FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 4/25/96

CONTACT: Susan Trebach, (608) 262-9406; Denice D. Denton, (608) 263-2354; Andrew C. Porter, (608) 263-4200

THE WHY FILES
A WEB SITE THAT ILLUMINATES THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE NEWS

MADISON -- Why do comets have tails? Why do cows go mad? Why is amber a key to the past?
Every day, Americans confront a menu of news driven by the vagaries of nature or the arsenal of technology used to treat disease, battle the elements, understand the unknown, or influence their fellow human beings.
But what lurks behind the surface news of a passing comet or an epidemic? Often, a wealth of fascinating information that is just as important as news of an event itself, but because of the limitations of time and space it never surfaces in the news of the day.
Now there's a place to turn if you want to dig deeper into the science, math or technology that increasingly influences your life: The Why Files.
Located on the World Wide Web at http://whyfiles.news.wisc.edu, The Why Files is a dynamic, factual and interactive home for detailed insights into what political polls can (or cannot) tell us, why comets once inspired mass terror, and why cows are scaring people in Europe.
A product of the new National Institute for Science Education (NISE) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, The Why Files was developed to provide convenient and free access to accurate, readable information about events that touch nearly everyone, says Susan Trebach, leader of the team that developed the novel web page.
The NISE, established in 1995 with the support of the National Science Foundation, is a unique national center for the study of issues pertaining to science, math and engineering education.
"As a society, we all depend on technology and science. But because the workings of science are transparent to most of us, we need to develop new tools to help connect us to these important influences," Trebach says.
"It is in our interest to ensure that people -- children, parents, teachers and others -- have quick access to information that is relevant and useful," argues Andrew C. Porter, co-director of the NISE and a UW-Madison professor of educational psychology.
"The Why Files may be especially important for children and schools," says Denice D. Denton, a UW-Madison professor of electrical and computer engineering and a co-director of the NISE. "We're ready to roll the information highway up to the schoolhouse door, but what's out there on the highway? We need quality content and we need to know how it is used and to what effect."
In its brief life on the web, The Why Files has garnered a fistful of web accolades, served hundreds of thousands of file requests for text and images, and been used by people in more than 70 countries.
Web citations include being a Microsoft Network "Pick of the Day," a "Top 5" web pick by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois, a "Blue Web 'n" award from the web-based Learning Applications Library, and an InfiNet "Cool Site of the Day" award.
A new Why Files feature package on a current topic in the news is posted every two weeks and there are other elements to the page that give it depth and provide new insights into the science and technology enterprise.
  • The "cool science image," updated weekly, allows people to see a volcano through the eye of a satellite, a comet through the eyepiece of a state-of-the-art telescope, or a developing fruit fly embryo through a microscope.
  • Clicking the sports icon at the bottom of the page will take you to a page where you can test your mental metal against brain-teasing questions at the interface of science and sports. Additionally, irregular features examine the science or technology behind sports or recreation.
  • There is a forum where teachers, students and others can discuss current science or technology events or the issues that drive science or bedevil it. Unlike much of what appears on the global network, The Why Files is written for the web.
    "Science is a human enterprise and The Why Files is an attempt to make it more accessible and meaningful," says Denton.
    "Scientists have done a pretty good job over the years of erecting walls between science and the public. If we're to survive and prosper as a force in society, we need to knock some of those walls down so more people, especially young people, can participate. This is one way to do that."
    Another critical function of The Why Files, says Denton, is to understand how the World Wide Web is being used.
    "There is virtually no literature on how effective this medium is. We don't even have reliable estimates of how many people have access to the Internet."
    To measure its impact, researchers are following The Why Files into the field -- into schools, museums and other public places -- to see how people are using it and what they are taking away.
    "We hope not only to provide good, useful information on science, math and technology," says Trebach. "We also want to make some original contributions to our understanding of how people use this new means of learning and gathering information."


    home ###

    -- Terry Devitt, (608) 262-8282, trdevitt@facstaff.wisc.edu
    NISE/NSF