The Scout Report for Science & Engineering - January 7, 1998


The Scout Report for Science & Engineering

January 7, 1998

A Publication of the Internet Scout Project
Computer Sciences Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison

The target audience of the new Scout Report for Science & Engineering is faculty, students, staff, and librarians in the life sciences, physical sciences, and engineering. Each biweekly issue offers a selective collection of Internet resources covering topics in the sciences, and related fields such as math and engineering, that have been chosen by librarians and content specialists in the given field of study.

The Scout Report for Science & Engineering is also provided via email once every two weeks. Subscription information is included at the bottom of each issue.

In This Issue
The Scout Report
* Research * Current Awareness
* Learning Resources * New Data
* General Interest * In the News

Research
Water Measurement Manual--USBR
http://ogee.do.usbr.gov/fmt/wmm/
The entire contents of the Water Measurement Manual, provided by the US Bureau of Reclamation in collaboration with the US Department of Agriculture, is available. This web version is based on the third edition of the manual which was released in 1997. Fourteen chapters cover topics ranging from the basics of flowing water to selection of water measuring devices to submerged orifices. Tables and figures can be viewed separately from the chapter text. The appendix includes a large amount of data. Nomenclature, conversion factors, and the index for the hardbound manual are also available online. [KH]
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Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics--JSTOR
http://www.jstor.org/journals/00664162.html
List of Participating Academic Institutions
http://www.jstor.org/about/charter.html
The full text of Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics is available on line at the JSTOR site. Coverage includes volumes 1-23, 1970-1992. Visitors can search or browse the journal. Note: access to JSTOR contents is currently available only on a site licence basis to academic institutions. A list of institutions with site licenses is available. [JS]
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The Bishop Museum and Hawaii Biological Survey--Recent Entomological Additions
Bishop Museum
http://www.bishop.hawaii.org/
(a) The Hawaiian Terrestrial Arthropod Bibliography
http://www.bishop.hawaii.org/bishop/HBS/hibib/arthbib.html
(b) Tracking Orphan Collections
http://www.bishop.hawaii.org/ical/
(c) Biodiversity in Guyana
http://www.bishop.hawaii.org/bishop/natsci/guyana/
(d) Insect Ecology in Papua New Guinea
http://www.bishop.hawaii.org/bishop/natsci/ng/ngecol.html
The Bishop Museum and Hawaii Biological Survey recently added four entomological sites to its well-known site: (a) The arthropod bibliography contains an alphabetical list of 8086 titles that cite Hawaiian Islands' terrestrial arthropod species. The bibliography includes references with original descriptions for alien species resident in Hawaii and includes some references from the "gray" literature. (b) This site contains the National Science Foundation-sponsored Interactive Collections Availability List (ICAL)-Entomology site for orphaned entomological collections, and has a simple form to fill out for listing orphan collections and their attributes or for promoting underutilized collections. The intent of the site is to provide a tool to track orphan collections and to make their contents more widely known and utilized. It emphasizes terrestrial, marine and fossil arthropod collections. (c) This site describes ongoing ecological studies by Yves Basset and others of the International Institute of Entomology in Guyana. (d) The Bishop Museum is also hosting the web pages for a sister project in Papua New Guinea. [DF]
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AMS Preprint Server Email Service
http://www.ams.org/preprints/amspps-mailinglist-form.html
AMS Preprints
http://www.ams.org/preprints/
The American Mathematical Society maintains a preprint email service for mathematical research papers. Subscribers are sent bibliographic information and the abstract for preprints posted to the AMSPPS. Preprints can be obtained from the AMS preprint site. Interested individuals can subscribe and unsubscribe to the list via the preprint email web page. [KH]
[Note: Resource(s)/URL(s) mentioned above may no longer be available.]
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Community of Science (COS) Expertise Databases
http://expertise.cos.com/
Funded Research Projects, US, UK
http://fundedresearch.cos.com/
Provided by the Community of Science, Inc., this site contains a searchable global registry of experts in the sciences that is linked to other related information. Users can begin by searching for a person by name, institution, state, education, expertise, or by using key words. Each person located is then linked to a kind of curriculum vitae for the person including contact information, personal statement of expertise, publications and other information. One of the most interesting features of this site is the link to funding and granting agencies and organizations; each "expert" has a link to funding possibilities in his or her field that can be searched by grant application deadlines (e.g., next three months, one year). From the list of funding opportunities, users can download grant information. This is a well-integrated and easily-used site tailored for academics, researchers, and others (including the press) wishing to contact an authority in a discipline of science. The Funded Research Projects site contains links to major funding agencies in the US and UK with search engines for each agency. [DF]
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Learning Resources
Stats 101: Elementary Statistics Applets [Java]
http://intrepid.mcs.kent.edu/~blewis/stat/index.html
Bryan Lewis, a graduate student at Kent State University, wrote these Java applets for use by students or others interested in statistics. There are currently four applets available, Student's t-Test, ANOVA, Simple Least Squares, and Spearman's Rank Correlation. Each applet appears in its own window and contains sample data. A description of each applet and its source code is provided on its corresponding web page. [KH]
