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Unstoppable: Harnessing Science to Change the World
by Bill Nye“Climate change is coming. What can we do about it? TV’s ‘Science Guy’ has some answers. . . . An important message delivered in a winning manner.” —Kirkus ReviewsJust as World War II called an earlier generation to greatness, so the climate crisis is calling today’s rising youth to action: to create a better future.In Unstoppable, Bill Nye expands the message for which he is best known and beloved. That message is that with a combination of optimism and scientific curiosity, obstacles become opportunities, and the possibilities of our world become limitless. With a scientist’s thirst for knowledge and an engineer’s vision of what can be, Bill Nye sees today’s environmental issues not as insurmountable problems but as chances for our society to rise to the challenge and create a cleaner, healthier, smarter world. We need not accept that transportation consumes half our energy, and that two-thirds of the energy you put into your car is immediately thrown away out the tailpipe. We need not accept that dangerous emissions are the price we must pay for a vibrant economy and a comfortable life. Above all, we need not accept that we will leave our children a planet that is dirty, overheated, and depleted of resources. As Bill shares his vision, he debunks some of the most persistent myths and misunderstandings about global warming. When you are done reading, you’ll be enlightened and empowered. Chances are, you’ll be smiling, too, ready to join Bill and change the world.
Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1500 Years
by S. Fred Singer Dennis T. AveryAdmitting the existence of global warming, but denying that there is scientific consensus surrounding its causes and the threat it poses, Singer (George Mason U.) and Avery (of the Hudson Institute) argue that recent warming is part of a natural cycle of warming and chilling connected to changes in the sun and dispute the evidence regarding humanity's role in driving it through the production of carbons. They also suggest that it is likely to be much less of a problem than many have predicted. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Unsupervised Feature Extraction Applied to Bioinformatics: A PCA Based and TD Based Approach (Unsupervised and Semi-Supervised Learning)
by Y-h. TaguchiThis book proposes applications of tensor decomposition to unsupervised feature extraction and feature selection. The author posits that although supervised methods including deep learning have become popular, unsupervised methods have their own advantages. He argues that this is the case because unsupervised methods are easy to learn since tensor decomposition is a conventional linear methodology. This book starts from very basic linear algebra and reaches the cutting edge methodologies applied to difficult situations when there are many features (variables) while only small number of samples are available. The author includes advanced descriptions about tensor decomposition including Tucker decomposition using high order singular value decomposition as well as higher order orthogonal iteration, and train tenor decomposition. The author concludes by showing unsupervised methods and their application to a wide range of topics. Allows readers to analyze data sets with small samples and many features;Provides a fast algorithm, based upon linear algebra, to analyze big data;Includes several applications to multi-view data analyses, with a focus on bioinformatics.
Unsupervised Feature Extraction Applied to Bioinformatics: A PCA Based and TD Based Approach (Unsupervised and Semi-Supervised Learning)
by Y-h. TaguchiThis updated book proposes applications of tensor decomposition to unsupervised feature extraction and feature selection. The author posits that although supervised methods including deep learning have become popular, unsupervised methods have their own advantages. He argues that this is the case because unsupervised methods are easy to learn since tensor decomposition is a conventional linear methodology. This book starts from very basic linear algebra and reaches the cutting edge methodologies applied to difficult situations when there are many features (variables) while only small number of samples are available. The author includes advanced descriptions about tensor decomposition including Tucker decomposition using high order singular value decomposition as well as higher order orthogonal iteration, and train tensor decomposition. The author concludes by showing unsupervised methods and their application to a wide range of topics.
