Who Are We?

Science File is an extensive science website and community. Our goal is to assemble the most comprehensive collection of science reference materials on the internet. Site features include 500 hourly-updated science news feeds for keeping up to date with the very latest in science, an extensive science website directory, science book reviews and science articles written by members, a science events calendar and more. We also have the internet's only categorised, searchable archive database of science news stories, which currently contains around 8,500 links to science news stories on the web going back to the beginning of 2007. If you would like to chat about science in a friendly, relaxed environment, we also offer The Science Forums, a daughter site of Science File. If you are researching, you can access Intute and Scirus, two of the internet's biggest science databases, from within this site.

Science File is probably the internet's only science community where members can make important contributions to the site and have their articles published. We very much hope that you will join us and share our passion for science. All you need to be a member is an interest in science: our members range from complete novices through to professional scientists, so whether you want to keep up with all the latest news, research a particular area of science or write your own articles, there is something here for you.

To register, which is completely free, click the option on the Main Menu above - we shall look forward to getting to know you! If it's happening in science, it's happening at Science File.

For more information about Science File, click the "About" option on the menu bar above.

New Feature: Article Comments

2008-07-23 Science File would like to announce a new system of comments for science articles. You may now pass comment on any of the science articles written by members. To do this, complete the comment form which you will find on the last page of each article. You can also click "Write comment" under an article's description in the full article index. We hope that you will make use of the comment system, as it is your way of stating your opinion about an article, and conversely it is the author's way of gaining useful feedback from readers for his or her article. To view the comments written about an article, simply go to the end of the article and any comments will be listed. Posting comments requires registration as a Science File member.

New Web Directory Categorisation

2008-07-18 Due to the growth of the Science File Web Directory, it is no longer practical to provide merely an alphabetical listing of websites within each science category. It makes finding websites in the directory increasingly difficult to find. To that end, most science categories now contain one or more subcategories, whose websites you can view by clicking on the title of the subcategory. We hope this will make it easier to find websites in the directory which relate to the area of science you are interested in. If you are a member of Science File and wish to submit a website which is not covered by an existing category or subcategory, please let us know.

New Article

2008-07-13 Mining The Deep Web by Andy. There is a revolution raging over access to scientific information, yet much of that information you will never find by using Google: it lurks in the Deep Web. Time to don the helmet and switch on the lamp...... Click here to read.

Online Research Tools Now Available

2008-06-28 Science File is delighted to announce that members now have access to two online scientific databases, Scirus and Intute, from within the Science File site.
Scirus is the most comprehensive scientific research tool on the web. With over 450 million scientific items indexed at last count, it allows researchers to search for not only journal content but also scientists' homepages, courseware, pre-print server material, patents and institutional repository and website information.
Intute is a free online service providing you with access to the very best Web resources for education and research. The service is created by a network of UK universities and partners. Subject specialists select and evaluate the websites in the database and write high quality descriptions of the resources. The database contains 123766 records.
These two tools are invaluable if you are researching, or just want to read more about, a scientific subject. To use them, click on the new "Research Tools" menu on the menu bar after logging in, and select the relevant database. Then, it is just a simple matter of entering your search text. We hope you will enjoy making use of these databases, and please do not hesitate to contact us with any feedback.

2009: International Year of Astronomy

2008-06-26 Next year is UNESCO's International Year of Astronomy. At Science File, we would like to make our own contributions to the year-long celebration of all things astronomical. There is obviously a huge potential to promote astronomy on the internet, at home, in schools and wherever people meet, in order to raise the profile of the science among the public. Who knows, after 2009 astronomy might even stop being confused with astrology!!

So we are asking for your suggestions as to what we might do. So far the ideas include an article competition, some astronomical observing sessions sponsored by Science File, educational outreach and more.

If you have any suggestions as to how Science File members can get involved with this important year - and it's important for science in general, not just for astronomy - then please click the "Contact Us" option on the main menu above, or discuss it on the Forums. If you are not a Science File member, yet would like to get involved, please click the "Register" option above.

More information about the International Year of Astronomy can be found at http://www.astronomy2009.org/ , or click the image on the left.

We shall look forward to hearing your ideas.