http://www.noisenet.ws/

NOISE stands for New Outlooks In Science & Engineering, a U.K.-wide campaign funded by the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) that "aims to raise awareness of science & engineering among young people by making these subjects more relevant and accessible." The website provides career information as well as articles on ways that science is applicable to a range of areas in life such as health, travel, sports, entertainment, and the environment. A section called Serious Science organizes the articles by scientific field, such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, IT, materials, life sciences, and engineering. The articles provide a nice overviews of innovations in robotics, aircraft technology, and architecture, just to name a few. Other features include a free newsletter distributed via email and animated e-cards to send to friends. [VF]

http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/univ/science/sciencetour/

Science Through the Centuries is a history project highlighting people and places that have contributed to the University of Cambridge "tradition of excellence." The tradition includes Isaac Newton, Darwin, and Stephen Hawking. The section on Newton includes a short discussion of "the birth of computer science," while the section on Darwin includes a link to "the largest single collection of Darwin's letters" and a website maintained by the University Library. A science tour map is posted online for those who visit Cambridge University and want to locate some of the buildings and structures mentioned in this historical review. [VF]

http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,66671,00.html?tw=wn_story_top5

This article from Wired News discuss the ways that "communicating using instant messenger, text messaging, even blogging are changing the way humans communicate." The article gives voice to linguists who fear these technologies may be damaging "our ability to articulate properly" as well as those who argue we have "entered a new era of expression." The article reviews a study of Internet communication techniques used by college students and provides a link to Microsoft's latest cheat sheet for parents explaining the codes used in IMing.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4099615.stm

This article from BBC News discusses how two mathematicians made a crochet model of chaos. The mathematicians, whose research focuses on developing a computer model to describe complex surfaces, were able to represent the Lorenz equations using 25,511 crochet stitches. The pattern was published in the journal Mathematics Intelligencer and the mathematicians are challenging others to repeat the effort. The model stretches almost a meter across and was used as a Christmas decoration. [VF]

http://www.simonsingh.com/home.html

This website features Simon Singh, "an author, journalist and TV producer, specialising in science and mathematics." The website reviews some of his books, such as "the story of the Big Bang theory" and its "curious incidents and peculiar characters." The Code Book, which can be downloaded for free from his website, offers a beginner's cryptography tutorial, encryption tools, code breaking tools, coded messages to crack, resources for teachers, and an animated section on quantum cryptography. Singh has also developed "the virtual Black Chamber," a website "where you can learn about codes and codebreaking, encrypt your own messages, crack those of your enemies, and play with interactive enciphering programmes." Other sections describe his theatrical and television accomplishments, including directing a program on Fermat’s Last Theorem. Several articles on cryptography, Fermat's Last Theorem and Erdos-Bacon Numbers ("six degrees of separation") are also posted online. Archived copies of his periodic newsletter (which he emails to anyone who subscribes) gives "updates on current projects, announces any programmes that are about to be transmitted, highlights forthcoming public lectures and allows me to have a rant if there is something that has been annoying me." [VF]

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2005/harvey.html

Charles Harvey, an associate professor from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering has kept a log of the findings from a recent visit to Sri Lanka. Harvey and colleagues Tissa Illagasekera from the Colorado School of Mines and Jayantha Obeysekera from the South Florida Water District went to Sri Lanka to investigate the impact of the recent Indian Ocean tsunami on local drinking wells. Excepts from his notes and photographs are posted on this website from the MIT News Office. The letters describe his four-day fact-finding trip and conclude that, based on the group's limited observations, "the condition of the wells depends on their location and the level of post-tsunami interference." [VF]

http://www.nwo.nl/nwohome.nsf/pages/NWOP_68HC62_Eng?Opendocument

Computers can now compete with humans not only in chess, but also in the board game Go. Go involves two players who each try to surround a territory with stones of their color. The player who gains the most territory (mostly by surrounding his opponent these with his own stones) wins the game. Dutch researcher Erik van der Werf, with funding from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, "achieved a world first" with a program that can solve the Go game for a 5x5 playing board. This article briefly describes the game and the technique used to develop the program. [VF]

http://www.bellsystemmemorial.com/index2.html

Bell System Memorial is a non-commercial website created by David Massey, who openly admits to his love of telephones and interest in the Bell System. The website "was created to help keep the memories of the Bell System alive and to pay tribute to those that made it the greatest telecommunications system on earth." The author provides some technical and corporate historical information on Bell Labs, Western Electric, American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T), and the Regional Bell Operating Companies. The Bell System Memorial logo on the main page links to an introductory webpage, where visitors can sort through the information based on their needs. For example, teachers will find lessons ideas, and AT&T, Western Electric, Bell Labs, Bell Operating Company retirees and current employees of the companies divested from AT&T will find some interesting corporate history. A listing of books and resources on Bell Systems is available for anyone interested in further research and hobbyists will find links to resources and associations relating to electronics and telecommunications. [VF]