06/12/03
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This newsletter is available to the public at the following locations:
http://library.stanford.edu/depts/swain/nsflibnews/
http://www.eevl.ac.uk/scitechnews/
http://avel.edu.au/scitech.html
Communication Awards Nominations Sought
http://www.national-academies.org/topnews#tn0527
The National Academies and the W.M. Keck Foundation announce the “call for
nominations” for new Communication Awards recognizing excellence in reporting
and communicating science, engineering and medicine to the general public. The
Academies will present three $20,000 prizes, one to a book author; one to a
newspaper or magazine writer/journalist; and one to a television, radio or film
producer who, in the preceding two years, have made significant contributions to
the public's understanding of science, engineering, and medicine. Nominations
will be accepted from June 1 to August 1, 2003.
White House Announces Nation's Top Science, Engineering, Mathematics Mentors
http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/news/03/pr0329.htm
10 individuals and six institutions have received the 2002 Presidential Awards for
Excellence in Mathematics, Science and Engineering Mentoring in a ceremony at the
White House March 18.
The president annually recognizes the people and institutions that have provided broad opportunities for participation by women, minorities and disabled persons in science, mathematics and engineering at the elementary, secondary, undergraduate and graduate education levels.
Congratulations!
Disasters Roundtable: Challenges for Emergency Managers
http://national-academies.org/disasters
Challenges that may face emergency managers of the future will be the focus of
an upcoming public forum. The event, held by the National Academies' Disasters
Roundtable, takes place on Friday, June 13. The forum is free and open to the
public. Registration is required.
Hidden Costs, Value Lost: Uninsurance in America
http://www.national-academies.org/
The Institute of Medicine releases “Hidden Costs, Value Lost: Uninsurance in
America” at a one-hour public briefing at 11 a.m. EDT Tuesday, June 17.
Participate by listening to a live audio webcast (requires free RealPlayer) and
submitting questions using an e-mail form, both accessible on the
National-Academies.org home page during the event.
Under Antarctic Ice
Photographer Norbert Wu's exhibition, “Under Antarctic Ice,” will be on display
during a wine and cheese reception at 5 p.m. EDT Thursday, June 19. Wu's
efforts to document life under the Antarctic ice are captured in more than 40
photographs. The event takes place on the first floor of the National
Academies' Keck Center, 500 Fifth St. N.W., Washington, D.C. Admission is free.
Keeping science open: the effects of intellectual property policy on the conduct of science.
The Royal Society, 2003.
http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/files/statfiles/document-221.pdf
Hispanics in science and engineering: a matter of assistance and persistence.
ETS, 2003.
http://www.ets.org/research/pic/hispanic.pdf
U.S. House of Representatives, Subcommittee on Environment, Technology, and Standards. Hearing on Manufacturing R&D: How Can the Federal Government Help?
2003.
http://www.house.gov/science/hearings/ets03/index.htm
The Experiences and Challenges of Science and Ethics: Proceedings of an American-Iranian Workshop.
NAP, 2003.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10700.html?onpi_listserv050903
Neutrinos and Beyond: New Windows on Nature.
NAP, 2003.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10583.html?onpi_listserv050903
MelbourneDAC: Fifth International Digital Arts and Culture Conference, May 2003.
http://hypertext.rmit.edu.au/dac/papers/
Securing the Future: Regional and National Programs to Support the Semiconductor Industry.
NAP, 2003.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10677.html?onpi_listserv050903
Building an Electronic Records Archive at the National Archives and Records Administration: Recommendations for Initial Development.
NAP, 2003.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10707.html?do_se85
Mathematical Proficiency for All Students: Toward a Strategic Research and Development Program in Mathematics Education.
RAND, 2003.
http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR1643/
End Points for Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste in Russia and the United States.
NAP, 2003.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10667.html?do_se85
Improving the Scientific Basis for Managing DOE's Excess Nuclear Materials and Spent Nuclear Fuel.
NAP, 2003.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10684.html?do_se85
The Measure of STAR: Review of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Research Grants Program.
NAP, 2003.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10701.html?do_se85
National Benchmarking Analysis of Technology Business Incubator Performance and Practices, Technology Administration.
U.S. Department of Commerce (May 2003).
http://www.ta.doc.gov/reports/TechPolicy/NBIA/2003Report.pdf
Report of the ITAA Blue Ribbon Panel on IT Diversity (May 5, 2003).
http://www.itaa.org/workforce/docs/03divreport.pdf
Measuring Access to Learning Opportunities.
NAP, 2003.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10673.html?onpi_listserv053003
Improving Undergraduate Instruction in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics: Report of a Workshop.
NAP, 2003.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10711.html?onpi_listserv053003
Robert Lempert, et al.
Next Generation Environmental Technologies: Benefits and Barriers.
Rand, 2003.
http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR1682/
Mathematical Proficiency for All Students: Toward a Strategic Research and Development Program in Mathematics Education.
Rand, 2003.
http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR1643/
The Condition of Education 2003.
US Dept. of Education, 2003.
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2003067
The Dynamics of Technology-Based Economic Development: State Science and Technology Indicators, 3rd Edition.
US Dept of Commerce, Office of Technology Policy, April 2003.
http://www.technology.gov/reports.htm
Fair Weather: Effective Partnerships in Weather and Climate Services.
NAP, 2003.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10610.html?do_se86
Improved Operational Testing and Evaluation: Better Measurement and Test Design for the Interim Brigade Combat Team with Stryker Vehicles, Phase 1 Report.
NAP, 2003.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10710.html?do_se86
Improving Undergraduate Instruction in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics: Report of a Workshop.
