The Scout Report for Science & Engineering - November 25, 1998


The Scout Report for Science & Engineering

November 25, 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

Research

Learning Resources

General Interest

Current Awareness

New Data

In The News

Research

ARRIP: Australian Rural Research in Progress
http://www.infoscan.com.au/ARRIP/index.htm
ARRIP is "a national database of current and recently completed research undertaken in Australia on all aspects of agriculture, land, vegetation and water resources, and the rural environment." Quick or advanced search options (any word or phrase) yield full summaries of research projects (including research objectives, methodology, and progress) and researcher names and contact addresses, plus additional related information (funding, collaboration, etc.). Currently, over 5,000 records exist in the database, with 1,500 added annually. [LXP]
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New Journal of Physics
http://www.njp.org/
The Institute of Physics & Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft will begin an all-electronic and peer-reviewed journal in physics later this year. New Journal of Physics will include full-length research articles pertaining to both pure and applied physics, theory and experiment, and interdisciplinary topics. It strives to be a scholarly journal of "rigorously refereed" papers and aims to publish data and results that use the features of the electronic medium. The journal's website provides a listing of receiving editors as well as guide for authors. Detailed instructions on how to submit papers are available at the site. [SN]
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Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Graphics -- UNEP/GRID [JPEG]
http://www.grida.no/db/maps/collection/climatechange/index.htm
Researchers and educators with an interest in climate change, and in particular in the recent COP-4 meetings in Buenos Aires, may find this collection of graphics and tables useful. Posted at the United Nations Environment Programme UNEP/GRID Arendal website (described in the June 24, 1998 Scout Report for Science & Engineering), the data sources and summary procedures are described in the section entitled "Introduction and Explanation of Greenhouse Gas Graphics and Data." Graphs and tables show "the actual emissions of Carbon dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4) and Nitrous oxide (N2O), and in some cases also emissions of sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), hydrofluorocarbons (HFC's) and perfluorocarbons (PFC's) until 1995." Countries highlighted fall within Eastern Europe, Western Europe, the Baltic States, North America, Asia-Pacific, the Russian Federation, and Ukraine. Also provided are several graphics of global climate predictions, potential sea level rise impacts, impacts on crop production, and trends in ice break-up dates. [LXP]
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The Cell Biology and Cytoskeleton Group of the Division of Hematology [frames]
http://expmed.bwh.harvard.edu/
Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Harvard Medical School has launched the Cell Biology and Cytoskeleton Group of the Division of Hematology website. The Research Overview section provides the user with a brief description of the general research pertaining to a specific topic along with illustrations and descriptions of specific research projects. Topics included are: Actin Crosslinking, Actin Dynamics, Physics & Rheology, PIP2 & Signaling, and the TSC project, among a host of others. Cytoskeleton Labs, Protocols, Seminars, and links that connect users to additional cytoskeletal and scientific resources round out the site. [SN]
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SHEBA: A Research Program on the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean
http://sheba.apl.washington.edu/
The Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean (SHEBA) research program is sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF), Office of Naval Research and the Canadian Coast Guard. The website is presented by the Polar Science Center of the Applied Physics Laboratory at the University of Washington. The goal of the project is to "address the interaction of the surface energy balance, atmospheric radiation, and clouds over the Arctic Ocean." Information provided includes the online data catalog, SHEBA resources such as the calendar of events, an address database, meeting information, and links to related topics. [SN]
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New Journals in the Physical and Social Sciences
Annual Reviews in the Physical Sciences
http://physical.annualreviews.org/
Annual Reviews in the Social Sciences
http://arjournals.annualreviews.org/socialhome.dtl
Learning & Memory
http://www.learnmem.org/
HighWire Press
http://highwire.stanford.edu
Annual Reviews has placed the full text of all titles in the Physical and Social Sciences suites on line. Newly-online titles include all eight Physical Sciences review volumes: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Biophysics and Biomolecular Structure, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Energy and the Environment, Fluid Mechanics, Materials Science, Nuclear and Particle Science, and Physical Chemistry. Online full-text content for the Physical Sciences suite begins with 1997 issues; online abstracts begin in 1992. In addition, Annual Reviews has placed all six Social Sciences titles online: Anthropology, Energy and the Environment, Political Science, Psychology, Public Health, and Sociology. Online full-text content for the Social Sciences suite begins with 1996 issues, and abstracts are online from 1995. The free trial period for both the Physical and Social Sciences suites lasts until December 31, 1998. Also new, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press has placed online the journal Learning & Memory, an interdisciplinary journal dedicated to research on the neurobiology of learning and memory. Online full-text content begins with the May/June 1998 issue; abstracts begin with the September/October, 1995 issue. The free trial period for Learning & Memory Online extends until January 31, 1999. All journals mentioned are produced in conjunction with Stanford University's HighWire Press. [LXP]
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Learning Resources

