10/23/00
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As you make up your minds for the coming election, you are sure to be interested in the impact on science. Here are a couple of websites that may help inform you of the candidates issues on this vital subject:
Any sources I missed?
As you may know, the NSF Library purchases multiple copies of the magazines Science and Nature so that they can be routed. When our patrons are done with them, instead of dumping them into the recycling barrel, we give them to the American Chemical Society, which runs a wonderful program called Project Bookshare. This charity redistributes science texts and journals to needy libraries around the world. They do ask that the items be in good condition and that they be of recent vintage – they aren't interested in items that are out of date. The program is run by Dr. J. Torio who says:
“Project Bookshare can receive and distribute to appropriate recipient institutions ACS journals of any vintage (old and current) from ACS members. I'm not knowledgeable about policies on such matters for other professional societies' publications. But, if the proposed donor sees no problem, I would welcome your letting the NSF folks know of the critical need for scientific publications in so many countries around the world. Project Bookshare recipients are chemistry-degree granting institutions; however, we do accept professional journals from other sciences, i.e., biology, physics, etc., and mathematics. The overseas recipients really like dictionaries, maps, etc. If it's not nailed down, we find a home for it!”
Note that if the journal has a different subscription rate for personal as opposed to institional subscriptions, there may be problems donating your personal copies to libraries and other institutions. If you are cleaning your office and just hate to throw those good journals away, and think Project Bookshare might be interested, please contact Dr. Torio at j_torio@acs.org
Special request, keep a keen eye for past issues and more recent issues of NEW REPUBLIC as a particular Bookshare recipient library seeks same. Recent donations have gone to libraries in Thailand, Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger, Romania, and Cyprus, as well as to a few particularly distressed libraries closer to home.
The New York Times has updated its website at: http://www.nytimes.com/. This requires a free registration, but now you can access full text of articles for the current day and up to two weeks previous to the current date. Obtaining full text of older articles requires a payment, or you can just come down to the NSF Library. We keep 30 days in hard copy, and can also print full text for any article since June 1980 using the Lexis/Nexis system.
If you register for this opportunity, you'll have FREE access to ten years' worth of research in key subject areas (over 100,000 articles) from 30 of our titles. This offer runs from now until 22 December 2000.
The journals available for FREE are as follows:
All of these journals boast original and high-quality research thanks to a peer-review process that is second to none and, being a not-for-profit publisher, IOP prides themselves on extremely competitive and fair pricing – two good reasons why we feel that our titles should have a place on your shelves.
See for yourself by registering for this unique opportunity today. Please then pass the good news onto your library users and let them know how to register.
Lucy Pearce
Electronic Journals Product Manager
Institute of Physics Publishing
The following article is reprinted from Free Pint (ISSN 1460-7239) the free email newsletter with tips and articles on using the Web for your work. More details available at http://www.freepint.co.uk/
TIPS AND TECHNIQUES
http://www.freepint.co.uk/issues/051000.htm#tips
“Influence of the Internet on the Patent Process”
By Caryn Wesner-Early
As with many other fields, the area of patents has undergone a number of changes because of the Internet. Some aspects of patents have become easier, such as finding patent information, and some have become more difficult, such as the whole issue of business method patents.
Finding patent information is easier now than it has ever been. Most countries with a patent office have at least a presence on the Web, and many countries, including the US, have very complete and helpful sites. At the US Patent Office's site <http://www.uspto.gov/> it is possible to find issued US patents, with drawings, back to 1976, and efforts are underway to bring the rest of the records, back to 1790, online as soon as possible. The British Library has put up an excellent gateway site for international patents called “Links to patent and other intellectual property information resources” at <http://www.bl.uk/services/stb/etalmenu.html>.
Law firms and other companies also put up very complete and helpful patent-related sites. The Delphion Intellectual Property Network (formerly the IBM Patent Server) at <http://patent.womplex.ibm.com/> provided access to images of issued US patents (back to 1971) before the US Patent Office site did. They offer a very powerful search engine, and patents may be printed out, or, if a better quality is needed, purchased. Recently the site has added international patent search capabilities, including European and Japanese. Law firms and universities put up sites full of articles, essays and advice for patent searchers and inventors.
Before submitting a patent application, an inventor must perform a search for prior art (that is, previous related inventions). Literature searching for prior art is easier than ever because of the Internet. Many databases, such as MEDLINE (useful for drug and medical device searches) are free of charge, while many others, such as those put up by Elsevier, ProQuest, and IEEE are available by subscription.
Other help for inventors comes from the aforementioned national patent offices and company-sponsored sites, but inventors also use the Internet to help each other. Inventor-sponsored sites, such as the Patent Cafe at <http://www.patentcafe.com/>, offer advice from people who've “been there, done that” on everything from choosing a patent attorney to appealing a case.
One of the biggest changes in the patent scene is the subject of business method patents. While this was becoming an issue before the Internet really became a player, it has mushroomed in the past few years. Software, which used to be copyrighted, began to be patented in the mid-1980s, and, in the wake of software patents, automated methods of doing business have also begun to be patented. Many procedures which have been a part of business for decades, if not centuries, are being automated and patented. This leads to difficulty in defining prior art for computer-aided business methods – does the same procedure count as prior art if it used to be done with a pencil and paper? Finding prior art on computer-related patents is difficult as well because of the blinding speed of the Internet and other computer developments. Many methods have come into use without being patented just because they made sense and it would be too expensive and/or time-consuming to bother with a patent or because the originator was part of the Open Source movement. If someone later applies for a patent on such a business method it is often difficult to track down whether the specific method has already been in use, and if so, by whom and for how long.
Illustrative of this are some high-profile recent cases. For instance, last fall Amazon.com took competitors by surprise by getting a patent on their “one-click” order method. Despite claims that this system had been in use for months, at least, by other sites, Amazon was successful in forcing competitors to discontinue use of similar systems. For exhaustive discussion of the Amazon patent and related issues, see the Patents DevCenter at <http://www.oreillynet.com/patents/>.
Changes in the patent system, both good and bad, are certain to continue for the foreseeable future. For every free prior art database there is an explosion of more and more information that needs to be searched. For every information and advice site put up to help inventors and patent attorneys make sense of regulations there is a change in regulation or interpretation. “Internet time” has become a factor in discussing terms of patents (for example, Jeff Bezos, during the excitement over the Amazon patents, suggested that software and business method patents should only be issued for a term of five years, rather than the usual 17-20). There is no predicting what changes may come in the future; all that is certain is that inventors, attorneys and patent offices will be running along behind trying to make sense of them.
