Elsevier’s ScienceDirect dropping access via Internet Explorer 8

Effective January 1, 2016, ScienceDirect will no longer support Internet Explorer 8 (IE8).

“We strongly encourage our customers to follow Microsoft’s directive as well by updating to more recent versions of IE. Additionally, users can move to the latest versions of the Chrome or Firefox browsers for an optimal ScienceDirect experience”

The whys:

  • Remove current IE8 security issues
  • Enhance existing security measures across all browsers
  • Add support for new browser technologies
  • Add responsive design to aid use of ScienceDirect across devices
  • Improve accessibility to better enable access to people with diverse abilities

 

  • If you have any questions or concerns, please visit the ScienceDirect Blog Source:  Email today from Elsevier ScienceDirect <sciencedirect@mail.elsevier.com>

Human evolution video: 6 million years in a minute!

Medical Subject Headings for 2016 are now available online

NLM [National Library of Medicine] New files for Nov 10, 2015

*NLM Technical Bulletin, Nov-Dec 2015, 2016 Medical Subject Headings Available for Download  http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/nd15/nd15_2016_mesh_avail.html

NLM Technical Bulletin, Sep-Oct 2015, 2016 MeSH Headings Available in the MeSH Browser [Editor’s note added November 10, 2015]  http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/so15/so15_2016_mesh_browser.html

Find Altmetrics for articles — Put “Altmetric it” on your toolbar

Under the logo or “badge”, you can find instructions on how to put the bookmarklet on your toolbar.  Webinars are available, too.

“EDP Sciences has recently added the Altmetric data for the following journals:

Altmetric data gives users a more complete picture of how people are engaging with scholarly literature by tracking a variety of sources, including news, social media, bookmarking and peer-review forums, to provide data on the online activity surrounding each research article.

Readers can click on the Altmetric badge to view the original mention and explore the news stories, tweets, blogs and more for themselves.

This data is important to both authors and readers, helping them understand the wider dissemination of research, and allows them to engage in online conversations they may not have been aware of.

Altmetrics

See http://www.altmetric.com for more information.”

Poisonous Plants Database from Cornell, Animal Science Dept.

“Best of the Web” column in “Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News” <update@genmail.co>

More »

Oct 15, 2015 (Vol. 35, No. 18)

Poisonous Plants Database

URL:www.ansci.cornell.edu/plants

The people in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University want to make sure that you don’t accidentally poison your livestock or pets with toxic plants. Their Poisonous Plants database includes a sizable number of entries such as oak trees (the acorns and young leaves are poisonous to horses and cattle), Daphne (toxic to cats, dogs, and humans), and rhubarb (the leaves are toxic to goats, swine, horses, and even people—who knew?). Each entry is accompanied by images of the plants, as well as answers to questions that the authors have either encountered in the past or anticipate that readers may have. The database is simple to browse—either by scientific name or common name—or users can search the database by scientific name, common name, primary poisons, or species most often affected.

The Cambridge Structural Database has reached no. 800,000

“The Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre is delighted to announce that there are now over 800,000 entries in the Cambridge Structural Database. The 800,000th entry is a copper-containing metal-organic crystal structure determined by researchers in Spain and published in Crystal Growth & Design.

You can read more about this structure and the significance of this milestone at http://www.ccdc.cam.ac.uk/NewsandEvents/News/Pages/NewsItem.aspx?newsid=42 and in our blog post at http://www.ccdc.cam.ac.uk/Community/Blog/pages/BlogPost.aspx?bpid=58.

We take this opportunity to express our appreciation for the immense contribution made by researchers past and present to the continuing growth and success of the Cambridge Structural Database.”

As reported to the CHMINF-L on Oct. 23, 2015, by

Dr Ian Bruno: Director, Strategic Partnerships

The Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC)

Tel: +44-1223-336013   Email: bruno@ccdc.cam.ac.uk

Life on Earth, 4.1billion years old?

Life on Earth likely started 4.1 billion years ago, much earlier than scientists thought

Posted: 19 Oct 2015 12:41 PM PDT

“Geochemists have found probable evidence for life on Earth at least 4.1 billion years ago — 300 million years earlier than previously documented, pushing the origin of life close to when the planet formed, 4.54 billion years ago.

Zircons_1_540x360

Carbon in 4.1 billion year old zircon.
Credit: Stanford/UCLA.

University of California – Los Angeles. “Life on Earth likely started 4.1 billion years ago, much earlier than scientists thought: Evidence that early Earth was not dry and desolate.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 19 October 2015.

Go to <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151019154153.htm>. to read more about this, or see the journal reference.

Journal Reference:

  1. Elizabeth A. Bell, Patrick Boehnke, T. Mark Harrison, and Wendy L. Mao. Potentially biogenic carbon preserved in a 4.1 billion-year-old zircon. PNAS, October 19, 2015 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1517557112

The New Geopolitics of Climate Change — Reports from Nations

GREATER EXPECTATIONS SPECIAL REPORT

Continuing this week, Greater Expectations: The New Geopolitics of Climate Change exposes the on-the-ground reality of developing countries challenged by a world that will require every nation to cut carbon emissions. Go to the special report.

Source: E&E Publishing

ENERGYWIRE — Tue., October 13, 2015
READ FULL EDITION

Virtual Cell Animation Collection

This website is hosted by North Dakota State University, the Molecular & Cellular Biology Learning Center:

http://vcell.ndsu.nodak.edu/animations

There are 6 videos on molecular processes, 9 on cellular processes and 9 on cellular energy conversions.   There is also an overview video.  Sponsors include the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Dept. of Education.

Source:  Choice, Sept. 2015, p. 34, listing of “Outstanding Academic Websites of 2014”

Directory of Open Access Journals — DOAJ

This directory of OA journals is hosted by Lund University Libraries in Sweden.  From their homepage: http://www.doaj.org:

“DOAJ is an online directory that indexes and provides access to high quality, open access, peer-reviewed journals.”   One can search by keywords or browse through broader and narrower subject headings.

These stats are from their website, accessed Sept. 28, 2015:

Seen in “Outstanding Websites of 2014”, Choice, Sept. 2015, p. 33