Unsustainable: The History and Politics of Green Energy
by James T. BennettThis book examines the history, politics, and economics of alternative energy. Since the energy crisis of the 1970s, governments around the world have subsidized and otherwise incentivized alternative forms of energy to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. This search has taken on added urgency in the twenty-first century, as the specter of climate change has engendered ambitious state-level renewable portfolio standards, enhanced federal incentives, and inspired “100% renewable” electrical generation targets in such states as Vermont and Hawaii. To save the planet from destruction, wind, solar, and other renewable energy alternatives must replace fossil fuels. But how did we get here and what is the cost? After an in-depth study of the Carter administration's synthetic fuels program, the focus shifts to the two most prominent, perhaps most promising, and certainly most promoted—and government subsidized—“green” and “renewable” energies today: wind and solar. Because wind has made the most headway and drawn the most controversy, it receives the most attention. Although the primary focus is on the American experience with renewable energy, the policies and politics of renewables in Scotland, Wales, Denmark, Spain, and other European nations are also discussed. Issues considered in the book include the nature and efficacy of renewable subsidies; the employment of federal and state tax codes to encourage renewables; the lobbies and interest groups that campaign for government support of renewables; and the fierce battles over the siting of renewable facilities. Unlike other works on this subject, the book probes in depth the nature of the opposition to wind and solar, both in the matter of siting and in their worthiness as recipients of substantial government assistance.
Untamed: The Wild Life of Jane Goodall
by Anita SilveyJane Goodall, one of the most recognized scientists in the Western world, became internationally famous because of her ability to observe and connect with another species. A girl of humble beginnings and training, she made scientific breakthroughs thought impossible by more experienced field observers when she was only in her twenties. Then these animals shaped Jane's life. She began tirelessly fighting to protect the environment so that chimpanzees and other animals will continue have a place and a future on our planet. Jane Goodall continues to leave the modern world with an extraordinary legacy and has changed the scientific community forever.
Untangling Complex Systems: A Grand Challenge for Science
by Pier GentiliComplex Systems are natural systems that science is unable to describe exhaustively. Examples of Complex Systems are both unicellular and multicellular living beings; human brains; human immune systems; ecosystems; human societies; the global economy; the climate and geology of our planet. This book is an account of a marvelous interdisciplinary journey the author made to understand properties of the Complex Systems. He has undertaken his trip, equipped with the fundamental principles of physical chemistry, in particular, the Second Law of Thermodynamics that describes the spontaneous evolution of our universe, and the tools of Non-linear dynamics. By dealing with many disciplines, in particular, chemistry, biology, physics, economy, and philosophy, the author demonstrates that Complex Systems are intertwined networks, working in out-of-equilibrium conditions, which exhibit emergent properties, such as self-organization phenomena and chaotic behaviors in time and space.
Untangling Complexity—Peace Building Engineering: Systems Thinking & Complexity Management to Support Community Development (Synthesis Lectures on Engineers, Technology, & Society #29)
by Camilo Andrés Navarro ForeroThis book examines how the rapid acceleration and interconnection of globalization comes with the need for more flexible and adaptable solutions to complex problems and solutions. It describes and demonstrates possible combinations of methods and methodologies to address the complex problems that the world offers us today. Sharing meaningful experiences of the application of workshops in mixed public private companies and with vulnerable communities and peacebuilding communities. The text offers readers, who are looking for tools to face complexity and enhance their projects, real-world examples and accessible methods. The book is based on advanced engineering tools however it is understandable and accessible to a broad audience.This book is for decision makers involved with social complex systems who are uncertain about how they should start and proceed. Discussions on new methodologies to support engineering interventions with communities are being shown. A new multi-methodology proposal called “Complexity Funnel Methodology” (CFM) dissected in “Social Transformation Workshops” (STW) is provided and discussed. It is used with combinations of different methods and methodologies of critical Systems thinking. The implementation of this methodology is described using a case study approach.
Untapped Knowledge in India’s E-Waste Industry: A Roadmap to Strengthen the Informal Economy (Palgrave Advances in the Economics of Innovation and Technology)
by T. S. KrishnanThis book focuses on the economic, political, and cultural factors that make up India’s “informal processors,” which are the highly networked, multi-generational systems that reuse, repurpose, and otherwise dispose of 80% of India’s electronic waste. The research includes insight from more than ninety interviews with forty-nine key stakeholders working within India’s e-waste processing industry. This vital resource explores the complexities of the e-waste industry, and it comprehensively explains the importance of developing context-specific solutions that leverage the inherent strengths of informal processors. The resulting resource offers a counterpoint to mainstream arguments that dismiss the value of expertise from informal processors.