Two on Oceans and Coastal Watersheds
Oceans and Coastal Protection -- EPA
http://www.epa.gov/owow/oceans/
Coastal Watersheds -- EPA
http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/oceans/factsheets/
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides these two resources on oceans and coastal watersheds. At the first site, homepage of the EPA's Oceans and Coastal Protection Division, the division's "vision for the future is that coastal and marine resources are successfully managed, protected, and restored, through collaborative efforts, to sustain healthy ecosystems." To this end, the information-rich homepage links to each Program, namely, Marine Pollution and Control, Atmospheric Deposition, the National Estuary Program (described in the March 4, 1998 Scout Report for Science & Engineering), Marine Debris, Coral Reefs, Dredged Material Management, the Ocean Survey Vessel Anderson, and Marine and Coastal Geographic Information. Special features on the homepage cover the Year of the Ocean (1998), Pfiesteria piscicida (see the March 18, 1998 Scout Report for Science & Engineering), and the Kids' Page, among others. The second site, Coastal Watersheds, is a user-friendly introduction to the ecology and status (human impact) of coastal watersheds. The illustrated factsheet covers beaches, nearshore waters, coral reefs, and estuaries. [LXP]
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Virtual Laboratories in Probability and Statistics
http://www.math.uah.edu/stat/
The University of Alabama's Mathematical Sciences Department has made available the Virtual Laboratories in Probabilities and Statistics website. This project is partially funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The project's focus is to "provide interactive, web-based modules for students and teachers of probability and statistics." It specifically emphasizes mathematical analysis, data analysis, and simulation analysis. Sections are divided into Special Models, Basic Probability, and Basic Statistics and each of these sections is further divided into unit topics. Examples of unit topics are: Probability Spaces, Bernoulli Trials, and Special Distributions, among a host of others. These unit topic pages contain Java applets that allow the user to run random experiments with the results displayed in customized tables; the user can also choose among different models and vary the parameters. In addition, the unit topic pages contain hypertext that provides a brief synopsis of the underlying mathematical theory as well as a set of exercises. [SN]
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Observation of the Week Archive -- NASA
http://observe.ivv.nasa.gov/nasa/ootw/1998/oarch98_index.html
NASA Observatorium
http://observe.ivv.nasa.gov/nasa/core.shtml
Each week, NASA's Observatorium (described in the January 10, 1997 Scout Report) posts an "observation of the week" in one of the following broad categories: earth sciences, sun and the solar system, stars, galaxies, the universe, education, human spaceflight, space technology, or space history. These weekly observations (such as the recent Leonid Meteor storm) are described in general terms and are accompanied by color images and links to recommended sites. Interested viewers may browse the archive (1995 to present) for events by subject or date. The simplicity of the site allows for easy access to a wide range of interesting and current information -- whether radar images of Mount Vesuvius, an understanding of Tsunamis, or Galactic Cannibalism. Several new features (e.g., Hydrologic Cycle, Teacher's Guides), in addition to the current "observation of the week," are posted at the Observatorium's homepage. [LXP]
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Science Junction
http://www.ncsu.edu/sciencejunction/
North Carolina State University has made available the Science Junction website. The goal of this website is to create an interaction between the researchers and educators at North Carolina State University and the teachers, children, and parents of North Carolina. In addition, the website aims to provide a center for teaching as well as learning and integrating science into people's daily lives. Sections provided at the website are: Data Depot, Student Station, and Teacher Terminal, among others. In the Game Room section, within the Student Station, users can "try their hand at hitting a space vehicle through a special track in space" in the game Space Track. This offers users a fun way to learn more about Newton's Laws while testing their skills and knowledge in physics. Although the website has been launched, some sections are still under construction. [SN]
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Topical Reviews in Plant Physiology
http://www.aspp.org/education/totallis.htm
The American Society of Plant Physiologists has posted this bare-bones resource "for lecturers and students of plant physiology." It includes several hundred recent references (1992-97) from eight relevant journals, namely the Annual Review of Biochemistry,Annual Review of Cell Developmental Biology,Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics,Annual Review of Phytopathology,Annual Review of Plant Physiology and Plant Molecular Biology,Photosynthesis Research,Plant Physiology, and Trends in Plant Science. The reference list is presented in chronological order, and, within each year, in alphabetical order. Although no search engine accompanies the reference list, visitors may use their browsers to conduct key word searches. [LXP]
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General Interest