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FishScope [QuickTime, MPEG]
http://depts.washington.edu/fishscop/
Mark Cooper, professor of Zoology at the University of Washington, maintains this site which features time-lapse recordings and confocal images of the development of fish. Visitors can view QuickTime and MPEG movies of: zebrafish developmental landmarks, neural crest and neural tube dynamics, and medaka embryo contraction waves fish epidermal cells. In addition, a still image gallery and material describing how the images were prepared is available. This site is intended for teachers, researchers, and students interested in the developmental biology of fish and other aquatic organisms. [DF]
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Roller Coaster Physics
http://141.104.22.210/Anthology/Pav/Science/Physics/book/home.html
Tony Wayne has put his principles of roller coaster design online. An introduction to some general principles of physics precedes a more detailed description of the physics of roller coasters. Topics include weightlessness, hills and dips, and the physiological effects of acceleration. Other instructional materials provided include information on how to make the roller coaster simulator and a hot wheels train, field estimation tips, and amusement park labs. [KH]
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Megadiversity Countries--CI
http://www.conservation.org/web/fieldact/megadiv/megadiv.htm
Biologically, not all countries are created equal. Conservation International has released a report detailing seventeen countries (of more than 200 on the planet) that are home to between 60-70 percent of the earth's species. Endowed with an extraordinary wealth of biological resources, many of these countries also face some of the most intractable social, political, and economic problems. Examples include large countries such as Brazil and Mexico as well as small countries like Madagascar and Ecuador that pack high diversity into relatively constricted areas. Many of the 17 countries have links with detailed information on regional conservation issues. Links at the site allow users to view data tables with country rankings by number of species within a taxa (e.g., birds, amphibians, higher plants), by endemism level, level of threat, and other criteria. [DF]
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General Interest
Lunar Prospector--NASA [RealPlayer, Java, VRML]
http://lunar.arc.nasa.gov/
On January 6, 1998, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration launched the Lunar Prospector, NASA's first moon mission in 25 years. One of the key elements of the mission is the search for water ice on the moon. Interested Internauts can follow the progress of the mission at the Lunar Prospector site. Although the site is very much a work in progress there is considerable information about the moon and the mission.Included are an annotated timeline of US, Soviet, and Japanese lunar missions since 1959, a partial lunar gazetteer and information about Prospector instruments (under Science), Java-based real time data visualization tools, and an archive of images and one Realplayer movie at this time. Audio clips, more movies, artwork, documents and VRML models of the moon and the spacecraft are among forthcoming features. [JS]
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The Explorers Club Website
http://www.explorers.org/home.html
The Explorer's Club is "an international multidisciplinary, professional society dedicated to the advancement of field research and scientific exploration, and the ideal that it is vital to preserve the instinct to explore." With sections devoted to research and news, expedition assistance, programs, publications, membership, and links, this is a comprehensive site for serious travellers, explorers, and those seeking a vicarious adventure. Begun in 1904, members carry the much revered EC flag to remote points of the Earth, then return with it and contribute their experience to the club and to science. The site contains recent reports from EC expeditions to such sites as Icelandic caves, the headwaters of the Rio Timpia, Easter Island, and the "Lighthouse at the end of the world." Information on over 20 such forays is provided as is information on publications associated with the organization. [DF]
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Control Engineering Online
http://www.manufacturing.net/magazine/ce/info/aboutce.htm
Control Engineering Online, provided by Cahners' Manufacturing Marketplace, features ten areas of controls and instrumentation including process control and instrumentation, motors and motion control, and system integrators. The magazine's departments also include software review, technology update, and back to basics. The homepage for Control Engineering features the latest news, products, selected articles from the current issue, a search engine for the magazine, discussion areas, and additional resources. The web site also has articles not available in the print version of the magazine. [KH]
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The Amazing Story of Kudzu
http://www.cptr.ua.edu/kudzu.htm
Sponsored by the University of Alabama Center for Public Television and Radio, this site is devoted to the weed that conquered the southern US. Introduced in the late 1800s as an ornamental plant, kudzu was aided in its expansion through planting for erosion control during the Depression. It was declared a weed by the US Department of Agriculture in 1972. Growing at a rate of more than a foot per day, kudzu crowds out and kills native plants including trees and is extremely difficult to kill. This site contains discussions of the history of the plant, the damage that it can do, and examples of how some people have used it for everything from baskets to paper to jelly. Other highlights include images of monsters made of kudzu, and a kudzu haiku from a Georgia elementary school. [DF]
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Current Awareness
(For links to additional current awareness on tables of contents, abstracts, preprints, new books, data, conferences, etc., visit the Science & Engineering Current Awareness Metapage: http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report/sci-engr/metapage/).