These two are complementary – each site has terms that the other one doesn't have:
Caryn Wesner-Early is a librarian, contracted to the US Patent and Trademark Office Scientific and Technical Information Center. Her hobbies are reading and cats, and she maintains a personal Web page at <http://321website.com/members/home/data/caryn/main_html.htm>.
More information on patents can be found at:
Patents and Trademarks – LSU Library Webliography
http://www.lib.lsu.edu/sci/ptdl/int-prop.html
Created and maintained by the Louisiana State University Library, this bibliography of Web resources concentrates on patent and trademark sources. One in a collection of Webliographies, Patents and Trademarks offers a compendium of resources organized by topic. The Websites include links to other patent and trademark sites, general information, government and non-government organizations, and online journals. While this is certainly a solid collection of resources, the links would be enhanced by short reviews or annotations for the resources. [EM] (From the Scout Report)
2000 Nobel Prizes [RealPlayer, .pdf]
http://www.nobel.se/announcement/2000/index.html
Ig Nobel Prizes [RealPlayer] (From the Scout Report)
http://www.improbable.com./ig/ig-top.html
Over the past week, the Nobel Foundation has announced the winners of its 2000 prizes, beginning
with the prize for Physiology or Medicine and culminating with the Peace Prize this morning. This
year's Peace Prize was awarded to Kim Dae Jung “for his work for democracy and human rights
in South Korea and in East Asia in general, and for peace and reconciliation with North Korea in
particular.” Press releases, general and advanced information, related links, and archived
webcasts of the announcements are available for each of the winners at the Nobel site. On October
5, the tenth annual Ig Nobel awards ceremony was held at Harvard University. The Ig Nobel awards
honor individuals whose achievements “cannot or should not be reproduced.” This year's
illustrious winners include, in the Physics category, Andre Geim of the University of Nijmegen
(the Netherlands) and Sir Michael Berry of Bristol University (UK) for using magnets to levitate
a frog and a sumo wrestler, and the Peace award goes to the British Royal Navy, for ordering its
sailors to stop using live cannon shells, and to instead just shout “Bang!” A complete
list of winners with links to further information is provided at the site, along with previous
winners and an archived webcast of this and past year's ceremonies (free registration required).
[MD] (From the Scout Report)
Their Stamp on History – exploring the lives of important people featured on postage stamps.
http://www.stamponhistory.com/
These stamps are sorted by activity, so you can check out the scientists and engineers. There
aren't a lot here, but hopefully the site will grow. Some biographies are available as well.
SciTech Daily
http://www.scitechdaily.com/
Sister site to the New Zealand-based Arts & Letters Daily, a source of literary and cultural
news, SciTech Daily wants to be your intelligent filter for science and technology journalism.
Smart editors provide quick, articulate links to newswires, newspapers, a myriad of magazines
(from “American Scientist” to “Wired”), and other arcane resources. A
recent look at the front page led us to interviews with science fiction writer Ursula LeGuin and
“Sims” creator Will Wright, articles on the ecological impact of shade-grown coffee,
and musings on artificial intelligence. (From Yahoo's Picks of the Week)
Popular Science – 50 Best of the Web
http://www.popsci.com/features/bow00/index.html
Popular Science has recently released the 2000 version of its annual listing of
the Web's best science sites. The 50 sites are listed in ten categories, including visual science,
science learning, the universe, and high technology, among others. Each site receives a brief
review, and special features (video, audio, plug-ins, etc.) are noted. The sites included are not
necessarily new; a number of them have appeared in the Scout Reports and other places,
but they are all high quality resources worthy of notice. [MD] (From the Scout Report)
The Engines of Our Ingenuity
http://www.uh.edu/engines/
This searchable site contains the full transcripts of all 1550+ radio programs of the same
title written and hosted by John Lienhard and broadcast on KUHF-FM, Houston. It “tells the
story of how our culture is formed by human creativity. The program uses the record of history to
reveal the way art, technology, and ideas have shaped us. Topics range from cable cars to Civil
War submarines, from the connection between Romantic poets and Victorian science to the invention
of the bar code.” – dl (From Librarian's Index to the Internet)
General Multilingual Environmental Thesaurus (GEMET)
http://www.epa.gov/oiamount/termsys.htm
The GEMET Approach (v 2.0) [.pdf]
http://www2.mu.niedersachsen.de/cds/webpages/6.htm
Differences in terminology and language can be major barriers to effective international
collaborations – such as in the development of (often delicate) environmental protection
agreements. To reduce these barriers, several European and US environmental agencies have joined
forces to develop a common terminology system, called GEMET. This General Multilingual
Environmental Thesaurus (GEMET) is “a vocabulary of more than 6,500 controlled terms
(keywords), representing broad environmentally significant concepts.” The first Website,
from the US Environmental Protection Agency, describes GEMET and the importance of this
collaborative project. The second Website, provided by the Ministry of Environment of Lower Saxony,
serves as a gateway into GEMET. Here users will find seven .pdf documents which are the various
components of the thesaurus, including the impressive multilingual list of descriptors. GEMET 2.0
was edited in British and American English, with equivalents in ten European languages.
[LXP] (From the Scout Report)
Diversity Web sources in higher education: Looking at our rich heritage
http://www.ala.org/acrl/ressept00.html
Last week, “Diversity Web sources in higher education: Looking at our rich heritage”
was posted. It identifies Web sources for minority studies “with an emphasis on sites that
include [an] institutional vision on diversity issues, recruitment of minority faculty, library
organizations working to achieve diversity, and related issues.” [DC] (From the Scout Report)
Latitude: The Art and Science of Fifteenth-Century Navigation
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~feegi/site_map.html
This interesting site is a well-arranged links page that covers more than simply latitude,
branching out to include paleoastronomy, ship-building, ocean currents, weather, calendars,
antique maps and more. You will find links to page on everything from “How to build a
Caravel” to “Classic images of the Agulhas Current” to “Micronesian star
compass” and everything in between. The links are very well chosen and the material covered
is fascinating.
1. 2000 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
http://www.redlist.org/
The 2000 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species provides taxonomic, conservation status and
distribution information on threatened species. This system is designed to determine the relative
risk of extinction, and the main purpose of the IUCN Red List is to catalogue and highlight those
taxa that are facing a higher risk of global extinction. The IUCN Red List also includes
information on taxa that are categorized as Extinct or Extinct in the Wild; on taxa that cannot be
evaluated because of insufficient information; and on Lower Risk taxa which are either close to
meeting the threatened thresholds or that would be threatened were it not for an ongoing
taxon-specific conservation program.