NRC, 2003.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10711.html?do_se86
International Human Rights Network of Academies and Scholarly Societies: Proceedings -- Symposium and Fifth Biennial Meeting, Paris, May 10-11, 2001.
NAP, 2003.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10706.html?do_se86
Long-Term Stewardship of DOE Legacy Waste Sites: A Status Report.
NAP, 2003.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10703.html?do_se86
Shipboard Automatic Identification System Displays: Meeting the Needs of Mariners -- Special Report 273.
NAP, 2003.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10708.html?do_se86
Space Studies Board Annual Report 2002.
NAP, 2003.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10709.html?do_se86
Working in Olmsted's Shadow: Guidance for Developing a Scope of Services for the Update of the Master Plan for the U.S. Capitol and Grounds.
NAP, 2003.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10704.html?do_se86
Toward Fusion of Air and Space: Surveying Developments and Assessing Choices for Small and Middle Powers by Dana J. Johnson, Ariel E. Levite.
RAND, 2003.
http://www.rand.org/publications/CF/CF177/
Technology Transfer of Federally Funded R&D: Perspectives from a Forum.
RAND, 2003.
http://www.rand.org/publications/CF/CF187/
Next Generation Environmental Technologies: Benefits and Barriers.
RAND, 2003.
http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR1682/
David Howell, Richard Silberglitt, Douglas Norland.
Industrial Materials for the Future R&D Strategies: A Case Study of Boiler Materials for the Pulp and Paper Industry.
RAND, 2003.
http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR1583/
New Challenges, New Tools for Defense Decisionmaking.
RAND, 2003.
http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR1576/
Occupational Health and Safety in the Care and Use of Nonhuman Primates.
NAP, 2003.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10713.html?onpi_listserv061203
Satellite Observations of the Earth's Environment: Accelerating the Transition of Research to Operations.
NAP, 2003.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10658.html?onpi_listserv061203
Cybersecurity of Freight Information Systems: A Scoping Study -- Special Report 274.
NAP, 2003.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10730.html?onpi_listserv061203
Pan-Organizational Summit on the U.S. Science and Engineering Workforce: Meeting Summary.
NAP, 2003.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10727.html?onpi_listserv061203
Sloan Career Cornerstone Center
http://www.careercornerstone.org/
“A resource center for those pursuing careers in engineering, mathematics, information
technology, and the physical sciences. Its comprehensive education, networking, job
hunting, and career planning resources revolve around personal interviews with over
400 individuals who offer candid insight into their career paths. Almost everything on
this site is downloadable in PDF format, and may be reproduced.” This site is well
organized and contains a wealth of useful information. Great website!
Visual Thesaurus-Online Edition
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/online/index.html
“Plumb Design, an information visualization software company, provides free
access to the thesaurus. It utilizes Plumb's Thinkmap (R) visualization
software. The content comes from the WordNet project from the Cognitive
Science Laboratory at Princeton University. The database contains over
50,000 words and 40,000 phrases collected into more than 70,000 sense
meanings. Learning how to use the thesaurus to it's fullest is as easy as
taking the tour. Of course, learning as you go, using Ran Hock's
‘clicking everywhere’ method is also an option. You'll need to be
using Netscape 7.0 or Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher. I was also able to
access using Mozilla. Java will also be need to available. Interesting,
useful, and fun! Btw, a fee-based version (with extra features) can be
downloaded. Thanks to Mary Ellen Bates, i pro legend and author of the
just published, Building and Running a Successful Research Business, for
alerting me to this tool. Congrats Mary Ellen!” (From
The Resource Shelf http://www.resourceshelf.com/)
Fagan Finder Offers Image Search
http://www.faganfinder.com/img/
Fagan Finder (http://www.faganfinder.com/),
which is known for its many search engines, is now offering an image search.
The main body of the image search is a query box and a series of radio buttons that allows you to choose the resource to search. Categories to search include search engines (including Google and AltaVista), Graphics and Clip Art (including Clipart Connection and Icon Browser) and Regional and Historical (including Library of Congress and Images Canada.) Hold your mouse over the name of each resource to get a complete description in a popup window.
In addition to the search option, this page also contains links to image archives in several different categories. Nicely, nicely done. Keep it up Fagan. (From Research Buzz)
National Ecological Observatory Network
http://www.national-academies.org/neon
The National Research Council committee on National Ecological Observatory
Network will be holding a workshop on June 10, 2003 (Tuesday) at the National
Academy of Sciences building (2101 Constitution Ave., Washington DC). The
workshop will be open to the public between 1:30 - 4:30 p.m. EDT. This will
be an opportunity to learn about NSF's plans for NEON and about the views of
relevant professional societies and other government agencies.
If you cannot attend, you may participate in the meeting by listening to a live audio webcast and submitting questions using an e-mail form at the National Academies website. Listening to the webcast requires either RealPlayer or Windows Media Player.
MIT World
http://web.mit.edu/mitworld/
MIT World(tm) is a free, open, video streaming web site that provides
on-demand video of significant public events at MIT. A variety of symposia
and lectures are presented on a wide range of fascinating topics,
everything from the stem cell debate to the quest for Mars.
National Science Digital Library
http://nsdl.org/
Digital Library Will House World's Largest Collection of Science-Related Material
The National Science Digital Library (NSDL), a National Science Foundation (NSF) website, offers free science-related resources to the public, including text, graphics, interactive video, links, and other resources pertinent to computing, engineering, global mapping, physics, mathematics, earth science, paleontology, and more. By 2007, the site will house the largest collection of science-related material available on the Internet, and it will include three portals mega-websites that can personalize a broad array of Internet functions. The portals will be titled Using Data in the Classroom, NSDL Educators Portal, and Science Pictures.
