Science of Gardening

This site from the Exploratorium in San Francisco, California has information on everything from the bacteria that maintain soil fertility to the origins of modern plant varieties. One section explores the relationship between plants and their pollinators with mock love letters between the parties, followed by a scientific explanation of what’s happening.

Neurotransmitter.net

This site tells you what you should read to get up to speed on neuroscience, psychology, and pharmacology. Created by graduate student Shawn Thomas of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, the site offers compilations of abstracts from recent papers that introduce topics from autism genetics to the connection between migraines and the neurotransmitter glutamate. Some entries link to the full-text articles. Other offerings include a listing of drugs under study for depression, anxiety, and other mental disorders. You can also browse MetaDB, which links to more than 1000 biological databases on everything from mammalian brain anatomy to the genome of the hepatitis C virus.

Genetic Science Learning Center

From stem cells to gene chips, from prions to cloning, genetics and biotechnology can look complex to high school and college students. Beginners can ease into these subjects at this site, a tutorial from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Primers include topics from DNA structure to the different types of stem cells. Animations illustrate techniques such as microarray analysis and investigate questions such as how cystic fibrosis upsets the ion balance in lung cells.

Southwest Exotic Plant Information Clearinghouse

Barcode of Life Initiative

At this site, hosted by the University of Guelph in Canada, you can read up on the concept of using barcodes to speed the identification of species. The site already holds codes for more than 13,000 animal species. The codes, based on different sequences of the cytochrome c oxidase I gene in mitochondria, encompass 260 species of North American birds and a selection of insects. Users can compare a bar code from their specimen to the entries in the database. The site will soon contain about one-fifth of North American butterflies and moths.

List of Bacterial Names with Standing in Nomenclature

This site was compiled by microbiologist J. P. Euzéby of the École Nationale Vétérinaire in Toulouse, France. The site has more than 7000 valid species names. The entries include references to the original description, comments on nomenclature difficulties, and other information.

The Physiology of the Senses

This tutorial from Tutis Vilis of the University of Western Ontario in Canada offers 12 animated chapters on the basics of vision, hearing, and the other senses, along with topics such as memory. Students can probe the workings of the vestibular system in the inner ear, which maintains our balance, or learn how receptors in the skin transform pressure into the sensation of being touched. The chapters also include exercises demonstrating concepts such as working memory, the mental scratch pad for temporarily storing information.

West Nile Virus Maps

The mosquito-borne disease of West Nile fever first struck the United States in 1999. You can track this year's outbreak using a mapper from the U.S. Geological Survey. Updated twice weekly during prime mosquito months, the site charts human cases, along with reports of infected birds, horses, and sentinels (chickens or other animals that scientists test regularly to reveal the disease’s presence). You can also chart where mosquitoes carrying the virus have turned up. An archive lets you compare this season's results to those from past years.

April 14, 2008

The Virtual Fossil Museum

This site, created by Roger Perkins of Jefferson, Arkansas, offers a gallery of fossil photos. Users can browse by taxonomic group or by fossil location. Another section profiles famous sites such as the Chengjiang formation in China, which contains remains of some of the earliest known animals, and the fossil-rich Bundenbach site in Germany. You can use the museum's images, which come from fossil collectors, researchers, and other contributors, for research and education purposes.

http://www.fossilmuseum.net/

April 7, 2008

SweetDB

Carbohydrates are now getting attention because of their roles in immunity, cancer, and other processes. Basic carbohydrate data is at this site from the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg. Search by categories such as molecular formula, classification, and full or partial structure. You’ll find a 3D image of the molecule, predicted peaks for mass spectroscopy, a list of references, and other results. For more information, use the site’s bibliography of carbohydrate publications.

March 31, 2008

Emiliania huxleyi Home Page

Individual cells of the protist Emiliania huxleyi are so tiny that researchers can barely see them with a light microscope. But E. huxleyi has a large impact on the planet. This site offers expert information on the cells’ anatomy, reproduction, ecology, and other topics. The site also includes a gallery of delicate E. huxleyi shells, a bibliography, and a link to NASA satellite photos of E. huxleyi blooms.

March 24, 2008

R. A. Fisher Digital Archive

Stephen Jay Gould dubbed R. A. Fisher “the Babe Ruth of statistics and evolutionary theory.” A British geneticist and mathematician, Fisher (1890-1962) earned the review with achievements from inventing the analysis of variance to helping mesh natural selection and genetics, which many scientists in the early 1900s believed were incompatible. At this site you can browse more than 170 of Fisher’s publications, which probe questions such as the origin of dominant genes and the inheritance of the Rh blood groups. Fisher’s correspondence lets you follow along as he discusses heredity, natural selection, and other topics with thinkers such as Charles Darwin’s son Leonard, a soldier and scientist. Fisher’s papers also reveal what Gould called one of his “major-league errors,” his campaign to discredit the link between smoking and lung cancer. A pipe smoker, Fisher argued that we needed stronger evidence “before plant[ing] fear in the minds of perhaps 100 million smokers around the world.”

