The Problem of Regeneration

The tagline for the iBioSeminars website is "Bringing the World's Best Biology to You" and they deliver on their promise by offering talks on genetic engineering, nanotechnology, and other fields of scientific endeavor. Visitors are welcome to scan through all of their offerings, but they would do well to start with this authoritative look into the history of regeneration. Offered by Professor Alejandro Sanchez-Alvarado of the University of Utah School of Medicine, this three-part talk takes visitors through the world of regeneration via thoughtful examples, complete with illustrations, slides, and other relevant visual aids. In his talk, Alvarado talks about how the ancient Greeks were fascinated with the idea that animals could regenerate various body parts. He continues by discussing experimental work in the field, bringing the viewer up to the present day.

It's a remarkable talk, and visitors can also download it to watch on their iPod or other device

http://www.ibioseminars.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=197&Itemid=194

From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2011. http://scout.wisc.edu/

Principles of Chemical Science

The basic principles behind chemical science are the bedrock of a number of scientific endeavors, and this remarkable course from MIT's OpenCourseWare initiative is quite a find. Professor Catherine Drennan and Dr. Elizabeth Vogel Taylor created the materials for this course, and the site includes video lectures, lecture notes, and exams. Visitors will note that these materials can be found on the left-hand side of the page, and they can also be downloaded en masse via the "Download Course Materials" link. The topics covered here include the basic principles of atomic and molecular electronic structure, thermodynamics, acid-base and redox equilibria, and chemical kinetics. Also, visitors are encouraged to offer their own feedback on the course, or even provide a donation to help out with this initiative

http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/chemistry/5-111-principles-of-chemical-science-fall-2008/

From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2011.http://scout.wisc.edu/

Designing Conference Posters

Lecturer Colin Purrington provides high-quality tips on designing conference posters. He bills his suggestions as "gratuitous advice on how to prepare posters for scientific meetings, research conferences, and similar gathering of nerds." His humorous tone belies a distinct commitment to this area of visual representation, and his suggestions are contained with three areas: "What sections to include", "Dos and DON'Ts", and "Presenting your poster". Visitors can skip around to any of these suggestions, and they will find Purrington's style both down-to-earth and practical. The information here includes sample posters and basic suggestions about what information to include on such a poster.

http://colinpurrington.com/tips/academic/posterdesign

From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2011.http://scout.wisc.edu/

Flash Tutorials for Biological Sciences

Carnegie Mellon University's Department of Biological Sciences and the Office of Technology for Education have created a suite of multimedia course materials to assist science instructors. The materials here are divided into four primary sections, including "Interactive Animations", "Biology Labs", and "Supplemental Interactives". In the "Interactive Animations" area visitors will find animations that illustrate cell membranes, transport functions (such as signal transdaction) and DNA replication. The "Biology Labs" area contains virtual lab exercises that deal with protein purification, membrane permeability, and osmosis. The "Supplemental Interactives" contains interactive features that address topics like the ICE structure. Here users can see the operation of covalent bonds, as well as the hydrogen bonds which form the structure.

http://telstar.ote.cmu.edu/biology/

From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2011.http://scout.wisc.edu/

Knight Digital Media Center: Maps Tutorials

This site of tools is designed to help people get started with using maps in their various publications and presentations. The presentations here include "Map Mashup Resources", "Google Map Basics", "Embedding Map Mashups" and "Map Mashups: Collaboration". Each of these presentations includes a video orientation that will help users get started quickly with their own work. A particularly useful resource is the "Embedding Map Mashups" tutorial, which will teach interested parties how to quickly embed their newly created maps into their own sites. The last section of the site is titled "Maps Links and Resources", and here visitors can learn about how maps are being used online to share information and also find a list of "100 Things to Do With Mashups".

http://multimedia.journalism.berkeley.edu/tutorials/cat/maps

From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2011.http://scout.wisc.edu/

NOVA: scienceNOW: Explore Teacher's Guides

This PBS website was designed by NOVA's scienceNOW group, and it offers a wide range of teacher's guides designed to be used in conjunction with the scienceNOW programs. The guides are divided into thirteen topical areas, including "Mathematics", "Physics" and "Space Science". The activities within each area are designed to be used for before and after viewing the scienceNOW programs, and they include activities around primate evolution, the 1918 flu epidemic, and mass
extinctions.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/educators/subject-anth.html

From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2011.http://scout.wisc.edu/

Royal Society journal archive made permanently free to access

From the website: "The Royal Society has today announced that its world-famous historical journal archive – which includes the first ever peer-reviewed scientific journal – has been made permanently free to access online.

Around 60,000 historical scientific papers are accessible via a fully searchable online archive, with papers published more than 70 years ago now becoming freely available."

http://royalsociety.org/news/Royal-Society-journal-archive-made-permanently-free-to-access/