems caused by indiscriminate use of pesticides. Her book was largely instrumental in the ultimate ban of DDT and other pesticides, and is credited with creating a grassroots environmental movement that ultimately led to the Environmental Protection Agency. The Silent Spring Institute, dedicated to the memory of Carson’s landmark book, is a partnership of scientists and health professionals with common interests in the links between women’s health and the environment. A quick look -over of the site’s pages will be eye-opening. There, visitors can learn that perfluorooctanoic acid (a reagent used to make Teflon stick to pans) increases the incidence of mammary tumors in rats. They argue that the fivefold differences in incidence of breast cancer around the world point to big problems with living in the developed world. These are just the tip of the iceberg. The number of studies and the finds will likely shock you, much as Carson’s book did originally.

Captivating quality
Nothing significant
Rating

Sloan Science Cinemateque
www.movingimage.us/science
Describing itself as the Museum of the Moving Image and as "a forum for short films, interviews, and articles that enhance the public understanding of science and technology," Sloan Science Cinemateque gets two thumbs up for the well-done streaming videos available at the site. I scoped out the first one—The Disappearance of Andy Waxman—just as a curiosity and found it totally captivating. 24 minutes later, I’d gained a fascinating perspective about the importance of short-term memory in a way that I never could have gotten from a textbook. The quality of the videos is excellent, though even on a cable modem, I did find that things ground to a halt occasionally. One of the more intriguing science-related sites I’ve ever seen.

Sizable collection of teaching and learning resources
A greater degree of organization needed
Rating

SMETE Digital Library
www.smete.org
The SMETE (or should I say, the Science, Math, Engineering, and Technology Education) Open Federation was created in order to promote the learning and teaching of each of its SMET components. One of the federation’s services is the SMETE Digital Library, a collection of resources for students and teachers. One can browse the contents of the online library by subject area such as mathematics or chemistry, although the meaning of some of the categories eluded me (“paper bike”, anyone?). Alternatively, visitors to the site can search for learning resources by parameters such as keyword, grade level, type of resource, and author. This targeted approach is probably the best bet, for although there seem to be valuable materials hidden through the digital bookshelves, the library could benefit from some additional organization. Perhaps it’s time to resurrect the Dewey Decimal System.

A variety of resources
Some themes don’t have much content
Rating

Society for Neuroscience NERVE
www.ndgo.net/sfn/nerve
Thinking about the brain for extended periods of time can, well, make your brain hurt. Fortunately, the Neuroscience Education Resources Virtual Encycloportal is there for people who didn’t think they had the NERVE to explore the field of neuroscience. If one can excuse the contrived acronym, the site is really quite useful. It is the brainchild of the Society for Neuroscience, and though it is marketed for K–12 educators and students, many of the resources are excellent for college classrooms and beyond. Certainly if one is interested in getting one’s toes wet in neuroscience, this is a great place to begin. Content is organized by themes, including “Brain Basics,” “Addiction, Drugs and the Brain,” and “Nervous System Injuries.” The content is varied, ranging from videos, to links, to briefings from the society. Some themes are a bit bare, but there is a “suggest a resource” option for anybody out there looking to contribute.

Diversity of material, organization
None
Rating

Space Biology
mainsgate.com/spacebio/index.html
Finally, a website that encourages its users to have their heads not just in the clouds, but in outer space! This is an excellent educational website about a number of biological issues related to space travel. For instance, did you know that space flight alters the process of bone remodeling? Or that if you travel to space, it can take up to six weeks after you touch back down on Earth to restore the red blood cells that you’ve lost? In so many ways, this site explores the important truth that antigravity does more to the body than allowing it to float in mid-air. Organized into a number of modules, this site provides an introduction, readings and references, teaching resources, and research/application for each theme. The organization is great and the information is interesting. It’s enough to make anyone want to be a space cadet…in a good way!

Interesting reading
Narrow focus
Rating

Spider Myths
www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/spidermyth
Focused on the insect that people are most commonly afraid of, Spider Myths tackles phobias and other concerns head-on with a collection of informative pages. Put together by Rod Crawford of the Burke Museum (University of Washington), the spider site proclaims that “Everything that ‘everybody knows’ is wrong.” A few misconceptions that surprised me include that spiders are more prevalent in the summer (fall and early winter, actually); daddy longlegs are spiders (some are flies!); and all spiders make webs (not true). As a biologist, I found the information at the site to be quite interesting, and I’m decently impressed at how much Crawford appears to love these little critters.

