BioMedNet: ESA 2003
http://news.bmn.com/conferences/list/view?fileyear=2003&fileacronyn=ESA&pagefile=content.html
BioMedNet offers a taste of the 2003 meeting of the Ecological Society of America, recently held in Savannah, Georgia. The report covers a selection of presentations from the 4-day meeting, ranging from the spread of fire ants to using the sound of snapping shrimp as an indicator of water quality. All summaries make for great reading, even for those not immediately interested in ecology. The site also includes profiles of some conference presenters, as well as links to abstracts from related articles. [RS]
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NatureServe Explorer
http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/
NatureServe Explorer is "a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals, and ecological communities of the United States and Canada." NatureServe Explorer offers a quick and convenient way to get detailed information on the conservation status, geographic distribution, taxonomy, and natural history for species of interest. NatureServe Explorer, a combined project of the Nature Conservancy and the Natural Heritage Network, focuses on rare and endangered species but covers some common ones as well. The database may be quickly searched for information on specific plants and animals or on entire ecological communities. [RS]
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UCSF Chimera: An Extensible Molecular Modeling System [pdf]
http://www.cgl.ucsf.edu/chimera/
Chimera is a multi-faceted, interactive molecular graphics program, which can be downloaded from the Web site of the Computer Graphics Laboratory (CGL) at the University of California--San Francisco. Any interested user is welcome to use this molecular modeling software at no charge for academic, government, non-profit, or personal use. An astonishingly wide array of applications are possible with Chimera -- too numerous to list here. Fortunately, the site contains an extensive user's guide that even includes helpful tutorials. Users will also find a gallery of images created with Chimera -- a cool feature even for visitors not remotely interested in molecular modeling. [RS]
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The Pew Center on global Climate Change: Beyond Kyoto [pdf]
http://www.pewclimate.org/global_warming_in_depth/international/working_papers/beyondkyoto.cfm
The Pew Center on Global Climate Change "brings together business leaders, policy makers, scientists, and other experts to bring a new approach to a complex and often-controversial issue." Visitors to this Pew Center Web site will find six downloadable working papers from former Kyoto Protocol negotiators and other climate experts as part of a new initiative titled Beyond Kyoto: Advancing the International Effort Against Climate Change. For the rest of August, readers may review and offer feedback on these working papers, which are intended as "think pieces" to explore the challenges facing the international climate effort. The site includes a useful glossary of important terms. [RS]
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The WayStation: The Centre for Submission, Review and Publication of Genome Variations
http://www.centralmutations.org/
The Waystation is a project of the Human Genome Variation Society and offers a "consistent, flexible interface through which researchers anywhere in the world can report novel variations (both disease-causing mutations and SNPs) in any gene." Researchers may submit their unpublished variation data directly to the WayStation, which then assigns submissions to the appropriate database, such as LSDB and HGBASE among others. Also, the WayStation now assigns PubMed and Human Mutation IDs for eligible submissions. Interested users must first register with the WayStation before submitting data. [RS]
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UC Davis Center for Equine Health: 2003-2004 Research Preview
http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/ceh/respreview.html
This Web site contains an overview of 15 funded research projects at the University of California-Davis Center for Equine Health. These projects represent part of the Center's latest efforts "toward the continual advancement of equine medical science," and cover equine genetics, infectious disease, pharmacology, and more. Users will find a number of detailed project summaries within each category, including study objectives, experimental approach, and anticipated benefits to the equine industry. Users may also want to check out the Web site's various links to other features from the Center, such as The Horse Report --the latest issue reviews the safe feeding of starved horses. [RS]
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e.hormone: Your Gateway to the Environment and Hormones
http://e.hormone.tulane.edu/
e.hormone serves as a "a hub of scientific and media information about environmental signaling." Hosted by the Center for Biomedical Research at Tulane and Xavier Universities, e.hormone is an excellent resource for keeping up with environmental hormone news and research from estrogen-mimicking compounds to mercury contamination and more. e.hormone offers research summaries, links to related news stories, an events calendar, and even an introductory educational section about environmental hormones and the endocrine system in general. e.hormone has recently subsumed Environmental Estrogens and Other Hormones, its former sister site also from Tulane University. [RS]
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