The digital library opened to the public in December 2002, and NSF continues to
accept proposals for projects that enhance the quality and widen the scope of
the site. Currently, 119 projects have received NSF funding for inclusion on
the site. These projects consist of smaller-scope digital libraries (such as the
Digital Library for Earth System Education), message boards that link visitors
with experts, collections of news articles, and more.
(From NSTA Express)
AAAS Launches Public Outreach Initiative Focused on Science Literacy
http://www.ScienceEverywhere.org/
“Science. It's Everywhere” is the message of a new public outreach initiative
announced earlier this month by the American Association for the Advancement
of Science (AAAS). Designed to help parents and families play a more active
role in their children's science education, the Partnership for Science
Literacy initiative includes television, radio, magazine, and newspaper
advertising endorsed by the Advertising Council and a web site to help
motivate parents and families to take action in helping their children learn
science. The initiative focuses special attention on minority and Hispanic
audiences and will feature Spanish language versions of the web site and
other materials.
Funded by the National Science Foundation through a grant to AAAS's science education initiative, Project 2061, the Partnership for Science Literacy is a collaborative effort involving AAAS and many other organizations. NSTA supports the effort and is helping to spread the news about the campaign. The initiative's web site is hosted by TryScience.org and offers great information for parents and others, including a brochure, “Family Guide to Science.” Visit the ScienceEverywhere web site.
NOVA: Secret of Photo 51
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/photo51/
Many Shakespearean sonnets were inspired by and written for a
mysterious “dark lady” whose identity remains unknown to this day.
In a scientific parallel, a woman whose seminal research inspired
important breakthroughs in the field of genetics remains largely
unknown. PBS hopes to rectify the situation by introducing Rosalind
Franklin, aka the Dark Lady of DNA. James Watson and Francis Crick
are credited with the discovery of DNA's disctinctive double-helix
structure, yet Franklin's research helped set the stage for their
achievement. She took the first clear picture of DNA's structure,
Photo 51, which motivated Watson and Crick to visualize the double
helix. Franklin's early death from cancer sadly consigned her to
scientific obscurity. Thanks to PBS and this important site,
Franklin's discovery is revisited with an interactive anatomy of
Photo 51, along with a journey deep inside DNA itself.
(From Yahoo's Picks of the Week)
Expeditions in Conservation: Rhinos of the Terai Arc
http://www.worldwildlife.org/expeditions/teraiarc/
Tucked away in shadows of the Himalayas is a remote region that's
home to a real-life “Jungle Book”. The Terai Arc is a corridor of
biodiversity teeming with Asian elephants, swamp deer, and river
dolphins galore. A crew of WWF scientists is in Nepal on a two-week
mission with modern-day dinosaurs, 10 greater one-horned rhinos,
in an ambitious restoration effort. They're relocating the rhinos
from Nepal's Royal Chitwan National Park to a protected area nearly
125 miles away. Along the perilous journey, they're sending daily
dispatches, introducing you to the sights and sounds of the land,
and mapping out a vision for the region's future. The bigger goal
is to restore and reconnect 11 national parks from Nepal to India
to create a continuous, protected landscape where all living things
can flourish. (From Yahoo's Picks of the Week)
PLoS Biology now accepting articles!
http://www.plos.org/journals/index.html
The mission of PLoS Publications is to make the original published reports
of ideas, discoveries, and research results in the life sciences and medicine
(and eventually other fields) freely available online, without restrictions
on use or further distribution, free from private or government control.
Be a leader. Shape the future. Choose PLoS.
Accepting submissions from May 1
First issue appears in October (online and print)
Contact our editors today - editors@plos.org
Submit online - http://biology.plosjms.org/
Virtual Frog Dissection Kit
http://george.lbl.gov/ITG.hm.pg.docs/dissect/
As part of the “Whole Frog Project” one can dissect Fluffy
the digitized frog, make a movie of the dissection, and play
a game and learn about the “3D spatial relationships between
the organs in the frog” at this interactive site. Available
in several languages including Spanish, German, and French. (From Librarian's Index to the Internet)
ARMI National Atlas for Amphibian Distributions
http://www.mp2-pwrc.usgs.gov/armiatlas/index.cfm
The Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative National Atlas for
Amphibian Distributions (ARMI Atlas) is “a compilation of current and
historic records of amphibian occurrences” developed by the Patuxent
Wildlife Research Center -- part of the U.S. Geological Survey. New to the
Scout Report, the ARMI Atlas integrates records from peer-reviewed
scientific literature, museum records, state and regional herpetological
atlases, and “other confirmed and validated observations.” This regularly
updated resource allows users to quickly determine when and where amphibians
were last documented in a given area -- distribution gaps may suggest
potential areas of study. The ARMI Atlas is intended as an educational tool,
a reference for habitat managers, a resource for and by herpetologists, or
any other use that contributes to long-term amphibian monitoring efforts.