L,O (online biochemistry info for teaching)
Very thorough, well organized
Rating

Subjects
http://www.med.unibs.it/~marchesi/subjects.html
The title of this one won’t win any prizes and neither will its sub-title (Biochemistry Course). At least the sub-title is informative. Those are relatively minor complaints about an otherwise nicely put together online set of information about biochemistry. Organized for teaching a course at the University of Brescia in Italy, Subjects greets visitors with a generic, gray opening page peppered with hyperlinks to numerous areas of biochemistry interest, including hemoglobin, DNA metabolism, muscle biochemistry, and many more. Over 50 aspects of the subject are covered. Clicking on a hyperlink brings up long pages of information (including figures) describing the topics in detail. While I wouldn’t use the material at the site as the only source of information for teaching the subject, I do find it to be an outstanding supplement to the material I cover in my courses. The only downside (besides the vanilla interface) is that the figures are pretty “plain-Jane”. Otherwise, this is a superb site.

Powerpoints of lectures on important health topics
Can you say multimedia?
Rating

Supercourse-Epidemiology, the Internet and Global Health
www.pitt.edu/~super1
A course is a course, of course, of course and no one can talk to a course of course, that is of course unless the course is the famous “Supercourse.” Aimed at health science training and research, the site boasts of 42,500 outstanding lectures from 3,200 faculty in over 150 countries. According to my math, this amounts to an average of less than one tenth of a lecture per faculty member on the site. Certainly, it seems, a good deal of the faculty here are solely along for the ride. Perhaps they should be made to carry their own weight. Unfortunately, the lectures appear to be simply copies of PowerPoint slides that one clicks through. There isn’t even audio available. Are these outstanding lectures? Well, the kindest thing I can say is that they are PowerPoints of what are purported to be outstanding lectures. Is Supercourse a super course? I have no recourse but to say this is not a “super” course.

Audio files from different scientists, illustrations, nice web design
None
Rating

Talking Glossary of Genetic Terms
www.genome.gov/glossary
Are you tired of the monotony of looking up words in a dictionary? Do you want more out of your definitions? If so, then look no further than the Talking Glossary of Genetic Terms, through the NIH’s National Human Genome Research Institute. Containing essential genetic lingo from “ACGT” to “Zebrafish,” this is a wonderful tool for students, nonscientists, and researchers alike. In addition to providing a written definition and pronunciation for each word, the glossary also pairs each term with a researcher in the field (though I notice that some people are used multiple times), providing a short bio of the scientist and an audio clip of that person explaining the meaning of the term in his/her own words. Some of the terms are accompanied with an illustration and/or a 3-D animation. After visiting this site, you may forever find yourself unsatisfied with text-only glossaries.

Nice organization and multimedia resources
None
Rating

Tardigrades
tardigrades.bio.unc.edu
Certainly ranking among the most obscure animals, tardigrades (also known as water bears) comprise a phylum of animals that includes over 700 different species. The Goldstein Lab at UNC Chapel Hill wants to tell you not only what tardigrades are, but also why the tardigrade Hypsibius dujardini is an important research model. Dr. Bob Goldstein plans to use this species as a model to study the effects of developmental alterations on the evolution of morphology. On the lab website, one can find a number of intriguing images and videos of this tardigrade, including videos entitled, “water bears walking” and “far too many water bears.” The lab has also posted a number of protocols on the site, as well as links to other tardigrade-centric sites. There is plenty to learn about these tiny tardigrades.

Interesting info
Could be organized a bit better
Rating

Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service
www.parks.tas.gov.au/index.php
When you think “other side of the world,” Tasmania may be what you have in mind. A still wild portion of our planet with numerous exotic species of plants and animals unique on Earth, Tasmania is a biologist’s dream land. A scan through the well-organized and informative Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service site will reveal this quickly. From birds to reptiles to frogs to plants, Tasmania’s fauna and flora are both unique and amazing. Consider that 60% of the alpine species found in this country’s cool, temperate rainforest are found nowhere else on Earth. Tasmania’s Eucalypt forests contain the highest diversity on the land and half of all Eucalypt species are found only on Tasmania. The country appears to be embracing ecotourism and there is hope that that will provide financial incentives to preserve the uniqueness of this magnificent land. A site worth checking out.

Interesting info
Could be organized a bit better
Rating

Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service
www.parks.tas.gov.au/index.php
When you think “other side of the world,” Tasmania may be what you have in mind. A still wild portion of our planet with numerous exotic species of plants and animals unique on Earth, Tasmania is a biologist’s dream land. A scan through the well-organized and informative Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service site will reveal this quickly. From birds to reptiles to frogs to plants, Tasmania’s fauna and flora are both unique and amazing. Consider that 60% of the alpine species found in this country’s cool, temperate rainforest are found nowhere else on Earth. Tasmania’s Eucalypt forests contain the highest diversity on the land and half of all Eucalypt species are found only on Tasmania. The country appears to be embracing ecotourism, and there is hoped that it will provide financial incentives to preserve the uniqueness of this magnificent land. A site worth checking out.

