Mostrando títulos en Biología

Despite advances in health care, infectious microbes continue to be a formidable adversary to scientists and doctors. Vaccines and antibiotics, the mainstays of modern medicine, have not been able to conquer infectious microbes because of their amazing ability to adapt, evolve, and spread to new places. Terrorism aside, one of the greatest dangers from infectious disease we face today is from a massive outbreak of drug-resistant microbes.

Science journalist Sally Adee breaks open the field of bioelectricity—the electric currents that run through our bodies and every living thing—its misunderstood history, and why new discoveries will lead to new ways around antibiotic resistance, cleared arteries, and new ways to combat cancer.

Biology is undergoing a quiet but profound transformation. Several aspects of the standard picture of how life works—the idea of the genome as a blueprint, of genes as instructions for building an organism, of proteins as precisely tailored molecular machines, of cells as entities with fixed identities, and more—have been exposed as incomplete, misleading, or wrong. In How Life Works, Philip Ball explores the new biology, revealing life to be a far richer, more ingenious affair than we had guessed.

When we think of electricity, we likely imagine the energy humming inside our home appliances or lighting up our electronic devices - or perhaps we envision the lightning-streaked clouds of a stormy sky. But electricity is more than an external source of power, heat, or illumination. Life at its essence is nothing if not electrical.

No feature of the mind is as important, controversial, and mysterious as intelligence. It is the epitome of brain function, and it has a powerful influence on success in life. Now in The Intelligent Brain, taught by one of the world’s foremost researchers on intelligence, Professor Richard J. Haier of the University of California, Irvine, you’ll trace the fascinating history of intelligence testing and its leading thinkers, as well as what brain imaging studies and the most recent research findings reveal about this most complex of human phenomena.

Informed by cutting-edge scientific research and sparkling with memorable characters - from the modern druids who worship at Stonehenge each solstice to the Amish farmers who may have the right idea about healthy sleep patterns - Linda Geddes’s Chasing the Sun analyzes all aspects of our relationship to the sun. The fascinating stories, innovative science, and unique perspectives in this book make it clear that the ancients were right to put the sun at the center of our world and that it is crucial that we remember this bond as we shape our lives today.

Elegantly written and deeply grounded in personal experience - works by Oliver Sacks come to mind - Physical Intelligence gives us a clear, illuminating examination of the intricate, mutually responsive relationship between the mind and the body as they engage (or don’t engage) in all manner of physical action. Ever wonder why you don’t walk into walls or off cliffs? How you decide if you can drive through a snowstorm? How high you are willing to climb up a ladder to change a lightbulb?

With breathtaking clarity, Compost Science for Gardeners demystifies composting practices and helps listeners determine the best technique for their unique situation. This comprehensive science-based book is your key to building healthier soil and growing better plants.

From ants scurrying under leaf litter to bees able to fly higher than Mount Kilimanjaro, insects are everywhere. Three out of every four of our planet's known animal species are insects. In The Insect Crisis, Oliver Milman dives into the torrent of recent evidence that suggests this kaleidoscopic group of creatures is suffering the greatest existential crisis in its remarkable 400-million-year history.

We have lost the war on cancer. We spend $150 billion each year treating it, yet - a few innovations notwithstanding - a patient with cancer is as likely to die of it as one was 50 years ago. Most new drugs add mere months to one's life at agonizing physical and financial cost. In The First Cell, Azra Raza offers a searing account of how both medicine and our society (mis)treats cancer, how we can do better, and why we must.

Synthetic Biology: Life’s Extraordinary New Worlds is an introduction to synthetic biology for non-scientists, covering the exciting field that is transforming health care, agriculture, environmental science, and many other areas. Using the molecules of life to answer scientific questions and manipulate life for human benefit, synthetic biology encompasses a wide range of applications—from gene editing and metabolic engineering to food synthesis and green technologies.

What defines who we are? For decades, the answer has seemed obvious: our genes, the "blueprint of life." In The Master Builder, biologist Alfonso Martinez Arias argues we've been missing the bigger picture. It's not our genes that define who we are, but our cells.

From star-nosed moles that have super-sensing snouts to electric eels that paralyze their prey, animals possess unique and extraordinary abilities. In Great Adaptations, Kenneth Catania presents an entertaining and engaging look at some of nature's most remarkable creatures. Telling the story of his biological detective work, Catania sheds light on the mysteries behind the behaviors of tentacled snakes, tiny shrews, zombie-making wasps, and more.

Recent advances in medicine and technology have expanded our understanding of aging across the animal kingdom, and our own timeless quest for the fountain of youth. Yet, despite modern humans living longer today than ever before, the public’s understanding of what is possible is limited to our species—until now. In this spunky, effervescent debut, the key to immortality is revealed to be a superpower within reach.

Eating one's own kind is a completely natural behavior in thousands of species, including humans. Throughout history we have engaged in cannibalism for reasons related to famine, burial rites, and medicine. Cannibalism has also been used as a form of terrorism and as the ultimate expression of filial piety. With unexpected wit and a wealth of knowledge, Bill Schutt takes us on a tour of the field, exploring exciting new avenues of research and investigating questions like why so many fish eat their offspring and some amphibians consume their mothers' skin.

An exploration of marine life and the ocean environment, this audiobook makes marine biology and oceanography accessible and enjoyable. Oceanology offers up riches from every corner of the ocean, from coral reefs and mangrove swamps to icy fjords and deep-ocean trenches, and from great whales to the microscopic beauty of plankton. Along the way, it explains how the ocean itself works, including tides, currents, hurricanes, tsunamis, and the global processes of oceanography and climate.

Like Solomon with his magic ring, famed Austrian ethologist Konrad Lorenz was a gifted student of the animal world. King Solomon's Ring, which brought him worldwide recognition, is a delightful collection of observations and insights into the lives of our furry and feathered friends, from our familiar furry companions to water shrews and jackdaws. A must listen for any animal lover.

Life began with the hydrogenation of CO2, and this is the process we must return to in order to heal the planet. Ground-breaking ongoing research into bacterial processes means our knowledge of bacterial processes is ever-expanding, and we can harness this new knowledge to develop a parallel carbon economy using engineered bacteria for fuel, food, and materials. This would enable rewilding on a vast scale, with the small land footprint of bacterial technologies solving the current conflict in land use between farming and fuel and materials production.

Long before space travel was possible, the idea of life beyond Earth transfixed humans. In this fascinating book, astronomer Jon Willis explores the science of astrobiology and the possibility of locating other life in our own galaxy. Describing the most recent discoveries by space exploration missions, including the Kepler space telescope, the Mars Curiosity rover, and the New Horizons probe, Willis asks listeners to imagine - and choose among-five scenarios for finding life.

Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution now forms the basis for all the life sciences, but it ignited widespread controversy upon its 1859 publication. The idea that humans and animals might have evolved from a common source came as a shock to readers at the time, and people struggle with the implications of Darwin’s theory to this day. But Darwin foresaw this resistance and argued his case with extensive examples and rigorous logic - and his theory continues to push us toward a deeper understanding of life on Earth.