An Internet forum is a facility on the World Wide Web for holding discussions, or the web application software used to provide the facility. Web-based forums, which date from around 1995, perform a similar function as the dial-up bulletin boards and Internet newsgroups that were numerous in the 1980s and 1990s. A sense of virtual community often develops around forums that have regular users. Technology, computer games, and politics are popular areas for forum themes, but there are forums for a huge number of different topics .

Internet forums are also commonly referred to as web forums, message boards, discussion boards, discussion forums, discussion groups, bulletin boards (but see also dial-up bulletin boards), fora (the proper Latin plural) or simply forums.

Culture

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Internet forums are prevalent in several developed countries. In terms of countable posts, Japan is far in the lead with over two million posts per day on their largest forum, 2channel. The United States does not have any one large forum, but instead several hundred thousand smaller forums, the largest of which are GameFAQs, Gaia Online, and IGN. Other countries such as China, the Netherlands, and France are also home to hundreds of independent forums. Some countries such as Finland and Sweden do not have many prevalent forums despite having open and easily available Internet access. As of yet no study has been done on the prevalence of forums in countries around the world. It is also dubious as to whether any country has its own fora, as - especially in the English language - contributors to a forum often come from outside the country in which the forum is hosted. There is often not a 1-1 relationship between languages and countries: for example, English language fora are contributed to by people all over the world, whilst Japanese language fora are likely to be contributed to only by Japanese people, but Japanese people also contribute to English language fora, so there is no 1-1 relationship between Japanese language fora and Japanese people contributing to fora.

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BBC News | Science & Environment | World Edition

Ray of hope for the red squirrel
Wed, 15 Oct 2008 16:58:15 -0000
Some red squirrels have developed immunity to a deadly disease carried by grey squirrels, scientists find.
Mind power moves paralysed limbs
Wed, 15 Oct 2008 17:02:32 -0000
Scientists show it is possible to harness brain signals and redirect them to make paralysed limbs move.
Expedition set for 'ghost peaks'
Tue, 14 Oct 2008 18:04:35 -0000
Scientists prepare to survey Antarctica's Gamburtsev mountain range - one of Earth's most enigmatic mountain groups.

L.A. Times - Science

Bonding with a mate changes brain chemistry, researchers find
Wed, 15 Oct 2008 00:18:00 -0700
Voles who became separated from a mate produced higher levels of a chemical that has been linked to depression. Losing a partner 'has a dramatic impact on the brain,' one of the study's authors says. Working with mouse-like rodents called prairie voles, scientists have found that close monogamous relationships alter the chemistry of the brain, fostering the release of a compound that builds loyalty, but also plays a role in depression during times of separation.
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey's 3-D guide to the final frontier
Wed, 15 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700
A remarkable model brings a sense of order to the universe, allowing observers to navigate it as if by rocket ship. It's fair to say that Dan Long has seen more of the universe than anyone but God.
Drop in TB funding could set back fight against AIDS
Wed, 15 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700
About 11 million of 33 million HIV-positive people have TB, a Nobel laureate warns, and if financially troubled nations renege on aid pledges, it would deprive the poor of treatment. Fearing that the global economic crisis could cause nations to renege on commitments to fight tuberculosis, new Nobel laureate and HIV co-discoverer Francoise Barre-Sinoussi warned that a drop in TB funding could wipe out gains made against AIDS because so many people suffer from both diseases.

Reuters: Science News

Study finds brain chemical linked to grief
Wed, 15 Oct 2008 12:48:55 -0400
LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have pinpointed a key brain chemical involved in dealing with the sudden loss or long-term separation of a partner, they said Wednesday.
Ancient bones show tuberculosis older than thought
Wed, 15 Oct 2008 10:08:53 -0400
LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have discovered tuberculosis in 9,000 year-old human bones found submerged off Israel's coast -- evidence the disease is at least 3,000 years older than previously thought, researchers said on Wednesday.
NASA to attempt to reboot Hubble Space Telescope
Wed, 15 Oct 2008 09:33:23 -0400
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - NASA will attempt on Wednesday to revive the $2 billion Hubble Space Telescope, which was idled two weeks ago by an equipment failure, officials said on Tuesday.