Logging Burma's Frontier Forests: Resources and the Regime -- WRI
http://www.wri.org/ffi/burma/
World Resources Institute (WRI) created this site to promote the publication of the book under the same title. However, users will find ample information on Burma's forests and logging practices at this website. An introductory section describes the project's goals and main findings, and is accompanied by color graphics and tables. In the "Burma Interactive Maps" section, several clickable maps provide an in-depth view of forest cover for mainland Southeast Asia. A "Conclusion and Recommendations" section elaborates the authors' main points, and a compilation of selected resources rounds out the site. [LXP]
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WWF's Global Toxic Chemicals Initiative
http://www.worldwildlife.org/toxics
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has launched the WWF's Global Initiative (GTI) website. With this site, WWF hopes to increase public awareness of the effects of toxic chemicals on ecosystems, wildlife and human health. The overall goal of GTI is to "end the production, release and use of chemicals that are endocrine disrupters, bioaccumulative or persistent within one generation - by no later than 2020." Included in the site are the Toxic Chemicals and Wildlife and Toxic Chemical Facts pages. The Toxic Chemical and Wildlife page discusses how toxic chemicals have already affected many species, ranging from dolphins to alligators to whales to eagles. The toxic chemical facts page presents facts regarding toxic chemicals and their effect on the environment. An added feature of the site is its What Can You Do section. Available in the action kit page of this section is a list of recommendations and choices that can be utilized to make a difference and to cut down on the usage of toxic chemicals. [SN]
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Zoom Dinosaurs [frames]
http://www.EnchantedLearning.com/subjects/dinosaurs/
This colorful, informative and cluttered site is "a comprehensive on-line hypertext book about dinosaurs" by Enchanted Learning Software. Designed for students "of all ages and levels of comprehension," Zoom Dinosaurs is most appropriate for the K-12 level. Topics are presented at a basic level (e.g., All About Dinosaurs, Anatomy & Behavior, Mesozoic Era), but by clicking on hyperlinked text, users may progress to more advanced information. Classroom activities include dinosaur-related word games, quizzes, art projects, and fossil record/geologic timeline activities. A selection of links connects curious users to additional K-12 educational sites. [LXP]
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Challenger Center Online: Pat Rawlings Gallery [frames]
http://www.challenger.org/gallery/
Challenger Center Online has launched The Pat Rawlings Gallery website. Pat Rawlings Gallery provides a great visual learning experience that supplies images and descriptions of planets, asteroids, comets, and stars, among other bodies. For example, if a visitor selects "Moon", he or she is presented with brief summaries and accompanying images describing various topics related to the Earth's moon. An added feature of the website is that the images can be downloaded. [SN]
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Universities Water Information Network (UWIN)
http://www.uwin.siu.edu/index.html
Based at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, the Universities Water Information Network (UWIN) is a USGS-funded meta-resource that centralizes water information on the WWW. The heart of the site is the searchable WRSIC (Water Resources Scientific Information Center) research abstracts bibliographic database, containing over 265,000 research abstracts and citations covering "a wide variety of (international) topics that span the time period from 1967 to October, 1993." Research abstracts in the database include "the life, physical, and social sciences, as well as engineering and legal issues." In addition to the database, UWIN offers tips for finding Water Resources on the Web (see the WetList section), as well as professional announcements, directories, and employment-related tips. [LXP]
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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/).

