A genetically engineered monkey with jelly-fish DNA. Rolling power blackouts in California.

These are just a few of the recent science-related news stories with the potential for enlivening classroom discussions in multiple disciplines. Cutting-edge science reports are available on numerous Web sites and many of the topics have legal, philosophical, political, social and economic implications that can be applied in many fields of study.

CNN's Web page at http://www.cnn.com/ is particularly impressive for its up-to-date features on hot science topics. The left-side menu provides convenient categorizing under "Nature," "Space" and "Technology." The Science Page of The New York Times is another excellent source for the latest science headlines. It is free to registered users at http://www.nytimes.com/pages/science/index.html. Coverage recently was expanded and redesigned to facilitate access to current news about "Earth Science," "Genetics," "Life Science," "Physical Science," "Social Science," "Space" and "Health."

You can keep abreast of scientific and technical breakthroughs at universities and other research institutions around the world by logging on to ScienceDaily at http://www.sciencedaily.com/. Another Web site you can use to keep tabs on scientific research at universities is UniSci.com at http://unisci.com/. Its articles are very well-written and the archive easily is searchable using the UniSci search engine. Recent scientific advances at UB are reported on the UB News Service's Web site at http://www.buffalo.edu/scripts/newnews/index.cgi. A pull-down menu allows you to view news by topics, such as "Arts and Sciences," "Engineering" or "Technology."

For environmental news, we highly recommend the Environmental News Network at http://enn.com/, which provides in-depth coverage and analysis of current-and often highly controversial-environmental topics, from global warming and energy conservation to coral reefs and genetically modified crops. We also suggest you check out the companion Web site to National Public Radio's "Living on Earth" , where you can read-and/or listen to-news and commentary on the environment and the earth's resources. While the stated audience for the University of Wisconsin's The WhyFiles: Science Behind the News at http://whyfiles.org/ is Grades 6-12, we really enjoy these timely, carefully researched and engagingly written news features. It currently is providing in-depth coverage of the crisis in the Galapagos, where local fishermen are battling conservationists and research scientists for control of the islands' unique natural resources.

Finally, for leads and links to other resources for science news, including newspapers and popular science magazines in the library collections here at UB as well as current-events databases you can search by topic, see the Science & Engineering Library's online guide to "Science in the News" at http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries//units/sel/general/scinews.html.