Birth Science

Two tiny lizardmen scientist-criminals power up their illegal wormhole generator, getting ready to kidnap their next victim by pulling the poor human across the galaxy in an instant, forever trapping him in the Accord of Souls. Maybe this human won’t destroy everything they love. The last human they kidnapped killed the big boss, took over their criminal gang, and now, threatens to conquer the entire galaxy. The problem? Despite being criminals, the human they want to kidnap is a cop. What could possibly go wrong?

In the early 1960s, Dr. Frances Oldham Kelsey of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration became one of the most celebrated women in America when she prevented a deadly sedative from entering the U.S. market. A Canadian-born pharmacologist and physician, Kelsey saved countless Americans from the devastating side effects of thalidomide, routinely given to pregnant women to prevent morning sickness. As the FDA medical officer charged with reviewing Merrell Pharmaceutical’s application for approval, Kelsey was unconvinced that there was sufficient evidence of the drug’s efficacy and safety.

Lakes might be the most misunderstood bodies of water on earth. And while they may seem commonplace, without lakes our world would never be the same. In this revealing look at these lifegiving treasures, John Richard Saylor shows us just how deep our connection to still waters run.

How George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and John Adams navigated the nation through four major crises and caused the first stirrings of American nationalism.

Delphie's magic red shoes are suddenly feeling too tight, and she really doesn't want to give them up! But before she has time to worry, her friends in Enchantia need her help. King Rat is trying to spoil the Queen's birthday show; can Delphie help undo his mischief?

It's Angel's birthday and she can't wait to celebrate with her purrmaid and mermicorn best friends! But the girls don't seem very excited to celebrate with her. They keep sneaking off to be alone. Angry and hurt, Angel swims out in the ocean by herself and finds Minnie—a manatee who needs help! Can the girls all work together to save Minnie? Or are Angel's friends too busy with their secret plans?

In the opening months of 1949, US President Harry S. Truman found himself faced with a looming diplomatic catastrophe - "perhaps the greatest that this country has ever suffered", as the journalist Walter Lippmann put it. Throughout the spring and summer, Mao Zedong's Communist armies fanned out across mainland China, annihilating the rival troops of America's onetime ally Chiang Kai-shek and taking control of Beijing, Shanghai, and other major cities.

Running away is never the answer. After escaping from the Rogue Sect, John and Sarah find something new about each other. They're both Siders. Their path of loneliness will now take a turn, finding new allies in the most unexpected of places. But good things come hand-in-hand with the bad. Elder Han and his son are not willing to give up their chase. Chris's obsession over possessing Sarah's body for himself is not to be taken lightly. Nor is his father's. Fight or flight, it's now their choice.

What do an intergalactic art thief, a snarky AI, and a sexy protestor have in common? It’s up to them to save the universe! Mathia thinks stealing Princess Rosalie’s spaceship will lead to a peaceful protest.

From the best-selling team behind What the Ladybird Heard, Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks, Princess Mirror-Belle and the Party Hoppers is a delightful adventure perfect for independent listeners. Ellen gets a big shock when her double appears out of the bathroom mirror. But Mirror-Belle is a double with a difference! She is a princess, and a very mischievous one at that.

Five years after the Knights unified the empires, rebels rise from the ashes of the Althaean Siege, and Mirari and Gaven are thrust into a world of treachery and uncertainty. Gaven will stop at nothing until all members of the Blessed are captured. However, when Mirari discovers the truth about the Blessed, she is torn between her duty as Gaven’s partner and her desire to help the oppressed. Suspicion and secrets swirl, and as the weight of past regrets consumes Gaven, Mirari is forced to make heart-wrenching decisions that will forever alter her destiny.

On March 25, 1957, Italy signed the Treaty of Rome, which established the European Economic Community (EEC), a forerunner of the European Union (EU) that was promoted as a guarantor of future peace in Europe. For the soldiers on both sides of World War II fighting each other 13 years earlier in the mountains around Monte Cassino, south of Rome, this would have seemed a highly improbable outcome. The Italian Campaign of World War II effectively divided Italians into three groups, and the country into two rival political entities.

Imagine if it was possible to have the perfect sexual relationship without compromise, eat meat without killing animals, have babies without the need to bear them, and choose the time of our painless death. Life would be better, right? All over the globe, people are trying to make this a reality. They want to use technology to solve the thorniest problems of humanity. But what if these ‘problems’ are the very things that make us human?

Birth control offers women the opportunity to prevent pregnancy, plan and space their births, or have no births at all. And yet, in the United States, half of all pregnancies remain unintended, and access to birth control is beset by inequities in education, access, and coverage. Birth Control: What Everyone Needs to Know will offer more than a user's guide to available means of contraception: it will examine how supported family-planning infrastructure impacts society as a whole.

The disappearance of a college student marks the beginning of a new game, one that Algos had carefully orchestrated before his departure. Little did Claudia Hayes know that when she woke up, her life would take a twisted turn. Instead of studying psychopathic serial killers, someone enhanced her to become one - the leading lady in a sick game of chaos.

Sometimes our understanding of our universe is given a huge boost by one insightful thinker. Such a boost came in the first half of the 20th century, when an obscure Belgian priest put his mind to deciphering the nature of the cosmos. The Day Without Yesterday covers the modern history of an evolving universe, and how Georges Lemaître convinced a generation of thinkers to embrace the notion of cosmic expansion and the theory that this expansion could be traced backward to the cosmic origins, a starting point for space and time that Lemaître called "the day without yesterday".

Hormonal contraception is something most women will use at some point during their life. But the reach of the pill goes far beyond the small number of targeted effects we take it for. It affects almost every system in our body. Column inches and anecdotal conversations prove there are many questions about the pill and its effects yet until now we have known very little about. In this trailblazing book expert psychologist Dr Hill reveals the latest science on the pill and how it's changing women and the world, for better and for worse.

Isadora loves going to human birthday parties, and now is going to have one of her own! But with her mum and dad organising things, it's not going to be like the parties she's been to before ...

With an in-depth look at the two most empowering years in the life of Marilyn Monroe, The Girl details how The Seven Year Itch created an icon and sent the star on an adventure of self-discovery and transformation from a controlled wife and contract player into a businesswoman and unlikely feminist whose power is still felt today. When Marilyn Monroe stepped over a subway grating as The Girl in The Seven Year Itch and let a gust of wind catch the skirt of her pleated white dress, an icon was born.

Reddit hails itself as 'the front page of the Internet'. It's the sixth most-visited website in the world -- and yet, millions have no idea what it is. They should be paying attention. We Are the Nerds takes listeners inside this captivating, maddening enterprise, whose army of obsessed users have been credited with everything from solving crimes and spurring millions in charitable donations to seeding alt-right fury and even landing Donald Trump in the White House.