~ Early Web Links ~

The Virtual Cell is an interactive educational tour of a biological cell, using extensive imagery to guide visitors through cellular structures and components. The included pronunciation guide and visual-heavy layout suggest this is a reference resource designed to help students and curious learners explore cell biology in an engaging, self-guided format.

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.

Dendroica is a long-running nature blog with hundreds of posts spanning years of birding, moth-watching, and wildlife observation, named after a genus of wood-warblers. The archive stretches back many years with consistent weekly updates including a recurring 'Loose Feathers' series, and the blogroll connects to a rich community of birding and entomology blogs.

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.

Western Wildlife is the open-access, peer-reviewed journal of the Western Section of The Wildlife Society, publishing original research on ecology, natural history, management, and conservation biology of animals. Formerly known as Transactions of the Western Section of the Wildlife Society, the journal accepts manuscript submissions and makes accepted papers available online.

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.

Kaskakokos is a Spanish-language personal site from Cantabria featuring a section dedicated to local plant life, alongside writings and projects by the creator. The 'Plantas de Cantabria' section suggests a focus on regional flora, making it a charming mix of nature documentation and personal creative output.

The Northern California Regional Chapter of SETAC serves students and professionals in environmental toxicology and chemistry, offering local networking, scholarships, and annual meeting opportunities. The site archives newsletters dating back to 2008 and provides information on board members, sustaining memberships, and a student-mentor lunch program.

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.

Created by Leslie Taylor, this extensive tropical plant database catalogs hundreds of Amazonian medicinal plants by common name, botanical name, ethnic uses, and healing properties. A leader in rainforest plant research since 1995, the site offers deep reference content including preparation methods, disease applications, and articles distinguishing herbs from drugs.