·http://constitutioncenter.org/constitution

If you type the words “U.S. Constitution” into Google, the search engine returns about 31 million results. That’s a lot of talk about a document written by a handful of scholar-politicians in an upstart republic more than 227 years ago. Yet less than a quarter of Americans have actually read the document. This site, hosted by the National Constitution Center, includes the United States Constitution in its entirety, divided clearly by Article and Amendment, and annotated with notes by the Annenberg Classroom. Perhaps best of all, you can browse the site by Issue. For instance, click on Abortion and explore how the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling was based on Ninth and 14th Amendment rights. [CNH]

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·http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=coache&pageid=icb.page307142

The Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) consults with colleges to help them recruit and develop faculty. Founded at Harvard in 2002, with grants from the Ford Foundation and Atlantic Philanthropies, COACHE is now entirely supported by the institutions with which it consults. For non-members, there is plenty to explore on the web site. On the home page, have a peak at Usable Knowledge for various white papers. For instance, “Benchmark Best Practices: Tenure and Promotion” provides COACHE’s data-driven recommendations for a positive tenure culture. To see COACHE in the news, go to: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/06/04/associate-professors-less-satisfied-those-other-ranks-survey-finds. [CNH]

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·http://www.annenbergfoundation.org

What would you do if you had an extra $1.2 billion lying around? Walter H. Annenberg, the publisher of TV Guide and Seventeen Magazine, decided to create one of the largest philanthropic organizations in the world. Now stewarded by his children and grandchildren, the Annenberg Foundation grants millions of dollars a year to educational, arts, environmental, and other initiatives. You can read about many of these inspiring works on the foundation’s visually appealing website. From the homepage, click About the Foundation and then Our Story to watch a three-minute video outlining the foundation’s history and current projects. From there have a look at Directors’ Activities where you can read up on projects like the Annenberg Challenge, a $500 million grant to improve public schools, or explore.org, a multimedia campaign that documents extraordinary causes from around the world. [CNH]

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·http://paleobiology.si.edu/paleoArt/index.htm

This highly educational site from the department of paleontology at the National Museum of Natural History not only showcases beautiful examples of drawings and paintings of all things paleo, but it also includes wonderful explanations of the history and process of the art itself. As the site explains, paleontological art has been a key tool for dissemination of the institution’s findings since its inception in 1846. On the site, select Historical Art to view a variety of drawings and paintings from the 19th and early 20th centuries. A short, informative essay accompanies each work. Also have a look at Illustration Care and Illustration Techniques for pages of explanations about how the drawings are done, and then how they are cared for over time. [CNH]

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·http://www.cap.ca

If you’d like to know what’s going on in the wide world of Canadian physics, there is no better place to visit than the Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) website. Start with Recent News from CAP, Community News, or Headlines, all on the homepage, where you can read about “Seizing Canada’s Moment” or peruse notes from the upcoming 2015 CAP Lecture Tour. Under the Publications tab, many gems reveal themselves, including several dozen issues of the informative CAP News Bulletin. Perhaps one of the great finds here, however, are the Book Reviews. Readers will find experts' reviews of hundreds of important contributions to the field, on subjects ranging from “A Grand Tour of Theoretical Physics” to “A Student’s Guide to Data and Error Analysis.” [CNH]

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·http://datatopics.worldbank.org/consumption/

The World Bank designed this enormous database on economically developing countries for two groups: researchers seeking data to analyze and businesses looking to understand or expand their marketshare. For the rest of us, it’s just fascinating reading. Start with the short article on the homepage, which explains that the roughly 4.5 billion low-income people in the world collectively spend about $5 trillion a year - more than the middle and higher income segments combined. Then, explore the two Dashboards. The first feeds back information by country, the second by sector (Food and Beverages, Clothing and Footwear, Housing, etc.). For instance, Albania, with a total population of 2.8 million, saw a 7.6% dip in household spending in 2012, with the lowest segment forking over about $60 million for Food and Beverages, while the higher segment spent $265 million on the same category. [CNH]

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·http://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/clark1ic

Amateur cartographers will spin cartwheels over this map collection, held at the Stephen S. Clark Library at the University of Michigan. Featuring 162 maps from the 17th century onward, the collection is completely public domain and browsable by all. Start anywhere - an 1849 mining map of Keweemaw Point in Michigan, or “A new and correct map of the world,” drawn by Herman Moll in 1732. The zoom function is a great aspect, as one might explore a map of the entire world, drawn perhaps in the 1600s, before narrowing in to the artist’s representation of the coast of Florida. These maps can provide hours of edifying fun. [CNH]

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·http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/physics/8-04-quantum-physics-i-spring-2013/

