People sometimes complain that the news media have no depth. This complaint cannot be applied to 3D Science News, the only video newscast in three dimensions. Say what you will about them, but you cannot say they lack depth.

Covering science-related news stories, 3D Science News posts videos of about three minutes in length, about six times a month. The footage is shot in 3-D, and often includes 3D animation or renderings to illustrate the topic being covered. You can view the anaglyph videos at low resolution in a Flash-powered player on the website, or you can download high-resolution MPEG files in three different formats: anaglyphic, interlaced, or separate left and right views.

I wish I could show you a still from the hi-res download, but I couldn't get Quicktime or any other software to crack it open. All I can show you is my error message. Oh, well. Presumably, it works just fine on Windows machines.

[EDIT: I got the MPEG file to open in VLC. Here is a full size still (720 x 540 pixels) to show the quality.]

The service -- including all the hi-res downloads -- is free, for now. ("We hope to keep this site free," they say somewhat ominously on their "About Us" page.)

Also free for now are 3-D glasses!

The 3D Science News sidebar says, "No Red/Blue Glasses? Contact Us and we'll send you a free pair. If you live outside the United States, we may request a small donation to cover postage."

As long as you are in the U.S.A., they're paying the postage to send you free glasses! I had never heard of such a generous offer, and could scarcely believe it.

But it's for real. On the evening of June 29, I used their comment form to request a free pair. The next morning, the 30th, I got an email reply from Elaine, saying she would mail the glasses that very day. Three days later, July 3, I had them in my hands. The glasses they sent me were identical to the ones sent by Rainbow Symphony with their free offer. But this free offer is so much better than that one -- I never had to address an envelope or use a stamp, and it came in three days instead of nine!

Obviously, this offer is intended for people who lack 3D glasses, so they can start enjoying the website, not for people like me who already have a hundred pairs just looking for a freebie. I requested mine to verify that the offer was genuine so I could report it to you, but now I will send them a couple bucks to compensate them for their trouble. (If I can figure out how to donate; their site says, "please consider making a donation in the box to the left." What box to the left?)

[EDIT: The donation link is back up in the sidebar on the site now. I sent them a little something.]

I hope 3D Science News becomes a huge success.