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Wild wings heading north     In late November 1996, 10 Snow Geese were tagged on their necks with lightweight satellite radios by members of the U.S. Geological Survey. In late February '97, the flock of snow geese started their journey north to their nesting grounds in the western Canadian Arctic. Find out about their journey and learn about animal migration. From Wild Wings: Heading North http://north.audubon.org/

Mammoth monarch migration     Monarch butterflies fly thousands of miles to Mexico. What about bird migration? Is there a relationship between forest fragmentation and songbird survival? From The Miracle of Migration http://whyfiles.org/006migration/

Forensic science     Brief discussion of the science of crime in the 21st century. How scientists and forensic experts use technology to analyze evidence from crime scenes. From The Science of Crime http://whyfiles.org/014forensic/

Microbia population explosion     Counted at last. Wanna hear a really big number? Microbiologists eager to pin down the total number of bacteria and other prokaryotes on Earth. From Counting bacteria http://whyfiles.org/shorties/count_bact.html

Dead frogs     Could a newly-discovered member of an obscure group of fungi be causing the worldwide extermination of frogs? The intriguing discovery could explain why it's such a rotten time to be a frog - or amphibian in general. From Fiendish frog foe found? http://whyfiles.org/shorties/frog_fungus.html

Turtle ears     In the murky undersea world, light waves don't travel far. How do sea turtles use hearing to sense their world? From Turtle's hearing test http://whyfiles.org/shorties/turtle.html

Animal hospital     Many a pet's life ends simply because inappropriate behavior leads the owner to "put the animal to sleep." On this Web site you can find out more about the problem, review questions and answers with specialized animal behaviorists, and test your knowledge of more exotic animals. Information is communicated in text narrative form, and in the form of question and answer. Limited content. From NOVA Online | Animal Hospital http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/vets/

Mad cow disease     Behind the British beef scare. Could it happen again? On July 14, 1999, the European Union confirmed that it would lift its ban on British beef on August 1, 1999. From New mad cow woes http://whyfiles.org/012mad_cow/

Dinosaurs     Wanna buy some cool fossils? Then let's make a deal. One paleontologist is in prison, and university scientists and private collectors are wrangling over who owns the bones - fossils, actually - found on federal lands. From Title dispute http://whyfiles.org/029dinos/

Science of Love     Love stinks. Learn why. Birds do it. So do snakes and moths. Is there an animal mating system? Following our noses? Rubbish! Love stinks. Matchmaker, matchmaker... Chocolate-flavored love. From Love is in the air http://whyfiles.org/033love/

Scottish sheep shocker     What's up with the ultimate copying machine? Exhibit looks like a tabloid newspaper, but provides credible scientific background about the 1997 scientist in Scotland who grew "impossible" sheep from one cell of another sheep. From Hello Dolly! http://whyfiles.org/034clone/

Flu season     Dealing with one tricky and deadly virus. When a three-year-old boy died of influenza in Hong Kong last May, scientists tracking the shifty flu virus took notice. Had an old killer returned to the march? From Got the flu? http://whyfiles.org/049flu/

From Reactor to Refrigerator     Irradiation - blasting food with gamma rays - may sound unpalatable, but it's considered safe by about 40 nations and a long list of professional associations. It's safe, but is it desirable? From Fresh from the reactor http://whyfiles.org/054irradfood/

Oddball science     What do sweat, urine, worms, frogs and fish have in common? A sampling of weird science discoveries of 1997. From Oddball science research http://whyfiles.org/055oddball/

Learning language     New insights about our trademark trait. Where did our capacity for language originate? Many linguists, echoing the influential Noam Chomsky, argue that it's a uniquely human gift. From Blah, blah, blah http://whyfiles.org/058language/

Genetic technology     After our genes are all mapped, what's next? Did Thomas Jefferson father an illegitimate child with his slave Sally Hemings? Yes, genetic evidence carried on the Y chromosome demonstrated that Jefferson indeed had a fruitful liaison with Hemings. From Genetics moves on http://whyfiles.org/075genome/

Going Wild in the City     What's running wild in your backyard? Urban wildlife can cause lots of problems - carnivorous cats, damaging deer and the festering feces of raccoons. From Puddy tat: Contract killer http://whyfiles.org/086urban_critter/

Learning about learning     Can adult brains make new neurons? Until the last few years, neurologists who believed that new nerve cells appeared in brains of adult mammals were about as common as mint-green Nash Ramblers at used-car lots. From Yearning for learning http://whyfiles.org/093learn/

Ant farmers     Brief site. Humans, it turns out, were actually the fourth animal to discover farming. Fifty million years ago, lowly ants began farming, growing fungus inside their nests and harvesting it for dinner. From First fungal farmers of the Americas http://whyfiles.org/shorties/ant_farm.html

