Genetic Science

In Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid, biologist Thor Hanson tells the remarkable story of how plants and animals are responding to climate change: adjusting, evolving, and sometimes dying out. Anole lizards have grown larger toe pads, to grip more tightly in frequent hurricanes. Warm waters cause the development of Humboldt squid to alter so dramatically that fishermen mistake them for different species. Brown pelicans move north, and long-spined sea urchins south, to find cooler homes.

When people started to develop superpowers, the world changed forever. Me? I wasn't one of the lucky ones with powers. So I had to develop more mundane skills, skills which have taken me across the globe on dangerous missions. But there are some missions I’ve always had to refuse. I've never been able to take on a super. They're just too powerful. They're gods, whereas I'm just a man, even with all my knowledge and training. All that changes after I discover my dad's secret research project.

With stories that entertain as much as they inform, renowned evolutionist David Sloan Wilson outlines the basic principles of evolution and shows how, when properly understood, they can illuminate the length and breadth of creation, from the origin of life to the nature of religion.

In the great halls of science, dogma holds that Darwin's theory of natural selection explains every branch on the tree of life: which species thrive, which wither away to extinction, and what features each evolves. But can adaptation by natural selection really account for everything we see in nature? Yale University ornithologist Richard Prum - reviving Darwin's own views - thinks not.

Dr. Greg Schorn is now working with the Department of Extraterrestrial and Alien Defense (D.E.A.D.). And no one is more surprised than him. After the events in Norway, Greg was sure he would never go back into government work. Yet just a few months later, he is back in the United States working at the new D.E.A.D. headquarters in upstate New York. But it's not the same D.E.A.D. that existed under Martin Drummond's tyrannical rule. The biggest change starts at the top: Norah Tidwell is the director. But more importantly, missions are not always kill on sight.

For decades medical science has believed that genes determined our biological destiny. Now the new genetics has changed that assumption forever. You will always have the genes you were born with, but genes are dynamic, responding to everything we think, say, and do. Suddenly they've become our strongest allies for personal transformation. When you make lifestyle choices that optimize how your genes behave, you can reach for a state of health and fulfillment undreamed of even a decade ago.

Why are we the way we are? Why do some of us find it impossible to calm a quick temper or to shake anxiety? The debate has always been divided between nature and nurture, but as psychology professor Daniel P. Keating demonstrates in Born Anxious, new DNA science points to a third factor that allows us to inherit both the nature and the nurture of previous generations - with significant consequences.

Short, sassy, and bold, Mean Genes reveals that our struggles for self-improvement are, in fact, battles against our own genes - genes that helped our distant ancestors flourish, but are selfish and out of place in the modern world.

One of the biggest discoveries in physics, the quest for the Higgs boson demonstrates the value of a good theory. In July 2012, a Higgs-like particle was found near the energies scientists predicted. Now, armed with better evidence and better questions, the scientific process continues. In this audiobook, we’ve gathered our best reporting to explain that process - the theories, the search, the discovery, and the ongoing questions.

The crew of the Capricious seems to leave a trail of devastation wherever they go. But with powerful enemies in pursuit and family and friends under attack planetside, there's no time to worry about all that. Ensnared by the legend of Origin, humanity's birthplace, and a long-dead form of magic, the Capricious takes off on a journey to find the first colony ship...and power that could bring down gods.

Grab this boxed set collection of the first 4 books in the Bad Company series today! Humanity’s greatest export-Justice. Space is a dangerous place, even for the wary, especially for the unprepared. The aliens have no idea. Here comes the Bad Company. Book 1, The Bad Company, Book 2, Blockade, Book 3, Price of Freedom, and Book 4, Liberation. Join the Bad Company as they fight an enemy from their worst nightmares.

Our species has amassed unprecedented knowledge of nature, which we have tried to use to seize control of life and bend the planet to our will. In A Natural History of the Future, biologist Rob Dunn argues that such efforts are futile. We may see ourselves as life’s overlords, but we are instead at its mercy. In the evolution of antibiotic resistance, the power of natural selection to create biodiversity, and even the surprising life of the London Underground, Dunn finds laws of life that no human activity can annul.

“There is no good reason why human societies should not be described and explained with the same precision and success as the rest of nature.” Thus argues evolutionary psychologist Pascal Boyer in this uniquely innovative book. Integrating recent insights from evolutionary biology, genetics, psychology, economics, and other fields, Boyer offers precise models of why humans engage in social behaviors such as forming families, tribes, and nations, or creating gender roles.

>In Journey of the Universe Brian Thomas Swimme and Mary Evelyn Tucker tell the epic story of the universe from an inspired new perspective, weaving the findings of modern science together with enduring wisdom found in the humanistic traditions of the West, China, India, and indigenous peoples. The authors explore cosmic evolution as a profoundly wondrous process based on creativity, connection, and interdependence, and they envision an unprecedented opportunity for the world's people to address the daunting ecological and social challenges of our times.

Our ability to think about the future is one of the most powerful tools at our disposal. In The Invention of Tomorrow, cognitive scientists Thomas Suddendorf, Jonathan Redshaw, and Adam Bulley argue that its emergence transformed humans from unremarkable primates to creatures that hold the destiny of the planet in their hands. Drawing on their own cutting-edge research, the authors break down the science of foresight, showing us where it comes from, how it works, and how it made our world.

In search of answers to both his past and his future, Hal and his newly formed crew must overcome obstacles unlike anything they’ve ever seen. Hal needs repairs, and there’s only so many places a Reaper can find them. Far across known space, hidden inside an uncharted slip tunnel, a hidden Reaper facility may hold the answers Hal needs. But the Union would rather the dead stay buried...and they’ll kill to keep their secrets.

In Jonathan Maberry's The Dragon Factory, Joe Ledger and the DMS (Department of Military Sciences) face their deadliest threat yet when they go up against two competing groups of geneticists bent on world domination. One side is creating exotic transgenic monsters and genetically enhanced...

Driven by desperation, Urban accepts a position within the elite Dragons AI team, a high-stakes gamble that will propel her into the heart of the turbulent West. As she follows the elusive clues to the hybrid, the journey takes her closer to uncovering the truths about her own origins and the odd circumstances surrounding her adoption. Tensions between the Enhanced and Naturals grow increasingly violent, and the Western Federation teeters on the brink of civil war. Urban's choices threaten to tear her family apart, and the secrets she unearths just might shatter the balance of society.

Seventy years ago, Erwin Schrdinger posed a simple, yet profound, question: What is life?. How could the very existence of such extraordinary chemical systems be understood? This problem has puzzled biologists and physical scientists both before, and ever since. Living things are hugely complex and have unique properties, such as self-maintenance and apparently purposeful behaviour which we do not see in inert matter. So how does chemistry give rise to biology?

Screams come next. Then the hunters. With a staccato flicker, the light disappears and everything within a hundred-yard radius goes with it. A massive crater is all that remains where a chunk of the world has gone missing. As the deadly phenomenon repeats and expands amidst the world's most densely populated cities—carving apartment buildings in half, scooping away entire city blocks, and claiming thousands of lives—Jack Sigler, call sign King, and his black ops team take action.