[RS] (From the Scout Report)
2can Bioinformatics
http://www.ebi.ac.uk/2can/home.html
2can Bioinformatics, an educational Web site from the European
Bioinformatics Institute, offers a valuable guide to the different molecular
biology databases available to researchers. A series of well-designed
tutorials covers the basics of comparing and analyzing gene sequences -- no
small feat considering the dizzying number of bioinformatics databases
available on the Web. The tutorials cover nucleotide analysis, protein
analysis, protein function, protein structure, genome browsing, and database
browsing. Other features include an overview of the numerous molecular
databases available online, a Medline literature search engine, a much-
needed glossary, and other resources. Considering that an astonishing amount
of biological data -- especially from sequencing projects -- is deposited in
electronic databases and no longer published in the conventional sense, 2can
Bioinformatics really provides an indispensable service. [RS] (From the Scout Report)
Galapagos: Way Beyond Darwin [RealOne Player, Windows Media Player]
http://smithsonianassociates.org/OnlinePrograms/baldwin/Baldwin-vod.htm
Visitors to this Web site will find an interesting presentation given by
marine biologist, Carole Baldwin, as part of the Pfizer Foundation
Distinguished Lecture Series at the Smithsonian Institution. Baldwin,
Curator of the Smithsonian's Division of Fishes, provides a “behind-the-
scenes glimpse of the making of the popular 3-D IMAX film about the
Galapagos Islands.” The site provides both audio and video of the entire
presentation as well as a number of related links. [RS](From the Scout Report)
[NOTE: I could not get the video or audio to load on my PC].
Infrared Zoo
http://sirtf.caltech.edu/EPO/Zoo/zoo.html
This eye-catching menagerie takes a peek inside the animal kingdom
by using infrared light to show the differences between warm- and
cold-blooded animals. For the most part, every living creature
falls into one of these two camps, with a few exceptions to the
rule (bats, echidnas, and mole rats to name a few). Mammals and
birds try to keep their bodies at a constant temperature, while
reptiles, insects, arachnids, amphibians, and fish take on the
temperature of their surroundings. See how cool a python appears
compared to the people holding it, and then take a look at a blood
hound and the areas of heat on the face of the pooch. The spots of
the giraffe glow brighter in infrared photos, while a scorpion can
only be seen against the warm glow of the person holding it. The
unseen colors of animals are brought to light in this one-of-a-kind
“zoo.” (From Yahoo's Picks of the Week)
Gilgamesh
http://gilgamesh.psnc.pl/
“A completely interactive digital library book” of ancient
Mesopotamia's most important literary product, which
combines browsable text with a recording of it being read,
animated pictures, and music. A “testbed product” for
multimedia software developed by the Poznan (Poland)
Supercomputing and Networking Center. Bandwidth intensive.
(From Librarian's Index to the Internet)
Computer Immune Systems
http://www.cs.unm.edu/~immsec/
A research group at the University of New Mexico Computer Science Department
is using an analogy to biological immune systems to develop similarly
functioning computer security systems. This is a significant departure from
existing methods. Computer immune systems are designed to detect and contain
intrusions in the same way their biological counterparts deal with viruses
and infections. The research group has a large collection of papers from
conferences and journals available on its homepage. [CL] (From the Scout Report)
Scientific Computing on the Sony Playstation 2
http://arrakis.ncsa.uiuc.edu/ps2/
Scientific computing installations traditionally use clusters of
workstations for massively parallel processing. This research effort at the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is using clusters of the Sony
Playstation 2 (PS2) for the same purpose. Since the gaming console has
special vector processing capabilities, it is a relatively low-cost
implementation that is suitable for complex matrix arithmetic (an important
characteristic of most scientific computing applications). Technical aspects
of the PS2 are given on the project's homepage, as well as details about
networking 65 PS2 consoles. [CL] (From the Scout Report)
Pitsco's Guidelines for Hands-on Competitions
http://www.pitsco.com/Competitions/comprules.htm
Thinking of hosting a science competition? Competition Guidelines from
Pitsco consists of guidelines for 32 hands-on competitions. Print the
guidelines in simple text form or download the full-color, printable
document. You are free to print, copy, and even modify them, if you
wish, to suit your purpose. These guidelines are NOT the official rules
of any national organizations, although, wherever applicable,
organizations are listed that sponsor similar competitions. (From Blue Web'N)
Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum
http://www.microcarmuseum.com/
Long before today's Cooper Mini, microcars were all the rage. Born
in post-WWII Europe out of the need for small, efficient transportation,
former aircraft companies built tiny cars seating one or two people.
The inspiration behind microcars predates the war, when companies
enclosed bicycles and scooters, turning them into vehicles like
the 1935 Velocar Camionette. During WWII, engineers designed tiny
cars like the 1942 Peugeot VLV. But it was the 1950s and '60s that
saw the bubble-car boom with popular minis like the BMW Isetta 250,
BAG Spatz, Messerschmitt Tiger, and Berkeley. More recently, the
2000 MCC Smart Convertible and the 2001 Corbin Sparrow have hit
the streets. Although the actual microcar museum in Georgia is
temporarily closed, fans can take a virtual tour anytime. And be
sure to check out the excellent video of minicars in action.
