Uncategorized
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Book Review: Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain by David Eagleman
Review by Laura Sanders.
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The Ragged Edge of the World by Eugene Linden
Buy this book A journalist follows cargo cults in New Guinea, Pygmies in Africa and other groups to trace industrialization’s effects. Viking, 2011, 256 p., $26.95
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Epigenetics by Richard C. Francis
Buy this book A rollicking narrative goes beyond the gene to show how external influences shape genetic legacy. W. W. Norton & Co., 2011, 224 p., $25.95
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Sex, Drugs, and Sea Slime: The Oceans’ Oddest Creatures and Why They Matter by Ellen Prager
Buy this book A tastefully scandalous tour of defensive secretions and extreme sexual flexibility backs up a plea for ocean conservation. Univ. of Chicago Press, 2011, 200 p., $26
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Antarctic Wildlife: A Visitor’s Guide by James Lowen
Buy this book This photographic field guide could come in handy on a cruise of the Antarctic Peninsula, or just be a fun way to learn about life way down under. Princeton Univ. Press, 2011, 240 p., $22.95
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Out of Character: Surprising Truths About the Liar, Cheat, Sinner (and Saint) Lurking in All of Us by David DeSteno and Piercarlo Valdesolo
Subtle changes in environment and context can lead anyone to act as either a saint or a sinner, two psychologists argue, highlighting the flexibility of character. OUT OF CHARACTER Crown Archetype, 2011, 259 p., $25
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Science Past from the issue of July 15, 1961
CERAMICS PROVED BEST FOR POWER GENERATORS — Ceramics have proved to be the best material for checking the white-hot stream of gases in a new kind of electric power generators. Westinghouse Electric Corporation scientists, Pittsburgh, Pa., believe ceramics will be superior to iron and steel for magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) electric power generators. They found that ceramics, […]
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Science Future for July 16, 2011
July 23 – 24 Learn the secrets of bubbles at the 6th Annual Bubble Days at Baltimore’s Maryland Science Center. Go to www.mdsci.org July 27 Explore the science behind athletics from basketball and cycling to ballet’s toe balancing, in Portland, Ore. Ages 21+. See www.omsi.edu/afterdark July 30 Stargaze with Smithsonian and amateur astronomers near Paris, […]
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SN Online
ATOM & COSMOS Researchers finally detect muon neutrinos switching to electron neutrinos, plus more updates in “News in Brief: Atom & Cosmos.” GENES & CELLS Triggering sleep in fruit fly brains turns the bugs’ short-term memories into long-lived ones. Read “From Z’s to A’s.” LIFE Male cleaner fish punish females when they scare big clients […]
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Letters
Yawn and open your ears I read with interest your article on yawning (“Yawn,” SN: 5/7/11, p. 28). Over the years I have formulated a private theory on at least one of the reasons why we yawn and would like to share my speculations with your readership. My insight essentially began when I noticed that […]
- Paleontology
Dinosaurs died of rickets
After more than 80 years, a theory that too little vitamin D led to the demise of the dinos still awaits a shred of evidence.
- Health & Medicine
Body & Brain
The right speed for a caress, plus the punny brain, rocking babies and more in this week’s news.
