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The Lone Wolverine: Tracking Michigan's Most Elusive Animal
by Elizabeth Philips Shaw Jeff FordIt began in late winter of 2004. Almost 100 years had passed since the last spotting of a wild wolverine in Michigan when coyote hunters caught a glimpse of one of the animals in a frozen farm field in the northern thumb region. For the next six years, Jeff Ford, a local science teacher and amateur naturalist, devoted himself to locating and filming the wolverine that had unexpectedly and inexplicably appeared in the Wolverine State. By the time hikers found the animal dead in early 2010, Ford had taken hundreds of rare live action photos and shot numerous hours of video, with the story of the "Wolverine Guy" attracting national attention through countless newspaper and magazine articles and appearances on Animal Planet and PBS Nature. This is the tale of Ford's quest as he uncovered answers to mysteries surrounding the animal's territory and movement patterns, while sparking a flurry of controversy surrounding the elusive predator's origin, much of which remains unresolved today. It's an intimate look at research in the raw, from DNA samples stuck on barbed wire to a sophisticated, motion-sensing infrared camera unit strategically placed to observe nocturnal behavior. The Lone Wolverine brings to vivid life this unforgettable piece of American wildlife lore, using candid interviews, public records, and Ford's own vast storehouse of notes, personal writings, correspondence, and images, offering an extraordinary chronicle of a wild wolverine in its natural habitat, at play and in fierce competition for food and survival. This is a wildlife detective story, recounting years of study and fierce debate as researchers pondered the riddles of Michigan's last wolverine---her origins, habits, and ultimately the cause of her untimely death.
The Loneliest Polar Bear: A True Story of Survival and Peril on the Edge of a Warming World
by Kale WilliamsThe heartbreaking and ultimately hopeful story of an abandoned polar bear cub named Nora and the humans working tirelessly to save her and her species, whose uncertain future in the accelerating climate crisis is closely tied to our own. Six days after giving birth, a polar bear named Aurora got up and left her den at the Columbus Zoo, leaving her tiny, squealing cub to fend for herself. Hours later, Aurora still hadn't returned. The cub was furless and blind, and with her temperature dropping dangerously, the zookeepers entrusted with her care felt they had no choice: They would have to raise one of the most dangerous predators in the world themselves, by hand. Over the next few weeks, a group of veterinarians and zookeepers would work around the clock to save the cub, whom they called Nora.Humans rarely get as close to a polar bear as Nora's keepers got with their fuzzy charge. But the two species have long been intertwined. Three decades before Nora's birth, her father, Nanuq, was orphaned when an Inupiat hunter killed his mother, leaving Nanuq to be sent to a zoo. That hunter, Gene Agnaboogok, now faces some of the same threats as the wild bears near his Alaskan village of Wales, on the westernmost tip of the North American continent. As sea ice diminishes and temperatures creep up year-after-year, Gene and the polar bears--and everyone and everything else living in the far north--are being forced to adapt. Not all of them will succeed.Sweeping and tender, The Loneliest Polar Bear explores the fraught relationship humans have with the natural world, the exploitative and sinister causes of the environmental mess we find ourselves in, and how the fate of polar bears is not theirs alone.
The Lonely Existence of Asteroids and Comets
by Mark WeaklandIn graphic novel format, explores asteroids and comets, including their formation, differences, and impact on life on Earth. <P><P> <i>Advisory: Bookshare has learned that this book offers only partial accessibility. We have kept it in the collection because it is useful for some of our members. Benetech is actively working on projects to improve accessibility issues such as these.</i>
The Lonely Phone Booth
by Peter AckermanA sad, forgotten, New York City phone booth becomes a hero in this story of community and caring for others. The Phone Booth on the corner of West End Avenue and 100th Street was one of the last remaining phone booths in New York City. Everyone used it―from ballerinas and birthday clowns, to cellists and even secret agents. Kept clean and polished, the Phone Booth was proud and happy until, the day a businessman strode by and shouted into a shiny silver object, &“I&’ll be there in ten minutes.&” Soon everyone was talking into these shiny silver things, and the Phone Booth stood alone and empty, unused and dejected. How the Phone Booth saved the day and united the neighborhood to rally around its revival is the heart of this touching story. The Lonely Phone Booth has a lot to say about the enduring power of the faithful things in our lives. For children, it&’s a wonderful way to talk about their own communities.&“A story celebrating the fabric of a neighborhood.&” ―New York Times Book Review&“Evoking the same kind of New York charm as favorites like The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge and The House on East 88th Street, screenwriter Ackerman celebrates a humble phone booth (still standing at 100th Street and West End Avenue) that saves the Upper West Side—and vice versa . . . . Cultural history of the best sort.&” —Publishers Weekly&“The art not only tells a splendid story in and of itself, but it also celebrates the colorful and diverse people who live in New York City.&” —Through the Looking Glass Children&’s Book Review