2. NatureServe
http://www.natureserve.org/index.htm
“Authoritative conservation information on than 50,000 plants, animals, and ecological communities
of the United States and Canada. NatureServe provides in-depth information on rare and endangered
species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe is a product of the Association
for Biodiversity Information in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.” Search by
scientific name, common name, or ecological community. The database entries contain information on
the conservation status, distribution, life history, and conservation needs of individual species.
Entries include bibliographic citations. The site also provides a glossary of terms that can be
accessed with the site index.
Seeing, Hearing and Smelling the World
http://www.hhmi.org/senses/
“The most routine, everyday occurrences, such as recognizing a friend on the street
and exchanging greetings, demonstrate the biological complexity of the puzzles that scientists are
attempting to solve. Although such encounters seem simple, they require hundreds of millions of
cells to act in precise ways to receive the sights and sounds and translate them into electrical
impulses. These impulses flow through the nervous system to carry the messages to the brain, where
they can be understood and acted upon at astonishing speed.”
This fascinating website from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute has the answers to questions such as how the nose works, why some people are colorblind, and how the brain senses motion. There are additional sections on the use of PET scans, magnetic detectors, and future scanning methods.
1. “Tracking Dioxins to the Arctic” – NECEC
http://www.cec.org/trio/stories/index.cfm?varlan=english&ed=200010&id=1
2. Center for the Biology of Natural Systems – Queens College, New York
http://www.cbns.org/
3. Executive Summary: “Long-Range Air Transport of Dioxin from North American Sources to Ecologically Vulnerable Receptors in Nunavut, Arctic Canada” [.pdf]
http://www.cec.org/programs_projects/pollutants_health/develop_tools/dioxins/dioxexec.pdf
4. Full Report: “Long-Range Air Transport of Dioxin from North American Sources to Ecologically Vulnerable Receptors in Nunavut, Arctic Canada” [.pdf]
http://www.cec.org/programs_projects/pollutants_health/develop_tools/dioxins/dioxrep.pdf
5. “Questions and answers about Dioxins” – EPA [.pdf]
http://www.epa.gov/ncea/pdfs/dioxin/dioxin%20questions%20and%20answers.pdf
6. Dioxin and Related Compounds – EPA/NCEA
http://www.epa.gov/ncea/dioxin.htm
7. National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA)
http://www.epa.gov/ncea/
8. HYSPLIT (HYbrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory)
http://www.arl.noaa.gov/ss/models/hysplit.html
9. “Nutrition and Your Health: Dietary Guidelines for Americans,” Fifth Edition (2000) [.pdf]
http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2000/DIETGD.PDF
Dioxins are a group of extremely persistent, toxic chemical compounds that share certain
similarities in structural and biological properties. Included in this group are CDDs (chlorinated
dibenzo-p-dioxins), CDFs (chlorinated dibenzofurans), and certain types of the now-familiar PCBs
(polychlorinated biphenyls). These compounds, produced largely as emissions during industrial
processes, are linked to detrimental health effects such as cancer, severe skin diseases, and
reproductive and developmental defects. In 1994, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
produced a draft scientific reassessment of the health risks resulting from exposure to
2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) and other dioxins. Since then, the EPA has been working
to revise and update the 1994 draft, with intent to release a complete reassessment in calendar
year 2001. Last week, the EPA released several new draft documents online, as additions to the
ongoing comprehensive reassessment of dioxin science. In addition to this new EPA release, the
North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (NACEC) has just posted results of a
separate study linking dioxin sources across North America to a remote Arctic deposition location,
Nunavut. This week's In The News focuses on dioxins and the dioxin reassessment initiative.
The first resource, from the NACEC newsletter (1), summarizes the recent study in which scientists at the Center for the Biology of Natural Systems (CBNS) (2) have, for the first time, successfully linked dioxins in the Arctic to several thousand distant source locations. For further details on that study, see the Executive Summary (3) or the Full Report (4), both of which are available in .pdf format at the NACEC homepage. For background information on dioxins, the Environmental Protection Agency offers this page (.pdf format), answering basic questions about dioxins (5). More information on dioxins – including a description of the Dioxin Reassessment (with links to newly released Draft Documents), the Dioxin Exposure Initiative (DEI), EPA Analytical Methods, and EPA Regulations – is available at this site (6), co-hosted by the EPA and the National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) (7). Researchers interested in the methodology used to link dioxin sources with deposition areas should check out this site (8) from the Air Resources Laboratory (NOAA), offering a detailed introduction to HYSPLIT, the base model scientists have been adapting to track dioxin sources. Finally, for those who want to learn how to reduce dioxin exposure (via intake of saturated fats), this .pdf format report from the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee is an instructive resource (9). [LXP] (From the Scout Report)
Ancient Fossils
http://www.dme.wa.gov.au/ancientfossils/
The Geological Survey of Western Australia (GSWA) recently conducted a field excursion to
the eastern Pilbara to examine key sites believed to contain evidence of some of the oldest known
fossils. A detailed explanation of stromatolites – laminated structures built mainly by
cyanobacteria – is provided together with theories about their biological origin. There is
material on the implications for fossil hunters elsewhere of the latest finds in this region of
Australia and the need to protect the remains of long-extinct species.
DB (From
New Scientist Planet Science)
Electronic Colloquium on Computational Complexity (ECCC) [Postscript]
http://www.eccc.uni-trier.de/eccc/
A comprehensive tool for theoretical computer scientists, the ECCC is an award-winning site
providing links to research reports, surveys, lecture notes databases, and conferences dealing with
computational complexity. According to the site's authors, based at University of Trier, Germany,
“the Electronic Colloquium on Computational Complexity is a new forum for the rapid and
widespread interchange of ideas, techniques, and research in computational complexity. The purpose
of this Colloquium is to use electronic media for scientific communication and discussions in the
computational complexity community.” Topics covered include complexity models and algorithms,
combinatorics, communication complexity, cryptography, and combinatorial optimization. All of the
references have been voluntarily submitted (see “guidelines” for submission) and can be
downloaded in Postscript format. [HCS] (From the Scout Report)
State of the Internet 2000 – USIC [.pdf]
http://www.usic.org/papers/stateoftheinternet2000/intro.html
United States Internet Council (USIC)
http://www.usic.org/
Recently released, this report from the US Internet Council (USIC) and International Technology
& Trade Associates, Inc. (ITTA) offers an “overview of recent Internet trends and examines
how the Internet is affecting both business and social relationships around the world.” This
year's report pays special attention to the increasingly international nature of the Internet and the
rapid emergence of wireless Internet technologies. Users can download the full text of the report by
chapter in .pdf format at the USIC site. Additional information on the Council and last year's State
of the Internet report are available at the USIC homepage. [MD] (From the Scout Report)
Grace Plotting Software
http://plasma-gate.weizmann.ac.il/Grace/
Grace plotting software with convenient graphical interface and publication quality output is
available at this site for free download (under public license). The software was developed by the
Plasma Laboratory of Weizmann Institute of Science. The site describes Grace as, “… a
WYSIWYG tool to make two-dimensional plots of scientific data. It runs under various (if not all)
flavors of Unix with X11 and M*tif (LessTif or Motif). It also runs under VMS, OS/2, and Windows
(95/98/NT). Its capabilities are roughly similar to GUI-based programs like Sigmaplot or Microcal
Origin plus script-based tools like Gnuplot or Genplot. Its strength lies in the fact that it
combines the convenience of a graphical user interface with the power of a scripting language which
enables it to do sophisticated calculations or perform automated tasks.” Grace is derived
from Xmgr (a.k.a. ACE/gr). The latest version, 5.1.2, was just released October 9, 2000. Grace's
capabilities include linear and non-linear least squares with residuals, splines, histograms,
smoothing, correlation, and more. It also contains a built-in programming language. FAQs, a
tutorial, mailing list, and bug reports are also found at the Grace site.
