Astronomy: Heaven's Above

"If you're interested in satellites or astronomy, you've come to the right place! Our aim is to provide you with all the information you need to observe satellites such as the International Space Station and the Space Shuttle, spectacular events such as the dazzlingly bright flares from Iridium satellites as well as a wealth of other
spaceflight and astronomical information.

"We not only provide the times of visibility, but also detailed star charts showing the satellite's track through the heavens. All our pages, including the graphics, are generated in real-time and customized for your location and time zone. Frequent visitors will notice we have changed the appearance of the site somewhat and added the option of user registration. This has been done to open the door to a host of new, customisable features which will be appearing over the coming months." -- from the website. <http://www.heavens-above.com>

Nature: National Science Foundation's Sea Vent Viewer

NSF's Earth & Environmental Science site enables visitors to explore interactively the area of the ocean floor in and around a sea vent. The water emerges from the vents at close to 756 degrees Fahrenheit and under enormous pressure from the weight of as much as 1.5 miles of water above, looks and acts like smoke, and supports a rich ecosystem that includes fish, shrimp, tubeworms, mussels, crabs, and clams.
<http://www.nsf.gov/news/overviews/earth-environ/interactive.jsp>

Pencil Sharpening: Braingle

"With over 7,500 brain teasers, riddles, logic problems and mind puzzles submitted and ranked by users like you, Braingle has the largest collection anywhere on the internet. Our large array of unique online multiplayer games will keep you entertained for hours. If you crave a brain teaser, mind puzzle, riddle or game, we are the place to get it. Increase your creativity, boost learning and become a better person at Braingle. Get ready to have your brain tangled!" -- from the website. <http://www.braingle.com/>

Planning: Constructing Contemporary Landscape

"Nearly every significant landscape designed in recent years occupies a site that has been reinvented and reclaimed from obsolescence or degradation as cities in the postindustrial era remake their outdoor spaces. Groundswell portrays the surge of creativity in the contemporary created landscape by presenting a diverse selection of plazas, public parks and urban sectors -- found throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle east -- that have recently been completed or are in the process of being realized. These constructed landscapes illustrate many kinds of site, a multivalent term that includes the physical properties of the ground, its history, and the program for the new landscape." -- from the website. <http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/2005/groundswell/>

Good Eatin': Wild Strawbs

Before they were a movie title, wild strawberries were some of the best eating memories from my childhood, right up there with fiddle heads and dandelions, crayfish cooked in coffee cans (crawerfish, we called 'em), roasted squirrel, quahogs steamed on heated rocks and seaweed, panfried trout, and kiver stew. Taming the Wild Strawberry, an article from Vegetarians in Paradise, an Elay veggie org, provides a history of the berry, literary references, folklore and fun facts (such as place names that include the word -- Strawberry Fields forever!), and tips on purchasing, freezing and cooking strawbs. <http://www.vegparadise.com/highestperch45.html>

Good Eatin': Local Harvest

Find "all the farmers' markets, family farms, locally-grown produce, grass-fed meats, and other sources of sustainably grown food in your area." Includes locations, contact information, and lists of available products by season for farmers' markets, U-Pick-'Ems, farm stands, meat/dairy/egg producers, et cetera. <http://www.localharvest.org/>

Geoscience: Earth Science World

"ImageBank The Earth Science World ImageBank has photographs of all aspects of Earth Science available to the public, educators, and the geoscience community.

"Search...the ImageBank's thousands of photos!

"Interactive Geological Time Scale Select multiple time periods from a list and display them on an Interactive Geological Time Scale..." -- from the website. <http://www.earthscienceworld.org/>

Anniversaries: Hubble's Fifteenth

"During the 15 years NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has orbited the Earth, it has taken more than 700,000 photos of the cosmos; images that have awed, astounded and even confounded astronomers and the public. NASA released new views...of two of the most well-known objects Hubble has ever observed: the Whirlpool Galaxy spiral galaxy M51 and the Eagle Nebula."These new images are among the largest and sharpest Hubble has ever taken. They were made with Hubble's newest camera, the AdvancedCamera for Surveys. The images are so incredibly sharp, they could be enlarged to billboard size and still retain stunning details." -- from the website. <http://hubblesite.org/> <http://babyurl.com/jWoJgj>

Pencil Sharpening: Optical Illusions & Visual Phenomena

<http://www.michaelbach.de/ot/index.html>

Incredible Journey: New York City Underground (article)

"What would you find if you could take a giant core sample of the Big Apple? A confusion of cables, gas and steam lines, a sliver of the subway, putrid sewers, and -- below it all -- huge water tunnels. Imagine venturing Under New York....New Yorkers go about unaware of what is happening just beneath their feet: Power pulses, information flies, and steam flows. The city’s infrastructure starts just below street level, but it doesn’t stop there." -- from the website. <http://www.nationalgeographic.com/

Pencil Sharpening: Hatt, Baby

An Internet Oldie but Goodie:
Singing, Dancing, and A Floating Hat:
<http://jeffcovey.net/tmp/hatt-baby/>