Important topic
Too focused on U. of M.
Rating

Teaching Ethics for Research, Scholarship, and Practice
http://www.research.umn.edu/ethics/
Another broad-based approach to its subject, Teaching Ethics for Research, Scholarship, and Practice (TERSP) believes that ethics is too important to hope that students simply absorb it while studying a subject. Towards the goal of increasing ethics education, the site organizes information according to the following categories: Contacts, Policies, Curriculum, Instructional Materials, and Useful Links. Under each of those categories are large sets of hyperlinks to additional information. While on the surface this is a site aimed at a large audience, a closer inspection gives the impression it is only aimed at researchers at the University of Minnesota, where the site is housed. I’m not sure why this was done and it certainly lessens the appeal of an otherwise useful site.

Well written, breadth
None
Rating

Technology Research News
www.trnmag.com
What you think you’ll see is pretty much what you get here. Organized as a sort of on-line newspaper of technology, “Technology Research News” provides a superb collection of well written, timely articles and more in-depth feature articles. Each makes for fun and (in places) fascinating reading. At the site, you can learn how a quantum computer works, about the latest DNA sequencing biochip only 10 cm across, and about a photochemical process for storing images in liquid. The site provides RSS feeds, numerous options for searching, an extensive article archive, a glossary, a forum, an events directory, a research directory, classified ads and even T-shirts. Whew! I only wonder at the relatively minor oversight of leaving out the kitchen sink. One of the most impressive science news sites I’ve ever seen.

Nice site design and organization
None
Rating

The Barn Owl Trust
www.barnowltrust.org.uk/index.html
Save the barn owl! Save the barn owl! Such are the rallying cries from the members of The Barn Owl Trust, an organization in Britain dedicated to awareness, education, and conservation. The trust’s website is a wonderful place to learn about these beautiful birds such as their ecological role, lifestyle, annual life cycle, and population changes. In addition to all of the resources to make you owl “book smart” there is also much practical knowledge to be gleaned from this site. Tutorials like “how to make and erect a Barn Owl nestbox” and “how to manage land for Barn Owls” will also make you “street smart” if you happen to have these nocturnal neighbors in your area. So go ahead and fly over to this nicely designed and organized website, and see what you can do to save the barn owl! Save the barn owl!

A wide variety of resources for biology teachers, including lesson plans, online tools
Very little advanced material
Rating

The Biology Corner
www.biologycorner.com
The Biology Corner—such an inviting name, wouldn’t you agree? It reminds me of a segment on a children’s educational show. Actually that isn’t too far off, for although directed at a much older audience, The Biology Corner is designed as an educational website with resources for biology and science teachers. Created by a high school biology teacher, the website contains a wide variety of biology and anatomy lesson plans, interactive quizzes, images, and even a nascent video page. In addition to the useful exercises and quizzes for any student of biology looking to brush up on various topics, there are also links to science education websites and tools for teachers (such as tools to create crossword puzzles or Java quizzes). The site is given a personal touch by the creator’s blog, in which she discusses various approaches to teaching specific topics. All in all, the Biology Corner is a great introductory site for neophyte biologists, and is a wonderful resource for teachers.

Excellent coverage of topic
None
Rating

The Bioluminescence Web Page
www.lifesci.ucsb.edu/~biolum
’ve reviewed several bioluminescence sites and was surprised that I hadn’t covered this one previously. It is certainly worthy of mention. With a hierarchical design mixed with general information on the opening page, The Bioluminescence Web Page provides ready access to information. Topic areas include sections of interest specific to researchers, an extensive Q&A section, a well-done and brief treatment of myths/facts, a phylogenetic listing of bioluminescent organisms, many beautiful photos, sections on the chemistry and physiology of bioluminescence, and a lot of general scientific info. The focus at the site is definitely on the scientific side of bioluminescence, but one needn’t be a researcher to find things of interest. An excellent site on a fun topic.

Superbly thought out and written
None
Rating

The Brain From Top to Bottom
thebrain.mcgill.ca
I had to laugh at the opening page of this site, which offered a User’s Guide. Fortunately, my brain already came with one, though many who know me would say I must have misplaced it. I guess the site designers need to be more clear that they were referring to the site, not the brain itself. Silliness aside, this is an amazing set of pages with something for everyone. A rare site that contains a mixture of content appropriate for both the general public and research scientists, The Brain From Top to Bottom tackles its subject from many angles. A strong section of anatomy for beginners is aimed at general users but the evolutionary considerations at the advanced level are appropriate for others. A section on the senses focuses on the eye, and again the coverage from beginner to advanced is superb. I particularly liked the section on sleeping, which taught me something at every level. A wonderful site whose educational quality cannot be overstated.

