Reviews
- Life
Explore the history of blood from vampires to the ‘Menstrual Man’
Rose George’s book ‘Nine Pints’ offers readers an engaging and insightful cultural and scientific history of blood.
- Astronomy
The Neil Armstrong biopic ‘First Man’ captures early spaceflight’s terror
At a time when NASA is considering how to return astronauts to the moon, ‘First Man’ is a sobering reminder of how risky the first giant leap was.
- Health & Medicine
‘Sawbones’ invites readers to laugh at the bizarre history of medicine
‘The Sawbones Book,’ based on the popular podcast by Dr. Sydnee and Justin McElroy, ties the strange history of modern medicine to modern pseudoscience.
- Astronomy
‘Einstein’s Shadow’ explores what it takes to snap a black hole’s picture
The new book offers a behind-the-scenes look at the Event Horizon Telescope’s attempt to image a black hole.
- Plants
Smart plants can teach us a thing or two
‘The Revolutionary Genius of Plants’ challenges the brain-centered view of intelligence.
- Animals
‘Poached’ offers a deep, disturbing look into the illegal wildlife trade
In ‘Poached,’ a journalist reports from the front lines of the illegal wildlife trade and shows how conservationists are fighting back.
- Astronomy
‘Accessory to War’ probes the uneasy alliance between space science and the military
Neil deGrasse Tyson and Avis Lang’s ‘Accessory to War’ grapples with the millennia-old partnership between space science and warfare.
- Science & Society
Scientists-turned-students guide viewers through ‘The Most Unknown’
In The Most Unknown, a film on Netflix, a research round robin leads to fascinating discussions about scientific questions.
- Neuroscience
Strange brains offer a glimpse into the mind
A close look at unusual brains offers a way to understand how the human mind is constructed, two new books argue.
- Paleontology
What ‘The Meg’ gets wrong — and right — about megalodon sharks
A paleobiologist helps Science News separate shark fact from fiction in the new Jason Statham film The Meg.
- Animals
Got an environmental problem? Beavers could be the solution
A new book shows how important beavers have been in the past — and how they could improve the landscape of the future.
- Health & Medicine
‘The Poisoned City’ chronicles Flint’s water crisis
A new book examines how lead ended up in Flint’s water and resulted in a prolonged public health disaster.