The revered quantum physicist Richard Feynman once quipped, “I think I can safely say that nobody understands quantum mechanics.” And yet, the study of quantum mechanics has given birth to the laser, the microchip, and the electron microscope. What’s going on here? You can find out by taking Quantum Physics I, a completely free online class from MIT. The Syllabus is a great way to get situated with the course offerings and the Readings section offers links to help purchase the necessary books. When ready, strap yourself into your office chair and launch into the 24 one-hour-long Lecture Videos. Don’t forget the Lecture Notes (you’ll need those!), as well as Assignments, Exams, and Study Materials. If you have ever longed to understand the Higgs Boson or wondered how a photon can act as either a particle or a wave, this incredible, knowledge packed course from one of the top scientific universities in the world is for you.[CNH]

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·http://www.pbs.org/keepingscore/copland-american-sound.html

Aaron Copland, born and raised in a small Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn, worlds away from the sophistications of Carnegie Hall, helped define American music. His “vernacular” style, honed to perfection in the 1930s and 1940s with ballets like Appalachian Spring, Billy the Kid, and Rodeo, almost single-handedly reinvented American classical music and shaped such luminaries as Leonard Bernstein and John Cage. This PBS website provides a fascinating biography of the man as well as Michael Tilson Thomas’s hour long episode of Keeping Score. Entitled “Copland and the American Sound,” the episode is a great introduction to the “music that gave Americans a sense of identity.” [CNH]

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·http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcpsychiatry

Open access journals are a good idea, but it can be hard to find the ones you can trust. BioMed Psychiatry, part of the BioMed Central group, is such a journal. With a Thomas Reuters (ISI)-tracked Impact Factor of 2.24 and a transparent editorial process, BioMed Psychiatry is a good place to go for information if you don’t belong to a large university database. Scout the articles by Editor’s Picks, Latest, or Most Viewed. Alternatively, have a look by category, such as Child, Adolescent, Developmental Psychiatry, or Eating Disorders among others. The BMC series Blog, is another great component of the site. It is updated weekly and features interviews with researchers as well as articles about what’s happening in biology, medicine, education, and a host of other topics covered by the BioMed open access journals. [CNH]

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·http://www.ncac.gwu.edu

According to the National Highway and Traffic Administration, about 3.5 million people have died in traffic accidents since 1899. Even with a steady decline of traffic fatalities, just over 30 thousand people still die on the roads every year, and millions more are injured. That’s where the National Crash Analysis Center (NCAC) comes in. On the site, readers can explore Vehicle Safety and Biomechanics, Highway Safety and Infrastructure, and Simulation and Advanced Computing. Readers should also be sure to check out the reports of cars the NCAC has tested. To get there, select 2012 Toyota Camry Model Posted under Recent Highlights on the main page. Scroll down to view reports on everything from the Geo Metro to the Chevrolet S10 Pickup, complete with graphs, charts, descriptions, and photographs of the crashes and analyses. [CNH]

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·http://www.shanghairanking.com

Readers might be interested to know that, despite the major cuts in grant funding most American academics have faced over the past decade, eight out of the top ten universities in the world still reside in the United States. This fact comes to us courtesy of the 2014 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) released by Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Unsurprisingly, Harvard tops the list for the twelfth year running, with Stanford, MIT, and UC Berkeley trailing close behind. Browse the ARWU’s rankings, purportedly based on “transparent methodology and reliable data,” by World Top 500 Universities, as well as by subject, including Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Engineering, Clinical Medicine and Pharmacy, and Social Sciences. [CNH]

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·http://thefreeinitiative.com

The FREE (Far-Right Extremism in Europe) Initiative is a pan-European resource that offers practical guidance on countering far-right extremism across the continent. This truly exceptional web site features five basic categories: The Problem, Take Action, Films, About, and Contact. Start with The Problem, where you can view a number of interactive graphics, including the Country Resources map, which allows you to click a European country and find out the details of how far-right extremism is playing out in that nation. Take Action links to over half a dozen How To Guides, as well as links to What’s Being Done and Getting it Right. The Films section features a number of short, well-produced films on the topic. [CNH]

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·http://lisnews.org//

Previously covered by the Scout Report way back at the turn of the millennium, this collaborative blog by and for Library and Information Scientists is still going strong. Updated daily by an international team of volunteers, the site brings a diverse range of perspectives to library related topics. The homepage is a great place to start, as it’s updated daily. For easy scouting, click Recent Activity, which will present titles, authors, number of replies, and number of hits in a visually compact format. Also of interest: anyone can Suggest a Story for LISNews to cover. [CNH]

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·http://www.adachi-museum.or.jp/en

