From Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News, November 15, 2014, p.42, there is a brief description, of highly-rated Periodic Videos. 118 of them have been done, and are being revised by a group of chemists at the University of Nottingham in the UK. Try out this interactive periodic table!
“Read our essay in the journal Science – Science link
And our paper in Nature Chemistry – Nature link (£)”
UNESCO has launched the World Library of Science. “The library will be accessible to internet users everywhere in the world, at no cost. The majority of the content is for university-level students, giving them resources to ‘complement their learning’.” Target groups are students and teachers in the more underdeveloped parts of the world, especially, Africa. “The library – WLoS – ‘contains’ more than 300 articles, 25 eBooks and some 70 videos, as well as a digital platform that “provides a community hub” for learning, according to UNESCO, which created the site jointly with the international Nature Education publishing group and the Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche.
“The library – WLoS – ‘contains’ more than 300 articles, 25 eBooks and some 70 videos, as well as a digital platform that “provides a community hub” for learning, according to UNESCO, which created the site jointly with the international Nature Education publishing group and the Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche.”
From ResearchBuzz Saturday Afternoon Buzz, November 15th, 2014, Tara Calishain
http://www.globalforestwatch.org/(reviewed in CHOICE November 2014).
[Visited Aug’14] Global Forest Watch (GFW), currently in beta phase, is a dazzling, open data website that aims to monitor deforestation worldwide. With partners like Google, the Jane Goodall Institute, and UNEP (among many others) and “convened by the World Resources Institute,” GFW will impress visitors with its beauty and obvious value. In order to provide “near-real-time” access to information like logging practices, GFW uses satellite images and provides a hub for local communities to upload photos and report illegal deforestation by use of smartphones and GPS mapping. The goal is to track these events as they happen, instead of months or even years later. Unfortunately, it is not possible for all the maps to be updated instantly. Users must agree to a lengthy terms of service agreement before entering the site, ensuring that they understand the limitations of the data presented.
Technology-adept users will find GFW extremely intuitive. Users begin with a 2-D map featuring multiple overlays; displays can be selected from sections such as Forest Change, Forest Cover, Forest Use, and Conservation. Data can be limited by years, ranging from 2001 to 2013. The Countries section contains more in-depth information. The site also features stories about deforestation, a blog prepared by the GFW team, and an alert service. GFW is rightfully confident of its benefits, providing a detailed plan of how the site can be utilized. Significantly, GFW clearly identifies the sources of the information retrieved, supporters of the site, and funding sources. Brief tutorials and FAQs offer additional information. Nearly everyone can find a use for this site and the inestimable data within–whether as a teaching tool or as a primary source for research. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All academic, general, and professional library collections.”
–C. M. Woxland, Utah State University
Copyright 2014 American Library Association
Living Planet Report 2014
Source: WWF (World Wildlife Fund)
From The Living Planet Index:
The state of the world’s biodiversity appears worse than ever.
The Living Planet Index (LPI), which measures trends in thousands of vertebrate species populations, shows a decline of 52 per cent between 1970 and 2010 (Figure 2). In other words, the number of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish across the globe is, on average, about half the size it was 40 years ago. This is a much bigger decrease than has been reported previously, as a result of a new methodology which aims to be more representative of global biodiversity.Biodiversity is declining in both temperate and tropical regions, but the decline is greater in the tropics. The 6,569 populations of 1,606 species in the temperate LPI declined by 36 per cent from 1970 to 2010. The tropical LPI shows a 56 per cent reduction in 3,811 populations of 1,638 species over the same period. Latin America shows the most dramatic decline – a fall of 83 per cent. Habitat loss and degradation, and exploitation through hunting and fishing, are the primary causes of decline. Climate change is the next most common primary threat, and is likely to put more pressure on populations in the future.
+ Links to full report and Summary from this page (PDF; 34.9 MB and 4.9 MB)
From [DocuTicker] Newsletter 294, 7th October 2014
| Number of e-book records in WorldCat:
18,788,566 WorldCat is a set of databases that together comprise the most comprehensive global network of data about library collections and services. WorldCat data is contributed, maintained and shared by libraries around the world. It is managed and enhanced by OCLC. Learn more » OCLC Abstracts, 27 October 2014 / Vol. 17 No. 43 / ISSN 1932-4847 |
eLIFE
Newswise — CHICAGO—In honor of World Food Day on October 16, the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) is highlighting eight solutions for feeding the world from itsFutureFood 2050 website. They include articles featuring Kofi Annan, M.S. Swaminathan, Sylvia Earle and more. Feel free to re-publish or share these links as part of your World Food Day coverage.
1. Watch an interactive video infographic on food waste
2. Learn about food security in Africa
3. Read this article on M.S. Swaminathan on sustainable agriculture
4. Listen to National Geographic Oceanographer Sylvia Earle share aquaculture solutions
5. Learn how reinvestment in Africa creates a sustainable business model for the future
6. Gain insights on the latest insights on meat alternatives
7. Read an interview on creating greater abundance of crops to feed a booming population
8. Learn about the important role of women in combating world hunger
“State of the Birds” Report Assesses the Health of the Nation’s Birds
One hundred years after the extinction of the passenger pigeon, the nation’s top bird science and conservation groups have come together to publish The State of the Birds 2014—the most comprehensive review of long-term trend data for U.S. birds ever conducted.
The State of the Birds 2014 report
Source: Newswise Environment Wire 26-Sep-2014
sphn-bounces@lists.newswise.com; on behalf of; sphn@lists.newswise.com
NTIS is launching greater access to federally funded science & technology information and reports. Starting in October 2014, U.S. citizens will have free access to all electronically-available documents in the NTIS collection.
Currently there are more than 850,000 documents digitized for free public access. For the first time, Individuals will have the option to subscribe to the NTRL in order to benefit from the Premium features of the database, such as Digitization-on-Demand (NTRL Premium Individual). Premium Institutional subscribers (including corporations) will continue to have access to the more than 2.8 million records with a variety of enhanced features as listed in the chart below.
More at: http://www.ntis.gov/pdf/NTRNews7-3.pdf
Princeton University Library has a subscription to NTRL reports,
[Visited Jun’14] In 1994, the Army Corps of Engineers issued The National Drought Atlas, which is cataloged in only five libraries; it apparently never made it into the Federal Depository Library Program. A new online resource, the national Drought Risk Atlas, rectifies that oversight. The atlas has six sections: Home, Map Viewer, Data (viewer page), Methodology, About, and Help. Home provides introductory information about the atlas and explains the other sections. Map Viewer allows users to view drought status from 2000 to the present. The Data section allows users to select stations by name or interactively on a map and view data for that station over time. Many stations contain more than 100 years of data. Data can be displayed as a time series chart or table for a given decade. In addition, users can display data for each decade ranked from driest to wettest and warmest to coolest temperatures, along with ranked monthly precipitation and temperature records. The system also allows data retrieval for various indexes, including the Standardized Precipitation Index, Standardized Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index, Palmer Drought Severity Index, and Self-calibrated Palmer Drought Severity Index.
There is a separate tabbed section for each index, which includes a description of the index and the option to select the period of interest. Data can be displayed as a time series chart, table, ranked table, or heat map plot, which shows whether a selected station was particularly wet or dry during the decade by color. Users can also download data for additional research. The Help section provides information on using the site. Many years ago, this type of weather data for selected locations was available in books published by Gale Research. This valuable site provides temperature and precipitation data and more for free. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All library collections.”