Pix and educational material
Nothing significant
Rating

The Cephalopod Page
www.thecephalopodpage.org
The personal web page of Dr. James B. Wood, an assistant research scientist at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, The Cephalopod Page pays homage to the fascinating group of oceanic organisms that include the octopus, squid, cuttlefish, and nautilus. Looking at the pictures on the opening page of the site, one is struck at the beauty of the organisms as well as their bizarre body designs. As the site points out, they are indeed an ancient group of organisms, and the literal translation of their name is headfoot. Looking at the octopus, it is clear why they are so named. At The Cephalopod Page, visitors can view phylogeny (with pix), read original articles, download PDF-formatted lessons on cephalopods, and access links to the world of cephalopods. The pictures are worth a trip to the site alone, and the educational content is icing on the cake. A beautiful site, well done.

Educational content
Not tightly focused
Rating

The Cochlea Homepage
147.162.36.50/cochlea/index.htm
Apparently, every single thing in the universe seems to have its own web page, and the cochlea of the inner ear is no exception. In fact, the ear may be the most interesting organ of the body. With its intricate yet delicate structures that facilitate the detection of physical changes resulting from sound waves, the ear is both host to the smallest bone in the body (stirrup) and the most complicated one (temporal bone). The cochlea, which is the subject of this page, is not covered as extensively as I would like. Most of the information at the page relates to the technical structures involved in the sense of hearing, and little is specific to the cochlea itself. The section on Cochlear Mechanics, though, will probably satisfy most junkies on the subject. Information is organized in a sort of tutorial fashion in which subsections within a section are organized as units that one clicks sequentially between. The figures explaining the principles range from simplistic to informative, so the site is a mixed bag. Overall, I’d give it a thumbs-up, but some may disagree.

Educational material
Molecular biological considerations would be welcome
Rating

The Cockroach Home Page
www.bio.umass.edu/biology/kunkel/cockroach.html
If there’s a more unsavory member of many households than the cockroach, I shudder think would it would be. Though they may not be a welcome member of any kitchen, they are, as this site points out, an interesting organism for laboratory research and education. For example, the Madagascar Hissing Cockroach is always a student favorite and their gentle nature makes them perfect for students to handle. Developmentally, cockroaches are of interest in that their growth can be synchronized by feeding. Related to termites, cockroaches are asocial, whereas the former are social. Biologically, their exquisitely sensitive hairs allow them to detect rapid air movements and cue an escape mechanism. You can learn of all these tidbits and more (including an extensive list of researchers who work on these rather unpalatable organisms) at The Cockroach Home Page.

Intriguing idea
Nothing significant
Rating

The Company of Biologists Limited
www.biologists.com/web/index.html
I like the tagline on this one—A charity run by biologists for biologists. The title is a bit misleading, inasmuch as the site provides online scientific research journals via the Open Access Initiative. As the site notes, authors can publish their work free of charge in a traditional publication format or by paying for a subscription-free format that provides visitors completely free access to the material. The site, from the descriptions, appears to be a bit of an experiment, and it sounds like a worthwhile one. Three journals are offered by the publisher: Development, Journal of Cell Science, and The Journal of Experimental Biology. The company also provides travel grants and fellowships of up to $4,000 to postdocs interested in collaborations with other laboratories.

Nice downloadable guides
Limited images, sparse on content in some areas
Rating

The Eumycetozoan Project
slimemold.uark.edu/index.htm
I would wager that the majority of people are unable to pronounce “eumycetozoa” the first time around, let alone define it. Well, to phrase it in more gooey terms, we’re talking about slime molds, folks. On the website for The Eumycetozoan Project through the University of Arkansas, you’ll find a nice introduction to myxomycetes, dictyostelids, and protostelids (collectively, the “true slime molds”), including myxomycete images and taxonomy and nice downloadable guides to dictyostelids and protostelids. The species image gallery contains some beautiful photos, but I certainly hope that they are able to add more images to the current collection of only seven. (There are, however, a number of illustrated drawings.) If still not satisfied after cruising through the information on the site, you’ll find a number of links to other slimy pages under the “educational materials” tab.

Empowering through knowledge
A bit scattered
Rating

The Free Information Society – Knowledge is Power
www.freeinfosociety.com
A fascinating site with two powerful subtitles, “Knowledge is Power” and “Empower Yourself Through Education,” The Free Information Society has its ideals front and center, where they belong. I first discovered the site via the historical recordings it houses, and after poking around I discovered excellent sections on science, technology, and mathematics. It’s a little hard to accurately capture what the site does. There are, for example, simple descriptions of the “how to” variety, basic biographical profiles, and historical perspectives. On the techie side, there are tutorials on computer programming, downloadable source code, and PDFs covering many areas of mathematics describing how to work with various types of equations. To get a full appreciation of the content at the site you’ll need to visit it yourself. I think most readers will find something to like.