Nature: Debates
http://helix.nature.com/debates/
Nature, the prestigious international journal of science, has launched this 'Debates' site "to map out and define the landscape of international scientific controversy." More specifically, this site provides a forum for thinking about, and "discussing" (ex situ), several current scientific topics. The set-up of the site includes a list of monthly topics, moderated by selected experts (a short 'credentials' summary is provided for each), and contributions from select readers. The Current topic is entitled "Is the fossil record adequate?" The previous (first) topic was entitled "Benefits and Risks of Genetic Modification in Agriculture." [LXP]
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New Publications

Discussion Papers -- RFF [.pdf]
http://www.rff.org/disc_papers/index.htm
Resources For the Future (described in the August 28, 1998 Scout Report) posts these discussion papers (.pdf files, from 1995 to present) summarizing preliminary results of research in progress. Intended for an academic audience, the papers are circulated by their authors "to stimulate thought, discussion, and debate of important environmental and natural resources issues, and have not undergone formal peer review." Recent papers include "The Chesapeake Bay and the Control of NOx Emissions," by Alan Krupnick and others (627 KB); "Forest Service Vision: or, Does the Forest Service Have a Future?" by Roger Sedjo (61 KB); and "Jobs Versus the Environment: Is There a Trade-off?" by Richard Morgenstern and others (153 KB). [LXP]

Elementary Particle Physics: Revealing the Secrets of Energy and Matter (1998)
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/6045.html
The National Research Council (NRC) has prepared a new report entitled Elementary Particle Physics Revealing the Secrets of Energy and Matter. The objectives of this report are "to describe the current status of elementary-particle physics and the most important research issues within this domain and to identify the elements of a research program for the next two decades that, given limited resources, represents a wise approach to addressing these issues and maintaining the United States as a leader in the field." Report sections include: Symmetries, Forces, and Particles, Interactions with and Connections to Other Branches of Physics and Technology, Accelerators and Detectors: The Tools of Elementary-Particle Physics, among others. Brief summaries of report sections are available in HTML and in a frame-based graphical format. [SN]

Statistical Profiles of Foreign Doctoral Recipients in Science and Engineering: Plans to Stay in the United States -- NSF
http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/nsf99304/start.htm
This National Science Foundation publication (available in HTML or .pdf) provides text, figures, and tables (.xls format) summarizing the 1988-96 trend of foreign students who planned to stay in the United States after graduation. The report notes that stay rates for foreign students "are not static; they are influenced by US immigration policy, the number and quality of job opportunities in the home countries of the students, and political change." The two appendices provide dozens of tables summarizing statistical profiles of doctoral students by country and year, as well as the intentions of recent graduates by region and year. [LXP]

The Geological Society Web Shop
http://bookshop.geolsoc.org.uk
The Geological Society has launched an on-line bookshop, through which both Fellows and non-Fellows of the Society can purchase Geological Society books. Visitors can select books listed under the following headings: Tectonics, Economic Geology, Environmental, Petrology, Stratigraphy, Marine Studies, and Geophysics. The Geological Society Web Shop can be browsed or searched by keyword. Information on opening an account and purchasing books is available at the site. [SN]

