An amazing presidential election yesterday, and a resounding demonstration of America's participatory democracy in action. New opportunities for the scientific community and the conduct of science for the public good lie ahead. Speaking of which...

I've blogged before about the terrific Understanding Science website that is being built by the folks at the University of California Museum of Paleontology, UC Berkeley. The website is now in beta release at www.understandingscience.org. The organizers invite you to review the site and let them know what you like, what you don't like, and what additional features you'd like to see when the website makes its official launch next January.

Quoting from the website's About section, its basic goal are to (1) improve teacher understanding of the nature of the scientific enterprise, (2) provide resources and strategies that encourage and enable K-16 teachers to reinforce the nature of science throughout their science teaching, and (3) provide a clear and informative reference for students and the general public that accurately portrays the scientific endeavor.

AIBS endorses the Understanding Science website project and considers it to be a integral part of our COPUS and Year of Science 2009 efforts with UCMP and other organizations to promote the public understanding of science. The website's official release next January will be in connection with the annual meeting, in Boston, of the AIBS member-society, the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, where COPUS will be launching its YoS09 events: see the press release.