The Journal of Japanese Gardening has ranked the Adachi Museum of Art’s Japanese gardens number one in its “Japanese Garden Rankings” for eleven consecutive years. Visit this site and you’ll see why. The homepage features breathtaking photographs of the gardens in all four seasons, complete with waterfalls, beautiful stone work, and quaint tea houses tucked into manicured hill sides. Selecting The Gardens in the Four Seasons will reveal more beautiful images of the landscape. Readers can “enter” the museum by clicking on Collections, which is searchable by individual artist within the categories of Modern Japanese Paintings, Contemporary Japanese Paintings, Ceramic Works, Pictures for Children, or Wood Carvings. Whichever way you navigate, beauty awaits. [CNH]

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·http://www.lternet.edu/

Established in 1980 and funded primarily by the National Science Foundation (NSF), The Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTER) is committed to providing "scientific expertise, research platforms, and long-term datasets necessary to document and analyze environmental change." The site is arranged for four broad types of users: Researchers, Educators & Students, Media Professionals, and Decision Makers. Information for researchers includes a link to the LTER data portal (a separate site, https://portal.lternet.edu/nis/home.jsp ) and instructions on how to write a data plan for an NSF grant. Similarly, the Educators & Students area links to the LTER Education Digital Library, also a separate site (http://educationlibrary.lternet.edu/ ), with a searchable collection of lesson plans. "Analyzing the Data: It's time to tell the story about Buds, Leaves and Global Warming" is a wonderful 2-class period project for students in grades 6-8 or 9-12 to measure how the timing of fall's colored leaves is changing. Press releases make up the majority of the Media Professionals section, while the area for decision makers is populated with LTER Key Research Findings. These are presented as short reports with citations and are designed to be easily built into the talking points of a public presentation. [DS]

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·https://www.humin.com/#/product

How often do you go to a conference (or a party, or a PTA meeting), meet ten interesting people, and then forget all of their names the next day? With Humin that might never happen again. The app recalls all the everyday contact info we’ve come to expect from our address books, but it organizes them by the way we actually think, so that you can search by “met last week” or “works at Cirque du Soleil.” Humin is currently only available for iOS 7.0+, however, interested users can sign up for the forthcoming Android Beta Release. [CNH]

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·https://www.fiftythree.com/paper

Winner of the Apple Design Award among other honors, the Paper app is, above all else, beautiful. It’s also convenient and user-friendly. Whether you’re doodling for fun or drawing out plans for a new kitchen, think about bringing your creative energy to your iPad with this hugely popular app. Available for iOS 7.0+. [CNH]

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The Nobel Prize in chemistry goes to three men who revolutionized microscopy
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2014/10/08/the-nobel-prize-in-chemistry-goes-to-three-men-who-revolutionized-microscopy/

2 Americans, a German win Chemistry Nobel Prize
http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/08/world/europe/nobel-prize-chemistry/

New Optics Strategies Cut Through Diffraction Barrier
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/313/5788/748.1.full

The Official Website of the Nobel Prize
http://www.nobelprize.org

Announcement of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbfwcroJqWM

Nobel Prizes By Country Since 1901
http://www.businessinsider.com/nobel-prizes-by-country-since-1901-2014-10

Breakthroughs in 19th century microscopy revolutionized cellular science. For the first time, investigators were able to observe live cells in real time. But there was a problem. Due to the diffraction of light, they could only go so far. Beyond that, images of bacteria, cells, and viruses blurred. The roadblock withstood more than 100 years of advances in a host of related fields. In fact, it wasn’t until the early-2000s that researchers finally made the breakthrough, utilizing fluorescence to coax objects under the microscope to emit their own light. Now Eric Betzig, William Moerner, and Stefan Hell, the three scientists most directly responsible for this advance in magnification, have been honored with the 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The discovery has revolutionized the field, according to Nobel committee member Claes Gustafsson, by allowing researchers to study still-living cells in intimate detail. Says Catherine Lewis, director of the cell biology and biophysics division of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, using this technology, “You can see... molecules moving around inside the cell. You can see them interacting with each other.” [CNH]

The first link takes readers to the Washington Post’s coverage of the story, which includes a short video of Eric Betzig explaining his work. Next, have a look at an article from CNN that includes an edited video of the Nobel Prize announcement in Stockholm, as well as an excellent article explaining the scientific breakthroughs that led to the awards. The third link navigates to a 2006 piece in Science describing Betzig’s findings, as well as a link to his original article, “Imagining Intracellular Fluorescent Proteins at Nonometer Resolution.” The official site of the Nobel Prize, listed fifth, offers a number of worthwhile resources including interviews with all three scientists. The entire ceremony can be found on YouTube, featured fifth in our list, and the last link features a beautiful graphic of all 876 Nobel Prizes awarded in the last 112 years, divided by country and subject.