New features from Facts on File Science Online

Overview
This update includes many new features and records that tie current events to the study of science and also provide support to educators who will start preparing soon for final exams and science fair competitions. Check out our new Today's Science and "Focus On" features on the home page, 60 new experiments, more than 125 new videos, more than 440 new and updated illustrations and photographs, and more than 100 new essays. The new content covers everything from artificial intelligence to tsunamis and the hydrosphere. Continue reading for more details about this update.

New Today's Science Feature
Visit the home page to find our new Today's Science feature box highlighting four articles on hot topics and recent discoveries and events in science. New articles will be added regularly to the feature box. Mouse over the article titles to see brief descriptions of and photos from the articles or click the article title or "More" link to read the complete article. Article contents menus appear at the top of each record. Today's Science articles also appear under the All and News Articles search results tabs. This month's featured content includes:

Water-Splitting to Store Solar Energy: Learn about the challenges of storing solar power efficiently and cheaply. Insect Altruism-More Than a Family Matter?: Read E.O. Wilson's observations about insects such as worker bees, group selection, and evolution. Explosion of Luck: Scientists Observe the Birth of a Supernova: Find out how scientists discovered the X-ray pattern that signals the birth of a supernova. Mars Wet-Chemistry: Phoenix Finds Ice: Explore the question "Could life have existed on Mars?"

New Videos
More than 125 new videos on topics such as electricity and magnetism, genetics, and botany have been added to Science Online . The videos are clear, short, and easy-to-follow. They provide educators with a great way to engage users who learn more effectively by watching and listening as scientific concepts are demonstrated, instead of focusing purely on reading assignments. The video records include links to related content, such as other videos, experiments, diagrams, essays, terms, and more. Libraries and educators can link to the records on their subject and homework Web pages using the "record URLs" provided at the bottom of each page. Examples of new videos include:

• Cellular Death: The Genetics of Mortality
• Science of Ice and Snow: How Do You Photograph a Snowflake?
• How Trees Get Water and Nutrients.

New Essays
More than 100 essays on a variety of topics, including core topics in chemistry and Earth science as well as hot topics such as renewable resources and climate change, are new with this update. Essays exploring the environment and the fragility of our planet link science to current events and provide a helpful starting point not only to environmental science educators but also to those studying current events and participating in this year's National High School Debate on alternative energy incentives. Other essays on topics such as the quantum model cover essential content required by the science curriculum and incorporate helpful illustrations within the essays. Examples of new essays include:

• Power from renewable resources
• Effects of global warming on the polar regions
• Mass extinctions and catastrophes.