www.iop.org

Set up in 1997 as an exhibition to celebrate the centenary of the discovery of the electron, www.iop.org/Physics/ Electron/Exhibition/ promises "life, the universe and the electron". This reporter is certainly no science expert, but it looks as if this collaboration between the London Science Museum and the Institute of Physics achieves its aims. The basic question "What is an electron?" is divided into useful adjuncts about the big bang and condensed matter. Worth a visit.

evacon.demon.co.uk

News from Everywhere (www. evacon.demon.co.uk/page3.html) is published every week during the English school year. It is designed for young people who are interested in finding out the story behind the stories that make the news, as well as several stories that do not make the news at all. It can be a little self-righteous at times but its heart is in the right place. Particularly interesting are 13 letters written by a teacher who worked with Guatemalan refugees in Mexico from 1993 to 1995.

nationalgeographic.com

National Geographic magazine takes the giant leap from the dentist's waiting room to the world wide web with this excellent site (www.nationalgeographic.com/ features). It makes learning about geography, politics and history fun, interesting and exciting. The features section has more than 100 interactive documentaries featuring video reports on natural disasters, vanishing cultures, wildlife, the solar system and several other themes. Useful for those with school or college projects to do.

www.ngfl.gov.uk

The National Grid for Learning, which was launched by Tony Blair in November 1998, is Britain's focal point for learning on the Internet. High among its aims are to help raise standards in education and to support lifelong learning. It provides information and resources for teachers, young people, adults, parents, guardians, mentors, employers and trade unions. A very comprehensive and worthwhile site, and one that the Government here would do well to emulate.

fourmilab.ch/yoursky/

(www. fourmilab.ch/yoursky/) is, as it says itself, an interactive planetarium of the web. From here, you can produce maps for any time and date, viewpoint, and observing location. In lay terms, it allows you to create a map of the night sky as it appears from Dublin, New Delhi, Sydney or any of hundreds of other points in all continents, including the Arctic and Antarctic. A simple-to-use and fascinating site, though you'd have to be very into it to go for repeat visits.