Implementing the National Standard for Spatial Data Accuracy (DRAFT) [.pdf]
http://www.mnplan.state.mn.us/press/accurate.html
Minnesota Planning has made available this Web version (.pdf format) of Implementing the National Standard for Spatial Data Accuracy. This report describes how "positional accuracy can be measured and reported for databases that contain geographic features like roads, rivers, and property lines." Sections included at the website are: Implementing the National Standard for Spatial Data Accuracy, Case study from the City of Minneapolis - Digital Orthophotos, Case study from the Washington County Parcel Database, Case study from the Lawrence Group - Twin Cities Metro Area Street Centerline Database, National Map Accuracy Standards, and accuracy statistic worksheets in Excel format. The user can also order a printed copy of this draft handbook. [SN]
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Jobs

Job Openings in Science and Technology from the Chronicle of Higher Education
http://chronicle.com/free/jobs/faculty/scitech/links.html

Engineering Central
http://www.engcen.com
The Engineering Central website provides a plethora of listings of employment resources for engineers. The website allows users to submit their resume to a resume bank, browse through entry-level jobs, as well as post jobs online. Several links that point to other engineering resources are also provided. [SN]
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Funding

Plant Genome Research Program: Collaborative Research and Infrastructure Projects -- NSF
http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/1999/nsf9913/nsf9913.htm
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced the Plant Genome Research Program. The goals of this program are "to support research on the structure, organization, and function of plant genomes and to accelerate the acquisition and utilization of new knowledge and innovative approaches to elucidate fundamental biological processes in plants." The deadlines for funding requests from the Plant Genome Research Program are December 4, 1998 (letter of intent), and January 29, 1999 (full proposal). [LXP]

The Whitaker Foundation, Graduate Fellowships: Biomedical Engineering
http://www.whitaker.org/grants/fellanc.html
The funding mission of the Whitaker Foundation is to provide the opportunity for scientists to make future advances in medical science through increased interaction between engineering and biomedical research. Applications for graduate fellowships in biomedical engineering will be accepted from undergraduate students in their final year of study, first year graduate students, and non-students with appropriate engineering or science backgrounds. The target date for submitting applications is December 10, 1998. [SN]

NSF Postdoctoral Fellowships In Science, Mathematics, Engineering And Technology Education (PFSMETE) -- NSF
http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/1999/nsf9917/nsf9917.htm
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced the PFSMETE program for recent Ph.D. graduates in science, mathematics, engineering or technology. The purpose of the Postdoctoral Fellowships is "to prepare Ph.D. graduates in science, mathematics, engineering and technology (SMET) with the necessary skills to assume leadership roles in SMET education in our Nation's diverse educational institutions, and to provide opportunities for outstanding Ph.D. graduates to develop expertise in a facet of science education research that would qualify them for the new range of educational positions that will come with the 21st century." The deadline for submissions of applications is February 1, 1999. [LXP]

Engineering Microsystems: "XYZ on a Chip"
http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/1999/nsf9931/nsf9931.htm
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced several new funding opportunities including a new research initiative, Engineering Microsystems: "XYZ on a Chip." This initiative supports "development of novel applications, exploration of non-electrical processes at micro-scale, extension of lithographic 'printing' methods to non-electrical processes, architectural and design issues of 'wet' chips that interface to biological or chemical processes, materials and layering problems, and rapid prototyping." Pre-Proposal and proposal deadlines are February 5, 1999 and June 4, 1999, respectively. [SN]
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Conferences

Microbial Genomes: Sequencing, Functional Characterization and Comparative Genomics
http://www.tigr.org/cet/gss/mg/index.html
The international conference Microbial Genomes: Sequencing, Functional Characterization and Comparative Genomics is devoted to "current progress in the sequence analysis and functional characterization of genes and genomes from a variety of microorganisms, including eubacteria, archaea, and yeast." The conference will be held January 29 - February 1, 1999 in Chantilly, Virginia; abstracts are due December 19, 1998. [LXP]