No signs of life     Mars rocks, not so lively after all. In a double whammy powerful enough to vaporize the nastiest extraterrestrial bacteria, scientists report that the signs of life in a Martian meteorite probably came from Earth. From Bye-bye Martians http://whyfiles.org/shorties/mars_rock_not.html

Walking on water     Brief site. Water spiders are eight-legged marvels which speed across the water fast enough to escape predators, find prey, and chase off intruding spiders. From Walking on water http://whyfiles.org/shorties/walk_on_water.html

Human biology     Collection of tutorials and quizzes relevant to human biology. Covers topics such as human reproductive biology, birth control, genetics and more. From The Biology Project: Human Biology http://www.biology.arizona.edu/human_bio/human_bio.html

Immunology     Introduction to basic immunology, case studies, and activities design to achieve understanding of the Elisa assay and western blotting analysis. From The Biology Project: Microbiology & Immunology http://www.biology.arizona.edu/immunology/immunology.html

Senses and Sensitivity     Neuronal Alliances for Sight and Sound. Explore the elegantly simple sensory system of the leech for detecting mechanical sensation such as touching, pushing and pinching on its slimy body surface. The leech's nervous system is very simple and easily accessible. Principles discovered in simple systems may be relevant in trying to understand the human brain. From holidaylectures.org - Neurobiology http://www.hhmi.org/grants/lectures/97lect/

Andes Expedition: Searching for Inca Secrets     Virtual autopsy of the ice maiden that was killed five hundred years ago as a sacrifice to the gods in the Inca empire. The maiden's body preserved remarkably well. There is also a description of the expedition to the Andes led by Johan Reinhard, aimed to discover more Inca religious sites. Attractive graphics, but limited content. From Andes @ nationalgeographic.com http://www.nationalgeographic.com/andes/index.html

Cats: Plans for Perfection     Explore how nature "designed" the cat by examining cat's skeletal, and muscular systems, coat, behavior, and explore a cat's gallery. From Cats @ nationalgeographic.com http://www.nationalgeographic.com/cats/index.html

Crittercam Chronicles     Crittercam: a camera that is designed to be worn by water animals such as sharks and turtles in order to explore their daily activities. From The Crittercam Chronicles @ nationalgeographic.com http://www.nationalgeographic.com/crittercam/

Everest: Measure of a Mountain     Scientists and climbers are using the global positioning system (GPS) and radar to measure the height of Mount Everest. Learn about the body's reaction to heights and read the latest dispatches from people trying to climb the highest mountain in the world. From Everest @ nationalgeographic.com http://www.nationalgeographic.com/everest/index.html

Habitats: the Growth of Forests     Deep in the Monongahela National Forest of West Virginia, an experiment unfolds. The United States Forest Service has set aside four plots in the woods for study. Each shows a forest at a different stage of growth: 2 years, 12 years, 41 years, and about 86 years. Together the plots demonstrate natural succession: the process by which a forest evolves. From Habitats @ nationalgeographic.com http://www.nationalgeographic.com/habitats/index3.html

Kaikoura     Join an international team of scientists as they probe New Zealand's Kaikoura Canyon in an effort at spotting the elusive giant squid. From Kaikoura @ nationalgeographic.com http://www.nationalgeographic.com/kaikoura/index.html

King cobra     Get familiar with king Cobra. Study its habits, anatomy, and myths and legends about it. Difficult to use, but interesting. From National Geographic: Interactive King Cobra http://www.nationalgeographic.com/kingcobra/index.html

U.S. national wildlife refuges sanctuary     Take a serious look at America's ecological oases. Find out what threats menace wildlife and, perhaps, the refuges themselves. From Sanctuary: U.S. Wildlife Refuges @ nationalgeographic.com http://www.nationalgeographic.com/refuges/index.html

Surviving AIDS     Cutting edge AIDS research, and what scientists are learning about preserving the immune system and marshalling the body's natural defenses against HIV to keep infected people from progressing to AIDS. Contains a description of the body's immune system both in text and Shockwave format, QT movies illustrating the HIV life cycle, information on a vaccine research. Also contains six world maps indicating the effect of HIV on different continents and populations. Companion site to television show. Somewhat difficult to use. From NOVA Online | Surviving AIDS http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/aids/

Coma     Head injury can lead to coma, learn what options doctors have available to them in preventing and treating coma. Also, get a "translation" of a medical dialogue from a TV show "Chicago Hope." The web site is very much text based. From NOVA Online | Coma http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/coma/

Everest the Search for Mallory and Irvine     Follow an actual expedition to Mt. Everest, and look for evidence that two British climbers could have reached the highest point thirty years prior to Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, who are known to hold the honor since 1953. Contains narration and interviews with experts. Poorly organized. From NOVA Online | Lost on Everest http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/everest/

Hawaii: Born of Fire     Be next to an active volcano. Also learn what makes Hawaii a place where exists such a tremendous number of species. From NOVA Online/Hawaii- Born of Fire http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/hawaii/

Leopards of the Night     How leopards see at night and how a television crew filmed leopards at night. From NOVA Online | Leopards of the Night http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/leopards/

Beast of Loch Ness     Examples of real animals once thought to be nonexistent, and myths and legends behind the discoveries of those animals, such as Africa's ocapi. There is also a narration of how the legend of Loch Ness monsters came to be and eyewitness accounts. There are experiments with sonar and descriptions of how the sonar works. The site is done mostly using text narration and images. From NOVA Online | The Beast of Loch Ness http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/lochness/

Island of the Sharks     Costa Rica's Cocos Island boasts more sharks per cubic yard of water than perhaps any other place on the planet, including whitetip reef sharks, 40-foot whale sharks, and hammerheads that school by the hundreds. On this latest NOVA/PBS Online Adventure, we joined Howard and Michele Hall, two of the world's leading underwater filmmakers, as they dove into this shark-infested paradise to shoot an IMAX large-format film. From NOVA Online | Island of the Sharks http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sharks/

Nature's preservative     Organic Flypaper: Amber Gives a Green Light to Study of Ancient Life. People have made jewelry from amber - hardened tree resin - since the Egyptian era. From Organic Flypaper http://whyfiles.org/008amber/

Brave new biosphere     Some bizarre critters on Mars and Earth. The discovery of traces of single-celled organisms in a meteorite from Mars reminds us that life can inhabit some pretty strange places. From Is anybody out there? http://whyfiles.org/022critters/

Born to be wild     Can we teach animals to be wild? Keiko the whale, language of whooping cranes, Golden lion tamarins. From Continuing education for animals http://whyfiles.org/072educ_survival/

Amber: Window to the Past     For more than 11,000 years, people have collected, traded, carved, and examined amber; yet much about the substance remains a mystery. For example, no one is certain how amber manages to preserve the organisms entrapped in it (called "inclusions") so exquisitely. It is thought that terpenes, compounds that become linked as the resin hardens, help to preserve the inclusions by dehydrating the organisms and killing any bacteria that might cause decay. From American Museum of Natural History http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/amber/

Biochemistry     Problem sets and tutorials in the areas of biochemistry including chemistry, large molecules, acids and bases, pH, energy, enzymes, metabolism, photosynthesis and more. The material is mostly presented in the form of quizzes that lead the user to a tutorial if a wrong answer is given. Material presented with text and still images. From The Biology Project: Biochemistry http://www.biology.arizona.edu/biochemistry/biochemistry.html

Cell biology     Introduce yourself to the cell as the fundamental unit of life and the scientific method. Review the cell cycle, learn about the cells that make up all living systems, their organelles, and the differences between living cells and viruses From The Biology Project: Cell Biology http://www.biology.arizona.edu/cell_bio/cell_bio.html

Chemicals and Human Health     Explore the world of renal toxicology, and learn the effect of metals on the kidneys. Discover ways chemicals can affect human health. Review lung anatomy and learn about diseases of the lungs, and environmental tobacco smoke. From The Biology Project: Chemicals & Human Health http://www.biology.arizona.edu/chh/

Developmental biology     Basic concepts of development in a variety of organisms. Learn about the experiments that gave scientists in the early 20th century insight into the mechanisms of development. From The Biology Project: Developmental Biology http://www.biology.arizona.edu/developmental_bio/developmental_bio.html

Mendelian genetics     Tutorials and quizzes to help you learn about the basic principles that govern Mendelian inheritance in plants and animals. From The Biology Project http://www.biology.arizona.edu/mendelian_genetics/mendelian_genetics.html

Molecular biology     Tutorials and problem sets designed to help users with molecular biology topics such as nucleic acid, operator-repressor regulation system, recombinant DNA and more From The Biology Project: Molecular Biology http://www.biology.arizona.edu/molecular_bio/molecular_bio.html

Blazing a Genetic Trail     Colorful web book describing the excitement in biomedical research as scientists discover the causes of baffling diseases: abnormal genes. Includes: family studies; the Human Genome Project; and how to conquer hereditary diseases like cystic fibrosis. From HHMI's Blazing a Genetic Trail: Research on Mutant Genes and Hereditary Diseases. http://www.hhmi.org/genetictrail/

