Free Online Courses
[This is a warning/note to make sure you realize that whilst some online sites, like Coursera, offer classes under the notion that they are free in the sense of legal currency, they may not be free in sense of your work and information. [See commentary on my post here for more information about Coursera specifically.] Make sure when signing up for any free online courses, that you thoroughly read all of the terms and agreement and/or policy section[s]. Most sites insist that you turn over all your work, projects, and/or information concerning specific classes/courses, after you have finished working on them, so that they [said website and/or University] will have full ownership of all their “students” work at the end of each “term” or “semester”. So make sure you know everything you can find concerning the legal agreements you will be contracted to concerning your own information and/or work. Also, for most sites, especially Coursera, do not expect this to act as a replacement for a real-life class, as it will not give you legitimate credits, and will not be recognized as a replacement for any part of any curriculum by legal educational institutions.]
- Coursera
- Mathematics and Statistics
- Healthcare, Medicine, and Biology
- Society, Networks, and Information
- Computer Science
- Economics, Finance, and Business
- Humanities and Social Sciences
- A list of 500 FREE online courses
- A list of 400+ FREE online courses for Liberal Arts & Sciences
- A list of FREE textbooks and online courses
- Introduction to Cosmology
For extra self-education resources, browse through here
Podcasts & Videos
- The Skeptics Guide to the Universe
- Quackcast - A medically based skeptic podcast.
- Are We Alone? - The official podcast of the SETI institute.
- Startalk Radio with Neil deGrasse Tyson - iTunes podcast.
- VlogBrothers
- Crash Course
- SciShow
Websites
- Brain Pickings
- PSFK
- Kottke
- Information is Beautiful
- TED
- Science News
- ScienceDaily
- Space
- NASA
- ESA
- ESO
- RSOE EDIS
- ScienceBlogs
- Skepchick
- The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe
- A list of 102 fiction writing resources
- Astronomy on Knoji.
- Web Syllabus from Dept. of Physics & Astronomy - from the University of Tennessee.
- Hubble Telescope site
- NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
- Astronomy.com - A wonderful magazine online.
- Science Daily’sAstronomy News
- NASAScience Astrophysics site
- NASA Science directory
- Science Daily’s Astrophysics News
- Astronomy Castonline
- A great site fromCornell University’s Astronomy department - Just enter a keyword, or question in the search box, for an easy to understand definition or answer at Ask an Astronomer.
- Astronomy Picture of the Day
- AP of Day Archives
- The Astrophysics Source Code Library
- Bad Astronomy Blog
- Black holes and Neutron Stars - Take a virtual trip to a black hole or neutron star. Have your MPEG movie player ready. Intended for the advanced student, but fun for everyone.
- Dr. Jeff’s Blog on the Universe
- The Exploratorium - A fun way to explore science for a beginner.
- Great Debates in Astronomy
- Imagine the Universe!
- NASA Night Sky Network - Dream of seeing the moon, stars & planets through a telescope? The NASA Night Sky Network connects you to astronomy clubs in the USA & their public events
- The Space Place - NASA’s award-winning Web site for elementary age kids. Games, animations, projects, a cartoon talk show, and amazing facts related to space and Earth science, technology, and NASA’s missions of discovery. The Space Place is also available in Spanish here.
- StarChild: A Learning Center for Young Astronomers- Intended primarily for ages 4-14, this site presents material on the Solar System, the Universe, and other Space Stuff. Produced by a collaboration of professional scientists and educators it is one of the very few astronomy WWW sites for elementary school readers.
- Universe Today- A news site dedicated to astronomy and space.
- Earth and Sky
- StarDate
- Violence in the Cosmos
- Search Violence in Cosmos
- The Nine PlanetsSEDS Online
- Planetary Pictures
- Views of the Solar System
- Abrams Skywatcher’s Diary
- Sky Events
- Sky & Telescope Bulletin
- Astronomy Lecture Notes
- Network Resources
- Dewey Decimal
- AstroWeb
- The Astronomy Cafe
- Astronomy Homework Help
- Astr Pict of Day Education Links
- Marshall Space Sciences Home Page
- Hubble Space Telescope Public Information
- STARBASE
- NatGeo News
- Solar System Visualizer
- Google Scholar
- Eyes on the Sky
- Fold It - Science Puzzles.
- WanderingSpace
- Earth Shots
- Science Based Life
- Public Library of Science
- Scientific American
- NASA’s Living With a Star Program
- Helioviewer
- Sixty Symbols
- The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth
Blogs on Tumblr
- You can find a list of scientific and informative blogs [here on tumblr] that I suggest checking out & following on my Recommended Blogs page.
News & Media
- WikiLeaks
- WikiLeaks Press
- WL Central - Unofficial Wikileaks news source.
- United Nations News & Commentary Global News - Forum
- AlterNet Worldly News Site
- Trust Media News Breaking Stories/Special Reports
- Activist Post Media
- Before It’s News
- FAIR - Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting.
- HOTPOLITICS
- Terrarium Home Page - Unconventional News and Information
- Newspapers 24- Over 10,000 Newspapers world wide, online.
- Project Uncensored
- Huffington Post
Worthwhile Causes
- The Sea Shepherd Official Site
- The Sea Shepherd Advocate News & Support Site
- Freegan - Not just for vegetarians/vegans but for anyone wanting to get greener and reduce their carbon footprint.
- TreeHugger - Lovely logical biocentric wonderment.
- Low-Impact Living Initiative
Looking Towards the Skies
- Current Moon Phases
- Annual Meteor Shower Dates & Times
- Norwegian Institute for Air Research
- NOAA
- NOAA - Space Weather Prediction Center
- Space Calendar.
- Space Weather.
Movies/Documentaries
- A post listing dozens of documentaries online.
- Vlogbrothers’ Crash Course (videos, in which John Green teaches World Historyand Hank Green teaches Biology)
- Minute Physics (videos)
Last updated February 26, 2013.
