All Stories
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The 50 Most Extreme Places in Our Solar System by David Baker and Todd Ratcliff
Tour Earth’s hottest, coldest, stormiest and stinkiest neighbors, plus the solar system’s weirdest phenomena. THE 50 MOST EXTREME PLACES IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM BY DAVID BAKER AND TODD RATCLIFF Harvard Univ. Press, 2010, 290 p., $27.95.
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Spider Silk by Leslie Brunetta and Catherine L. Craig
Arachnid evolution is woven into this history of one of the strongest natural materials. SPIDER SILK BY LESLIE BRUNETTA AND CATHERINE L. CRAIG Yale Univ. Press, 2010, 229 p., $30.
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2030: Technology That Will Change the World by Rutger van Santen, Djan Khoe and Bram Vermeer
A survey of science and engineering breakthroughs that may lead to technological leaps. 2030: TECHNOLOGY THAT WILL CHANGE THE WORLD BY RUTGER VAN SANTEN, DJAN KHOE AND BRAM VERMEER OxfordUniv. Press, 2010, 295 p., $29.95.
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How to Mellify a Corpse by Vicki León
Eighty-eight tales tell of science and superstition in the ancient world (including Alexander the Great’s mellification, or embalming in honey). HOW TO MELLIFY A CORPSE BY VICKI LEóN Walker, 2010, 308 p., $17.
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Much Ado About (Practically) Nothing: A History of the Noble Gases by David E. Fisher
Delve deep into the far right of the periodic table with a chemist who appreciates noble gases’ many uses. MUCH ADO ABOUT (PRACTICALLY) NOTHING: A HISTORY OF THE NOBLE GASES DAVID E. FISHER Oxford Univ. Press, 2010, 264 p., $24.95.
- Earth
Clean out your medicine cabinet: Today!
For years, people have been chastised for pitching unused drugs into the trash, turning them into potentially toxic pollutants that can leach into the environment. On Saturday, September 25, the Drug Enforcement Administration is offering to take those drugs off our hands. For free. No questions asked.
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We, robot: What real-life machines can and can’t do
As director of the Maryland Robotics Center, Satyandra Gupta oversees 25 faculty members working on all things robotic: snake-inspired robots, robotic swarms, minirobots for medicine and robots for exploring extreme environments on land, under the sea and in outer space. In September the Center hosted its first Robotics Day; afterward, Gupta talked robots with Science […]
- Health & Medicine
Disease donations
Sometimes organ donors share more than a functioning body part. They can unwittingly bestow quickly lethal infections. That’s what happened, beginning last November, according to a new case report.
- Space
Glowing auroras ring Saturn
A new movie documents changes in Saturn’s lights over nearly two days on the planet.
- Space
Particles in cahoots
Physicists have discovered curious connections in subatomic debris produced by the world’s largest particle collider.
- Life
Lone Star cats rescue cousins in Sunshine State
Florida panther numbers have tripled since the introduction of females from Texas injected vital genetic diversity, a new report says.
- Math
Potato chips: A symptom of the U.S. R&D problem
Last year, U.S. consumers spent $7.1 billion on potato chips — $2 billion more than the federal government’s total 2009 investment on research and development. There’s something wrong, here, when Americans are more willing to empty their wallets for the junk food that will swell their waistlines than for investments in the engine driving the creation of jobs, economic growth and national security.