[HCS] (From the Scout Report)
Robotics: Sensing, Thinking, Acting
http://www.thetech.org/robotics/
San Jose's Tech Museum presents this fabulous webpage, replete with video clips, illustrations,
wonderful things! This covers the history of robotics, robotics in art, robotics and ethics in the
21st century, and, if you have Shockwave software, “At Your Command”, which simulates two
approaches to robotic exploration: operating a robotic vehicle remotely, or allowing it to work on
its own. There are also classroom activities and a timeline. A visually rich, informative
introduction to this fascinating field!
Fundamentals of Sensors
http://www.efunda.com/designstandards/sensors
A section describing sensors and their usage has been added to the Design & Standards
Section of the eFunda webpage. Included are discussions of strain gages, eddy current proximity
sensors, various pressure gages, pitot tubes, thermocouples and more. EFunda presents just the
basics, including pros and cons, and suggested reading, but these basics are presented logically
and clearly. There is obviously more to come in future. An excellent site!
Pretty Strange Patents
http://soundreach.simplenet.com/psp/us3771192.htm
This is a tribute to strange, wacky, and unusual patents from around the world, among them
US patent 3,771,192, which is for a Combination Toy Dog and Vacuum Cleaner© The idea is that
you fool your dog by disguising the vacuum cleaner as a dog, so the dog thinks it's just another
dog that sounds like a vacuum cleaner. Of course! And, there's more: including the fork with a
timer to help people eat more slowly and a bizarre contraption that is supposed to provide toilet
humour for inebriated gentlemen in the form of a dazzling lightshow (to aim at!). Next!
DB (From
Mew Scientist Planet Science)
Tempus Fugit: Time Flies – Nelson Atkins Museum of Art [JavaScript]
http://www.nelson-atkins.org/tempusfugit/
On Time – National Museum of American History [Flash4]
http://americanhistory.si.edu/ontime/
These two online exhibits from prominent American museums explore the character of time
– its impact on our daily lives and its ability to shape and reform human consciousness.
The first site, Tempus Fugit: Time Flies, is a superb exhibit from the Nelson Atkins Museum of
Art that uses items from the museum to exemplify different understandings of time. The exhibit
features sections on 20th Century Time, World Times, and Conservation Time. Twentieth-century
time considers the changing nature of time in the technological age by examining the innovations
in graphic and plastic arts inspired by an altered sense of time. The exhibit includes works by
Muybridge, Edward Hopper, Salvador Dali, Kandinsky, Rothko, Roy Lichtenstein, and others. The
second section, World Times, focuses on the different conceptions of time embodied in art from
primitive times to the present and ranges from ancient Native American to Medieval Europe to
ancestral Africa to the deeply cosmological perceptions of time in ancient Indian civilizations.
Conservation Time takes visitors behind the scenes to see how conservation science can uncover
the history of a work's composition and the changes wrought upon it over the course of its
lifetime. The Website also offers ideas for teaching using the exhibits. In sum, this is an
elegantly constructed and intelligent Website. To be sure, users will want to set aside some
time for it as the graphics enforce their own meditative pace upon the viewer. The second
Website is from the National Museum of American History and concentrates more straightforwardly
on how humans have measured time from 1700 to the present. The exhibit presents text and images
describing the history of keeping time from the century immediately preceding the industrial
revolution – when sundials were still in use – to our present age of digital access
and a global village that never sleeps. [DC] (From the Scout Report)
Thomas A. Edison Papers
http://edison.rutgers.edu/
A collaborative project between Rutgers University, the Smithsonian, and numerous other partners,
the Thomas A. Edison Papers Project is an ongoing effort to organize and publish a select edition
of the papers from the great inventor. The editors have recently announced that documents from
Parts I-III (1850-1898) of the papers have now been placed online as a searchable collection of
digitized images. Users can look for documents using a detailed search engine (instructions are
supplied, and users are recommended to read them first). Options include searching by name, date,
and document type; or performing a keyword search of folders and volumes. Documents are displayed
in a cramped frame, but users can open this frame in a new browser window for full-screen reading.
This is only the first installment, and the full digital edition will include the complete text of
all of the print volumes. The site also offers a number of other Edison resources, including an
annotated list of Edison's companies, chronologies, bibliographies, motion picture catalogs, and
related links, among other resources. [MD] (From the Scout Report)
Canadian Landscapes
http://sts.gsc.nrcan.gc.ca/tsdweb/landf_new.asp
Provided by the Terrain Sciences division of Canada's Geological Survey, this site features photos
taken by Survey scientists over the past 30 years. Users can browse this large collection of mostly
unpublished photos via an interactive map or by province/territory via a pull-down menu. Photos are
offered as thumbnails which link to full-sized images. Each is accompanied by a caption describing
the geological forces at work. [MD] (From the Scout Report)
Water Librarians' Homepage
http://www.wco.com/~rteeter/waterlib.html
Robert Teeter, librarian at a California water agency, has put together this metasite containing
a variety of useful links in the field of water resources along with other library-related links.
Agencies, databases, publishers, organizations, libraries, mailing lists, and more are featured.