(From Yahoo's Picks of the Week)
TLC: Junkyard Wars
http://tlc.discovery.com/fansites/junkyard/junkyard.html
This is the fan site of The Learning Channel's exciting series, Junkyard
Wars. Visitors can read about upcoming episodes and learn about the
engineering and technology aspects unique to each week's feature. Junkyard
Science is the most informative section, providing insights into vehicle
design for land, air, and water. There are descriptions of jet skis,
cannons, blimps, and many others with details about how they work and what
components are required to make them. An interactive quiz lets visitors test
their knowledge of “basic science concepts introduced in the challenges of
Junkyard Wars.” [CL] (From the Scout Report)
The Dynamic Earth
http://www.mnh.si.edu/earth/
We may not always feel it move under our feet, but make no mistake
-- our Earth is a restless planet! It rumbles, grumbles, and
continually spews its molten insides beyond the horizon. This
pattern of birth, destruction, and renewal is Earth's natural
metamorphic process -- and the geological record reveals a stunning
history book. This presentation by the National Museum of Natural
History seeks to tell the stories behind the rocks we walk on and
the gems we covet, and ultimately explain how they were made. Deep
in Earth's pressure-cooker core, rocks morph into different minerals,
depending on temperature. As magma races to the surface, it faces
another set of factors. If the outside temperature is cold enough,
the magma crystallizes and can harden into gems. Rocks such as
marble, slate, granite, and even sandstone all had previous
incarnations somewhere beneath Earth's crust. Next time you kick
a pebble or skip a stone, consider how far it traveled to cross
your path! (From Yahoo's Picks of the Week)
The Atoms Family
http://www.miamisci.org/af/sln/
“This resource contains educational activities about energy concepts, the power of the sun,
energy conservation, energy transformation, electricity and fossil fuels being presented by
famous gothic horror characters.” The activities are variously designed for students from
grades K to 12. Also available in Japanese. (From Librarian's Index to the Internet)
Physics Classroom
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/
Hosted by Studyworks! Online and created by Tom Henderson, this site has
lots of great stuff! Divided into three main sections: Physics Tutorial,
Multimedia Physics Studio, and Physics Help. Within each section there
are numerous lessons, animations, and quizzes. Not only top-natch
learning applications; but aesthectically pleasing too.
(From Blue Web'n)
Einstein Archives Online
http://www.alberteinstein.info/
Officially released on the Web last week, this impressive digital archive
features the writings, scholarship, and thoughts of Albert Einstein, one of
the 20th century's greatest scientists. The site allows visitors to view and
browse 3,000 high-quality digitized images of Einstein's writings, ranging
from his travel diaries (many of which are in German) to his published and
unpublished scholarly manuscripts. The online archive draws on the
manuscripts held by the Albert Einstein Archives at the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem, and was produced by the Jewish National & University Library's
Digitization Project. Additionally, visitors have access to the archive
database, which contains 43,000 records of Einstein related documents, such
as his notebooks and third-party items. More casual visitors will want to
visit the online gallery, which contains a selection of some of the key
documents available here, such as his famous article that mentions the
equation E=mc2. Overall, this is a thoroughly engaging and informative trove
of digitized material on one of the world's most respected scientists. [KMG]
(From the Scout Report)
MIT World - Civil War High Tech: Excavating the Hunley and Monitor
http://web.mit.edu/mitworld/content/deeparch/excavating.html
Monitor Research & Recovery Photo Gallery
http://www.sanctuaries.nos.noaa.gov/pgallery/pgmonitor/research/m_research.html
Monitor Virtual Tour
http://monitor.nos.noaa.gov/wreck_tour/wreck_tour.html
Institute of Nautical Archaeology's Conservation Research Laboratory
http://nautarch.tamu.edu/napcrl.htm
Friends of the Hunley
http://www.hunley.org/
The Uncivilized Engine of War
http://www.pbs.org/saf/1305/segments/1305-1.htm
Mariner's Museum - Monitor
http://www.mariner.org/monitor/04_revunion/index.html
Advances in underwater archaeology are making possible some spectacular
recovery projects, among them the recovery of the Civil War vessels, the
Monitor and the Hunley. These two ships are not only tremendously
important historically, but also represent some of the most creative
engineering efforts of their time -- the Monitor had devices of over 40
original patents on board. The first link is to a mini-symposium at MIT
on these recovery projects and the science involved. The photo gallery
is a NOAA site with arrays of fascinating photographs of the Monitor
recovery effort. The Monitor virtual tour shows you underwater views of
the Monitor wreck site. Although the INA is not involved directly with
these two projects, they are deeply involved in the recovery and
restoration of many other nautical archaeology projects, and a tour of
their research lab will introduce you to these and to the techniques
used in this type of archaeological effort. The Friends of the Hunley
website has a wealth of information on the Hunley history and recovery
efforts, including an animation of the recovery. The Uncivilized Engine
of War is a brief Scientific American presentation of the Hunley, with
links to a few other vessel restoration presentations. The parts of the
Monitor that have been recovered are today undergoing restoration at
the Mariner's Museum in Newport News.
TelecomVisions.com
http://www.telecomvisions.com/
Professor Michael Hobday is Director of the Complex Product Systems (CoPS)
Innovation Centre at SPRU. Michael Hobday works on (a) innovation management
in CoPS and (b) East and South Asian innovation studies. He recommends the
following website in economics as his “expert's choice”.
Established by a group of academics at the University of Edinburgh, TelecomVisions.com is an independent, non-profit, interactive site focusing on a key question: What will happen to the Telecoms Industry and its companies in the Internet Age over the next five years? The site has a “Guest Visionary” slot that aims to bring together the views of leading academics, industry players, and government policy makers. Visitors are then invited to compare their visions of the future and contribute to the debate. I'd recommend this site as it is *dynamic* - it asks you questions and is interesting. (From SOSIG)
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BUSH NOMINATES 25 FOR PITAC
http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2003/0505/web-pitac-05-09-03.asp
President Bush has nominated 25 new members to the President's
Information Technology Advisory Committee (PITAC), which serves the
president, Congress, and federal agencies in dealing with information
technology issues. Observers said the nominations indicate a
recognition on the part of President Bush that information technology
is vital to the country's well-being and global leadership in many
areas, including the economy and national security. Edward Lazowska of
the University of Washington and Marc Benioff, a former Oracle
executive, have been nominated to serve as co-chairs of the committee.
Other nominees include Ruzena Bajcsy of the University of
California-Berkeley, Eugene Spafford of Purdue University, and Peter
Tippett of TruSecure Corp.