AP Top Science News At 3:12 p.m. EDT

Scientists view both Obama, McCain as supportive
By SETH BORENSTEIN Wed, 15 Oct 2008 19:12:15 -0000
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Call it the political revenge of the nerds. For nearly eight years, many mainstream scientists have been frustrated with the Bush administration. They've claimed that science has been censored, ignored and politicized on issues from global warming to stem cells to evolution. Even the presidential science adviser was booted from the White House, forced to set up office down the street....
Brain signals revive paralyzed muscles in monkeys
By MALCOLM RITTER Wed, 15 Oct 2008 19:13:02 -0000
NEW YORK (AP) -- Monkeys taught to play a computer game were able to overcome wrist paralysis with an experimental device that might lead to new treatments for patients with stroke and spinal cord injury....
NASA to start long distance repairs on Hubble
By SETH BORENSTEIN Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:28:48 -0000
WASHINGTON (AP) -- NASA engineers say they know how to fix the broken Hubble Space Telescope: They have to wake up computer parts that have been sleeping in space for more than 18 years....

NOVA scienceNOW | PBS

NOVA scienceNOW: Phoenix Mars Lander
NOVA Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:00:00 -0500
NASA's latest robot has already found frozen water and is looking for more signs that the Red Planet could support life.
NOVA scienceNOW: Brain Trauma
NOVA Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:00:00 -0500
Even so-called "mild" head injuries turn out to be anything but.
NOVA scienceNOW: Mammoth Mystery
NOVA Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:00:00 -0500
A pair of mammoth skeletons is found locked together by their tusks. What happened?

Newsweek Technology Headlines

Facebook’s Roar Becomes a Meow
Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:00:00 -0000
Putting ads in front of Facebook users is like hanging out at a party and interrupting conversations to hawk merchandise.
Blogging Like The World Depended On It
Wed, 08 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0000
Transforming social networking into social change.
It’s Getting Crowded in Here
Fri, 12 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0000
Online communities of curious amateurs represent the future of business, says a new book.

Innovation

YouTube to McCain: No DMCA pass for you.
YouTube has deflected the McCain campaign's request for special treatment on takedown requests the site receives under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). In a letter from YouTube Chief Counsel Zahavah Levine sent Tuesday, a day after the McCain camp sent their request [PDF], the site acknowledged the import of the ...
Internet millionaire takes aim at Mars
Every morning, Elon Musk steels himself to once again do battle with gravity. A multimillionaire who made his fortune as cofounder of PayPal, Mr. Musk has spent six years and $100 million of his own money designing rockets for his company, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX). In August, he watched ...
Biggest Apple surprise: how few surprises
One more thing: You knew all of this already. Steve Jobs must feel like a parent whose children have raided all the house's hiding places, torn open wrapping paper, and peeped on "Santa's Workshop" while gifts were being wrapped. The iconic Jobs relishes unveiling new products, and press conference attendees often applaud ...

Science News - UPI.com

World's oldest flying insect fossil found
Wed, 15 Oct 2008 15:55:40 -0400
BOSTON, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- A U.S. student and his teacher say they've found the world's oldest known fossil impression of a flying insect.
Palin says N.H. reminds her of home
Wed, 15 Oct 2008 15:40:28 -0400
DOVER, N.H., Oct. 15 (UPI) -- Republican Party vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, campaigning Wednesday in New Hampshire, said the state reminds her a lot of Alaska.
West African chimps in alarming decline
Wed, 15 Oct 2008 15:30:25 -0400
LEIPZIG, Germany, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- A German-led team of researchers has determined one of the last populations of endangered West African chimpanzees has alarmingly declined.

 

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