Founded in 1853 as the first scientific institution in the American West, the California Academy of Sciences is based in San Francisco and is the home to a number of public exhibits and eight scientific research departments. The Academy's online presence is quite prodigious, and contains copious information about its various outreach activities, its lecture series, and of course, its natural...

ScienceNOW is a regularly updated Web site from the California Academy of Sciences, which features a changing display of Academy research in the natural sciences. Four featured sections -- Headline Science, Academy Research, Where in the World, and Wild Lives -- offer brief overviews of discoveries by Academy scientists and other "headline-making" science news. Each section includes photos and...