Large amount of information, accessible to beginning and experienced developmental biologists
None
Rating

The Interactive Fly
www.sdbonline.org/fly/aimain/1aahome.htm
If your only interactions with flies have entailed a flyswatter or rolled-up newspaper, then perhaps you should expand your horizons and partake in some nonviolent relations with this six-legged creature. The Interactive Fly, accessible through the Society for Developmental Biology, is an amazing resource for developmental biologists as well as people looking for an introduction to the field. There is basic introductory material located under the “If you are new to developmental biology” link, and there is also very complex, detailed gene information within the Gene Index. You’ll be bug-eyed as you explore the vast amount of material contained within the pages of this site, including images of gene-expression patterns, information about tissue and organ development, and study aids. So make friends with Drosophila and spend some quality time together on this website.

Clever idea
A litle light
Rating

the Laws List
www.alcyone.com/max/physics/laws
Those crazy physicists. When will they learn the bounds of their domain? Physicists tend to take a wider view of physics than nonphysicists. Perhaps the nonphysicists need to wake up and realize that disciplines like chemistry and biophysics actually borrow significantly from physics. In any event, one of the excellent byproducts of this broad perspective is on view here. The Laws List is a very simple idea. The site simply tallies up a list of laws and arranges descriptions of them alphabetically. Visitors to the site click on a letter and then see a list of laws beginning with that letter. Yes, most of the laws will be seen as pure physics (Faraday’s law, Pauli Exclusion Principle, Planck’s Radiation law), but others will have connections with engineering (Pascal’s Principle), chemistry (Avogadro’s law), and even biophysics (Bragg’s law). This is a dandy little resource, and a quick read of it may help users brush up on their laws of science.

Organization of information
Difficult navigation
Rating

The Living World of Molluscs
www.weichtiere.at/english/index.html
Holy malacological mayhem, Batman! We’ve got a lot of molluscs on our hands with this website. The site’s author, Robert Nordsieck, has a passion for snails—and it shows! Inspired by his early snail interest (and by the fact that many of his beloved childhood snail books are no longer in print), he created The Living World of Molluscs. Not only does the site provide an introduction to molluscs in general, it also offers information about the various mollusc classes (snails and slugs versus squids, for example). A nice collection of links complements the material on the site, and some print resources are also suggested. (Yes, actual books!) Navigation on the site is a bit difficult, as the main sidebar disappears once you click on a specific mollusc class. The information itself is nicely organized, however, and it appears that the author is continually searching to add to the page.

Extensive coverage
None
Rating

The National Science Digital Library
nsdl.org
I reviewed the National Science Digital Library (NSDL) several years ago, but looking at the site, it appears to be time for an update. Time has treated the NSDL well, with new additions such as iTunes U, with access to audio, video, and multimedia resources for science/ math education through Apple’s iTunes Store. Other new features of the site include the Expert Voices Blog and the NSDL Wiki. The NSDL still contains excellent resources, such as literacy maps (tools for locating NSDL materials), science refresher courses, an enormous searchable library, and miscellaneous things such as meeting and seminar information. Resources for college faculty are superb, covering Applied Math, Biology, Chemistry, Computational Sciences, Engineering, Materials Sciences, Math, and Physics/Astronomy. Within each of the subsections, visitors will discover a wealth of useful content for the classrooms. A great resource for education that just keeps getting better.

Good coverge of topic
Could have broader scope, better figures
Rating

The Organometallic HyperTextBook Index
www.ilpi.com/organomet/index.html
Here’s a site I covered back in the early days of this column, and like many of us with our physicians, it is long overdue for a checkup. Having grown considerably in the past few years, The Organometallic HyperTextBook Index retains its basic philosophy of a descriptive name and a focus on organometallic chemistry while expanding its coverage of this important topic. With over 50 topic areas, some of which were frustratingly unlinked, the site takes no prisoners in its efforts. Individual topic descriptions contain figures, even though they may be a bit primitive, and hyperlinks to other articles. I’d like to see at least a few things at the site aimed at nonresearchers to help increase knowledge of the topic. Otherwise, a very useful site for practitioners.