Teeter has organized the links by page type and indicates which sites are newly added or personal
favorites. Just a few examples of links at the Water Librarians' Homepage include Waterfront (an
information source on water conservation initiatives taking place in Winnipeg, Canada), The
American Water Resources Association, and The Environmental Professionals' Homepage (providing
links to primary sources of environmentally-related information). This is an excellent tool for
academics, professionals, and librarians in the field of water resources and also environmental
engineering. [HCS] (From the Scout Report)
Arctic Theme Page – NOAA
http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/
This site from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is designed to provide
arctic data and other information to “scientists, students, teachers, academia, managers,
decision makers and the general public.” Data, maps, a listing of arctic research programs,
and climate index information are offered under the Scientific heading. General Interest resources
include photos, and links to related sites on arctic education, arctic exploration, the northern
lights, animals, ships, the environment, and archaeology and native peoples. Also included is a
collection of essays answering selected questions and a FAQ. [MD] (From the Scout Report)
Arctic Voyage
http://www.1freespace.com/auto/watertrucks/arctic/Arctic.htm
This personal homepage has some very interesting photographs of voyages made to the Arctic during
the 1920's by Olaf Hanson. (Thanks to Harlan A Hansen)
Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Record from the South Pole
http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/trends/co2/sio-spl.htm
The site features data derived from air samples collected biweekly from the South Pole by Scripps
Institution of Oceanography researchers 1957-1999. Graphic and digital data on CO2 concentrations
are available at this page. According to the authors, the SIO CO2 record from the South Pole
shows that annual averages of atmospheric CO2 concentrations rose from 327.45 ppmv in 1973 (the
first year when data were available for the entire year) to 365.69 ppmv in 1999. This represents
an annual increase over 1.4 ppmv per year. [HCS] (From the Scout Report)
Particle Physics Olympics
http://www.slac.stanford.edu/spires/hep/olympics.2000.shtml
Heath O'Connell of the SLAC Library has created a page showing how individual countries rank in
the particle physics citation 2000 Olympics. It's intended to be an enjoyable take-off on the
Olympics web page that shows the sports data by country. Lots of disclaimers apply. (Thanks to
Patricia Kreitz)
Chemistry for Life
http://www.chemforlife.org/
In these days of wonderful touchy-feely science museums, chemistry is often given short shrift.
A consortium of 16 museums in partnership with the chemical industy is working to bring
chemistry to people. You can visit the Virtual Gallery, do online experiments, view exciting
films about the global themes of chemistry. The site has a look of being in its infancy, but it
is worth looking at. The museums included in the consortium are:
Math and Physics Help
http://www2.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/kenny/home.html
This site is intended for undergraduate students in physics and mathematics who need a helping
hand with those late-night study sessions. Particularly enjoyable sections found here are
“What dX Actually Means” and “Think Like a Physicist or, Why do Physicists
Waste So Much Time Talking About Math?” The author, Kenny Felder of NC State University,
eases students into these complex subjects by including “before you read this” and
“after you read this” statements indicating what skills are needed to understand
the lesson, and prodding, “this is really cool” or “dazzle your friends.”
Along with Felder's own lively writings are links to related educational sites including
conversion tables and tutorials. Felder's personal links can be skipped, but the rest of this
site is a useful reference for secondary and college students. [HCS] (From the Scout Report)
Antimatter: Mirror of the Universe
http://livefromcern.web.cern.ch/livefromcern/antimatter/index.html
CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) created this website to explain matter,
antimatter, and their place in our lives to students of all ages. Learn how antimatter is
manufactured, and how it may be used (examples are both from the real and fictional worlds.)
Webcasts will be provided throughout the year with mini lectures on the physics of matter.
YourCongress.com
http://www.yourcongress.com/
Sporting the motto “It's your Congress. Learn to laugh,” this commercial Website
offers insightful information delivered in a humorous vein on the US Congress and its members.
Perhaps the most useful feature of the site is the free YourCongress Watch E-mail Service
which lets visitors sign up to receive emails containing all of the statements made by their
Senators or Representatives on the floor of Congress. The Your Money section features articles
explaining the resilience of pork barrel spending, a translation of the budget into everyday
English, and a discussion of the “54 Kings” – the Senators and
Representatives who control the lion's share of appropriations. There are also articles here
about the typical congressperson's day; advice on how to really get your Representative to
respond to your concerns (as opposed to receiving a machine-generated letter); a graphic
comparison of the demographics of Congress vs. those of America (see just how underrepresented
women are, how overrepresented lawyers, how fairly represented Baptists); and “Seven
Surprising Things,” telling us, for instance, that members of Congress actually work
hard – though they never read the bills they vote on. YourCongress.com also offers a pay
email service that will track any issue, Representative, or Senator. While YourCongress.com is
not as funny as the Daily Show, it's probably more informative. Note: when we visited the site,
the section entitled Characters had no content. [DC] (From the Scout Report)
An Introduction to Social Policy
http://www.dundee.ac.uk/politics/socialpolicy/
Created and maintained by Paul Spicker, a professor of politics specializing in social policy
at the University of Dundee, this Website presents a detailed, yet schematic view of the main
themes, concepts, and controversies surrounding issues of the welfare state and social
services. The site offers sections on social policy, welfare and society, social need, the
welfare state, social services, the politics of welfare, British social policy, social
services in the UK, and social policy on the Web (a collection of annotated links). Using a
hypertext, bulleted format, the author manages to convey significant amounts of information
about complex ideas in a relatively brief span without oversimplifying. An excellent resource
for economics and sociology students working on social policy topics.
[DC] (From the Scout Report)
Lexicon of Linguistics
http://tristram.let.uu.nl/UiL-OTS/Lexicon/
Created and maintained by faculty members at the Utrecht Institute of Linguistics, this
Website provides easily accessed authoritative definitions for thousands of technical terms
in the field of linguistics. The Lexicon may be searched or browsed, and users can submit
definitions for terms for editorial consideration by the site's authors. A highly practical
bookmark for both students and scholars in the field. [DC] (From the Scout Report)
Anthropology Biography Web
http://emuseum.mnsu.edu/information/biography/index.shtml#sect_a
Part of the Emuseum at Minnesota State University (see the August 22, 2000 Scout Report
for the Social Sciences), this Website offers brief, encyclopedic entries on the lives
of 392 significant anthropologists (or prominent thinkers in other fields who have influenced
the discipline). The entries, written by anthropology students at Minnesota State and
alphabetically indexed, give overviews of the careers and contributions of these individuals
including short bibliographies – often with links to useful Web resources.
[DC] (From the Scout Report)
Global Macroeconomic and Global Policy Site
http://www.stern.nyu.edu/globalmacro/
This expansive website offers insight to the study of macroeconomics for college students and
others interested in the economics of the global economy. Learn about hedge funds, currency
boards, and ideas for reform of the World Bank. Created by Nouriel Roubinian, associate
professor of economics and international business at the Stern School of Business, NYU.
