Research and Education
The Green Design Institute is a "major interdisciplinary education and research effort to make an impact on environmental quality through green design." The primary goal of the Institute is to form partnerships with industry, government, and other foundations in order to develop processes that "can improve environmental quality and product quality while enhancing economic development." Located at Carnegie Mellon, the Institute involves faculty, students, and other partners in their efforts to develop practical pollution prevention technologies and lower costs by recycling scarce resources, using fewer raw materials, and creating better products. Visitors to the site may wish to begin by reading the "About Us" section to learn a bit more about the Institute. After getting acquainted with the goals of the Institute, visitors to should visit the "Research" section to learn a bit about on-going projects on sustainable infrastructure, energy and environment, life cycle assessment, and environment. Perhaps the most useful section of the site can be found by clicking on "Education". Here, a link to eiolca.net can be found, which is economic input-output life cycle assessment software. The model allows users to estimate the overall environmental impacts of producing commodities or services in the United States. In addition, courses and course materials on environmental issues are available here. [KMG]
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/sportsinjuries.html
Exercising and playing sports can lead to a sound mind and body, but sports-related injuries can be frustrating for anyone. This very helpful site, offered as part of the Medline Plus series from the U.S. National Library of Medicine, contains dozens of fact sheets, media presentations, and other items regarding various sports injuries. Visitors who know exactly what they need can click on over to the "Related Topics" area on the right-hand side of the homepage, where they will find resources on everything from ankle injuries to general wellness. Their homepage also contains sections like "Basics", "Research", and "Multimedia & Cool Tools". Two items that are definitely worth checking out are the tennis elbow tutorial and the basic overview of sports injuries offered by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. [KMG]
http://www.bu.edu/synesthesia/
Synesthesia (or synaesthesia) is loosely defined as "senses coming together." At its simplest level, synesthesia means that when a certain sense or part of a sense is activated, another unrelated sense or part of a sense is activated concurrently. For example, when someone hears a sound, he or she immediately sees a color or shape in his or her "mind's eye." The Synesthesia Project's website presents an abundance of information about this phenomenon including a thorough FAQ section, which answers questions such as "How common is synesthesia?" and "Is there any proof that synesthesia occurs?" In addition, visitors can find details about the Vision and Cognition Lab located at Boston University. Finally, the site includes the opportunity for visitors to participate in two of their web-based experiments. [KMG]
http://www.rand.org/randeurope/
RAND Europe is part of the US-based RAND Corporation and has been active for the past 15 years. Based in Cambridge, UK, RAND Europe conducts research and analysis on the challenges facing many European countries. Visitors may want to start by perusing their home page where they can read up on a spotlighted researcher, highlighted research, or a featured report. After exploring the home page, visitors may also choose to search by area of interest and under the "RAND Research" section, interested parties can browse by such subject areas as "Arts and Culture", "Defence and Security", and "Population and Ageing". RAND Europe also provides a number of their research publications which can be viewed alphabetically, chronologically, or browsed by topic. In addition, a special section on the 2012 Olympics is provided here which includes examinations of many of the issues facing Europe as a member nation (London, UK) prepares to host one of the largest undertakings a country can be involved in. [CMH]
http://www.bostonindicators.org/IndicatorsProject/
Coordinated by the partnership of the City of Boston, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, and the Boston Foundation, the Boston Indicators Project "aims to democratize access to information, foster informed public discourse, track progress on shared civic goals, and report on change in 10 sectors: Civic Vitality, Cultural Life and the Arts, the Economy, Education, the Environment, Health, Housing, Public Safety, Technology, and Transportation." Visitors to the site can review the Project's most recent report as well as past versions. At the top of the page, there are various sections to visit, which cover the 10 sectors mentioned above. In each of these sections, visitors can read a brief summary, view highlights within each sector, read about the goals and measures of each sector, and find related links to research, resources, and news for each sector. The website also includes the feature "The Hub of Innovation" which highlights some of the most forward-looking local, regional, national and international work in the ten sectors tracked by the Boston Indicators Project. [KMG]
http://www.msm.cam.ac.uk/ascg/lectures/
Provided by Cambridge University's Applied Superconductivity and Cryoscience Group this series of lectures on superconductivity features contributions from leading world experts in academia and industry. The project was led by Dr. Bartek Glowacki and was funded by SCENET-2, Pi-Shirt, and the European Science Foundation and the lectures are available free of charge. As the project continues, there are plans to add supporting text, questions, and links to further reading for each lecture. Each lecture includes several chapters, each with an accompanying video. In addition to the video lectures, the site includes links to other related educational resources, an image gallery, and a bibliography of papers and publications related to the lectures. [KMG]
http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/nhs/
The Nation Health Service (NHS) was launched in 1948 with the proud expectation that it would make the UK the "envy of the world." On this site, visitors can follow the history of the NHS from the early planning stages through to its fully fledged "but sometimes problematic service." The site provides programs, documents, and images covering the birth of the National Health Service. Programs include video and audio of Sir William Beveridge outlining his proposals for a new welfare state in 1942, "How We Worked Then" where doctors and patients share memories of medical treatment before the NHS, and a 1973 broadcast of a debate about the state of the NHS. In addition to these fascinating programs, several documents are available for examination. Overall, this site is a captivating look into the UK's national health care system and should prove interesting to both scholars and those interested in a question that troubles many countries, including the U.S., today. [CMH]