Unternehmensplanung für Ingenieure (essentials)
by Ekbert HeringDie meisten Ingenieure in der Praxis übernehmen Führungsverantwortung. Dabei ist vor allem die Planungskompetenz gefragt. Es muss einerseits die nahe Zukunft geplant werden, beispielsweise für Umsätze, Ergebnisse und Liquiditäten von Sparten, Produkten und in Märkten für die nächsten drei Jahre. Andererseits ist es erforderlich, zukünftige Entwicklungen des Unternehmens in einem dynamischen Wettbewerbsumfeld zu planen. Diese strategische Planung ist die entscheidende Weichenstellung für den Erfolg der Zukunft. Deshalb werden in diesem Band die Methoden der strategischen und operativen Planung vorgestellt. In einem gesamtheitlichen Rahmen werden die Einzelpläne diskutiert (z. B. Umsatz-, Kosten-, Finanz- und Personalpläne) und ihr zeitlicher Horizont bestimmt sowie der zeitliche Ablauf vorgestellt.
Unterrichtskonzeptionen für den Physikunterricht: Ein Lehrbuch für Studium, Referendariat und Unterrichtspraxis
by Thomas Wilhelm Horst Schecker Martin HopfWelche Möglichkeiten habe ich für die Gestaltung des nächsten Themas meines Physikunterrichts? Diese Frage stellt sich Lehrkräften immer wieder. Dieses Lehrbuch hilft Lehramtsstudierenden, Referendaren und Lehrkräften dabei, Unterrichtskonzeptionen und ihre Leitideen besser zu verstehen und mögliche Alternativen für den eigenen Unterricht kennenzulernen. Die Autorinnen und Autoren stellen verschiedene Unterrichtskonzeptionen detailliert vor, die im deutschsprachigen Raum für den Physikunterricht entwickelt und in der Schulpraxis erprobt wurden. Zu allen Konzeptionen werden Quellen für Unterrichtsmaterialien angegeben. Die Kapitel beinhalten Übungen, die Leserinnen und Leser zum Durchdenken der Inhalte anregen.Im einführenden Kapitel des Werkes wird erläutert, in welchen Entwicklungszusammenhängen Unterrichtskonzeptionen entstehen. In vierzehn folgenden Themenkapiteln werden jeweils mehrere konkrete Unterrichtskonzeptionen mit ihren Leitideen und ihren Unterrichtsgängen vorgestellt. Die Inhaltsbereiche erstrecken sich vom Anfang der Sekundarstufe I bis hin zur gymnasialen Oberstufe. Dazu zählen u. a. die Optik, Mechanik, Wärmelehre, Elektrizitätslehre, Magnetismus, Felder, Quantenphysik, aber auch Nature of Science, fächerübergreifender Unterricht und prozessbezogene Kompetenzen.Die Leser und Leserinnen werden nach der Lektüre• Unterrichtskonzeptionen in wichtigen Gebieten der Schulphysik kennen,• wissen, was die jeweiligen Grundideen, Ziele und Elementarisierungen sind,• wissen, wo man Unterrichtsmaterialien zu den Unterrichtskonzeptionen findet,• die eigenen Vorstellungen, wie man ein Thema unterrichten sollte, durchdacht und überdacht haben.Leserinnen und Leser werden sich mit verschiedenen Zugängen, ein Thema zu unterrichten, beschäftigen und dadurch ihr Unterrichtsrepertoire erweitern können.
