Uncategorized
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BOOK REVIEW: Eruptions That Shook the World by Clive Oppenheimer
Review by Alexandra Witze.
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BOOK REVIEW: Weeds: In Defense of Nature’s Most Unloved Plants by Richard Mabey
Review by Sid Perkins.
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Avian Architecture: How Birds Design, Engineer, and Buildby Peter Goodfellow
A browsable, amply illustrated overview of avian construction from mere scrapes in the sand to edible structures people prize for soup. Princeton Univ. Press, 2011, 160 p., $27.95
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The Mathematics of Life by Ian Stewart
In this engaging overview, a mathematician describes how the field of biomathematics is answering key questions about the natural world and the origins of life. Basic Books, 2011, 358 p., $27.99
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Falling to Earth: An Apollo 15 Astronaut’s Journey to the Moon by Al Worden with Francis French
An astronaut offers a candid look at his trip to the moon, including the scandal that ended his spacefaring days. Smithsonian Books, 2011, 304 p., $29.95
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The Sun’s Heartbeat: And Other Stories from the Life of the Star That Powers Our Planet by Bob Berman
Light-hearted tales trace human understanding of Earth’s nearest star and of the sun’s effects on Earth. Little, Brown and Co., 2011, 304 p., $25.99
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War’s Waste: Rehabilitation in World War I America by Beth Linker
An account of how World War I influenced veteran medical treatment delves into the rise of rehabilitation therapy and the costs of supporting wounded veterans. Univ. of Chicago Press, 2011, 291 p., $35
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Letters
Prescient sci-fi It took the Science News editor in chief to recognize the most prescient science “fiction” movie of all time, Forbidden Planet (“Science brings real life to the technologies of fiction,” SN: 7/2/11, p. 2). Beyond civilization without instrumentalities, the film also brought us lasers before there were masers, Robby [the Robot] analyzing molecular […]
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Russians Dig to Reach Below Earth’s Crust
During the space race, U.S. and Soviet teams also engaged in a less-famous contest — to drill down to the boundary between the Earth’s crust and mantle.
- Health & Medicine
Body & Brain
Sour news for cranberries, libido-sapping drugs, the social brain and more in this week’s news
- Life
Dolphin may sense the body electric
Organs on the species' snout help it detect faint fields, like those generated by prey.
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