Notebook
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Bug Watching
Crazy about insects? The Sonoran Arthropod Studies Institute in Arizona has a “Backyard Bugwatching” page with links to photos and articles focusing on a variety of insects and their diverse habitats. Learn what it takes to track Mexican leaf-cutter ants and catch bullet ants. Journey to Costa Rica’s rainforests for close-ups of novel arthropods. Watch […]
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From the January 30, 1932, issue
MONTE ALBAN TREASURE MAY SET JEWELRY STYLE The proud inhabitants of Oaxaca, in whose vicinity the Mixtec treasure tomb was found, think they are going to set the worlds jewelry styles. A casual glance at the ornaments and trinkets reveals that archaeology has already influenced modern jewelers. One of the most beautiful objects found in […]
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Virus Picture Book
If you’re interested in biological viruses, a good place to start is the “Big Picture Book of Viruses.” Founded by Robert F. Garry of the Tulane University School of Medicine, this Web site serves as a catalog of virus images on the Internet and provides links to tutorials, Web courses, and many other resources devoted […]
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From the January 23, 1932, issue
FLOODLIGHTS ILLUMINATE LONDON’S TOWER BRIDGE Light from a new age is cast upon the pointed heights of London’s Tower Bridge by floodlights turned on the structure during recent engineering and scientific celebrations in England. The Tower Bridge is just one of the many structures illuminated. This bridge across the Thames, one of the most famous […]
- Health & Medicine
Painful Thoughts
It may not surprise people terrified by a visit to the dentist that one of the top pain research groups at the National Institutes of Health is located within the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. Check out the group’s history in NIDCR’s fascinating primer on the science of pain. Go to: http://history.nih.gov/exhibits/pain/
- Humans
From the January 16, 1932, issue
A PHARAOH’S RIGHTHAND MAN Add the name of Ken-Amun, ambitious Egyptian politician, a Pharaoh’s righthand man, to the list of unusual personalities from ancient Egypt. Ken-Amun’s tomb, cut into a rocky hillside in the Valley of the Kings, has been known for almost a century, but has been strangely neglected. Now, it has been thoroughly […]
- Astronomy
Planet Quest
Need help in tracking discoveries of planets orbiting stars beyond our solar system? NASA’s new Planet Quest Web site offers one-stop shopping for planet discovery news. Check out the latest findings, search an atlas of extrasolar planets, and learn about NASA’s proposed missions to search for new worlds, particularly those that might harbor life. Interactive […]
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From the January 9, 1932, issue
DR. ABEL OF JOHNS HOPKINS ELECTED NEW AAAS HEAD Dr. John J. Abel, professor of pharmacology at the Johns Hopkins Medical School, Baltimore, has been elected president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for 1932. This action was taken at the annual meeting of the Association in New Orleans. Dr. Abel succeeds […]
- Physics
Organized Disorder
This well-organized Web site introduces visitors to the realm of thermodynamics and the concept of entropy. Originally created by autonomous software agent “Chris Hillman” and now maintained by Penn State’s Roland Gunesch, these Web pages start with the Chinese character for entropy, then offer intriguing glimpses of disorder and randomness in information and coding theory, […]
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From the January 2, 1932 issue
CONCRETE RIBBONS TO CARRY TRAFFIC OF GREAT HIGHWAY Thin ribbons of concrete arching through the air, that will carry on a 42-foot wide pavement, traffic of one of the countrys chief east-west thoroughfares, the Lincoln highway, are skillfully depicted in this photograph of the George Westinghouse Memorial bridge nearing completion at East Pittsburgh. The arches […]
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Where Lightning Strikes
New maps of data from space-based optical sensors reveal the uneven distribution of lightning strikes across the globe. The NASA maps show that lightning avoids the ocean, but likes Florida. It’s attracted to the Himalayas and central Africa. It almost never strikes the north or south poles. Go to: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast05dec_1.htm
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From the December 19 & 26, 1931, issues
SANTA CLAUS CAVALRYMEN BESTRIDE STRANGE STEEDS Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines bestrode an unfamiliar steed; but the gentleman in the cover picture mounts one more unfamiliar still. He might qualify as a trooper in the Santa Claus Cavalry, for he is mounted on a reindeer. According to the U.S. Biological Survey, reindeer are used […]