Unterrichtsmethoden für MINT-Fächer
by Andreas ZendlerMathematik, Informatik, Naturwissenschaften (Biologie, Chemie, Physik) und Technik - seit Jahren findet in der breiten Öffentlichkeit eine angeregte Diskussion über diese sogenannten MINT-Fächer statt. Denn das in den MINT-Fächern vermittelte Wissen ist die unverzichtbare Grundlage für die Ausbildung der in Deutschland dringend benötigten Fachkräfte. Darum fordern Politik und Wirtschaft eine stärkere Gewichtung der Fächer, aber auch eine Verbesserung der Unterrichtsqualität. Dieses Buch stellt 20 verschiedene, wissenschaftlich fundierte Methoden für den MINT-Unterricht vor und erläutert die Rolle der digitalen Medien als fächerübergreifendes Element. Die interdisziplinäre Betrachtungsweise bietet Lehrern einen umfassenden Überblick über die verschiedenen Möglichkeiten und Ansätze für den eigenen Unterricht. Für jede der vorgestellten Methoden geben die Autoren wissenschaftliche fundierte Einschätzungen zu ihrer Lerneffektivität und erleichtern so Lehrkräften die Auswahl der geeignetsten Methoden für den eigenen Unterricht. Detaillierte Unterrichtsmodelle helfen bei der Umsetzung in der Praxis. Damit erhalten Lehrer und Lehramtsstudenten einen umfassenden Einblick in die effektivsten Unterrichtsmodelle für ein prozess- und ergebnisorientiertes Lernen in den MINT-Fächern. Dieses Buch lässt sich ideal fächerübergreifend einsetzen und dient dazu, die Lerneffektivität speziell im MINT-Unterricht bei Schülerinnen und Schülern zu verbessern.
Untethered Miniature Soft Robots: Materials, Fabrications, and Applications
by Li Zhang Jiachen Zhang Neng Xia Yue DongUntethered Miniature Soft Robots Reference on achieving contactless manipulation of soft robots, detailing high level concepts and perspectives and technical skills of soft robots Untethered Miniature Soft Robots: Materials, Fabrications, and Applications introduces the emerging field of miniature soft robots and summarizes the recent rapid development in the field to date, describing different types of functional materials to build miniature soft robots, such as silicone elastomer, carbon-based materials, hydrogels, liquid crystal polymer, flexible ferrofluid, and liquid metal, and covering the material properties, fabrication strategies, and functionalities in soft robots together with their underlying mechanisms. The book discusses magnetically, thermally, optically, and chemically actuated soft robots in depth, explores the many specific applications of miniature soft robots in biomedical, environmental, and electrical fields and summarizes the development of miniature soft robots based on soft matter, fabrication strategies, locomotion principles, sensing and actuation mechanisms. In closing, the text summarizes the opportunities and challenges faced by miniature soft robots, providing expert insight into the possible futures of this field. Written by four highly qualified academics, Untethered Miniature Soft Robots covers sample topics such as: Soft elastomer-based robots with programmable magnetization profiles and untethered soft robots based on template-aiding Working mechanisms of carbon-based materials, covering light-induced expansion and shrinkage, and humidity-induced deformation Designing microscale building blocks, modular assembly of building blocks based on Denavit-Hartenberg (DH) matrix, and inverse and forward design of modular morphing systems Material designs of magnetic liquid crystal elastomers (LCE) systems, multiple-stimuli responsiveness of magnetic LCE systems, and adaptive locomotion of magnetic LCE-based robots Controllable deformation and motion behaviors, as well as applications of ferrofluids droplet robots (FDRs), including cargo capturing, object sorting, liquid pumping/mixing, and liquid skin. Providing highly detailed and up-to-date coverage of the topic, Untethered Miniature Soft Robots serves as an invaluable and highly comprehensive reference for researchers working in this promising field across a variety of disciplines, including materials scientists, mechanical and electronics engineers, polymer chemists, and biochemists.
Unthinkable: An Extraordinary Journey Through the World's Strangest Brains
by Helen Thomson'Wonderfully clear, fluent and eye-opening' THE TIMES'A stirring scientific journey, a celebration of human diversity and a call to rethink the "unthinkable"' NATURE'An utterly fascinating romp around the nether regions of the human mind' BIG ISSUEIMAGINE . . . getting lost in a one-room flat; seeing auras; never forgetting a moment; a permanent orchestra in your head; turning into a tiger; life as an out-of-body experience; feeling other people's pain; being convinced you are dead; becoming a different person overnight.Our brains are far stranger than we think. We take it for granted that we can remember, feel emotion, navigate, empathise and understand the world around us, but how would our lives change if these abilities were dramatically enhanced - or disappeared overnight? Award-winning science writer Helen Thomson has spent years travelling the world tracking down incredibly rare brain disorders. In Unthinkable she tells the stories of nine extraordinary people. From the man who thinks he's a tiger to the doctor who feels the pain of others just by looking at them, their experiences illustrate how the brain can shape our lives in unexpected and, in some cases, brilliant and alarming ways. Delving into the rich histories of these conditions, exploring the very latest research and cutting-edge medical techniques, Thomson explains the workings of our consciousness, our emotions, our creativity and even the mechanisms that allow us to understand our own existence. Story by remarkable story, Unthinkable takes us on an unforgettable journey through the human brain. Discover how to forge memories that never disappear, how to grow an alien limb and how to make better decisions. Learn how to hallucinate and how to make yourself happier in a split second. Find out how to avoid getting lost, how to see more of your reality, even how exactly you can confirm you are alive. Think the unthinkable.
Unthinkable: An Extraordinary Journey Through the World's Strangest Brains
by Helen ThomsonHow the mind works -- everything from memory to emotion, navigation to creativity -- explained in nine extraordinary human stories.IMAGINE . . . getting lost in a one-room flat; seeing auras; never forgetting a moment; a permanent orchestra in your head; turning into a tiger; life as an out-of-body experience; feeling other people's pain; being convinced you are dead; becoming a different person overnight.Our brains are far stranger than we think. We take it for granted that we can remember, feel emotion, navigate, empathise and understand the world around us, but how would our lives change if these abilities were dramatically enhanced - or disappeared overnight? Award-winning science writer Helen Thomson has spent years travelling the world tracking down incredibly rare brain disorders. In Unthinkable she tells the stories of nine extraordinary people. From the man who thinks he's a tiger to the doctor who feels the pain of others just by looking at them, their experiences illustrate how the brain can shape our lives in unexpected and, in some cases, brilliant and alarming ways. Delving into the rich histories of these conditions, exploring the very latest research and cutting-edge medical techniques, Thomson explains the workings of our consciousness, our emotions, our creativity and even the mechanisms that allow us to understand our own existence. Story by remarkable story, Unthinkable takes us on an unforgettable journey through the human brain. Discover how to forge memories that never disappear, how to grow an alien limb and how to make better decisions. Learn how to hallucinate and how to make yourself happier in a split second. Find out how to avoid getting lost, how to see more of your reality, even how exactly you can confirm you are alive. Think the unthinkable.(P)2018 John Murray Press
Unthinkable: An Extraordinary Journey Through the World's Strangest Brains
by Helen ThomsonIn this Indiebound bestseller, the award-winning science writer unlocks the biggest mysteries of the human brain by examining nine extraordinary cases.Our brains are far stranger than we think. We take it for granted that we can remember, feel emotion, navigate, empathize and understand the world around us, but how would our lives change if these abilities were dramatically enhanced—or disappeared overnight?Helen Thomson has spent years travelling the world, tracking down incredibly rare brain disorders. In Unthinkable she tells the stories of nine extraordinary people she encountered along the way. From the man who thinks he’s a tiger to the doctor who feels the pain of others just by looking at them to a woman who hears music that’s not there, their experiences illustrate how the brain can shape our lives in unexpected and, in some cases, brilliant and alarming ways.Story by remarkable story, Unthinkable takes us on an unforgettable journey through the human brain. Discover how to forge memories that never disappear, how to grow an alien limb and how to make better decisions. Learn how to hallucinate and how to make yourself happier in a split second. Find out how to avoid getting lost, how to see more of your reality, even how exactly you can confirm you are alive. Think the unthinkable.