Science safari in cyberspace: the Internet offers scientific facts and fun - science-related sites on the World Wide Web - includes related information on data accuracy and on Science News Online site

Science News, Dec 20, 1997 by Kathleen Fackelmann, Julie Ann Miller

Marvel at the photos of Mars. View the interior of a human body. Join a cyberstudy. Tour a virtual dinosaur zoo.

How? By joining the Science News guided tour of the World Wide Web. Whether you are a tenderfoot or a seasoned explorer, you'll enjoy visiting a few of the writers' favorites among the many informative, unusual, and entertaining Web sites of science.

All it takes is a computer with Internet access. If you don't have your own, you can probably find one at a public library. Or you can stop by one of the cybercafes that are popping up in urban areas around the country and sip a steaming cup of java as you see the sights.

Hold onto your mouse, here we go!

GO TO

http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/sa/sd/intro/humans.html

The first stop on the tour is NASA's Humans in Space site. Designed to prepare visitors for the rigors of space travel, this site may give you a start. The good news is that microgravity allows you to turn somersaults in midair or lift a 300-pound weight with a pinkie. If you're ready for adventure, continue on to the next Web site.

GO TO

http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov

Next stop: Mars. At NASA's Planetary Photojournal Web site, you can take a quick jaunt to the Red Planet. Click on Mars to see the startling images of the Martian surface taken during the recent Pathfinder Mission. Take a look at Cabbage Patch, an area studded with small rounded objects that may have been left behind by a Martian flood. Don't forget to visit Twin Peaks or Poohbear Rock, attractions that have influenced scientists' view of ancient Mars' weather.

After you've flipped through the snapshots of Mars, gaze at the icy moons of Saturn taken during the Voyager mission or pull over for a vista of the solar system.

Along with inspiring pictures, NASA's Web site is a trove of detailed scientific information collected during a variety of space missions.

GO TO

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu

Now take off your space suit and head to Earth for an online tour back in time, courtesy of the University of California Museum of Paleontology. Time travelers can click on dinosaur tracks to learn about Earth and the creatures that inhabited it millions of years ago.

Intrepid souls who thrilled to the story of Jurassic Park should check out the dinosaur pages on this site. Here you can meet giant herbivores, meat-eating dinosaurs, and the small-but-mean Velociraptor. Take a guided tour of an exhibit on the Dilophosaurus (one of the stars of Jurassic Park) with Sam Welles, who helped discover the first Dilophosaurus skeleton. Welles offers a fascinating description of this powerful reptile, which probably traveled in small herds.

This site contains other virtual museum exhibits, including one on elephants, another on plate tectonics, and a gallery of fossil images.

GO TO

http://www.chemcenter.org

Fast-forward to present-day Earth for a tour of ChemCenter, a site sponsored by the American Chemical Society. Head for National Chemistry Week to find out how to become a chemist for a day. Scientists are recruiting volunteers to collect and test natural water samples across the United States for hardness. As the data come in, this site will report on the results.

Need some chemical humor? The society has compiled a list of jokes sent in by Web surfers. Have you heard the one about the two atoms?

GO TO

http://mwanal.lanl.gov/CST/imagemap/periodic/periodic.html

If you want to learn more about argon, lead, and the other elements, go to the online Periodic Table of the Elements, a site hosted by the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Click on any element in the table to get an array of information about its history, properties, and uses. For example, here you'll learn that sodium is the fourth most abundant element on Earth.

GO TO

http://volcanoes.usgs.gov

For more travel adventure, peer over the rim of a virtual volcano designed by the U.S. Geological Survey Volcano Hazards Program. This site includes detailed information about the hazards posed by volcanoes and reports on volcanic unrest around the world. It includes dramatic volcano footage, including a picture of a spatter cone, a steep hill of welded lava erupting on the Big Island of Hawaii. Don't get dizzy as you look down into the Aniakchak caldera in Alaska--and watch out for the mud volcano!

GO TO

http://www.goes.noaa.gov

For an unparalleled view of forest fires and other natural disasters, head for the Geostationary Satellite site run by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It has data on cloud and surface conditions collected by satellites orbiting Earth. You can look at a satellite image of the forest fires in Brazil, showing fire, smoke, and clouds, as well as shots of forest fires in Indonesia. A film shows the Soufriere Hills volcano erupting on the island of Montserrat.

GO TO

http://nic.fb4.noaa.gov

The latest data on El Nino, the occasional warming of Pacific Ocean waters, are also available from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Scientists at the agency have compiled detailed information on this weather pattern, as well as practical information on its effects on local weather conditions. For example, Californians visiting the site will learn that they can expect to don rain gear this winter. Color-coded maps of the United States show El Nino's predicted effects through next April.