Coral Ensemble

If you're like most people, your primary knowledge of anthozoans consists of the coral from coral reefs and sea anemones, which aren't difficult to see if you've ever looked in ocean tide pools. What you might not have noticed peering through murky ocean water is that these interesting organisms are biological works of art. Anthozoa.com, in an instant, reveals the ability of underwater flash photography to bring the wonders of the ocean to terrestrial eyes. And what diversity lurks beneath these waters! The anemones, with their other-worldly tentacles and vast array of brilliant colors are a rainbow coalition unto themselves. At the site, visitors can learn about this surprisingly diverse collection of marine organisms by studying their taxonomy, surveying their geographic distribution, following the news, or planning for upcoming meetings.

[www.anthozoa.com]

Changes in Fatitude

A day hardly goes by it seems without a report of a new health benefit resulting from the consumption of omega-3 fatty acids. They reduce the chance of sudden cardiac death, as well as the likelihood of a second heart attack. They lower harmful blood lipids, slow the progression of heart disease and even slightly reduce blood pressure. One almost expects them to also bail out failing financial institutions and leap tall buildings at a single bound. Tracking and reporting on the bio-benefits of these fatty compounds is FatsOfLife, a “science-based web site” whose coverage of this important subject will open a few eyes.

[www.fatsoflife.com]

Bio-pedagogy

In the 60s, the educational buzz phrase was ‘the new math.’ At the turn of this millennium, it's common to hear about ‘the new biology,’ due to the explosion of information in this field, but the phrase is, unfortunately, not always associated with education. Attempting to change that is The Higher Education Academy's Centre for Bioscience, hosted at the University of Leeds. One of 24 subject centers, the Centre for Bioscience abounds with useful information for educators, as a perusal of the A-to-Z directory will demonstrate. Over 80 subject headings, from Accessibility and Funding to Pedagogic Research and Work Placements, lead visitors to valuable online resources that aren't readily available anywhere else. To top it off, most headings have links to other important information. The site is an educational oasis in a desert of biological instruction.

[www.bioscience.heacademy.ac.uk]

Metabolome Home

Advances in mass spectrometry have made the instrument an essential tool for high-throughput analyses central to modern biological research. Important keys to the success of the method have been joint advancements in electronics and instrumentation technology, as is apparent at the Scripps Center for Mass Spectrometry web site, where visitors gain easy access to important databases. These include MassTRIX (annotated high precision mass spectral analyses of metabolites), BioMeta (KEGG-based collected data on metabolites and metabolic reactions), HMDB (Human Metabolome Database), and LMSD (LIPID MAPS structure database), among others. Mass spectrometric data is useless without analytic tools, so the site's nine online tools are essential. Combine these resources with job listings, an online bulletin board, and an extensive online bibliography and you've got a one-stop shop for mass spekkies.

[http://masspec.scripps.edu/metabo_science/metadbase.php]

Ovary Public

Though it is hard to imagine how an area of active scientific research today might have gone unexplored for 1000 years after its discovery, that is exactly what happened with the ovary, as detailed in the history section of Stanford's Ovarian Kaleidoscope Database. The interesting history, however, is not the focus of this informative site. Ovarian gene expression and the subjects are covered via a mixture of published figures, collections of relevant genes (organized alphabetically and by chromosome), and a searchable database with many user-configurable specifications. An extensively hyperlinked online paper on studies using transgenic mouse models rounds out the offerings.

[http://ovary.stanford.edu]

Biological Melting Pots

It is said of America that in its diversity lies its strength, and the same is also true of the world's ecosystems. Sadly, though, the Earth is rapidly losing its incredible ‘islands’ of biological richness. The losses, in some cases, actually are directly linked to bigger ecological problems, as noted at the BiodiversityHotSpots web site. Consider, for example, that the burning and clearing of tropical forests contributes 20% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. Hosted by the Center for Applied Biodiversity Science, Biodiversity Hotspots notes that the notion of hotspots is relatively new. To qualify, a tropical forest hotspot must, for example, have 1500 species of vascular plants and have lost at least 70% of its original habitat. In view of this, it's scary to note that collectively, over 44% of the world's plant species and 35% of its terrestrial vertebrates are found on only 25 biodiversity hotspots.

[www.biodiversityhotspots.org/Pages/default.aspx]