Natural Science

ChatGPT offers incredible possibilities for beginners and seasoned users alike, bridging the gap between basic use and career-enhancing prowess. This easy-to-follow guide unveils the potential lying within, eliminating any intimidation and replacing it with confidence and creativity.

A quiet revolution has been underway in recent years, with study after study revealing substantial same-sex sexual behavior in animals. Join celebrated author Eliot Schrefer on an exploration of queer behavior in the animal world—from albatrosses to bonobos to clownfish to doodlebugs. In sharp and witty prose Schrefer uses science, history, anthropology, and sociology to illustrate the diversity of sexual behavior in the animal world. Interviews with researchers in the field offer additional insights for readers and aspiring scientists.

Were dinosaurs really dumber than lizards? Why, after all, are roughly the same number of men and women born into the world? What led the famous Dr. Down to his theory of mongolism, and its racist residue? What do the panda's magical "thumb" and the sea turtle's perilous migration tell us about imperfections that prove the evolutionary rule? The wonders and mysteries of evolutionary biology are elegantly explored in these and other essays by the celebrated natural history writer Stephen Jay Gould.

Feathers are an evolutionary marvel: Aerodynamic, insulating, beguiling. They date back more than 100 million years. Yet their story has never been fully told. In Feathers, biologist Thor Hanson details a sweeping natural history, as feathers have been used to fly, protect, attract, and adorn through time and place. Applying the research of paleontologists, ornithologists, biologists, engineers, and even art historians, Hanson asks: What are feathers? How did they evolve? What do they mean to us?

Increasingly, cracks are appearing in the capacity of communities, ecosystems, and landscapes to provide the goods and services that sustain our planet's well-being. The response from most quarters has been for "more of the same" that created the situation in the first place: more control, more intensification, and greater efficiency. "Resilience thinking" offers a different way of understanding the world and a new approach to managing resources. It embraces human and natural systems as complex entities continually adapting through cycles of change.

Most adults, especially those with families, are busier than ever. The last thing they want to think about is the possibility of abandoning their home when a natural disaster, like flooding or a wildfire, strikes without warning.

Through explorations of a rich and varied urban landscape, Brenner reveals the complex micro-habitats and surprising nature found in the middle of a city. In her hometown of Seattle, which has plowed down hills, cut through the land to connect fresh- and saltwater, and paved over much of the rest, she exposes a diverse range of strange and unknown creatures.

It should have been a paradise cruise for me and the girls of Supernatural Inc. A luxury cruise ship, clear skies, fun and games, a little slap and tickle, and let's not forgot the gourmet buffets! But that glorious vacation is interrupted by a report of a mysterious ship appearing at Shelnora Island with dazed and confused passengers aboard. And when those passengers start dropping like flies, dying under bizarre, seemingly paranormal circumstances, panic sweeps the tropical isle.

We carry the weight of the world—working harder, earning less, and facing health challenges, all while society expects us to be "strong." But this pressure comes at a cost—burnout, anxiety, and low self-esteem.

Gunflint Burning is a comprehensive account of the dramatic events around the Ham Lake fire of 2007, one of the largest wildfires in Minnesota history. In sharp detail, Cary J. Griffith describes the key events of the fire as they unfold, transporting listeners to the front lines of an epic struggle that was at times heroic, tragic, and sublime.

I’m Tempest Corentine—21, single, and already dreading the next 21 years. Except one month ago, the impossible happened. I formed a magical bond with someone I’ve never met. The link appeared in my darkest moment, and finding this person is my sole purpose.

On the Origin of Species is one of the most important and influential books of its time and remains one of the most significant contributions to philosophical and scientific thought. The theories Darwin sets out here had an immediate and profound impact on the literature and philosophical thought of his contemporaries and continue to provoke thought and debate today. Written for the general public of the 1850s, On the Origin of Species laid out an evolutionary view of the world which challenged contemporary beliefs about divine providence and the fixity of species.

Can he control the beast within? Jacob is just like any other high school boy. He tries to make new friends and figure out the opposite sex, but he harbors a dark secret that isolates him from everyone else - schizophrenia. And the voice inside his head goads him to do horrific things. Can Jacob control his darker alter ego, or will tragedy unleash the beast hiding within? And more alarming, why and who are the outside forces pushing Jacob to reveal his darker side? Bestselling author Scott W Kimak tells the origin story of his most memorable character in this action-packed supernatural ...

Throughout history, rivers have been our foremost source of fresh water both for agriculture and for individual consumption, but now economists say that by 2025 water scarcity will cut global food production by more than the current U.S. grain harvest. In this groundbreaking book, veteran science correspondent Fred Pearce focuses on the dire state of the world's rivers to provide our most complete portrait yet of the growing world water crisis and its ramifications for us all.

Mother deer that grieve? Horses that feel shame? Squirrels that adopt their grandchildren? We humans tend to assume that we are the only living things able to experience feelings intensely and consciously. But have you ever wondered what's going on in an animal's head? From the leafy forest floor to the inside of a beehive, The Inner Life of Animals takes us from microscopic levels of observation to the big philosophical, ethical and scientific questions.

Sound interesting? The author thinks so too! Listen to Bully for Brontosaurus and learn about natural history.

Book I is a powerful transmission into the Being that is Yoga, that is beyond concepts, language and intellect and thus, may be called Natural Spirituality. It is a free flowing dance of self-born knowledge onto the page and an invocation of the awakening consciousness within the mature reader. The reader who only looks for repetitive practices or instructions will not find them in this book. Instead, what may be perceived is the vibratory quality of the written transmission itself, and the blissful, equanimous frequency of Natural Spirituality, and the emanation of the Being that vibrates ...

Koalas regularly appeared in Australian biologist Danielle Clode's backyard, but it was only when a bushfire threatened that she truly paid them attention. In vivid, descriptive prose, Clode embarks on a delightful and surprising journey through evolutionary biology, natural history, and ecology to understand where these enigmatic animals came from and what their future may hold. She begins her search with the fossils of ancient giant koalas, delving into why the modern koala has become the lone survivor of a once-diverse family of uniquely Australian marsupials.

On a Sunday in May 2008, an F5 tornado hit the town of Parkersburg, Iowa, killing eight people and destroying 250 homes and businesses within a span of 34 seconds. The next day, Parkersburg's beloved football coach, Ed Thomas, made a stunning prediction: "God willing, we will play our first home game here on this field this season."

After a chance meeting in the pub, Roger Morgan-Grenville and his friend Duncan decide to take up beekeeping. Their enthusiasm matched only by their ignorance, they are pitched into an arcane world of unexpected challenges. Coping with many setbacks along the way, they manage to create a colony of beehives, finishing two years later with more honey than anyone knows what to do with. By standing back from their normal lives and working with the cycle of the seasons, they emerge with a new-found understanding of nature and a respect for the honeybee and the threats it faces.