一個新的線上「生命百科全書（the Encyclopedia of Life）」的前3萬頁在26日科學家們聚首於加州蒙特利市年度「科技娛樂設計會議（TED, Technology, Entertainment and Design Conference）」時，首次公開亮相。而這個百科全書計畫是2007年在加州蒙特利市開始啟動的。
大眾對最初3萬頁資料的回應，將成為180萬頁規模的百科全書資料的最基本設計與功能塑型，同時協助規劃內容的發展優先順序。這個百科全書預計在2017年完成。
這個生命百科全書（EOL）的執行董事艾德沃司（Jim Edwards）表示：「一旦180萬頁資訊透過這個工具集合在一起，能夠參與這個科學和弦真是令人非常興奮的事！」。EOL的執行基地設在華盛頓特區的史密森納研究院（Smithsonian Institution）。
艾德沃司博士表示：「潛在的生命百科全書讀者包括專業人士、常民科學家、教師、學生、媒體人、環境經理人、家庭以及藝術家。這個網站將以前所未有的合作規模連結公眾與科學族群。」
這項計畫的快速進展受到哈佛大學威爾森（Emeritus E.O. Wilson）教授的喝采。他的一篇2003年廣被閱讀的論文中即明確倡議，我們需要一個現代化、可隨時更新的生物多樣性描繪系統。
2005年他給麥克阿瑟基金會（John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation）的信，促成了啟動這個生命百科全書的1000萬美元種子經費，爾後史隆基金會（Alfred P. Sloan Foundation）很快地補注了尚缺的250萬美元。
威爾森表示：「生命百科全書的啟動將會在科學界造成深遠且有創意的影響」。威爾森本身是一個動物學家，因其在蟻類的研究工作而聞名於世。他指出：「這個百科全書的目標不僅對我們知道的全球生命形式進行摘錄，同時也加速探索很大部分未知的物種。這項大工程有助於鋪陳各生物學分支的新研究方向。」
這個26日才初次發表的生命百科全書物種網頁的基本設計是由「科技娛樂設計會議」及威爾森教授共同提出。
威爾森是2007年3月TED獎的得獎人之一，他是以全球生物多樣性的研究工作而得獎。在他的得獎演說中，威爾森請TED與會者幫忙他發展一個生命百科全書。
一個創新網路設計公司（Avenue A | Razorfish）承接了這個挑戰，協助製作出一部獲獎影片，並設計出百科全書網頁的基本模式。
作為科學家與決策者的一項工具，以及成為任何對生命世界感興趣者的一項資源，「生命百科全書」是以一套獨特的由科學家與一般大眾共同合作的方式所發展成形。
在今（2008）年稍晚開始，一般大眾就能夠貢獻任何一個物種的相關文字、影片、影像及其他資訊。百科全書的正式網頁將會自這些資料中採錄最好的部分。
The initial 30,000 pages of a new online Encyclopedia of Life were revealed today as scientists assemble for the Technology, Entertainment and Design Conference in Monterey, California, where the project was initiated last year.
Feedback on these first pages will shape the ultimate design and functionality of all 1.8 million pages of the encyclopedia, scheduled for completion by 2017. It will also help inform priorities for content development.
"It is exciting to anticipate the scientific chords we might hear once 1.8 million notes are brought together through this instrument," says Jim Edwards, executive director of the Encyclopedia of Life, EOL, based at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.
"Potential EOL users are professional and citizen scientists, teachers, students, media, environmental managers, families and artists," Dr. Edwards said. "The site will link the public and scientific community in a collaborative way that's without precedent in scale."
The rapid progress to date was congratulated by Harvard Professor Emeritus E.O. Wilson, who articulated the need for a dynamic modern portrait of biodiversity in a widely read essay in 2003.
His letter in 2005 to the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation resulted in a $10 million seed grant to start the Encyclopedia of Life, soon complemented by a further $2.5 million from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
"The launch of the Encyclopedia of Life will have a profound and creative effect in science," says Wilson, a zoologist who is world renowned for his work on ants.
"It aims not only to summarize all that we know of Earth's life forms, but also to accelerate the discovery of the vast array that remain unknown," he said. "This great effort promises to lay out new directions for research in every branch of biology."
The basic design of the Encyclopedia of Life species pages that debuted today originated with the Technology, Entertainment and Design, TED, Conference and Professor Wilson.
In March 2007 Wilson was one of the recipients of a TED prize for his work in documenting and understanding the world's biodiversity. In his acceptance speech, Wilson asked TED attendees to help him develop an encyclopedia of life.
Avenue A | Razorfish, an innovative web design firm, took up the challenge and helped to create an award winning video and the basic template for Encyclopedia of Life species pages.
Intended as a tool for scientists and policymakers and a resource for anyone interested in the living world, the Encyclopedia of Life is being developed by a unique collaboration between scientists and the general public.
Starting later this year, the public will be able to contribute text, videos, images, and other information about a species. The best of this information will be incorporated into the encyclopedia's authenticated pages.
全文及圖片詳見：ENS
作者
In my healing journey and learning to attain the breath awareness, I become aware of the reality that all the creatures of the world are breathing the same breath. Take action, here and now. From my physical being to the every corner of this out of balance's planet.