Very well written
Nothing significant
Rating

The Science of Spectroscopy
scienceofspecroscopy.info
A site that starts with the musical question, "What is a WIKI," the Science of Spectroscopy site is a part of the Open Spectrum WIKI effort that represents an interesting attempt to build collaborative education projects. As defined at the site, a WIKI "can be thought of as a combination of a Web site and a Word document." It is a document to which multiple registered users can contribute and for which history can be tracked. The document is visible on the Web and can be easily viewed in a browser. The idea here is that teachers can register as users to be given editing permission and students can read the results. Topic areas covered include a wide variety of applications, techniques, and theory relative to spectroscopy. The writing is good and appropriate for students in college. An excellent educational effort that I will use with some of my classes.

High quality images
Very narrow topic
Rating

The Sea Slug Watchers
homepage1.nifty.com/InTooDeep/HTML_E/index_E.html
You’re probably asking yourself, “Is that title right?” Well, I’m happy to report that it is, in fact, correct. Sea Slug Watchers appears to refer to anyone interested in sea slugs, so if you’ve read this far, you probably qualify as a watcher. Sea slugs, it seems, are oceanic versions of the slugs that crawl across our gardens, though the former are much more colorful than the latter. At Sea Slug Watchers, visitors can view numerous images of species, watch movies, get tips on photographing the organisms, and read descriptions of how to find them. The designer of the site appears to have English as a second language, so some of the descriptions range from confusing to amusing. One thing that definitely comes through is that the person who wrote everything on the site definitely loves these unusual organisms and has a gift for photographing them.

Educational value
For nerds?
Rating

The Second Law of Thermodynamics
www.secondlaw.com
Most of us probably remember that the second law of thermodynamics relates entropy to disorder in the universe, but that is probably about it, if you're not a physical chemist, an engineer, or a biophysicist. This site may turn your perspective of the second law on its ear. How about the following as a description of the second law; "Energy spontaneously disperses from being localized to becoming spread out if it is not hindered from doing so." That is as concise a description of the second law as you may find. With an interest in educating visitors about the second law, this informative site provides an approachable way of looking at thermodynamics that is both refreshing and insightful. Written by Frank Lambert at Occidental College in L.A., The Second Law of Thermodynamics is a welcome alternative view of an otherwise dull subject that will open a few eyes.

Educational content
Needs less space devoted to the society
Rating

The Society for the Study of Evolution
www.evolutionsociety.org
I’ll be glad when the day comes that the principles of evolution are accepted routinely by non-scientists, just like the acceptance the Intelligent Designers have for scientific advancements like medicine, iPods, and the Internet. Until that happens, however, it is important for scientists to stay on top of this topic and lend support wherever they can. In that direction, The Society for the Study of Evolution stands as an important icon. Founded in 1946, the society hosts a site mostly dedicated to the workings and mechanics of the organization, but a few sections of the site are of more general interest. They include educational resources for K-12, links to other resources, a white paper on evolutionary biology (excellently written), and important statements on the study and teaching of evolution. A welcome set of resources from a very reputable source.

Good instructional and reference resources, nice organization
None
Rating

The Wired Chemist
www.wiredchemist.com
No, this website isn’t about a scientist on a caffeine high. Rather, this site contains a collection of wonderful electronic resources to teach chemistry. Material is organized into the general topics of chemistry, mineralogy, environmental, and NMR, and within each category there are a variety of subdivisions. These include, among others, instructional animations, problem sets, and laboratory exercises. A particular strength of this site is that it appeals to a wide audience, realizing that we are all “students of chemistry” in some capacity. Just because you’ve outgrown the lecture hall doesn’t mean you can’t find value in this site. The database of various NMR spectra, the annually updated bibliography of spectroscopic literature, and the list of employment and funding opportunities are just some of the resources targeted toward the professional. So I say, grab a cup of coffee and enjoy being a Wired Chemist!

Entertaining
Needs a different format
Rating

This Week in Science Podcasts
www.podcastdirectory.com/podcasts/index.php?iid=834
If there is a single word that historians will use to refer to the first decade of the 21st century, it may well turn out to be podcast. Let’s hope it isn’t blogging. Podcasts are the hottest thing in communications since the Internet itself. With podcasts making inroads with traditional publishing interests (GEN offers a podcast, for example), there are a lot to keep track of. Enter This Week in Science Podcasts, which aims to serve the scientific segment of this new communication. While the site itself scores major points for broad coverage, even beyond science, its organization leaves a bit to be desired. The science broadcasts are mp3s, involving a couple of talking heads and the format is simply conversational—sort of a %Tonight Show%. While the topics are interesting, the coverage could be better, much better.