The American Physical Society Centennial Meeting
http://www.aps.org/meet/CENT99/
The American Physical Society (APS) Centennial Meeting will be held from March 20-26, 1999, in Atlanta, Georgia. This meeting will include events to celebrate 100 years of physics in addition to the traditional March and April meetings of the APS. Centennial projects at the conference will include a time line wall chart on the history of the Society, a photo collection CD, and a symposium on the breakthroughs of women in physics, among others. In addition, APS, Division of Computational Physics (DCOMP) and the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) will hold an international conference on Computational Physics 1999 (CCP'99) in conjunction with the centennial meeting. Although APS is combining the March and April meetings into the Centennial meeting, there are different abstract submission deadlines. The abstract deadline for topics traditionally included in the April meeting is December 4, 1998. The abstract deadline for the March meeting has passed. [SN]

The 1999 International Symposium on Society and Resource Management: Application of Social Science to Resource Management in the Asia-Pacific Region
http://www.geosp.uq.edu.au/issrm99/
From July 7-10, 1999, the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia is hosting the 1999 International Symposium on Society and Resource Management entitled "Application of Social Science to Resource Management in the Asia-Pacific Region." The conference is "an interdisciplinary symposium dedicated to the study of sustainable relationships between natural resources and society" and will focus on "the social and cultural dimensions of natural resource issues and the importance of these dimensions to natural resource decision-makers and managers in the Asia-Pacific region." Abstracts are due 14 December, 1998. [LXP]

Bioastronomy 99: A New Era in Bioastronomy [frames]
http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/~meech/bioast/
The Sixth Bioastronomoy Meeting, sponsored by the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), will be held from August 2-6, 1999 in Kohala Coast, Hawaii. The focus of the meeting is to "develop the promise of expanding interests for a new multidisciplinary science branch known as astrobiology." Topics to be discussed at the meeting include subjects such as organic molecules in interstellar and interplanetary space, stellar birth, origin and evolution of planetary systems, and planetary evolution, among others. The abstract books will be available at the meeting and the papers will be published in the Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conference Series. Abstract deadlines have not been decided yet. [SN]

Living with the Land: Interdisciplinary Research for Adaptive Decision Making -- SHE X
http://members.aol.com/tdietzvt/SHE_X.html
McGill University in Montreal, Canada will host SHE-X, The Society for Human Ecology's Tenth International Conference, from May 27 to 30, 1999. This year the conference "will focus on ways in which interdisciplinary research can contribute to decisions -- at the local and at the global level -- that promote human well-being and ecological sustainability." The deadline for submission of abstracts is December 15, 1998. Refereed papers will be published in the Society's journal: Human Ecology Review." [LXP]
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New Data

Baltic Sea Region: GIS, Maps and Statistical Database [.zip]
http://www.grida.no/baltic/htmls/mapinfo.htm
The United Nations Environment Programme GRID-Arendal information center, UNEP/GRID-Arendal (described in the June 24, 1998 Scout Report for Science & Engineering) has recently released these data sets for the Baltic Sea Region. The data sets cover Arable Lands (350 K), Land and Ocean/Coastline (830 K), Land Cover (710 K), Pasture Lands (270 K), Population Density (890 K), Sub-watershed Drainage Basins (520 K), and Wetlands Distribution (10 K) and are downloadable as compressed files (.zip format). Instructions for downloading, and descriptions of parameters are provided on site. [LXP]
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Discovery of a Young Near-By Supernova Remnant
http://www.mpg.de/news34_98.htm
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching/Germany have discovered a "supernova remnant which is exceptionally close to Earth (Nature, Vol.396, 12 November 1998)." Scientists believe that the remnant was created only 700 years ago when a star exploded "in the southern sky in the constellation Vela ('sail')." Brief summaries of the findings along with images are provided at this site. [SN]
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Transboundary Agreements Infobase -- CEC
http://www.cec.org/infobases/agreements/
Although the major environmental treaties and agreements between North American countries are fairly well known, numerous other agreements exist: state-to-province cooperation, state-to-state cooperation, and regional or local cooperation between border authorities. The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) (described in the November 12, 1997 Scout Report for Science & Engineering), has launched this Transboundary Agreements Infobase of more than 200 "agreements and treaties on transboundary environmental cooperation in North America." The Transboundary Agreements Infobase covers "virtually all aspects of regional environmental policy: water management, air pollution, wildlife and conservation, waste management, industrial and natural hazards." Users will find hyperlinks to the full text of each agreement, as well as links to information-rich sites related to the agreements. The database is searchable by subject, agreement name, or by parties to the agreements, and includes a complete list of agreements. [LXP]
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Hurricane Mitch in the Caribbean Sea
http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/goes/misc/981026.html
The Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies has provided GOES visible and longwave infrared imagery of Hurricane Mitch in the Caribbean Sea. Satellite images of the eye of the hurricane, the cold cloud-top temperatures, and water vapor winds and divergence exhibited by the storm are displayed. [SN]
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In The News

