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ATOM & COSMOS Curiosity finds minerals consistent with habitability. See “Life-friendly environment confirmed on Mars.” JPL-Caltech/NASA BODY & BRAIN Scientists meld rat minds in “Rats do tasks while connected brain-to-brain.” CULTURE BEAKER See Rachel Ehrenberg’s column on website comments, “Trolls bad news for scientific discourse.” ON THE SCENE BLOG Kids build plasma guns and more […]

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Science Future for April 6, 2013.

Patents of the week

Science Past from the issue of April 6, 1963.

A genetic exhibitionist

The Science Life.

Letters to the editor

Get a grip The article “Pruney fingers get better grip” (SN: 2/9/13, p. 11) indicated that skin wrinkling in response to extended exposure to water was the result of constricting blood vessels. I was waiting to read about the possibility that this was the body’s response to prevent heat loss. Water has a high heat […]

BOOK REVIEW: The Kingdom of Rarities by Eric Dinerstein

Review by Janet Raloff.

BOOK REVIEW: Louis Agassiz: Creator of American Science by Christoph Irmscher

Review by Erin Wayman.

Alien Life Imagined: Communicating the Science and Culture of Astrobiology by Mark Brake

See how humans’ fascination with the possibility of extraterrestrial life has evolved over the centuries. Columbia Univ., 2013, 279 p., $35

Radiation: What It Is, What You Need to Know by Robert Peter Gale and Eric Lax

A medical doctor and a writer team up to dispel misconceptions about radioactivity and explain the risks of everyday exposures. Knopf, 2013, 270 p., $26.95

Friendfluence: The Surprising Ways Friends Make Us Who We Are by Carlin Flora

Citing studies on evolution and psychology, this exploration of the nature of friendship shows the importance of making and keeping friends. Doubleday, 2013, 288 p., $25.95

Antarctica: An Intimate Portrait of a Mysterious Continent by Gabrielle Walker

A science writer takes readers on a journey to the bottom of the Earth through firsthand accounts of her travels with scientists. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013, 388 p., $27

The Enlightenment Vision: Science, Reason, and the Promise of a Better Future by Stuart Jordan

A physicist reviews the Enlightenment of the 17th and 18th centuries — considered the “rise of reason” — and the progression of scientific knowledge since. Prometheus, 2013, 295 p., $26