Our most recent recommendations

Mysteries of Catalhoyuk - The Science Museum of Minnesota has mastered the trick of grabbing the attention of young people, and this exploration of Catalhoyuk is done in a colorful comic-book style. Puzzling artifacts have been found at this site in Turkey - thousands of clay balls, a goddess-like figurine in a grain storage area, burials beneath living quarters, bear paws, and murals. The archaeologists offer their interpretations, and invite input from kids, who can type in their thoughts. Mystery cards are designed to allow further investigation of a body found with owl pellets scattered about, and that of a baby buried with beads. Games, a virtual exhibit, animations, and slide shows add to a fresh, engaging look at what might have been the very first city. Rating: 10 out of 10 AD
http://www.smm.org/catal/home.html

Mount Wilson Observatory - Hosted by the Mount Wilson Institute, a non-profit organisation whose goal is to maximise the scientific and educational potential of the observatory and facilities, the Mount Wilson Observatory website certainly helps do just that. For those unfamiliar with the facility, the best place to start is the virtual tour, designed to give the visitor a feel for the grounds and to present some of the history and heritage of the observatory itself. Supported by frames, the tour walks you through the observatory, right from the front gate, and provides ample links to different aspects of interest. The remainder of the site is dedicated to the scientific programs being undertaken at the observatory, and the history of the site, including many images. The observatory is host to several ongoing projects. There are two primary night-time telescopes in operation. One is a 60-inch telescope built in 1908, the second a 100-inch Hooker built in 1917. The 100-inch telescope has the instrumentation for adaptive optics allowing it to remove the blurring effect of the atmosphere on images, thus rendering them as sharp as the images from NASA's Hubble telescope in space. In addition, two solar observatories are in operation and the site also hosts three interferometers, which act in concert allowing the investigation of stars at much finer resolution than is possible through single aperture telescopes. Budding astronomers can also request observing time through the site on the 100-inch telescope at the observatory. However, at $2700 per night the price is likely to be too steep for most. A well thought out and interesting site, which is easy to navigate, the only down side is that some of the sections require updating. Rating: 8 out of 10 LH
http://www.mtwilson.edu/

The World's Biomes - Biomes are the great communities of the Earth - the aquatic, the deserts, the forests, the grasslands and the tundra. They are not static, they are forever changing, sands shifts, seas wax and wane, grasslands desiccate and forests are flooded. These changes usually take place over many millennia, but human intervention can accelerate destruction with no recourse to the restoration of balance. A better understanding of the biomes will allow us to move forward with conservation. The University of California at Berkeley provides a smooth introduction to the five major biomes of our planet. From freshwater ponds and streams to the depths of the vast oceans. Across the deserts that cover a fifth of the earth's surface to the forests that have carpeted landscapes since the Silurian period of 420 million years ago. Then we see the almost treeless grasslands and the frozen deserts we know as tundra. The site is unfortunately lacking in detail, nor does it provide links to information elsewhere but it does open a small window on to our world. Rating: 6 out of 10 DB
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/glossary/gloss5/...

Nutrition.gov - A US federal government initiative, Nutrition.gov has been set up to provide the general public with access to accurate scientific information on nutrition, healthy eating, physical exercise and general food safety. A country renown for its obsession with the latest celebrity quick-fix fad diets, it is believed that as many as half of all adult Americans are now either overweight or obese. Even more worrying, the incidence of obesity in children is escalating, promising a lifetime of health problems for future generation Americans. Nutrition.gov is a comprehensive and reliable source of information on nutrition and dietary guidance covering every age group, from the elderly to young infants. The site also links to information about specific food assistant programs set up across the US. The front page provides access to an overwhelming resource of information, with sections on topics as diverse as understanding food labels to home canning, and managing some of the diseases associated with poor nutrition, including everything from anorexia and binge eating to diabetes. There is also a section on food safety, providing detailed information on food-borne illnesses and related topics such as irradiation, in addition to the applications of biotechnology to food, for example genetic engineering and animal cloning. The front page also supports many spotlighted sections on topically relevant subjects. As research continues to reveal the close link between our eating habits and lifestyle on our general health and wellbeing the importance of having such information in the public realm will increase. Myths and misinformation regarding nutrition and diet abound on the internet. Hopefully, informative and reliable sites such as this can help to re-educate and inform the general public as to the importance of healthy eating. An impressive and well ordered site, which is easy to navigate, Nutrition.gov is an excellent gateway to information on nutrition. Rating: 9 out of 10 LH
http://www.nutrition.gov/

Engines of our Ingenuity - The Engines of Our Ingenuity is an American public radio program that describes how culture is molded by human creativity. The site carries transcripts of each broadcast since the program's inception in 1988. If you're at all curious about how art, technology, and ideas have shaped us then take a listen. Every episode reveals a nuance about how we have come to a culture with cable cars and civil wars, submarines and bar codes. As with all good multimedia presentations there are a few spinoffs for consumption too. Material for talks, classroom materials (still under construction unfortunately), there is even a free text book of college-level engineering - A Heat Transfer Textbook, by presenter John Lienhard IV and John Lienhard V available as well as an audio CD called Inventing Europe. The online episode at the time of this review was number 1720, which is rather impressive run to say the least. Episode 1720 talks about the Silk Road, the almost mythical trade route between China and the eastern end of the Mediterranean that went by way of Tibet, Siberia, Samarkand, and Baghdad. The show's presenter John Lienhard IV has presented some 1720 episodes so far and is still an active emeritus professor of the University of Houston and presents episodes like the Silk Sea Lane with much passion. Rating: 9 out of 10 DB
http://www.uh.edu/admin/engines/engines.htm

Epilepsy Museum - Produced by a German doctor, this site covers the history of the disease, diagnosis, therapies, epilepsy and art, famous epileptics, and recommended books. Both Galen and Hippocrates knew it originated in the brain, and the Egyptians had a word for it - nesejet. Ancient diagnostic methods included the use of a turning potter's wheel, as the sight of its continual motion might bring on a seizure. Mugwort, copper, mercury, and zinc oxide were among the treatments used during the Renaissance, and not till the 19th century were substances discovered that actually worked. Among famous people who suffered from epilepsy were: Julius Caesar, Napoleon, Alexander the Great, Dostoyevsky, Van Gogh, Lord Byron, Flaubert, Pope Pius IX, Joan of Arc, Moliere, Alfred Nobel, Hermann von Helmholtz, Socrates, Lenin, and Cardinal Richelieu. It is a very common ailment. Rating: 10 out of 10 AD
http://www.epilepsiemuseum.de/alt/english.htm

Liftoff to Space Exploration - This NASA site provides a good introduction to space exploration and astronauts in space. The front page is the main entry point for users, with links to sections including the human journey, space exploration, and the whole universe itself! These all lead to more detailed information on topics as varied as the origins of the universe, the fundamentals of living in space and technical details on spacecraft developed by NASA. The highlight of the site is the section on the technology used to track both spacecraft and debris in space, including a station location tracker which allows you to track the real-time positions of various satellites. The satellite positions are updated each minute and there is also an option to view their trajectories in 3D. Unfortunately the shuttle wasn't on a mission when I accessed the site, but the site also tracks this when it's in orbit. Another interesting feature for those in the US is a link on the home page which provides you with a star map marking the path of the international space station across the night sky in your area. From your zip code it will calculate the time that the station will rise and set in the sky, in addition to the date of its next transect. This, combined with the tracking function of this site alone makes it well worth a visit. Easy to navigate the website contains a glossary and index in addition to a search function for those who are looking for something specific. Rating: 8 out of 10 LH
http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/