Dateline Los Alamos--LANL [.pdf]
http://lib-www.lanl.gov/pubs/dateline.htm
Dateline Los Alamos is a monthly publication (Adobe Acrobat [.pdf] format only), provided by the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. It covers recent research and product development at the laboratory. Newsletters dating from December 1995 to the present can be downloaded. A special issue from 1995 detailing the past and future of the laboratory is also available. Documents range in size from 545 Kb to 1.9 Mb. [KH]
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The Great Climate Flip-flop--Atlantic Monthly
http://www.williamcalvin.com/atlantic/
This is the cover article from the January 1998 issue of the Atlantic Monthly by William Calvin, neurobiologist at the University of Washington, Seattle. It deals with the paradoxical theory that a cooler climate may be triggered by the current global warming trend. [DF]
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Academia Book Releases--Baker & Taylor--January 1998
http://www.baker-taylor.com/Academia/M01/Home.html
Baker & Taylor announced their book releases for titles scheduled to be available to the public in February 1998. New titles are available in Agricultural sciences; Biological sciences; Chemical Biotechnological, and Petroleum engineering; Earth Sciences; Electrical and Electronic Engineering; Mathematical Sciences; Mechanical Engineering; and Technology and Material Sciences. See the Science & Engineering Current Awareness Meta Page for links to individual new books sections. [KH]
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LINK Alert--Springer-Verlag
http://link.springer.de/alert/
Springer-Verlag Journals Preview Service (discussed in the September 17, 1997 issue of the Scout Report for Science & Engineering) has been integrated into Springer-Verlag's LINK service. This free service provides users with the most recent tables of contents and abstracts from more than 200 journals retrievable via LINK. Each new table of contents, with links to respective abstracts, is sent automatically to you via e-mail as soon as it becomes available electronically. To subscribe, users select one or more journals from an alphabetical list or click on an area of interest. Once an email address is entered, subscribers receive a confirmation message. Note that LINK Alert replaces SVJPS. [DF]
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Jobs
Job Openings in Science and Technology from the Chronicle of Higher Education
http://thisweek.chronicle.com/.ads/.ads-by-group/.faculty/.scitech/.links.html
[JS]