(From
Blue Web'N)
Poverty in the United States, 1999 – US Census Bureau [.pdf, 88 pages]
http://www.census.gov/prod/2000pubs/p60-210.pdf
Press Release
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2000/cb00-158.html
Highlights
http://www.census.gov/hhes/poverty/poverty99/pov99hi.html
Graphs
http://www.census.gov/hhes/poverty/poverty99/graphs99.html
Last Tuesday, the US Census Bureau released their annual report on poverty. The report gives
data on poverty rates by selected characteristics – age, race, nativity, family
composition, work experience, and geography. Findings reveal that the nation's poverty rate
dropped from 12.7 percent in 1998 to 11.8 percent in 1999, the lowest rate since 1979. In
addition, “real median household income reached $40,816, the highest level ever recorded
by the Census Bureau.” The report also announces the lowest level of child poverty since
1979 – 16.9 percent – and a record low for African-Americans of 23.6 percent. The
report can be examined in full in .pdf format or in selected sections in HTML.
[DC] (From the Scout Report)
College Quality and the Earnings of Recent College Graduates [.pdf]
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2000/2000043.pdf
Published last Friday by the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES), this report
“examines the association between factors such as selectivity and other institutional
characteristics, and the earnings of recent college graduates 5 years after graduation.”
The report's data are drawn from the 1980 High School and Beyond (HS&B) study combined
with information about courses, grades, credits, and credentials contained in the Post
Secondary Education Transcript Study. The findings correlating institutional profile to
postgraduate salary indicate a significant gender gap. For men, the institution mattered
significantly less than their major or personal background in determining postgraduate
income, while for women “institutional characteristics were almost equally important in
affecting earnings (5 percent versus 4 percent).” The report is offered in .pdf format
with a hyperlinked sidebar table of contents. [DC] (From the Scout Report)
Internet Economist
http://www.economics.ltsn.ac.uk/interneteconomist/index.htm
The Internet Economist is a self-guided tutorial which offers a very basic lesson in helping
economists develop Internet information skills. Written by Libby Miller and Martin Poulter
of the Economics Centre of the Learning and Teaching Support Network at the University of
Bristol, England, the Internet Economist points to some important economics sites, discusses
tools and techniques for Internet searching, and guides users in using the Internet for
studying, teaching, and research. This thoughtful tutorial also contains a basket feature,
which allows users to mark interesting sites and come back to them later, a glossary, and
quizzes at the end of each section. This tutorial will benefit economists and economics
students who are relatively new to the Internet. [EM] (From the Scout Report)
Second Moment
http://www.secondmoment.org/
Second Moment is a news and business resource for “academia and industry in the fields
of applied statistics and analytics.” The main content of the site contains a selection
of applied statistics and analytics articles posted by Second Moment users. Comments from the
Second Moment community follow each article. Also included are several excellent links pages
on topics including regression and smoothing, multivariate analysis, and time series.
[EM] (From the Scout Report)
The following items are from Edupage. To subscribe to Edupage: send mail to: listproc@educom.unc.edu with the message: subscribe edupage Anonymous (if your name is Anonymous; otherwise, substitute your own name). To unsubscribe send a message to: listproc@educom.unc.edu with the message: unsubscribe edupage. (If you have subscription problems, send mail to: manager@educom.unc.edu.)
THREE MEN VITAL TO INTERNET SHARE PHYSICS PRIZE
Three scientists whose innovations are essential to the Internet will share the 2000 Nobel
Prize in Physics. Retired Texas Instruments engineer Jack S. Kilby will receive half of the
$913,000 prize money for his role in developing the integrated circuit. The other half of
the prize will be shared by Dr. Zhores I. Alferov of the A.F. Ioffe Physico-Technical
Institute in Russia and Dr. Herbert Kroemer of the University of California at Santa
Barbara. Alferov and Kroemer separately created heterostructures, electronic components
that allow small solid-state lasers to be used for practical applications such as
compact-disc players and fiber optics.
(New York Times, 11 October 2000 via Edupage)
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE MAY HEAL COMPUTER NETWORKS
A team of researchers at the University of North Texas has developed a software program that
uses intelligent mobile agents (IMAs) to route data through networks and to prevent them from
clogging in one area. The researchers, led by Dr. Armin Mikler, designed the IMAs from
artificial-intelligence software, so each agent has the ability to recognize its task, adapt
to the situation, and communicate what it is doing to others. When it has finished, it
combines with other agents or, in effect, destroys itself. Mikler says the software could be
key in reducing the workload of systems managers, who do not have the time or workforce
necessary to oversee all of the data flowing through their networks. Researcher Cliff
Cozzolino says the IMAs' mobility is key to their functionality. Although the researchers
are testing the program now and hoping to find corporate sponsorship, they admit they have
to solve the software's pressing security problems. IMAs move in much the same way as a
virus, and if malicious code entered the system, it would be devastating.
(NewsFactor Network, 28 September 2000 via Edupage)
NEW SITE STREAMLINES ONLINE GOVERNMENT
http://www.firstgov.gov
President Clinton on Friday launched FirstGov.gov, a single portal that will connect citizens
to nearly all online government resources. By linking nearly all government resources, the
site will allow users, for example, to download tax forms, apply for student loans, track
Social Security benefits, and make reservations at national parks. Using a privately developed
search engine called FedSearch, FirstGov combs through 27 million Web pages from 20,000
government sites. “This cutting-edge site gives the American people the ‘Information
Age’ government they deserve,” Clinton said. Inktomi chief scientist Eric Brewer,
who suggested the idea for FirstGov when he met Clinton at the 1999 World Economic Forum,
created and donated the FedSearch engine. Brewer also established a foundation that will
maintain FirstGov for the next three years, with $4.1 million in government funding.
(Washington Post, 23 September 2000 via Edupage)
FIRSTGOV CONNECTS USERS TO 27 MILLION WEB PAGES
FirstGov, a portal aimed at connecting all of the government's online resources, launched last
month providing access to over 27 million government Web pages. The portal will help agencies
achieve their goal of increasing the visibility of their sites. However, this increased
publicity will require agencies to ensure that their sites do not pose privacy threats or
contain inappropriate content, says Commerce Department CIO Roger W. Baker, noting that some
federal sites have posted Social Security numbers in the past. FirstGov will initially focus
on providing information, but the portal is expected to eventually enable transactions between
citizens and agencies. Inktomi founder and chief scientist Eric Brewer led the nonprofit
Federal Search Foundation, which developed the search engine for FirstGov. The Federal Search
Foundation will manage FirstGov for the next two years, and the government will then run the
portal itself or outsource the task.
