News Groups
Want to find others sharing an interest of yours? Read other opinions and respond to them? Post information to a community of esoterics? Newsgroups offer an open forum for discussion. Newsgroups work something like e-mail but are more akin to global electronic bulletin boards. Articles sent to the newsgroup are viewable by anyone subscribed to the newsgroup. The topics of discussion range from the everday and broad (rec.food) to the obscure and specific (alt.mythology.mythic-animal). The level of discussion also varies, from intellectual to inane.
The name of the newsgroup should be an indication of the
topic, if not the level, of discussion. For instance, "alt"
stands for alternative topics and "rec" stands for
recreation. Since this is a biology resource center, the newsgroups
listed below mostly begin with "sci" or "bionet".
Google
is a good place to find other newsgroups.
To read articles and respond to them, you must have a newsreader program*. Your web browser may come with a newsreader. For instance, Netscape Navigator 1.1N and all later versions come with a newsreader so that you can link directly to the newsgroups listed below by clicking on them. Ask the computer support group at your school or the service group at your online service provider for the name of their news server. If the administrators of your news server do not subscribe to one of these newsgroups, then you should ask them to include it.
*Certain newsgroups have webpage-based equivalents, like the bionet archives. In this case, you don't need to set up your browser for news to view articles. To post a message, you can send mail to the specified address. The most convenient way to do this is from your browser so, if your browser is capable of it, set up your browser for mail. Alternatively, you could copy the newsgroup's address and send an e-mail message to post your article.
Perhaps you simply want to read articles to keep your finger on the pulse of a select community or see how they are reacting to a current event. If you want to post a question, announcement, or response, you would be well advised to simply "surf and lurk" for a while (read without posting) to get a feel for the type of discussion you'll encounter. When you do post an article or respond to someone, be sure to follow the rules of "netiquette" If you are asking a question that you think might be a common one, you should visit this list of usenet FAQs (frequently asked questions) and view it by newsgroups.
Here is a list of newsgroups relating to biology, environmental science, and marine science. The discussion may be very academic, but the news and questions you'll find discussed might be right up your alley.
One of the most comprehensive places to get information from or about newgroups is Deja News. Deja News allows you to search archived usenet articles as well as find a newsgroup discussing your topic of interest. Other newsgroup sites:
Search Usenet articles:
Search for newsgroups: