Uncategorized
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BOOK REVIEW: DNA USA: A Genetic Portrait of America by Bryan Sykes
Review by Tina Hesman Saey.
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Mathletics: A Scientist Explains 100 Amazing Things About the World of Sports by John D. Barrow
See what math reveals about sports, from the possibility of speeding up Usain Bolt to the physics of high jumping’s backward flop. W.W. Norton & Co., 2012, 298 p., $26.95
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Finding the Arctic: History and Culture Along a 2,500-Mile Snowmobile Journey from Alaska to Hudson’s Bay by Matthew Sturm
A climate researcher intertwines the story of his own snow-mobile expedition with the history of life and exploration in the Arctic. Univ. of Alaska, 2012, 258 p., $24.95
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The Case of the Green Turtle: An Uncensored History of a Conservation Icon by Alison Rieser
The story of efforts to save green sea turtles, including by farming them, illustrates conflicts common to conservation work. Johns Hopkins, 2012, 338 p., $45
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From Here to Infinity: A Vision for the Future of Science by Martin Rees
An astrophysicist proposes ways for scientists and the public to tackle problems together, from climate change and energy to health care and population growth. W.W. Norton & Co., 2012, 144 p., $23.95
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A Field Guide to Radiation by Wayne Biddle
From “absorbed dose” to zirconium-95, this alphabetical collection of essays makes an interesting guide to the nuclear age. Penguin, 2012, 258 p., $16
- Planetary Science
Planetary Peekaboo
Astronomers aren’t playing games when it comes to spotting an exoEarth.
- Tech
When Networks Network
Once studied solo, systems display surprising behavior when they interact.
- Chemistry
Too-young caterpillars like scent of sex
Larvae respond to mate-attracting pheromones, raising evolutionary questions about what a very grown-up chemical signal could mean to them.
- Humans
Herders, not farmers, built Stonehenge
Farming’s temporary demise in ancient Britain may have spurred the creation of the iconic stone circle.
- Planetary Science
Voyager chasing solar system’s edge
On the 35th anniversary of the spacecraft’s launch, scientists ponder when it will move beyond the sun’s reach.
- Life
Team releases sequel to the human genome
ENCODE reveals the machinery that switches genes on and off.