Federal Computer Week, 9 May 2003 via Edupage
CALTECH RESEARCH TO TURBOCHARGE THE INTERNET
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103_2-1013969.html?tag=fdfeed
The journal New Scientist reports that a team from the California
Institute of Technology (Caltech) has created a new system called Fast
TCP that can significantly boost download speeds, using the existing
Internet infrastructure. Fast TCP researchers have achieved speeds of
more than 8.6 gigabits per second, or 6000 times the capacity of
ordinary broadband. All Internet traffic currently uses Transmission
Control Protocol (TCP), which breaks down large files into data packets
of about 1,500 bytes. Slow performance occurs from glitches in the
process of the sending computer's having to wait for acknowledgement
from the receiving computer before sending the next packet. According
to the report, FTC software installed on the sending computer predicts
the highest supportable data rate connection without data loss by
identifying likely packet losses through continuously monitoring the
time taken for sent packets to arrive and for acknowledgements to be
received.
ZDNet, 6 June 2003 via Edupage
MIT MERGES TECHNOLOGY LABS
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,59137,00.html
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has announced plans to
merge two high-profile labs into what will be one of the largest
research labs in the world. The Laboratory for Computer Science and the
Artificial Intelligence Laboratory will be combined to form the New
Laboratory for Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence (NLCSAI),
which will comprise 750 faculty, staff, and students. According to a
statement from MIT, the NLCSAI “will aspire to germinate and cultivate
the most far-reaching new ideas and carry out the world's best
research in information and intelligence technology and science.”
Rodney Brooks, who will be co-director of the NLCSAI, offered this
comment on the kinds of research the new lab might do: “[I]magine
instead of growing a tree, cutting it down and building a table, you
just grow a table, digitally instruct the organism how to grow.”
Wired News, 11 June 2003 via Edupage
MENTORING PROGRAM SUPPORTS WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/local/6053553.htm
MentorNet is a national nonprofit organization whose goal is to provide
support in the form of e-mail mentoring for women studying science and
engineering. The program matches female students with working
professionals who give advice and encouragement. Many women feel
uncomfortable in a field dominated by male students and faculty.
Participants in the program--both students and mentors--say that e-mail
mentoring is effective, despite the perception that it is impersonal.
E-mail allows students and mentors in different time zones to
communicate at their convenience. One mentor said, “[Y]ou don't have
to drop what you are doing ... and I can take time to think about my
answer.” MentorNet was started in 1997 by Carol Muller, who, as
associate engineering dean at Dartmouth College, was disturbed to see
that women left science and engineering programs at twice the rate of
men.
San Jose Mercury News, 10 June 2003 via Edupage
DHS ANNOUNCES NATIONAL CYBER SECURITY DIVISION
http://dc.internet.com/news/article.php/2218761
Tom Ridge, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS),
announced Friday the creation of the National Cyber Security Division
(NCSD) to secure government and private sector networks from
Internet-based attacks. The 60-person NCSD falls under the Analysis and
Infrastructure Protection Directorate (IAIP), which consists of several
agencies including the FBI's former National Infrastructure Protection
Center (NIPC), the Department of Commerce's Critical Infrastructure
Assurance Office, and the General Services Administration's Federal
Computer Incident Response Center. The NCSD will follow the approach
outlined in the National Strategy to Secure Cyber Space report,
spearheaded by former White House security advisor Richard Clarke.
Clarke resigned when the security board he headed was dissolved and its
duties absorbed into the DHS. The new division aims to respond to major
incidents, issue warnings, assist with major recovery efforts, and
conduct ongoing cyberspace research.
Internet News, 9 June 2003 via Edupage
BERTELSMANN SELLS ACADEMIC PUBLISHING UNIT
http://www.infotoday.com/newsbreaks/nb030527-1.shtml
Bertelsmann has announced the sale of its academic publishing group,
BertelsmannSpringer, to two firms, Candover and Cinven, which last year
purchased Kluwer Academic Publishers. The two publishing groups will be
merged to form a new company, called Springer, that will control an
estimated 10 percent of the academic publishing market. Springer will
be larger than publishers such as Wiley, Blackwell Publishing, and
Taylor & Francis, though Elsevier Science will remain the largest, with
approximately 25 percent of the market. Observers said that since
Bertelsmann bought Springer-Verlag in 1999, creating
BertelsmannSpringer, the parent company has not made promised
investments in the publishing group and that the Springer management is
probably pleased about the sale to Candover and Cinven. Indeed, a
spokesperson from BertelsmannSpringer said, “[I]t is good that we are
moving from Bertelsmann, where we were not part of the core business,
to a new owner where we will be.”
Information Today, 27 May 2003 via Edupage
WASHINGTON STATE BUDGET CUTS AFFECT IT PROGRAMS
http://chronicle.com/free/2003/04/2003042401t.htm
As in many other states, institutions of higher education in Washington
State are facing severe cuts in state funding. Some higher education
officials have expressed concern that, because technology programs are
among the most costly, they will be some of the most significantly
affected by proposed budget cuts. Some administrators and business
leaders in the state argue that such cuts are likely to exacerbate the
economic problems that have led to the cuts in the first place.
Washington State, they said, lacks adequate numbers of graduates with
high-tech training, and restricting the capacity of technology programs
will hamper efforts to fill the high-tech jobs in the state. Ken Myer,
president of the Technology Alliance, a consortium of state businesses
and institutions, said what the state needs is to expand, not contract,
those programs, which will ultimately benefit the state's economy.