Employment Resources in the Earth Sciences
http://web.syr.edu/~elwallac/ewjobs.htm
Elizabeth Wallace, Earth Science Librarian at Syracuse University, has created a meta-page of earth sciences employment-related sites. The earth science resources are divided into five categories: Job Postings, Corporate Recruiting, Electronic Mailing Lists, Career Development, and Relocation Resources. The job postings cover a wide range of earth sciences, from GIS to stable isotope geochemistry. Postings also come from a wide variety of sources, including the US Geological Survey and the Chronicle of Higher Education. Once a job has been found, users can consult the Rent Net link at the site to search for an apartment in the US or Canada. [KH]
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Funding Opportunity Information
Plant Genome Research Program (NSF 98-30)
http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/1998/nsf9830/nsf9830.htm
This newly-announced National Science Foundation program will support research in basic plant genomic science. Specific areas of emphasis are structure, organization, and function of plant genomes, and facilitation of new knowledge and innovative technologies "that will aid in developing a more complete elucidation of basic biological processes in plants." Information on the amount of funding and eligibility is available at the site. Proposals for accelerated sequencing of the Arabidopsis genome will be solicited under a separate announcement. Deadlines are: Feb. 2, 1998 (letter of intent) and April 6, 1998 (full proposal). [DF]

NSF Initiative Announcement--Long Term Durability of Materials and Structures: Modeling and Accelerated Techniques (NSF 98-42)
http://www.eng.nsf.gov/programs/nsf98-42.htm
The National Science Foundation has announced this new funding initiative. Possible research areas include constructed infrastructure and transportation systems using a large array of materials. Proposals are due March 25, 1998. [KH]
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Conferences
Air Pollution Workshop
http://www.biology.appstate.edu/apw.html
The second announcement for the 30th Annual Air Pollution workshop is now online. The workshop will take place April 20-23, 1998. Sponsored by Appalachian State University, the US Environmental Protection Agency, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, the workshop offers a forum for discussion of current research and issues relating to air quality and its effects on agriculture, forests, and natural ecosystems. [KH]

Third International Symposium on Environmental Software Systems
http://www.htw.uni-sb.de/eig/isess1999/
The University of Otago, New Zealand is hosting this symposium, to be held in August, 1999, for discussion and presentation of current software methods and tools used in environmental protection and research. Conference topics fall into two categories, applications and methods, and include monitoring, impact assessment, modeling and visualization, and ecobalances. The first call for papers was recently announced and is available on the Symposium's homepage. The deadline for submission of papers is December 1, 1998. The homepage will be updated periodically with new information. Currently, visitors can sign up for an alerting service for new symposium information and also file an intent of participation or paper submittal. [KH]
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New Data
Datasets for Amazonia and Cerrado--WHRC [Word]
http://www.whrc.org/science/tropfor/setLBA.htm
The Woods Hole Research Center provides information on "Amazonian datasets," produced by WHRC, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and numerous Brazilian contributors. These data contain information on vegetation, land cover, and land use in the Brazilian Amazon and will be regularly updated and expanded in the future. Each dataset consists of a tarred and GNU-gzipped file (.taz) containing a binary raster image file and an associated ASCII text file (.doc), both sharing a common filename. Data can currently be accessed via ftp and the site contains a link to extensive dataset documentation. [DF]
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Earthshots: Satellite Images of Environmental Change--USGS
http://edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/earthshots/slow/tableofcontents
The US Geological Survey's Earth Resources Observation Systems (EROS) provides Landsat satellite images from three new sites at its Earthshots site. In addition to the new sites, the previous seventeen sites have been updated. A description of the site, a map, and information about the image are also provided. [KH]
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NOAA Paleoclimatology Program, What's New in the Global Pollen Database (GPD)
http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/paleo/wnpollen.html
New data on paleobotanical pollen cores and pollen distribution are added to this US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Paleoclimatology Program site regularly; data from Australia and Europe have recently been added. Users can browse a list of newly-acquired data and click links to detailed information on the pollen data from each site. A second new feature is a "Tilia Dictionary Generator" which allows users to create a Tilia dictionary for numerous regions around the world based on pollen-types in the GPD. The searchable parent site contains a variety of information related to past and current climate change. [DF]
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Galileo Solid State Imaging Full Data Releases--C3
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo/fulldata.html
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has released updated Solid State Images (discussed in the September 12, 1997 Scout Report) of Galileo's third orbit of Jupiter (C3). Data sets and images are available through the Planetary Data System. [KH]
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The Borrelia burgdorferi Genome Database (BBDB)--TIGR
http://www.tigr.org/tdb/CMR/gbb/htmls/SplashPage.html
The Institute for Genomic Research has recently released "sequence data and related annotation for Borrelia burgdorferi." Data can be accessed via multiple search interfaces, and the entire genome sequence is available via ftp. [JS]
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In the News
Top Ten Major Scientific Breakthroughs in 1997--Science
1. The Roslin Institute
http://www2.ri.bbsrc.ac.uk/library/research/cloning/
2. Nature Web Special: Sheep Cloning
http://www.nature.com/
Select: Sheep Cloning
3. The Mars Pathfinder
http://mpfwww.jpl.nasa.gov/default.html
4. Advanced Photon Source
http://www.aps.anl.gov/
5. The Center for Biological Timing
http://www.cbt.virginia.edu/
6. BeppoSAX Science Data Center
http://www.sdc.asi.it/
7. Neandertal DNA--Archaeology Online News
http://www.archaeology.org/online/news/dna.html
8. Sean Morgan's Nanotechnology Pages
http://www.lucifer.com/~sean/Nano.html
9. Europa Fact Sheet--NASA
http://galileo.ivv.nasa.gov/europa/
10. Organism-Specific Genome Information and Databases
http://www.sdsc.edu/ResTools/biotools/biotools10.html#Part6
11. University of Wisconsin E. coli Genome Project
http://www.genetics.wisc.edu/
12. The National Parkinson Foundation
http://www.parkinson.org/
This week's In the News section covers the top ten scientific breakthroughs of 1997, compiled in the December 19, 1997 issue of Science. The top scientific breakthrough of 1997 was the cloning of a sheep, resulting in a lamb named Dolly. The nine runners up were: 1) the Pathfinder mission to Mars, 2) synchrotrons, 3) biological clock genes, 4) gamma ray bursts, 5) Neandertal DNA, 6) nanotubes, 7) Europa's ocean, 8) whole genome sequencing, and 9) neurons. These twelve resources provide more information about these breakthroughs.

