~ Early Web Links ~

A comprehensive scientific reference on freshwater benthic ecology and aquatic entomology, covering macroinvertebrate taxa from mayflies and dragonflies to beetles and caddisflies across dozens of detailed chapters. Produced by the Soil and Water Conservation Society of Metro Halifax, this site offers taxa tolerance values, biological monitoring protocols, and research reports focused on freshwater ecosystems in Nova Scotia and beyond.

Wild Harvests is T. Abe Lloyd's foraging blog focused on wild food experiments and plant identification in the Pacific Northwest, particularly Northwest Washington and Southern Vancouver Island. Posts cover edible plants like bulrush and beach pea, wetland ecology field courses, and hands-on accounts from decades of regional botanical study.

The Desert Springs Action Committee (DSAC) is a volunteer group dedicated to hands-on aquatic conservation and education, focusing on desert fish habitats in Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, Death Valley National Park, and Devils Hole. The site also features TKphotos digital image collections covering desert springs, aquarium fish, and regional wildlife.

Bert Hubert's long-running article explains DNA biology through the lens of a computer programmer, drawing analogies between genetic code and software concepts like error correction, compression, and the halting problem. Originally written in 2001 and revised multiple times since, it became popular enough to spawn a two-hour conference presentation and an upcoming book.

Tim Tyler's essay from the Lotus Artificial Life site takes a critical look at the concept of the 'technological singularity,' arguing that exponential growth curves have no truly singular points and that futurists like Vinge and Kurzweil misuse the term. The piece is a thoughtful, technically grounded rebuttal complete with references to Kurzweil's graphs, Wikipedia, and related essays by other thinkers.

Rachel Sussman's project documenting the oldest living organisms on Earth, from ancient chestnut trees to Siberian actinobacteria, combines scientific curiosity with fine art photography. Each post chronicles her travels to find and photograph these extraordinary subjects, paired with reflections on deep time, survival, and the nature of life itself.

A hypertext edition of Mrs. M. Grieve's landmark 1931 reference work 'A Modern Herbal,' covering medicinal, culinary, cosmetic, and economic properties of over 800 herbs and plants. The site includes alphabetical plant indexes, a recipes index, a poisons index, and supplementary reference tools like conversion tables and a medical dictionary.

Peter Alfrey's birding notebook chronicles his passionate pursuit of birds across the UK and beyond, with detailed field accounts of species sightings, migration events, and twitches at sites like Beddington Farmlands and the Azores. The blog spans years of dated posts and connects to related projects including an eBird profile, a Black Sea observatory project, and pelagic birding trips.

Beetlecraft is a charming personal site by Ace, a self-described bug enthusiast who shares their love of insects, nature, bone mounting, and art through a whimsical hand-crafted aesthetic. Visitors can explore a bugs page featuring finds like the Duckbilled Beetle, an art gallery, a curios section, and a blog with guides to activities like bone mounting.

Diptera.info is a comprehensive portal dedicated to the insect order Diptera, covering flies, midges, and gnats with galleries, checklists, catalogues, and an active identification forum for researchers and enthusiasts worldwide. With over 5,000 members, a larva gallery, downloadable articles, and curated web links to scientific collections and catalogues, it serves as a serious reference hub for dipterists at all levels.