Chronicle of Higher Education, 24 April 2003 via Edupage
FEW HIGH-TECH JOBS FOR COLLEGE GRADS
http://www.idg.net/ic_1309268_9677_1-5048.html
A recent report from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray, and Christmas
Inc. paints a grim picture for new college graduates looking for
high-tech jobs. The slowdown in the tech sector has led to a very
difficult job market for recent graduates, due to a number of
circumstances, according to the report. Many high-tech workers have
been laid off over the past couple of years, flooding the market with
available workers with prior experience. Most employers will typically
opt for an experienced applicant over one just out of college. In
addition, companies are spending significantly less on new technologies
and therefore have much reduced needs for workers who understand the
newest hardware and software. Many companies are able to operate
efficiently with current staff rather than seeking new employees with
cutting-edge skills. Students who have participated in programs such as
internships are likely to have an edge over those whose education has
been limited to college courses.
IDG, 21 April 2003 via Edupage
MIT PULLS OUT OF MEDIA LAB ASIA
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/08/business/08LABS.html
Citing disagreements with the new Indian minister of information, the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has decided to end its
participation in Media Lab Asia. The lab was started two years ago to
perform research that would benefit the Indian people, and funding was
supposed to come from the Indian government, corporations, and MIT. To
date, all funding has come from the Indian government, and the new
minister of information reportedly disagreed with the approach to
salaries at the lab and with the lab's research focus. Management of
the program will be turned over to the Indian government, though the
name may remain Media Lab Asia. MIT said despite this decision, the
institution remains interested in supporting similar labs in other
countries.
New York Times, 8 May 2003 (registration req'd) via Edupage
E-RATE FORUM RAISES THE CALL FOR REFORM
http://dc.internet.com/news/article.php/2203861
This week the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) held a forum to
investigate the troubled E-Rate Program, which has been accused of
rampant fraud and has seen recent rules changes. Representatives from
schools and libraries, the intended beneficiaries of the program, said
policy and procedural complexities left many applicants confused and
willing to cede responsibility to vendors. A representative from
BellSouth, one of the program's largest vendors, said policies should
be changed to discourage schools and libraries from taking advantage of
the system. “Applicants do not have enough incentive to control project
costs, and service providers have too much incentive to inflate costs,”
said Margaret Greene of BellSouth, which supports lowering the discount
cap of 90 percent to around 75-80 percent. All speakers at the forum
supported recent rules changes made for the program.
Internet News, 9 May 2003 via Edupage
RIAA SENDS AN APOLOGY TO PENN STATE
http://news.com.com/2100-1025_3-1001095.html
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) apologized this
week for a copyright warning notice that it sent in error to the
department of astronomy and astrophysics at Pennsylvania State
University. The RIAA uses automated programs to locate servers that are
distributing copyrighted files, which reported that one of the
department's servers was distributing files by the band Usher. The
server in question contained no such files, but the department has a
professor emeritus named Peter Usher. This, combined with the presence
of an MP3 file of a group of astronomers singing about a satellite, set
of the RIAA's crawler. According to the RIAA, all notices are checked
before they are sent out, but this one was not properly reviewed and
was sent in error. A statement from the RIAA said, “In this particular
instance, a temp employee made a mistake and did not follow RIAA's
established protocol.” The RIAA also said that of the tens of thousands
of notices sent out, this was the first faulty notice discovered.
CNET, 12 May 2003 via Edupage
TEXAS EXPECTED TO ESTABLISH ONLINE CHARTER SCHOOL
http://chronicle.com/daily/2003/05/2003051303t.htm
The Texas Legislature will likely pass a bill to create a virtual
charter school to offer online courses to primary and secondary
students. The Texas Legislature, however, is currently deadlocked due
to partisan rivalry and a resulting lack of quorum. The proposed school
would be run by two state universities, which have yet to be selected.
Republican State Senator Florence Shapiro sponsored the legislation to
“provide flexibility and the use of available technology and online
resources to meet students' individual needs.” A similar bill was
rejected due to concerns over the program's potential cost with
unlimited enrollment. The bill proposes a 2,000 student cap and will
cost roughly $9 million over two years. The state government created a
similar program two years ago that is administered by school districts
and enrolls 450 students. The University of Texas, which already runs a
virtual charter school without state assistance, would like to
participate in the state-run program to increase students' options,
according to Robert Bruce at the Austin campus's Distance Education
Center.
Chronicle of Higher Education, 13 May 2003 (sub. req'd) via Edupage
DESIGNING ERGONOMICALLY SAFE COMPUTER LABS FOR STUDENTS
http://www.wired.com/news/school/0,1383,58826,00.html
A bill recently signed by New Jersey Governor James McGreevey will help
prevent repetitive strain injuries in school-age children in the state.
The bill establishes the Ergonomics in Education Study Commission, a
group of teachers, school administrators, medical professionals, and
ergonomics researchers who will investigate the problem of such
injuries and provide recommendations about implementing ergonomic
standards in the state's schools. Studies show that most children
between the ages of 5 and 17 use computers, though no broad-based
research has been done on repetitive motion injuries in children.
Supporters of the legislation, including Alan Hedge, professor and
operator of the ergonomics Web site at Cornell University, argue that a
program that encourages children to develop good ergonomic habits will
likely prevent many strain-related injuries in adulthood. At least one
university has created a program for students with repetitive strain
injury; Harvard RSI Action provides information for Harvard University
students and for the general public.