March 17, 2008

HowStuffWorks.com

If you’re wondering what goes on in a CD burner or how the drug Botox erases wrinkles, check out this Web site. It is packed with ads, but beyond them you’ll find hundreds of brief articles on autos, electronics, health, and science (mostly written by nonscientists). Brush up on how fuel cells work, read about the chemicals inside fireworks, or get a quick overview of diabetes.

March 10, 2008

Apoptosis

Videos of suicidal cells and images such as the “death receptor” add to this Web site by Phil Dash of St. George’s Hospital Medical School in London. Embedded in a cell’s membrane, the receptor picks up the suicide signal and unleashes enzymes, which help orchestrate the cell’s demise.

March 3, 2008

The Micropolitan Museum

Many photos hang in the online galleries of this Web site. The site work of Wim van Egmond, an artist and photographer in the Netherlands, are displayed. He has trained his camera on everything from pond-dwelling water mites to the glasslike skeleton of a sponge to mats of cyanobacteria. Learn more about some of these creatures by linking to the magazine Micscape, which features articles written by enthusiasts of the small.

February 25, 2008
African Crop Improvement

Africa has the fastest-growing population, and ways to hike food production may be found at this site. The home page of a Rockefeller Foundation research grants program, the site offers information on the needs of African agriculture, biotechnology, and related topics. Backgrounders on important crops such as bananas, cassava, and sorghum describe the plant’s origins and uses and identify research priorities. Links include the bean and millet genome projects. A news section posts media reports and press releases on the latest developments, and you can share ideas with fellow researchers on the new message board.

February 18, 2008

Botany: Home Page

This federal government portal helps you to locate hundreds of quality botany Web sites. The annotated links – from a single page on paleobotany to an algae taxonomy database – include many useful sites for teachers. Check out the anatomy of a fern’s leaf, learn about the diseases of forage crops, or read Gregor Mendel’s original 1865 paper on plant hybridization that revolutionized genetics.
http://www.nbii.gov/portal/community/Communities/Plants,_Animals_&_Other_Organisms/Botany/

February 11, 2008

Whatever Happened to Polio?

At this Web site you can look back and learn about the vaccines that helped stamp out polio in the United States. The site, which accompanies an exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution, marks the 50th anniversary of the polio vaccine. It offers period photos, audio clips from polio survivors, and other resources that chart the disease's wrenching impact on society and families. You can also learn about Jonas Salk’s and Albert Sabin’s vaccines. A final section looks at current efforts to eradicate polio from the few countries where it remains.

http://americanhistory.si.edu/polio/

February 4, 2008
World Wind 1.4

This Web site allows adventurers to swoop past Japan’s Mount Fuji, trace the fractures in a Greenland iceberg, or zoom in on their houses from high altitudes. The software from NASA’s Ames Research Center knits together satellite images and elevation data, letting users chart spectacular virtual trips. For major U.S. cities, the program features 25-centimeters-per-pixel color images. Black-and-white aerial photographs and topographic maps capture the rest of the country. You can also overlay the latest temperature and cloud-cover measurements and summon data on fires, floods, storms, and volcanic activity. You’ll need Windows, a 3-D graphics card, and a 1.4 gigahertz or faster processor.

January 28, 2008

Arctic Report Card 2007

It was big news when the amount of Arctic sea ice reached a record low during the summer of 2007. At this site, pole watchers can track other environmental changes in the far north. The site, from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, updates last year’s State of the Arctic report by offering brief, peer-reviewed articles on variables such as air temperature and the mass of Greenland’s ice sheet. As one entry reveals, a “hot spot” where temperatures are 3° to 4°C above average has edged closer to Europe from its previous position in eastern Siberia. Overall, the Arctic continues to heat up, but the site notes that not all measures follow the trend. For instance, permafrost temperatures appear to be leveling off.

January 21, 2008
USGS National Wetlands Research Center

This site offers fact sheets on topics such as mangroves and climate change as well as the nutria, a ratlike invasive species. An online library includes reports documenting the ecology and habitat needs of more than 100 coastal wetland residents, from the black abalone to the yellowtail snapper.

January 14, 2008
Genographic Project
In April 2005, the National Geographic Society and IBM announced a project to produce a sharper picture of human migrations by analyzing DNA samples from 100,000 people. This site is contains lavishly illustrated backgrounders on genetics and migrations. A timeline depicts what we know about the human expansion from Africa beginning about 60,000 years ago. Another section explains how to send in your DNA and find out where your ancestors originated. Genealogical curiosity will cost you $99.95 plus shipping for the test kit.

The Brain From Top To Bottom

This site comes in several languages and three levels. It is very interactive and allows those interested in the morphology or physiology of the brain to get a great base of knowledge.