Good coverage
A bit disorganized
Rating

Thyroid Disease Manager
www.thyroidmanager.org
Speaking of endocrine disease, it probably doesn't get more pertinent than problems relating to the thyroid. Funded by an "unrestricted educational grant" from Abbott Laboratories, maker of a thyroid medication, Thyroid Disease Manager provides visitors with some tightly organized information in the format of a hyperlinked book. Chapters in the book include everything from basic thyroid physiology to Graves' disease. Other sections of the site cover news, continuing medical education, and an informative (though somewhat disorganized) "Ask an Expert" section that answers submitted questions. Most of these appeared to be from physicians, amazingly enough, suggesting that the advice was definitely expert, to say the least.

Very good quality
Non-downloadable videos
Rating

UC Berkeley Video and Podcasts for Courses and Events
http://webcast.berkeley.edu
Thinking of beefing up your general undergraduate education? Better yet, do you know someone who would like to do so, but can’t afford to go to school? If so, then the UC Berkeley site above will be of interest. Similar to other efforts at MIT Open Courseware initiative (ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm), but with more multimedia content, the UC Berkeley Webcast page provides podcast (downloadable mp3 audio) and/or Webcast (streaming Real video) for its courses on a term-by-term basis. The most recently listed term had 45 courses ranging from general biology to general biochemistry (and many others, to boot). The choice of Real video is unfortunate, because it requires streaming, but the quality of the videos is nice. I use videos (QuickTime) that can be downloaded for my classes (see here - oregonstate.edu/instruction/bb350/schedule.html), but the quality of my videos pales, due to lack of a dedicated cameraperson. Thus, there’s a bit of yin and yang at the UC Berkeley site. Overall, though, who can complain about free education?

Breadth of coverage
Nothing significant
Rating

UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program
www.ipm.ucdavis.edu
Make no mistake about what this site is all about. Its top headline says it all, “How to Manage Pests.” Hosted by the University of California’s Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program, this informative site aims to make ecosystem-based management central to their strategy. Toward this end, they have spent a considerable amount of time and effort organizing their information and writing detailed descriptions that will surely educate visitors. Pest management is divided into categories of Homes, Agriculture/Floriculture, Natural Environments, and Exotic/Invasive Pests. Maybe it’s me, but the very nature of a pest would seem to be invasive. Considerations are given for the weather, and additional information on items like grants and funded projects is available for scientists working in the field. An informative news section (though not up to the minute) rounds out the superb offerings.

Reader-friendly, accessible by a wide audience
None
Rating

Understanding Cancer
www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/understandingcancer
Cancer has sadly become a fixture in today’s society, and with its prevalence comes the medical vernacular: metastasis, angiogenesis, routine screenings, radiation therapies, and on, and on. If you find yourself getting lost in it all (and you’re not alone), be sure to take advantage of the National Cancer Institute’s “Understanding Cancer” series. There are 14 topics in the series, ranging from blood stem cell transplants to HPV vaccine, and each topic comes in the form of presentation slides and accompanying notes. For some of the topics, the powerpoint presentation or pdf can be downloaded. The information is accessible for anybody interested in learning more about cancer, from the general public, to science students, to scientists. The colorful, graphic-rich slides are both interesting and informative, shedding light on topics that you might often hear on the news, but you may not fully understand in the context of today’s medical climate.

Various resources including images, PowerPoint presentations, and animation
Animations are slow to load
Rating

University of Delaware Histology
www.udel.edu/biology/Wags/histopage/histopage.htm
Alkaline phosphatase, cresyl violet, Nissl stains—such are the components that make up the histological rainbow, the stains used to visualize various anatomical and cellular features in tissue samples. Drs. Roger C. Wagner and Fred E. Hossler of the University of Delaware have put together a nice website, complementing their mammalian histology course, that showcases a large number of histological samples in all of their colorful brilliance. Color histological sections are organized by tissue type or organ system, although they are only one of the interesting features of this website. The PowerPoint presentations for each lecture are also posted on the site, and there are also some transmission and scanning electron micrographs. For the more motion-oriented reader, there are a number of animated sequences of 3-D biological models, although one will need to be patient as the large files load.

Thorough approach
Most parts need beefing up
Rating

Virtual Chembook
http://www.elmhurst.edu/~chm/vchembook/
Speaking of virtual content online, Virtual Chembook is a sprawling effort from Elmhurst University that goes beyond the bounds of chemistry. Like the site before it, the opening page is decidedly uninspired visually, but at least it is not gray (it is light blue). On it, in table form are topic areas arranged in three main categories (General Chemistry, Organic/Biochemistry, and Miscellaneous). Underneath those are dozens of sub-topics, including Solutions/Solubility, Molecular Geometry, Carbohydrates, Enzymes, Global Warming, and Drug Chemistry, among many others. Clicking on sub-topics brings up primary information, which is adequate, but not as in-depth as that in the previous site and of limited use for teaching, other than for parenthetical, basic information. While the Virtual Chembook in sum is good, the individual sub-sections are somewhat lacking, making yet another case where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Informative
Needs more breadth
Rating

