Since the Endangered Species Act was enacted in 1973, many species have been saved from extinction, including the bald eagle, the humpback whale, and the American bison. Sometimes, however, despite enormous investments of time and money, efforts to save a …[Continue]
Underwater Web Cams
Live cameras connected to the Web can be either incredibly fascinating or amazingly dull. What do you think of a Web cam aimed at a blank wall? Or inside a refrigerator, aimed at the door? Bypassing the absurd, I’ve assembled …[Continue]
Venomous Snakes
I am often asked how I come up with topics. This idea grew from a reptile birthday party I attended last weekend with my daughter. The kids really enjoyed petting Baby Boris, an eighteen foot (non-venomous) Burmese python. My research …[Continue]
El Niño
Usually the Earth’s warmest water can be found in the western Pacific, with the east-to-west trade winds pushing the warm water toward Indonesia. Every so often, however, the trade winds weaken and the warm water ends up sloshing eastward against …[Continue]
Mars Fun & Games
You’ve visited the NASA Pathfinder site, you’ve seen all the latest photos from the Sojourner rover. Now you’re ready for some fun. Inspired by the recent Pathfinder landing, I searched the Internet for some Mars fun (come make an alien) …[Continue]
Volcanos
Some topics seem to encourage more Internet creativity than others, and volcanos is one of those topics. I found Java applications that illustrate the parts of a volcano, and even let you design your own volcano and watch it erupt. …[Continue]
Big Cats
Lions and tigers and jaguars, oh my! Who can resist these overgrown kitties? My son suggested this topic months ago, and one day made me sit down to look for big cats on the Net. The first site we found …[Continue]
Rocketry
Dreams of rocket flights to distant worlds fire the imagination of both children and adults. A rocket in its simplest form is a container filled with gas under pressure. A small opening at one end allows the gas to escape, …[Continue]
Under the Sea
“Under the sea, under the sea, we got no troubles, life is the bubbles, under the sea” sang Sebastian to Ariel in “Little Mermaid”. If you have kids of a certain young age, these words will be enough to start …[Continue]
Human Anatomy
The hip bone is connected to the shin bone, the shin bone is connected to the…. I think I need some help assembling my Halloween skeleton. So I’m off to the web again, searching for “dem bones.” [Editor’s Note: An …[Continue]