International Space Station
1. CNN News: Zarya launch
http://cnn.com/TECH/space/9811/20/station.launch/
2. BBC News: ISS
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/special_report/iss/newsid_217000/217788.stm
3. International Space Station
http://station.nasa.gov/core.html
4. ISS Familiarization Manual [.pdf]
http://station.nasa.gov/reference/factsheets/pdfs/isstrainman/9702_cvr.pdf
5. Space Exploration History
http://station.nasa.gov/reference/history/index.html
6. Russian Space Agency
http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/rsa/rsa.html
7. J-Track Satellite Tracking
http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/RealTime/JTrack/
8. The European Space Agency
http://www.esrin.esa.it/
This week's In The News highlights the dawn of the International Space Station (ISS), the largest scientific and technological endeavor ever undertaken, an endeavor intended "for peaceful cooperation in space exploration." The Russian-launched spacecraft Zarya rocketed into orbit on Friday, November 20, 1998, ushering in the era of the International Space Station. Zarya ("Sunrise" in English) is the first portion of an (over budget and behind schedule) international space station that will actually be assembled in space. Completion of the entire space station is estimated for the year 2004, but requires more than 40 missions to put more than 100 elements, weighing a total of 500 tons, into space. Meanwhile, Zarya will function as "a sort of space tugboat," providing power, propulsion, communications, and remote docking capabilities for future station components. On December 3, 1998, the second component of the space station (Unity connecting hub) is scheduled to arrive, via the Shuttle Endeavor. The eight resources above provide background information on several space programs and an introduction to the International Space Station.
The first site, from CNN News, covers the launch of Zarya, including a video (QuickTime) of the launch (1). The BBC's special report on the International Space Station (2) contains current news and background information on the multi-billion dollar project, including links to participating space organizations. NASA's International Space Station (ISS) homepage offers up-to-date news, background, and educational information on the ISS (3). Techno-space enthusiasts and engineers will appreciate (and waste-reducers will be appalled by) the ISS reference manual (4), describing in detail "an overview of the hundreds of mechanical, electrical, hardware, software and other systems that compose the International Space Station" (.pdf format). ISS's Space Exploration History page (5) gives background information and NASA's "Vision for the Future" on space exploration, from Sputnik 1 into the future. At the Russian Space Agency homepage (6), visitors may learn about the Agency's history, including the well-known Mir station and the Shuttle Buran, among other endeavors. At the Marshall Space Flight Center's J-Track (7) site (described in the September 11, 1998 Scout Report), users can track, in real time, the locations (orbits) of satellites as they circle the Earth. The final site (8), from the European Space Agency (ESA), provides information on launches, space science, earth observation, manned space flight, and microgravity (including ISS) as well as other ESA space-related programs. [LXP]
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From the Scout Report for Science & Engineering, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-1998. http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/

The paragraph below is the copyright notice to be used when reproducing the entire report, in any format:

Copyright Susan Calcari and the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, 1994-1998. The Internet Scout Project (http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/), located in the Computer Sciences Department of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, provides information about the Internet to the U.S. research and education community under a grant from the National Science Foundation, number NCR-9712163. The Government has certain rights in this material. Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of the entire Scout Report provided this paragraph, including the copyright notice, are preserved on all copies.

Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Wisconsin - Madison or the National Science Foundation.


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