(Government Computer News, 2 October 2000 via Edupage)
CYBER-SECURITY PLANS GO BEGGING ON HILL
The Clinton administration's attempt to provide more computer security experts for the federal
government is faltering in the closing days of Congress. The House and Senate have each
approved only a small part of the White House's $138.4 million request for security programs,
including a scholarship offer to talented computer-science students who agree to work for the
federal government for two years. Administration officials say without the scholarship program
the government will lose the best young security experts to the private sector. Also receiving
no funds are proposals for numerous research projects and an intrusion-monitoring network. In
all, House committees have approved only $15.5 million of the White House's request, while the
Senate has granted $40 million.
(Washington Post, 16 October 2000 via Edupage)
COMMUNITIES SPLIT MILLIONS TO FIGHT DIVIDE
U.S. Commerce Secretary Norman Mineta recently announced the recipients of the annual
Technology Opportunity Program grants, which the department intends to help close the digital
divide. Grant money for this year totaled $14 million, and program sponsors will add an
additional $18 million to that total. The 35 grant winners include the Baltimore City Health
Department, which will create a database to monitor the spread of sexually transmitted and
other diseases, and the South Carolina Department of Education, which will give used
computers and Internet training to low-income families. Also among the winners were projects
from the County Sheriffs of Colorado to create a database of victim/offender information and
from Portland, Ore., to build a database of affordable urban housing. Money also went to the
Suquamish Indian Tribe in Washington state to create a mobile technology vehicle that will
visit schoolchildren and to the Pueblo of Santa Ana to build a new government intranet. The
Commerce Department will ask Congress to increase the program's funding to $45 million next
year, Mineta said.
(Civic.com, 29 September 2000 via Edupage)
TRIBES MEET TECHNOLOGY
Indian reservations are beginning to use the Internet to improve education and job
opportunities for tribe members. With 9 percent of Indian homes owning PCs and only 50 percent
having phones, reservations remain far behind the rest of the U.S. in terms of technology. To
address this issue, the White House, high-tech officials, and 32 Indian colleges will meet
this week to discuss ways to obtain more federal funding to bring technology to reservations
and to help tribe members get tech jobs. Bringing data entry, Web site, and other tech jobs to
reservations would provide opportunities for tribe members without forcing them to leave home,
and would boost the economy, says Richard Williams of the American Indian College Fund.
(USA Today, 10 October 2000 via Edupage)
SEVEN INSTITUTIONS CREATE A CANADIAN VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY
Canadian Virtual University, a joint venture of seven Canadian universities, started
registering students on Friday. The virtual university will allow students to transfer credits
from one member school to another, but students will continue to receive degrees from their
home university. Students will have the flexibility of picking and choosing the courses they
want, says Dominique Abrioux, president of the virtual university. Although virtual university
students will not pay fees that are normally required when students take courses from
universities that are not their home institution, they will be required to pay tuition to the
university that provides the course. Participating institutions include Athabasca University,
Brandon University, University of Manitoba, Laurentian University, Open University, Royal
Roads University, and University of Victoria.
(Chronicle of Higher Education Online, 3 October 2000 via Edupage)
HOW ECONOMISTS HELP PREDICT BEHAVIOR ONLINE
Experimental economics, which has been long been viewed as impractical, is now being deemed
relevant due to the rise of the Web. Experimental economists use data to predict market
behavior, and are increasingly attracting attention from U.S. business schools, the FCC, and
businesses such as IBM and Hewlett-Packard. IBM has opened an experimental-economics lab,
which Robert Baseman, IBM's senior research manager, says will help clients develop and
deploy their e-markets. University of Arizona professor Vernon Smith, who uses an
experimental economics game to study trust relationships, says that such exercises connect
to IBM's e-business focus. Smith, who spoke at the dedication of IBM's experimental lab,
says that the anonymity of the Internet and e-commerce calls for reputation-building systems
to enable trust-based trading.
(Wall Street Journal, 02 October 2000 via Edupage)
BRIDGING THE DIVIDE
Concern that low-income households will be left behind as society comes to rely more and more
on the Internet has led to several efforts that seek to address the potential problem. By
2005, less than half of the 20 million U.S. households that earn less than $19,000 a year are
likely to have Internet access. In comparison, 15 million households that earn more than
$75,000 are projected to be online by the end of this year. The federal government is trying
to tackle the issue with its New Market initiative, which will contribute more than $100
million in corporate assistance to communities and populations that are perceived as being in
jeopardy of missing out on the Internet revolution. East Palo Alto, Calif., with more than 25
percent of its children living below the poverty line, will be among the communities that
will receive computers for schools and training for teachers with the help of Hewlett-Packard,
Gateway, and other companies.
(Governing, October 2000 via Edupage)
SCIENTISTS WEAVE NEW-STYLE WEBS TO TAME THE INFORMATION GLUT
Researchers at 16 universities are working to build a data grid called the Grid Physics Network
(GriPhyN) that will allow scientists all over the world to easily share huge databases. Data
grids operate much like the Gnutella file-sharing program, which allows users to exchange files
without a central server. GriPhyN, funded by an $11.9 million federal grant, will allow
physicists to share information on a number of large projects involving huge amounts of data
from thousands of scientists. For example, GriPhyN will be used on two CERN experiments, ATLAS
and CMS, which will run on the Large Hadron Collider. The new experiments will generate 1,000
times more data than today's CERN experiments, and researchers will need a way to sort through
this information. For example, an astronomer working on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, which
GriPhyN will take part in, might need to look at 10 million galactic objects to discover a case
of gravitational lensing. GriPhyN will join with a European project called DataGrid, as well
as the Particle Physics Data Grid at the California Institute of Technology.
(Science, 29 September 2000 via Edupage)
AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT
Optical networks, which carry data in the form of light over glass, are revolutionizing
communications by bringing tremendous gains in speed. An optical connection could, for example,
download a digital movie in four seconds, while a traditional network that transmits data as
electrons over copper would take more than seven hours using the fastest cable modem. As
optical technology advances, prices are dropping. Wavelength division multiplexing can divide a
fiber into 160 channels, each of which carries the same traffic volume as the entire cable did
in the past. This significantly cuts the cost of moving data over long distances, making
optical technology a viable option for more people. Furthermore, optical equipment is expected
to double the capacity it delivers for a particular price every nine months, experts say.
Optical communications companies are expected to remain Wall Street favorites, as Internet
traffic continues to double every three months, making optical networks the only practical way
to accommodate the load. Spending on optical technology will rise from $31 billion last year to
$44 billion this year, jumping to $89 billion in 2003, says market research firm RHK.