Welcome to Flavivirus!!!
www.stanford.edu/group/virus/1999/asb-flavi/flavivirus.htm
You’d think from the multiexclamation point title that flaviviruses were something to be happy about. Sadly, that is not the case. Responsible for major human diseases like yellow fever, dengue, encephalitis, and hepatitis C, the flaviviruses are a serious group of pathogens. As pointed out on the site, flaviviruses contain a single, linear, positive sense RNA with sizes of about 10–11 kilobases (the site incorrectly identifies them as kilobase pairs). All flaviviruses are transmitted by arthropods, except hepatitis C, which is spread through contaminated body fluids. The site, which was created for a class at Stanford by Robert Siegel, is notable for a simple design but has suffered a bit by sacrificing breadth for simplicity. The pages, nevertheless, are informative reads.

Broad coverage
Slow forward of links
Rating

Wild Plants of Malta – Main Page
www.maltawildplants.com
Speaking of niches (both environmental and web-based), the Wild Plants of Malta site scores big-time for providing a beautiful and informative perspective of life on this distant land. Created by Stephen Mifsud, the site entices visitors on the opening page with an attractive slide show of beautiful and exotic plants. Subcategories lead to an expansive Wild Plant Index (unfortunately crammed onto a single massive page), Color Index (organization by color of flower), and a Search Page. Links within the subcategories frequently led to an annoying message about being forwarded to a new link in seconds, followed by the wait for this to happen. Why do site designers do this? Why not just automatically forward? But I digress. Other features of the site include a botanical glossary, lists of endemic plants and protected species, and posting of users comments (almost universally favorable). Though there are a few annoyances at the site they are more than outweighed by the massive amount of useful botanical information available.

Nice introduction to virology
Bland appearance, lack of links/additional resources
Rating

Wong’s Virology
virology-online.com/index.html
Don’t be fooled by the stark appearance of this website (and don’t get too distracted by the pulsating orb—virus particle?—that appears at the top of the homepage). Wong’s Virology offers much more than it initially appears, including background information on virology topics like viral replication, viral immunology, and vaccines. The Individual Viruses page is teeming with information about, well, individual viruses (go figure). Containing information about 31 separate viruses/groups of viruses, this page is a great resource if you’re looking to brush up on, say, adenoviruses or hantaviruses. As Dr. Wong, a medical virologist, is “extensively involved” in teaching virology, there are also study tools like complete PowerPoint slide presentations (though without accompanying notes) and practice exam questions and answers. For any student of virology, and anybody wishing to become one, this site presents basic virology information that is both accessible and interesting.

Effective communication tools
Mostly eye candy
Rating

World Mapper
http://www.sasi.group.shef.ac.uk/worldmapper/index.html
By adulthood, we have all had at least one of those moments where something happened and, as a result, we never looked at the world the same way again. I thought of that when I discovered this unusual site. As a matter of fact, its entire focus is designed to make you look at the world totally differently. The idea here is to present quantitative information in an unorthodox manner, specifically to use information about various countries and then to scale the size of each country proportional to the magnitude of the relevant value for that country. Projected on a world map, the result will cause you to see the world differently. The advantage of this approach, as I see it, is that we are reminded in the perspectives shown of how what we do stacks up with the rest of the world. That isn’t a bad thing.

Great idea, ambitious program
Not much for outsiders
Rating

WSSP
http://avery.rutgers.edu/WSSP/Begin/index.html
No, those aren’t the call letters of a TV station, but instead the acronym for the Waksman Student Scholars Program, a effort at Rutgers University (funded at least partly by GE) to immerse high school students in molecular genetics laboratories with the aim of helping them to better understand the subject. It appears to be quite ambitious, if the projects listed online that students perform are any indication. Each year, students tackle a new research problem and assemble their data as a team. For example the project for 07/08 is “genomic analysis of the brine shrimp Artemia fanciscana, and how the genes in this organism compare to other species.” Students actually isolate DNA from this previously unsequenced organism, determine the sequences, analyze them, and upload them to international sequence databases. Wow! Where was this program back in the dark ages when I was a high school student? I would have given anything to work on a project like this. It should be noted that most of the content at the site is password protected, so the data is only available to participants, but if you’re in the Rutgers area, you may want to investigate the possibility of having your children participate in the effort.

*The opinions expressed are solely those of the author(s) and should not be construed as reflecting the viewpoints of the publisher, Genetic Engineering News, the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishing house, or employees or affiliates thereof.
Suggestions of websites for review are welcome and should be addressed to .

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