“Helen Thomson’s remarkable book is an astonishing tour of the human brain in all its awesome power and bewildering variation . . . Unthinkable will enrich your brain, blow your mind, and warm your heart.” —Ed Yong, Pulitzer Prize-winning author
Unthought: The Power of the Cognitive Nonconscious
by N. Katherine HaylesN. Katherine Hayles is known for breaking new ground at the intersection of the sciences and the humanities. In Unthought, she once again bridges disciplines by revealing how we think without thinking—how we use cognitive processes that are inaccessible to consciousness yet necessary for it to function. Marshalling fresh insights from neuroscience, cognitive science, cognitive biology, and literature, Hayles expands our understanding of cognition and demonstrates that it involves more than consciousness alone. Cognition, as Hayles defines it, is applicable not only to nonconscious processes in humans but to all forms of life, including unicellular organisms and plants. Startlingly, she also shows that cognition operates in the sophisticated information-processing abilities of technical systems: when humans and cognitive technical systems interact, they form “cognitive assemblages”—as found in urban traffic control, drones, and the trading algorithms of finance capital, for instance—and these assemblages are transforming life on earth. The result is what Hayles calls a “planetary cognitive ecology,” which includes both human and technical actors and which poses urgent questions to humanists and social scientists alike. At a time when scientific and technological advances are bringing far-reaching aspects of cognition into the public eye, Unthought reflects deeply on our contemporary situation and moves us toward a more sustainable and flourishing environment for all beings.
Until Darwin, Science, Human Variety and the Origins of Race
by B Ricardo BrownThis work fills a gap in recent studies on the history of race and science. Focusing on both the classification systems of human variety and the development of science as the arbiter of truth, Brown looks at the rise of the emerging sciences of life and society – biology and sociology – as well as the debate surrounding slavery and abolition.
Until Proven Safe: The History and Future of Quarantine
by Geoff Manaugh Nicola TwilleyGeoff Manaugh and Nicola Twilley have been researching quarantine since long before the COVID-19 pandemic. With Until Proven Safe, they bring us a book as compelling as it is definitive, not only urgent reading for social-distanced times but also an up-to-the-minute investigation of the interplay of forces–––biological, political, technological––that shape our modern world.Quarantine is our most powerful response to uncertainty: it means waiting to see if something hidden inside us will be revealed. It is also one of our most dangerous, operating through an assumption of guilt. In quarantine, we are considered infectious until proven safe.Until Proven Safe tracks the history and future of quarantine around the globe, chasing the story of emergency isolation through time and space—from the crumbling lazarettos of the Mediterranean, built to contain the Black Death, to an experimental Ebola unit in London, and from the hallways of the CDC to closed-door simulations where pharmaceutical execs and epidemiologists prepare for the outbreak of a novel coronavirus.But the story of quarantine ranges far beyond the history of medical isolation. In Until Proven Safe, the authors tour a nuclear-waste isolation facility beneath the New Mexican desert, see plants stricken with a disease that threatens the world’s wheat supply, and meet NASA’s Planetary Protection Officer, tasked with saving Earth from extraterrestrial infections. They also introduce us to the corporate tech giants hoping to revolutionize quarantine through surveillance and algorithmic prediction.We live in a disorienting historical moment that can feel both unprecedented and inevitable; Until Proven Safe helps us make sense of our new reality through a thrillingly reported, thought-provoking exploration of the meaning of freedom, governance, and mutual responsibility.
