Star Picks

ChemCases.com  (http://chemcases.com/index.htm) ChemCases is a US-based chemistry curriculum development project. You can pick up on many case studies that look at how science can tackle various problems. For instance, the story of the first sports drink Gatorade followed a circuitous route with the R&D people at the company having to take into consideration the effects of vigorous exercise, the meaning of sweat and the colligative properties of liquids and mixtures.

Genomics Glossary  (http://genomicglossaries.com/)     Quite obvious what this site is about. The basic, almost graphics-free format provides a clear route to the terms, words, and definitions peculiar to the world of biotechnology and the pharmaceutical industry. The entries for everything from genetics to genomics are well hyperlinked so that almost every term in some explanatory paragraph carries a cross-reference to an explanation.

Molecular Universe (http://www.molecularuniverse.com/)     It's not often that scientists themselves come up with a decent introductory pitch to their subject but Richard Catlow, the Director of the Davy Faraday Research Laboratory at the Royal Institution in the UK, gets about as close as you can. Catlow provides some wonderful pictures showing the inner structure of plastics, metals, gemstones, minerals, and medicines and providing just enough background information and explanation on each to keep the attention of the biggest chemophobe.