Notebook
- Humans
From the November 6, 1937, issue
Giant electrical generators take shape in Pittsburgh, astronomers puzzle over unusual stellar spectra, and a dinosaur ancestor from Texas visits Harvard.
- Humans
Where’s the Fire?
The National Interagency Fire Center tracks big wildfires blazing around the United States and identifies—via its InciWeb—which ones are contained, along with running totals for acres scorched so far this year. The site offers tables of multi-year fire records, interesting stats, as well as maps of current outbreaks. Go to: http://www.nifc.gov/fire_info.html
- Math
Numbers, by Any Other Name
Most Westerners have come to represent numbers with Hindu-Arabic characters. But many cultures don’t—and historically, a whole range of alternatives have been used. View many at this site, which was developed by Archimedes’ Laboratory, a group that specializes in creating puzzles and brain teasers. Go to: http://www.archimedes-lab.org/numeral.html
- Humans
From the October 30, 1937, issue
A photographer captures the coming of winter, motion pictures show how cancer spreads through the blood, and engineers get new oil from old Pennsylvania wells.
- Chemistry
Chemistry—Weird and Otherwise
During this—Chemistry Week—check out the “Who, What, When, Where, and Why of Chemistry.” The site’s periodic postings are offered up by Bryn Mawr College computational chemist Michelle M. Francl, who comments on events of the day—always inserting a gentle chemistry twist. She notes that her blog “began as part of an NSF grant to write […]
- Humans
From the October 23, 1937, issue
Soviet hydroelectricity powers electric farm equipment, breeding programs create rats with cancer resistance and rabbits with an extra rib, and artificial fertilization is made to work in fruit flies.
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From the October 16, 1937, issue
Biological prospecting on two remote mesas near the Grand Canyon, a newly described and widespread form of meningitis, and primate fossils from the Crazy Mountains of Montana.
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LEDs for the Rest of Us
Light emitting diodes, better known as LEDs, are the coolest new light sources. They’re tiny, long-lived, and rugged. But how do they work? Check out this site if you desire considerably more detail than can be found in a two-sentence summary. Go to: http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/led.htm
- Humans
From the October 9, 1937, issue
Aging ships' hulls rejuvenated by welding, public health workers target five major diseases, and Plato celebrated as the first "round-Earther".
- Humans
It’s About Time
What’s a year? Why do we measure it in days and weeks? How do calendars differ? What’s the earliest known date? (Hint: It’s the year Egyptians invented the calendar.) Learn answers to these and other timely questions at Calendars from the Sky, a site developed in part with support from the National Institute for Standards […]
- Humans
From the October 2, 1937, issue
The mystery and magnificence of volcanoes, how bees dance to tell their hive-mates which flowers to visit, and the year's polio cases begin to decline.
- Health & Medicine
Yummy Bugs
Do you enjoy chocolate? You can make it more nutritious by bugging it—with crickets, for example. Or how about ant-fortified tacos? This site introduces Westerners to the idea that many commonly encountered insects are edible. Indeed, most are lower in fat—and higher in protein—than beef, lamb, pork, or chicken. The site’s author argues that “insects […]