Until the End of Time: Mind, Matter, and Our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe
by Brian GreeneFrom the world-renowned physicist and best-selling author of The Elegant Universe comes this captivating exploration of deep time and humanity's search for purpose. <P><P>Until the End of Time is Brian Greene's breathtaking new exploration of the cosmos and our quest to understand it. Greene takes us on a journey across time, from our most refined understanding of the universe's beginning, to the closest science can take us to the very end. He explores how life and mind emerged from the initial chaos, and how our minds, in coming to understand their own impermanence, seek in different ways to give meaning to experience: in narrative, myth, religion, creative expression, science, the quest for truth, and our longing for the eternal. <P><P>Through a series of nested stories that explain distinct but interwoven layers of reality--from quantum mechanics to consciousness to black holes--Greene provides us with a clearer sense of how we came to be, a finer picture of where we are now, and a firmer understanding of where we are headed. With this grand tour of the universe, beginning to end, Brian Greene allows us all to grasp and appreciate our fleeting but utterly exquisite moment in the cosmos. <P><P><b>A New York Times Bestseller</b>
Unto Others: The Evolution and Psychology of Unselfish Behavior
by Elliot Sober David Sloan WilsonNo matter what we do, however kind or generous our deeds may seem, a hidden motive of selfishness lurks—or so science has claimed for years. This book, whose publication promises to be a major scientific event, tells us differently. In Unto Others philosopher Elliott Sober and biologist David Sloan Wilson demonstrate once and for all that unselfish behavior is in fact an important feature of both biological and human nature. Their book provides a panoramic view of altruism throughout the animal kingdom—from self-sacrificing parasites to insects that subsume themselves in the superorganism of a colony to the human capacity for selflessness—even as it explains the evolutionary sense of such behavior. Explaining how altruistic behavior can evolve by natural selection, this book finally gives credence to the idea of group selection that was originally proposed by Darwin but denounced as heretical in the 1960s. With their account of this controversy, Sober and Wilson offer a detailed case study of scientific change as well as an indisputable argument for group selection as a legitimate theory in evolutionary biology. Unto Others also takes a novel evolutionary approach in explaining the ultimate psychological motives behind unselfish human behavior. Developing a theory of the proximate mechanisms that most likely evolved to motivate adaptive helping behavior, Sober and Wilson show how people and perhaps other species evolved the capacity to care for others as a goal in itself. A truly interdisciplinary work that blends biology, philosophy, psychology, and anthropology, this book will permanently change not just our view of selfless behavior but also our understanding of many issues in evolutionary biology and the social sciences.
The Untold Stories of the Space Shuttle Program: Unfulfilled Dreams and Missions that Never Flew (Springer Praxis Books)
by Davide SivolellaIn September 1969, several months after the Apollo 11 lunar landing, President Richard M. Nixon established the Space Task Force to chart NASA’s path for the decades to come. This imaginative vision was shattered less than six months later when, on January 13, 1970, NASA Administrator Dr. Thomas Paine announced that, owing to funding cuts, only the reusable Space Shuttle could be afforded -- there would be no space station, no return to the Moon, and no missions to Mars. This is a story never before told about the missions and technologies that NASA had begun to plan but never fully realized. The book is a companion to the author’s previous two works on the Space Shuttle. Whereas the first two books showed how the Space Shuttle flew in space and what the program accomplished, this book explains what more the Space Shuttle could have achieved and how the space transportation system could have further matured if circumstances had been otherwise. A final chapter also discusses how some of these plans might be resurrected in future programs.
Untranslated Gene Regions and Other Non-coding Elements: Regulation of Eukaryotic Gene Expression
by Lucy W. Barrett Sue Fletcher Steve D. WiltonThere is now compelling evidence that the complexity of higher organisms correlates with the relative amount of non-coding RNA rather than the number of protein-coding genes. Previously dismissed as "junk DNA", it is the non-coding regions of the genome that are responsible for regulation, facilitating complex temporal and spatial gene expression through the combinatorial effect of numerous mechanisms and interactions working together to fine-tune gene expression. The major regions involved in regulation of a particular gene are the 5' and 3' untranslated regions and introns. In addition, pervasive transcription of complex genomes produces a variety of non-coding transcripts that interact with these regions and contribute to regulation. This book discusses recent insights into the regulatory roles of the untranslated gene regions and non-coding RNAs in the control of complex gene expression, as well as the implications of this in terms of organism complexity and evolution.
Unusual Friendships: Symbiosis in the Animal World
by Larry Dane BrimnerExplores the fascinating and surprising relationships formed by different species for survival, protection, or food.
Unusual Life Cycles of Amphibians (Unusual Life Cycles)
by Jaclyn JaycoxHave you ever heard of a frog that freezes solid in winter? What about a toad that carries its eggs on its back? Young readers will learn all about wood frogs, suriname toads, and other amphibians with unusual life cycles.