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Science
Friday > Archives
> 1999
> July
> July 16, 1999:
Hour One: Searching the Web/Satellites and Disease
If it seems like you get page after page of useless results when you search for specific items on the web, you're probably right. A study published last week in the journal Nature reveals that the major search engines are failing to index much of the information available on the web, while the size of the web continues to grow. The search engine that covered the largest portion of the web was Northern Light, but even that service was only able to find about 16 percent of the web's estimated information content. And new information can take up to six months to appear in major search engines.
The researchers estimate that there are 2.8 million web servers in operation, containing over 800 million pages - containing, in total, over six terabytes of text data. Much of that data was commercial in nature - and, despite what you may have heard about the web, the researches estimate that only 1.5 percent of the web is devoted to porn. But how can researchers on the web hope to track down what they're looking for among the piles of chaff? We'll search for an answer on this hour of Science Friday. | We'll also talk about an innovative way to keep a high-flying eye on potential disease outbreaks -- satellites. By tracking rainfall, vegetation patterns, and other climate signs using satellite data, researchers have been able to keep tabs on areas of the globe that may be ripe for disease. In this week's issue of the journal Science, researchers report that they have used satellite data to successfully predict outbreaks of Rift Valley fever, a mosquito-borne disease. Other scientists have been using satellites to monitor potential hotspots of diseases such as hantavirus and Lyme disease. And it's not just weather-related data that gets eyed from above - some researchers are even using satellites to locate piles of junk tires, a notorious breeding place for potentially disease-carrying mosquitoes. We'll talk about the possibilities of using remote sensing to help predict diseases, and whether or not information from space can be used in time to allow public health workers to squelch potential epidemics before they start. | 
Scientists can monitor phytoplankton
in the Indian Ocean - and use that to help
predict cholera. (NASA image) |
Guests:
Steve Lawrence
Research Scientist
NEC Research Institute
Princeton, New Jersey
Compton J. Tucker
Earth Sciences Directorate
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
Dr. Jonathan Patz, M.D.
Director
Program on Health Effects of Global Environmental Change
Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health
Baltimore, Maryland
Books/Articles Discussed:
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"Climate and Satellite Indicators to Forecast Rift Valley Fever Epidemics in Kenya," by K. J. Linthicum, P. W. Kelley, A. Anyamba, C. J. Tucker, M. F. Myers, and C. J. Peters. Science, July 16, 1999.
"Accessibility of Information on the Web" by Steve Lawrence and C. Lee Giles. Nature, July 8, 1999. | | Related Links:
NASA press release
SciFri El Nino Wrapup, April 10, 1998.
NASA Earth Science Missions
JHU Program on the Health Effects of Global Environmental Change
- SciFri Internet Update, April 3, 1998
Search Engine Watch -
- This segment produced by:
Tom Clarke
Web producer:
Charles Bergquist
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