Livemonarch.org
http://www.livemonarch.org/
For those with hearts that flutter with the sight of a monarch, this site will be essential. The simply-stated, yet ambitious, mission of livemonarch.org is "to educate everyone in the United States and beyond about habitat loss and what they can do to assist native animals." A significant goal of the site is to distribute free milkweed seeds to anyone interested in helping the cause of helping monarchs, stating: "Monarchs are not pests and will not eat anything but Milkweed. They do not hurt crops, ornamental trees or in any way upset the balance of nature in areas they are introduced." In fact, if anything results from the introduction of more monarchs, it will be a move towards a better balance. As the result of several days of freezing rain and unusually cold temperatures in 2002, nearly 80 percent of the monarchs wintering in Mexico died. While they are making a comeback, monarch.org states that "one seed can change the world." The organization even offers free milkweed seeds off of its Web site. [JPM]
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ARKive: Images of Life on Earth [QuickTime, Windows Media Player, RealOne Player]
http://www.arkive.org/
ARKive, an initiative of Great Britain's Wildscreen Trust, is a growing catalog of information, pictures, and videos, illustrating our Earth's diverse species. Currently, ARKive provides excellent images and informative descriptions of select endangered species, as well as of species native to the British Islands. Eventually the page will contain "an audio-visual record, where possible, for the 11,000 animals and plants threatened with extinction." Users can browse through the current catalog to locate specific plants or animals, reading about their native habitat, present threats to their viability, and current conservation events. The information is straightforward and easily useful to the non-professional visitor to the site. Students and educators will enjoy ARKive's collection of lesson plans and support material as well as Planet ARKive a collection of games and materials created especially for kids. [CH]
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Ask Dog Lady
http://www.askdoglady.com
What to do with a problem dog? What is the best book on dog training? Would Tony Soprano benefit from owning a dog? How can you trust your dog walker with your dog? All these questions are addressed by the Dog Lady, who gives advice, as she says herself, on "dogs, love, and life." Always readable and often funny, the Dog Lady answers emails from viewers with questions about their canine pets. Users can read recent columns or review the "Best in Show" archive, a collection of the Dog Lady's most memorable advice. [CH]

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ADEAR: Alzheimer's Disease Education & Referral Center [pdf, RealOne Player]
http://www.alzheimers.org/unraveling/index.htm
Alzheimer's disease is one of the most serious health problems for the elderly, and no cure has yet been found. To shed some light on this mysterious illness, the National Institute on Aging provides this valuable resource explaining how Alzheimer's affects the minds of people suffering from it. In an overview of potential causes, the site distinguishes between genetic risk factors for early and late onset Alzheimer's. The material concludes with a look at diagnosis techniques and new treatments that could help slow or prevent the disease from manifesting itself. [CL]
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Nature Article Press Supplement: Depletion of Predatory Fish Communities [pdf, Microsoft Word, QuickTime]
http://ram.biology.dal.ca/%7Emyers/depletion/
A biology professor at Dalhousie University offers this supplement to a recent article in the journal Nature, which showed that there may be only ten percent of all large fish left in the global ocean. A three-page press release summarizes the article, outlines its implications, and calls for international collaboration to restore marine ecosystems. Additionally, the Web site provides graphical representations and statistics showing the global decline in biomass over the past half century for several ocean locations. [CL]
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Wild Reef: Sharks at Shedd
http://www.shedd.org/wildreef
This online showcase is built around the Wild Reef exhibit in Chicago's Shedd Aquarium. Recently completed as an underground addition to the historic Shedd building, the exhibit features sharks, rays, eels, and a variety of fish species typical for a living coral reef of the Philippines. To create this ecosystem, the design team traveled to the Philippines and consulted with both scientific advisors and Chicago's Filipino-American community. The Web site is a good introduction to the background of the project and most of the species to be found there. The site also offers brief essays on protecting coral reefs and a guide for teachers. Unfortunately, the site is short on images so it isn't as visually captivating as a trip to the Shedd itself. [DJS]
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NASA Earth Observatory: Escape from the Amazon
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov:81/Study/LBA_Escape/escape.html
As part of NASA's Earth Observatory, visitors to the Escape from the Amazon Web site are invited to "Accompany NASA scientists as they explore our world and unravel the mysteries of climate and environmental change." The Escape from the Amazon feature focuses on the buildup of carbon dioxide and its effect on global climate change, and the role that forests play in reversing this trend. A really neat feature of this site is a glossary function that can be turned on or off. When on, it highlights technical terms. Clicking on any highlighted term will bring up a very descriptive and straightforward definition. Also included as the second part of the feature is an introduction to the large-scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia. This feature highlights the enormity and significance of the Amazon River Valley and its effect on global climate. This Web site is a great outreach and educational tool offered by NASA and should be interesting to lay readers, scientists, and teachers. Several great graphics help to illustrate the information provided. [JPM]
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Unwinding DNA: Life at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
http://www.exploratorium.edu/origins/coldspring/index.html
Science, a human endeavor, would not be successful without cooperation. The Cold Spring Laboratory, located in Long Island, New York, is the epitome of cooperation in the study of DNA. Cold Spring's current president and Nobel Laureate, James Watson, stresses the importance of working together in a common place, saying "The study of this information is in some sense the heart of life. You needed an institution that reflected this fact." Visitors to this Web site can get up-close to this reflection by delving into subpages on the Place, People, Ideas, and Tools involved in studying DNA. By clicking on Place, for instance, users can learn about Uplands farm -- a collection of 5000 square feet of greenhouse space and fields -- or the Genome Center -- where things like DNA sequencing and bioinformatics happen on a daily basis. Also available off the Ideas link is a look at a reprint of the original 1953 paper in the journal Nature by James Watson and Francis Crick. This site will serve as a great destination for historians, scientists, teachers, and students interested in the quest to understand DNA but also for any lay reader. [JPM]
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