(Business Week, 9 October 2000 via Edupage)
CAMPUS COMPUTING SURVEY: ADDING TECHNOLOGY TO TEACHING A TOP ISSUE
Making technology a part of classroom instruction remains the most important information
technology issue facing college administrators, according to the annual survey of the Campus
Computing Project. Other concerns include upgrading hardware and software, establishing distance
education programs, and devising an e-commerce strategy. The survey found that e-mail is being
used for instruction in 60 percent of college courses this year and that 30 percent of courses
now use a Web site. In 1994, those rates were 10 percent and 7 percent respectively. However,
while the use of computers and technology has increased dramatically in the past six years, only
a minority of administrators concurred that “technology has improved instruction on my
campus.” Campus Computing Project director and founder Kenneth C. Green says the use of
technology at colleges may be reaching a plateau.
(Chronicle of Higher Education, 12 October 2000 via Edupage)
TECH GIANTS JUMPING INTO BIOTECH
Biotechnology and IT are increasingly synthesizing in the accelerated push to map the human
genome. Biotech research is demanding greater database capacity and processing power, opening
up new markets for IT. Although other high-tech players such as 3M, Agilent, Compaq, Intel,
and Motorola are launching biotech ventures, IBM led the fray when it announced its five-year
initiative to develop a powerful new biotech supercomputer. IBM has already built the world's
fastest supercomputer, ASCI White, but the company is now developing Blue Gene to be 100 times
more powerful than the current model in order to unravel the complexities of proteins. Interest
in biochips and other IT contributions has mounted because researchers believe that
understanding genes and pinpointing their role in disease is central to drug discovery and
treatment.
(San Francisco Chronicle, 9 October 2000 via Edupage)
HOW LOCAL CAN YOU GO?
Community colleges, learning they are a perfect fit for the Internet, are increasingly
offering online courses and degrees. Cost-conscious community colleges are finding that the
Web helps bolster sagging enrollment numbers without incurring brick-and-mortar expansion
costs. The Web is also convenient for community college students, many of whom tend to
maintain full-time jobs, have children, or live in remote areas--all on a tight budget.
Internet-based classes also complement the schools' traditional technical emphasis. Tech
giants such as Cisco Systems have partnered with two-year colleges to provide online training
degrees and recruitment opportunities. Although software, hardware, and course development
costs can be expensive, the higher enrollment spurred by online offerings is expected to make
up the difference.
(Industry Standard, October 2000 via Edupage)
BLACK COLLEGES LAG IN OFFERING STUDENTS COMPUTER ACCESS, A NEW REPORT SAYS
Students at historically black colleges are less likely to own computers and to have
“on-demand” access to the Internet through campus networks than students
nationwide, a report from the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher
Education revealed. The report surveyed administrators at 80 historically black colleges.
Nearly all of the colleges surveyed provided students with basic Internet access, but less
than half made access available in student residence halls. Moreover, although most of the
colleges surveyed had T-1 lines, only 30 percent used higher-bandwidth connections, which
could prevent historically black colleges from taking full advantage of Internet2 and other
high-speed telecommunications systems. However, in introducing the report, U.S. Secretary
of Commerce Norman Mineta wrote that historically black colleges are “poised to make
a ‘digital leap’ into the 21st century.”
(Chronicle of Higher Education Online, 13 October 2000 via Edupage)
COMPUTERS IN HALF OF U.S. HOMES
The number of U.S. households with computers reached 51 percent in August of this year,
according to a recent Commerce Department survey. By comparison, 42.1 percent of U.S.
households had computers in December 1998. Meanwhile, 41.5 percent of U.S homes had
Internet access in August, compared with 26.2 percent a year ago, the survey says. Still,
minorities and those living in rural areas are less likely to have computers and Internet
access than their white and urban counterparts, the report says. In August, 23.5 percent
of black households and 23.6 percent of Hispanic households had Internet access, the
survey found. This compares with 46.1 percent of white households and 56.8 percent of
Asian American and Pacific Islander households.
(Washington Post, 17 October 2000 via Edupage)
WHERE TECHNOLOGY MEETS BIOLOGY
Stanford University has announced the recipients of the first Bio-X research grants, which
will provide $3 million to each of 19 projects. The Bio-X program, supported by a $150
million donation from Netscape cofounder Jim Clark and a $60 million anonymous donation,
will bring together scientists from every discipline to work on a wide range of problems.
For example, a neurobiologist will work with an ophthamologist, a chemical engineer, and
an electrical engineer on a project to restore sight by attaching a digital camera to a
person's retinal cells. Other projects will involve human tissue engineering and the
newly sequenced human genome. The Bio-X program will receive a home in 2003 when the $150
million Clark Center opens. The center will encourage interaction among scientists,
researchers, and students from different areas. Interdisciplinary research such as this
is catching on in universities across the country as new technology allows previously
undreamed-of advances in science. Channing Robertson, chemical engineering professor and
Bio-X committee member, says science is “slopping over the sides of the disciplines,
and that's where the interesting stuff is going to happen.”
(SiliconValley.com, 5 October 2000 via Edupage)
A quote this week tying in to the Nobel Prize announcement:
Fermi was asked what characteristics physics Nobelists had in common. He answered, “I cannot
think of a single one, not even intelligence.”
Enrico Fermi, Italian physicist, 1901-1954 (Phys Today, Oct 1994, pg70) (Thanks to David Harris)
Parable of the Monkeys
http://www.research.att.com/~reeds/monkeys.html
“The Topos of the Monkeys and the Typewriters” refers to that oft-quoted metaphor of
monkeys banging away on typewriters used to illustrate the probability of great writing (a la
Shakespeare) being produced from randomness. This page, created as an AT&T research scientist's
personal project, collects references to the typing monkeys, beginning with a 1913 cite from a
French physics journal and continuing with authors like Isaac Asimov, Douglas “Hitchhiker's
Guide” Adams, and Scott Adams, author of Dilbert. We used Babelfish to translate the first
reference from French: “…conceive that one drew up a million monkeys randomly to be
struck the keys … and that, under the monitoring of illiterate foremen, these monkeys
typists work with heat ten hours per day.” Right away, we could see why this parable has
acquired Internet urban-legend status. (From Yahoo's Picks of the Week)
All items from the Scout Report are copyright Susan Calcari, 1994-2000. Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of the Scout Report provided the copyright notice and this paragraph is preserved on all copies. The InterNIC provides information about the Internet to the US research and education community under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation: NCR-9218742. The Government has certain rights in this material.
Blue Web'n is a searchable library of Blue-Ribbon Web sites categorized by grade level, content area, and type. Visit Blue Web'n online at http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/bluewebn/.
Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this newsletter are those of the participants (authors), and do not necessarily represent the official views, opinions, or policy of the National Science Foundation.