Wired News, 14 May 2003 via Edupage
STUDENTS PROPOSE NEW DEFENSES FOR INTERNET ATTACKS
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-1001200.html
Two graduate students from Carnegie Mellon University presented their
ideas about controlling denial-of-service attacks to attendees at the
IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy. The first approach, offered by
Abraham Yaar, would use data in e-mail headers to identify the path a
message took through a network. Using this information, a system can
determine whether traffic from some portions of the Internet should be
blocked by the Internet service provider (ISP). According to Yaar, such
an approach would leave 60 percent of a server's capacity for
legitimate users, even if “total attack traffic is 170 times the
legitimate traffic.” Yaar's method reportedly works well when IP
addresses are spoofed and would even work if fewer than half of the
ISPs adopted the protocol. The second proposal, from XiaoFeng Wang,
challenges network traffic to perform a task to be allowed to
communicate with the server. The server would require small “puzzles”
that would be insignificant for legitimate users but would overload
someone attempting a denial-of-service attack.
ZDNet, 13 May 2003 via Edupage
STUDY SHOWS IMPROVED VISUAL PERCEPTION FROM VIDEO GAMES
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB105413319494664400,00.html
A study conducted at the University of Rochester indicates that playing
high-action video games can increase a person's performance on a range
of visual tests. The tests included locating the position of a blinking
object, counting simultaneous objects on a screen, and identifying the
color of an alphabet letter. In the study, subjects who spent several
months regularly playing action video games consistently performed
better on the tests than those who did not play the games. The study
did not address the question of how violence in video games influences
those who play them. The authors of the study said the results suggest
that such video games could be beneficial to people with visual
impairments or to soldiers training for combat. Military experts
confirmed the latter notion, saying that soldiers who have spent many
years playing action video games are often better at certain combat
skills, such as operating long-range unmanned aerial vehicles.
Wall Street Journal, 28 May 2003 (sub. req'd) via Edupage
HOWARD UNIVERSITY TO BUILD GENETICS DATABASE
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46122-2003May27.html
Citing the possibility for significantly improving health care for
blacks, officials at Howard University this week announced the creation
of a genetics database culled from laboratory samples collected from
25,000 African American patients at Howard University Hospital. All
information in the database would be kept confidential from groups such
as life insurance companies. Officials at the university noted that
blacks have generally not participated in large-scale medical research,
despite suffering from some diseases at much higher rates than other
racial groups. Some observers questioned the potential value of such a
database and expressed concern that the project would serve to
exacerbate racial stereotypes or attitudes. Troy Duster of New York
University argued that health issues among a certain population are at
least as likely to be influenced by social factors, such as lifestyle
and environment, as by genetic factors.
Washington Post, 28 May 2003 via Edupage
REPORT SAYS CIA NOT USING IT CREATIVELY
http://www.internetnews.com/infra/article.php/2213741
A report written by a member of a CIA think tank argues that the
agency's use of information technology is handicapped by a culture
that treats technology as a threat rather than a benefit. In the
report, “Failing to Keep Up With the Information Revolution,” Bruce
Berkowitz writes that the agency's focus on security prevents the
CIA's Directorate of Intelligence “from applying information
technology more effectively.” Berkowitz points to a CIA database, the
Corporate Information Retrieval and Storage (CIRAS) database, which the
report states is the most-used database at the CIA. Compared to systems
outside the CIA, he said, CIRAS is primitive. Because of the
shortcomings of CIRAS, CIA analysts depend largely on an informal
source network, according to Berkowitz, who characterized such an
informal network as “exactly what the World Wide Web does in an
automated fashion when it is combined with a search engine like Google
or Alta Vista.”
Internet News, 29 May 2003 via Edupage.
CHANGING TIDES FOR COMPUTER MAJORS
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/22/technology/circuits/22comp.html
As the technology bubble has burst and most companies have slashed the
number of computer programmers they are hiring, so too the numbers of
students choosing to major in computer science have dropped
significantly. The slump in technology has increased the number of
graduate students, however, as many stay in or return to school to
avoid the difficult job market. Computer science departments report
enrollment declines of as much as 40 percent for undergraduates from
two to three years ago. Officials at some universities noted, however,
that even as the numbers of students have gone down, the quality has
increased. Randal Bryant of Carnegie Mellon said current students in
computer science programs are “very enthusiastic about computers” and
that they “aren't looking to become millionaires by age 25.” Some
expressed concern that the low numbers of undergraduates in such
programs today will become a significant problem when the demand picks
up again.
New York Times, 22 May 2003 (registration req'd) via Edupage
My Tiny Garden
http://www.mytinygarden.com/
Whether fact, fiction, or a little bit of both, the quirky narrative
that accompanies this beautiful bug book draws you into the site's
clever premise. The mysterious guide takes you on a macro tour of
his tiny urban garden. His backyard plot is not very big and is
rather unkempt -- but it is home to all manner of strange inhabitants
that await discovery. His lens zeroes in on creatures that buzz,
creep, crawl, and leave slimy trails all over the ignored vegetation.
The spare interface and easy navigation allow you to swing from
limb-to-limb for a close-up view of various multi-legged creatures.
Amazingly crisp shots of gossamer wings flapping, fruit flies
swarming, shield bugs chilling, and spiders preying command your
attention. In fact, this site might inspire you to look at your
own backyard in a whole new light.
Birds of the World on Postage Stamps
http://www.bird-stamps.org/
Images of birds on postage stamps, browsable by species
(using Birds of the World: A Checklist by James Clements) or
country, and searchable. Both the species and country lists
are on single pages, making them slow to load. Species
entries include a map showing the bird's range. Clicking on
individual stamps allows for navigation between the species
and country pages. Site also includes recent bird stamp
issues, identification information, and related links.
(From Librarian's Index to the Internet)
All items from the Scout Report are copyright Susan Calcari, 1994-2003. 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.