Cool site of the day

Actually, this is the coolest Cool site of the day so far, via The Island of Doubt

The Encyclopedia of Life

Comprehensive, collaborative, ever-growing, and personalized, the Encyclopedia of Life is an ecosystem of websites that makes all key information about life on Earth accessible to anyone, anywhere in the world. Our goal is to create a constantly evolving encyclopedia that lives on the Internet, with contributions from scientists and amateurs alike. To transform the science of biology, and inspire a new generation of scientists, by aggregating all known data about every living species. And ultimately, to increase our collective understanding of life on Earth, and safeguard the richest possible spectrum of biodiversity.

To get an idea of how cool this site is going to be, watch the intro video on the entry page. The only thing is that the site isn't going to launch until 2008. The site hopefully will be able to raise the public's appreciation of biodiversity, which makes the project especially timely given the fact that we are currently experiencing a precipitous decline in world levels of biodiversity, i.e. we're experiencing a mass extinction (the 6th in world history )that the public isn't even aware of.

You can check out the FAQs section for more information on the project.

1. What does Encyclopedia of Life seek to accomplish? What are its objectives?

Ultimately, the Encyclopedia will serve as an online reference source and database for every one of the 1.8 million species that are named and known on this planet, as well as all those later discovered and described. Encyclopedia of Life will be used as both a teaching and a learning tool, helping scientists, educators, students, and the community at large gain a better understanding of this planet and all who inhabit it.