Science & Technology

THE OLD FARMER'S ALMANAC

WORLD CLOCK - See the current time at locations all over the world, a planning guide for setting up meetings with people in different time zones, and many other nifty time calculator links.

ASTRONOMY.COM - From Astronomy magazine, this site offers astronomy news, sky events, weather information for stargazing, astronomy equipment guides, and a comprehensive assortment of related links.

SPACE CALENDAR - A great Web page from NASA that covers space-related activities and anniversaries for the coming year.

MOON PHASE CALENDAR - This site has an illustrated chart that shows the moon's illumination on each day of the calendar for the years 1951 to 2015.

NINE PLANETS - An excellent site for information on astronomy: planets and moons, spacecraft, astronomical names, a glossary of technical terms and proper names, and a chronology of space discovery.

NORTH AMERICAN SKIES - See a sky chart (updated monthly) of the stars and planets in the night sky as viewed from North America in mid-month. Times noted are Mountain Time.

PLANETARIA - Locate a planetarium to visit in cities around the world.

BIOLOGY ONLINE - Everything about the study of biology online can be found in this site's three main sections: Dictionary of Biology, Biology Tutorials, Biology links.

BIOLOGY4KIDS - Learn about cells, microbes, plants, invertebrates, vertebrates, and scientific methods.

eNATURE.COM - This site provides access to online field guides from the National Audubon Society covering over 4,800 plants and animals. View a picture along with the description of each species.

NCBI TAXONOMY BROWSER - Find the complete scientific classification of any biological species by its common name or scientific name. Use plural words for common names - "butterflies", not "butterfly".

PERIODIC TABLE OF ELEMENTS - The Los Alamos National Laboratory's Chemistry Division has created a dynamic table which gives you information about each of the elements and a guide to using the table.

GENERAL CHEMISTRY ONLINE - Resources and guides for students, including tutorials, quizzes, the Periodic Table of Elements, and an annotated database of chemistry Web resources.

CHEMICOOL - Based on an image map of the Periodic Table, this Website gives you everything you've ever wanted to know about the elements, whether they're gases, solids, liquids, or alkali earth metals (or "other").

CHEM4KIDS - Learn about the elements, atoms, matter, reactions, biochemistry and more.

ONLINE CONVERSION - Thousands of different unit converters are organized here by type: temperature, length, cooking, volume, speed, power, etc. Find equivalent measurements for anything you can think of!

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY - General information and educational resources in geology, mapping, and water resources.

TERRESTRIAL VOLCANOES - Amazing photographs and clear explanations of the volcanic process.

EARTHQUAKE HAZARDS PROGRAMS - From the U.S. Geological Survey, this site provides current, historic, and predicted information on earthquakes around the globe - and it's user-friendly!

MATH.COM - In addition to a basic and a scientific online calculator, this site also has links for calculating other mathematical operations.

HOW MANY? - A Dictonary of Units of Measurements - Get definitions and conversion factors for the English Customary System used in the U.S., the metric system, and the International System of Weights and Measures (SIPM).

GCALC - Free Online Graphing Calculator - A talented (and generous!) student of mathematics has programmed this free online graphing calculator.

DAVE'S MATH TABLES - Available in English and Spanish, this site is a great mathematical resource. Theorems, identities, tables, graphs and formulas, as well as a mathematical dictionary are available here. Go to the Math Message Board for answers to your math questions.

eNATURE.COM - This site provides access to online field guides from the National Audubon Society covering over 4,800 plants and animals. View a picture along with the description of each species.

BOTANY.COM - This site provides the general description of plants, leaf shapes, plant diseases and pests, and a dictionary of botanical words

PLANT DATABASE - This database of every plant in the United States and its territories is searchable by common name. Information for each plant includes a profile with photograph, the complete plant classification, and a map of the plant's geographical distribution.

BOTANY: PLANT PARTS & FUNCTIONS - A useful illustrated guide to basic botany for students.

ENDANGERED SPECIES - American and international lists of endangered and extinct species, laws, treaties, facts, full-text articles, and news on the topic.

ANIMAL OMNIBUS - A very large collection of links for animals under eight major animal groups, including dinosaurs. Elephants alone have over 40 links!

BIRD CHECKLISTS OF THE U.S. - Designed to help birdwatchers across the country, this site provides bird checklists indicating the seasonal occurrence of birds in national parks, wildlife nature preserves, and other areas. Illinois enthusiasts will find local information, too.

BUTTERFLIES OF NORTH AMERICA - See which butterflies inhabit any of the areas on the searchable map of the U.S., northern Mexico, and Canada. For each location, you can view photos and learn about each butterfly species. See if you recognize any of the Illinois butterflies!

HOW STUFF WORKS - Get information on science, technology, culture, nature, toys, and more! How Stuff Works covers hundreds of topics like facial recognition, biometric technology, hurricanes, boomerangs, magna doodles, and football.

INVENTION DIMENSION - Learn about inventors and inventions, check out the Inventor of Week, try the Brain Drain game, learn about patents, and get tips on developing your own ideas.

WeatherNet - A comprehensive source of weather information - forecasts, current conditions, color satellite photos, and radar images nationwide.

CLOUD BOUTIQUE - Learn to identify the different types of clouds with descriptions and photos.