Web watch

To suggest topics or sites for Web Watch, please visit http://www.physicstoday.org/suggestwebwatch.html . Compiled and edited by Charles Day

http://www.nano2hybrids.net

The main goal of Nano²Hybrids is to create a pocket-sized device that can detect benzene and other dangerous gases. The project, which is spread among several nanotechnology labs in Europe, also aims to show how research gets done. To that end, the participants are recording and posting video diaries.

http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf07324

The scientific enterprise of the US relies heavily on immigrants, who move to the US from various countries for various reasons. To better understand this important influx, NSF undertook a study, now available online, titled Why Did They Come to the United States? A Profile of Immigrant Scientists and Engineers.

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-362/contents.htm

NASA’s last three Apollo missions—15, 16, and 17—included a systematic program to automatically image the lunar surface. The imaging program’s history and legacy are recounted in the report Apollo over the Moon: A View from Orbit by Harold Masursky, G. W. Colton, and Farouk El-Baz.