ovie news, a calendar of SF author readings, Lost recaps, art galleries and book reviews—Dark Worlds has been offering visitors a little smidgen of everything since its launch in 2002. With a focus on dark fantasy and horror and a slick, attractive Web design, this site is the electronic equivalent of a mystic scroll—eerie and illuminating at once.
Most of the book and media reviews on Dark Worlds are written by its resident Watcher, Amy Berner. Berner's interests, Lost aside, tend to lie squarely in the Buffyverse. Her articles on the character arcs of Xander and Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, in particular, are don't-miss features. The Watcher dips into other arenas—The Matrix, for example, and Wonderfalls—only on occasion, so visitors hoping for a wider range of reviews may find this tight focus frustrating. (Writers take note, though—the site is seeking other contributors to expand its coverage.)
In contrast, the news section of this web page is frequently updated and comprehensive, covering not only film and TV but game releases, comics and books and even keeping a close watch on the doings of genre directors like Sam Raimi and Blade: Trinity's David S. Goyer. Art is another primary focus of the site, with galleries of work by H.R. Giger, Clive Barker and many other outstanding horror artists.
Dark Worlds also has a "Shopping Maul," where visitors can go to buy horror-themed art. Hellboy prints, a plush Aliens face-hugger, and even a chrome bust of the Terminator's head (this would be the female Terminator, from T3) are just a few of the things a collector can pick up here. Meanwhile, those fans with no inclination for shopping can browse the Dark Worlds archives, admiring its spooky graphic design while catching up on developments in the sometimes-frightening underbelly of the SF genre.
— A.M. Dellamonica
Site of the Week—December 6, 2004
adSci is an extensive collection of questions and answers about science, an archive covering as many subjects as there are curious humans with Internet access: the effects of caffeine on the human body, the life cycle of a jellyfish, whether water—if sufficiently heated—could be used as rocket fuel, and much more besides. All of the sciences are equally
well represented, and the core idea of the page is that if someone cannot track down a needed fact by using conventional Web research techniques, that person can ask a qualified expert to help them find the truth behind their query.
This "laboratory that never sleeps," as it calls itself, is the collective enterprise of more than 700 scientists, who work at universities and labs all over the world. Their Ask-an-Expert service tackles more than 100 questions daily from students and interested Web surfers of all ages. The site is searchable, of course—if a topic has already been discussed, there is no need for a visitor to wait in the MadSci queue for a new response.
MadSci isn't all about dry scientific research and online educational lectures, though. Its Random Knowledge Generator offers a fun selection of past questions—just why do bats hang upside down when at rest? It also has a long series of kid-friendly science experiments that can be performed at home, many of them using edible ingredients. Its list of science links and book recommendations is massive. Finally, its FAQ has a section on the most bizarre questions asked by Web surfers, a handful of quick essays that make for especially fun reading even as they shine a bit of light on the weirder corners of the human mind.
—A.M. Dellamonica
Site of the Week—November 29, 2004
areer scientist Phil Plait has made it his mission to tackle widely held but nevertheless mistaken beliefs about astronomy, whether they are urban legends or the ludicrous pseudo-science often seen in SF movies. Cheerful, chatty and scientifically rigorous, his Bad Astronomy Web site posts the facts about everything from whether comets contain water to why data
from the Hubble Space Telescope is withheld for a year. Want to know why the sky is blue, or how it is that the moon can sometimes seem so much larger than usual when it is hanging just over the horizon? This is the site with the answers.
The above sample of simple but often misunderstood basics of space and earth science are just a few of the myths debunked at Bad Astronomy. For SF lovers, though, the true fun on this page may lie with its movie reviews, which list the (sometimes rare) moments of scientific accuracy along with the outrageously poor science in movies as diverse as Men in Black,
Mission to Mars and Tomb Raider. Television does not escape unscathed, either; a long series of essays takes apart bad science on the tube with precision and wit.
Which movie comes in for the most ire from the Bad Astronomer? Without a doubt, it is Armageddon, whose list of science mistakes goes on and on. But even as he trashes film mistakes by the dozen, Plait takes care to assure visitors that he really does love movies, going so far as to post a long list of his favorites (which includes Independence Day, by the way). Each review has a brief spoiler-free version, and each is scrupulously fair—no matter how howlingly bad the flick, if it got anything right, Bad Astronomy will say so.
With a recommended reading list, Bad Astronomy bulletin boards, and even T-shirts, this site works hard to spread the truth about what's out there ... and what's here on Earth, too.
—A.M. Dellamonica
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