Science News

All Stories by Science News

  1. Space Atlas: Mapping the Universe and Beyond by James Trefil

    A large-format guide to the universe covers astronomy basics, with eye-catching images plus a foreword by former astronaut Buzz Aldrin. National Geographic, 2012, 335 p., $50

  2. Health & Medicine

    I Died for Beauty

    Dorothy Wrinch and the Cultures of Science by Marjorie Senechal.

  3. Life’s Ratchet: How Molecular Machines Extract Order from Chaos by Peter M. Hoffmann

    Explore life at the smallest scales in this look at how molecules within cells operate like machines to keep organisms alive. Basic Books, 2012, 278 p., $27.99

  4. Wind Wizard: Alan G. Davenport and the Art of Wind Engineering by Siobhan Roberts

    Skyscrapers and massive bridges would not be the same without Alan Davenport, whose engineering for wind conditions improved the safety of structures around the world. Princeton Univ., 2013, 278 p., $29.95

  5. Mad Science: Einstein’s Fridge, Dewar’s Flask, Mach’s Speed, and 362 Other Inventions and Discoveries that Made Our World by Randy Alfred, ed.

    Celebrate a technology anniversary for each day of the year with this compendium of inventions. Little, Brown and Co., 2012, 390 p., $19.99

  6. BOOK REVIEW: Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes by Maria Konnikova

    Review by Alexandra Witze.

  7. BOOK REVIEW: Nature Wars: The Incredible Story of How Wildlife Comebacks Turned Backyards into Battlegrounds by Jim Sterba

    Review by Sid Perkins.

  8. SN Online

    MATH TREK Economists say auction-based purchasing could create market chaos. See Julie Rehmeyer’s column “Devil is in the details of a new Medicare plan to buy medical supplies.” P. Mercier et al/Nature Biotechnology 2012 SCIENCE NEWS FOR KIDS Research in guinea pigs finds a way to power small electronic devices using a voltage difference in […]

  9. Science Future for February 9, 2013

    February 16 – 17 Kids can see science demonstrations, learn about cool science careers and talk to scientists at the annual Family Science Days at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Boston. Learn more at bit.ly/SFfamday2013 March 7 The Creatures of Light exhibit on bioluminescence comes to Chicago’s Field Museum. Find […]

  10. Science Past from the issue of February 9, 1963

    DIG DITCHES WITH ATOMS — Digging earth by atomic explosions is proving successful, but if President Kennedy’s suspension of underground atomic testing on Jan. 26 is maintained, the method may not be used practically. Future excavation experiments are described for the first time by the Atomic Energy Commission in its annual report to Congress. The […]

  11. Letters

    Weighing factors in obesity In “Obesity research gets weightier” (SN: 12/29/12, p. 28) Nathan Seppa says that green space and a nearby grocery store reduce the incidence of obesity. I think I understand how the green space affects it (clean air, physical activity, et cetera), but I don’t understand how the grocery store does. Is […]

  12. A Man of Misconceptions: The Life of an Eccentric in an Age of Change by John Glassie

    The eccentric life of the insatiably curious, but often wrong, 17th century scholar Athanasius Kircher is explored in this tale of his influence on science. Riverhead Books, 2012, 335 p., $26.95