Dinorama     Dinosaur fossil discovery. Learn about the largest dinosaurs that existed and dinosaur eggs that have been found almost intact. From Dinorama @ nationalgeographic.com http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/dinorama/frame.html

Outpost: human origins     Join a team of scientists as they travel to Africa trying to study about the origins of human kind From Outpost: Human Origins @ nationalgeographic.com http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/outpost/index.html

Into the Abyss     A mile and a half beneath the sea off the Pacific Northwest coast, a volcanic ridge has given birth to towering structures that spew toxic, superheated water. The structures, known as black smoker chimneys, are home to bizarre life forms that thrive far beyond the reach of the sun's light. Follow the daring attempt of an ambitious expedition to retrieve several of these black smokers from the seafloor. From NOVA Online | Into the Abyss http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/abyss/

Crocodiles!     What is it about crocodiles that has enabled them to live for at least 240 million years, outlasting even the dinosaurs? This site is the ultimate guide to crocodiles, with everything from their survival strategies to the basics on all 23 species, to what it's like to wrestle with a half-ton Nile crocodile in the wild. From NOVA Online | Crocodiles http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/crocs/

The Brain Eater     What causes Mad Cow disease? Is there a new type of infectious agent - a prion - that's responsible? What happens when science faces an unknown pathogen, and what are the implications for public health? Explore these questions and more. Limited content. From NOVA Online | The Brain Eater http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/madcow/

Odyssey of Life     Interview with photographer Lennart Nilsson, an essay by Joe Levine on embryonic development and evolution, an ongoing How Did We Get Here debate between Kenneth R. Miller and Phillip E. Johnson, video clips of morphing embryos, and Hot Science interactive activities. From NOVA Online/Odyssey of Life http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/odyssey/

Perfect Pearl     History of pearls and how river pearls are made. What's Killing the Oysters? Culture of Freshwater Pearls. How to count thousands of pearls. From NOVA Online | The Perfect Pearl http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pearl/

Kingdom of the Seahorse     Seahorses: read an interview with seahorse crusader Amanda Vincent. From NOVA Online | Kingdom of the Seahorse http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/seahorse/

Talk.origins     Collection of articles written by various evolution vs. creationism devotees. Articles are selected from Usenet newsgroup devoted to the discussion and debate of biological and physical origins. Most discussions in the newsgroup center on the creation/evolution controversy, but other topics of discussion include the origin of life, geology, biology, catastrophism, cosmology and theology. From Browse the Talk.Origins Archive http://www.talkorigins.org/origins/faqs.html

Seeing, Hearing, and Smelling the World     Research and articles on the three best-known human senses: vision, hearing and smelling. Learn how humans see, how we hear and how we smell. From Seeing, Hearing and Smelling the World http://www.hhmi.org/senses/

How stuff works     How everyday stuff works such as TV, refrigerator, airplane, solar cells and much more. From HowStuffWorks - Learn how Everything Works! http://www.howstuffworks.com/

Garbage     Waste disposal handling and what can be done to improve garbage processing and save environment. From Exhibits Collection -- Garbage http://www.learner.org/exhibits/garbage/

Coffee     Coffee: legends, maps of coffee growing regions, different roasts, coffee. From Coffee @ nationalgeographic.com http://www.nationalgeographic.com/coffee/index.html

Dinosaur eggs     Join us now for an online egg hunt and catch the excitement of fossil researchers as they "hatch" fossilized dinosaur eggs to reveal the embryos inside. Tour our museum of dinosaur hatchlings, meet the modelers. From Dinosaur Eggs @ nationalgeographic.com http://www.nationalgeographic.com/dinoeggs/index.html

MicroAngela's Electron Microscope Image Gallery     Familiar and unexpected views of the microscopic are revealed though these wonderful colorized images from electron microscopes. Engaging (and sometimes amusing) collection of images, including insects, parasites, human cells, and plankton, with interesting explanations. Electron microscopes use a beam of electrons as their source of illumination. Inviting and easy to use. From MicroAngela's Electron Microscope Image Gallery http://www.pbrc.hawaii.edu/bemf/microangela/

Cut to the Heart     Anatomy of the human heart, and the history of heart surgery. Look at pictures of hearts affected by an illness. From NOVA Online | Cut to the Heart http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/heart/

Ice mummies     Process of mummification and about how scientists study mummies that they find. Learn about the Peruvian expedition of 1996. From NOVA Online | Ice Mummies http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/icemummies/

Frogs     Frogs: their anatomy, habitats, eating patterns, courtship. Few people realize just how ancient frogs are. For 190 million years, the ancestors of modern frogs have roamed (if not ruled) the earth, looking much the same as they do today. From Exploratorium: Frogs http://www.exploratorium.edu/frogs/