(1.) The Roslin Institute first reported their breakthrough cloning results in (2.)Nature (February 27, 1997; volume 385, part 6619, pages 810-813--discussed in the March 7, 1997 Scout Report), presenting possibilities for pharmaceutical purposes in addition to research opportunities. The cloned lamb, Dolly, was created using nuclear transfer technology. (3.) The Mars Pathfinder mission came to life this fall and gave the world images of the Martian landscape. The US National Aeronautics and Space Adminstration's Mars Pathfinder page provides a wealth of information about the mission, images produced by Sojourner (the small rover), and scientific results. (4.) Synchrotrons are used to study the atomic structure of materials. The second largest synchrotron is the Advanced Photon Source, located at the Argonne National Laboratory in Argonne, Illinois. The homepage provides information on the synchrotron and current research being conducted at the laboratory. (5.) Biological clock genes made the news with the isolation of two mammalian clock genes. The University of Virginia's Center for Biological Timing provides information about the center, research on biotiming, outreach activities, and a tutorial on biological clocks. (6.) Gamma ray bursts were in the spotlight in 1997 when researchers twice successfully determined ray position using the BeppoSAX satellite. The Italian Space Agency's BeppoSAX Science Data Data Center homepage provides the latest news, mission information, and first results. (7.) The view of some scientists that modern humans did not descend from the Neandertals gained support when scientists from Munich, Germany analyzed DNA from a Neandertal. A news article from Archeology Online News discusses the recent research and provides links to additional news clips. (8.) Advances in nanotube technology occurred when researchers successfully tested and filled the mini-tubes. Sean Morgan, a consultant for SAP-AG, maintains a meta-page of information on research on nanotechnology. (9.) The Galileo spacecraft provided images of Europa, one of Jupiter's moons. The images showed signs of a possible ocean on the surface of the moon. NASA's Europa Fact Sheet provides information and images on this Jovian moon. (10.) Genome sequencing encountered a milestone in 1997 when the whole genomes of Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis were sequenced. The San Diego Supercomputer Center's Organism-Specific Genome Information and Databases site contains links to the sequences of both microbes (listed under prokaryotes). (11.) In addition, the University of Wisconsin Genetics Laboratory has made available the complete genome sequence of E. coli. (12.) Neurons made the top ten list because of advancements in research on Parkinson's Disease. The homepage of the National Parkinson Foundation provides information on Parkinson's disease and links to related current news and events. [KH]
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