The Long Arm of Moore's Law: Microelectronics and American Science (Inside Technology)
by Cyrus C. ModyHow, beginning in the mid 1960s, the US semiconductor industry helped shape changes in American science, including a new orientation to the short-term and the commercial.Since the mid 1960s, American science has undergone significant changes in the way it is organized, funded, and practiced. These changes include the decline of basic research by corporations; a new orientation toward the short-term and the commercial, with pressure on universities and government labs to participate in the market; and the promotion of interdisciplinarity. In this book, Cyrus Mody argues that the changes in American science that began in the 1960s co-evolved with and were shaped by the needs of the “civilianized” US semiconductor industry. In 1965, Gordon Moore declared that the most profitable number of circuit components that can be crammed on a single silicon chip doubles every year. Mody views “Moore's Law” less as prediction than as self-fulfilling prophecy, pointing to the enormous investments of capital, people, and institutions the semiconductor industry required—the “long arm” of Moore's Law that helped shape all of science. Mody offers a series of case studies in microelectronics that illustrate the reach of Moore's Law. He describes the pressures on Stanford University's electrical engineers during the Vietnam era, IBM's exploration of alternatives to semiconductor technology, the emergence of consortia to integrate research across disciplines and universities, and the interwoven development of the the molecular electronics community and associated academic institutions as the vision of a molecular computer informed the restructuring of research programs.
The Long Evolution of Brains and Minds
by Gerhard RothThe main topic of the book is a reconstruction of the evolution of nervous systems and brains as well as of mental-cognitive abilities, in short "intelligence" from simplest organisms to humans. It investigates to which extent the two are correlated. One central topic is the alleged uniqueness of the human brain and human intelligence and mind. It is discussed which neural features make certain animals and humans intelligent and creative: Is it absolute or relative brain size or the size of "intelligence centers" inside the brains, the number of nerve cells inside the brain in total or in such "intelligence centers" decisive for the degree of intelligence, of mind and eventually consciousness? And which are the driving forces behind these processes? Finally, it is asked what all this means for the classical problem of mind-brain relationship and for a naturalistic theory of mind.
The Long Shadow of 9/11
by Brian Michael Jenkins John Paul GodgesThis book provides an array of answers to the question, In the ten years since the 9/11 attacks, how has America responded? In a series of essays, RAND authors lend a farsighted perspective to the national dialogue on 9/11's legacy; assess the military, political, fiscal, social, cultural, psychological, and moral implications of U.S. policymaking since 9/11; and suggest options for effectively dealing with the terrorist threat in the future.
The Long Space Age: The Economic Origins of Space Exploration from Colonial America to the Cold War
by Alexander MacDonaldAn economic historian traces uncovers the story of privately funded space exploration from early 19th century astronomical observatories to SpaceX. The standard historical narrative of American space exploration begins during the Cold War, with the federal government&’s efforts to beat the Soviet Union in the Space Race. Given this framing, the more recent emergence of private sector space exploration appears to be a new and controversial phenomenon. But as Alexander MacDonald argues in The Long Space Age, privately funded space exploration had been happening in the United States long before we tried to put a man on the moon. Since the early 19th century, private observatories had been making discoveries and developing technologies that led directly to NASA&’s epochal 20th century achievements. And their efforts were no less ambitious for their time than SpaceX and Blue Origin are in today&’s resurgent space industry.The Long Space Age examines the economic history of this centuries-long development, from those first American observatories to the International Space Station.
The Long View: Why We Need to Transform How the World Sees Time
by Richard Fisher'A beautifully turned, calmly persuasive but urgent book' IAN MCEWAN 'A landmark book that could help to build a much brighter future' DAVID ROBSON A wide-ranging and thought-provoking exploration of the importance of long-term thinking.Humans are unique in our ability to understand time, able to comprehend the past and future like no other species. Yet modern-day technology and capitalism have supercharged our short-termist tendencies and trapped us in the present, at the mercy of reactive politics, quarterly business targets and 24-hour news cycles.It wasn't always so. In medieval times, craftsmen worked on cathedrals that would be unfinished in their lifetime. Indigenous leaders fostered intergenerational reciprocity. And in the early twentieth century, writers dreamed of worlds thousands of years hence. Now, as we face long-term challenges on an unprecedented scale, how do we recapture that far-sighted vision?Richard Fisher takes us from the boardrooms of Japan - home to some of the world's oldest businesses - to an Australian laboratory where an experiment started a century ago is still going strong. He examines the psychological biases that discourage the long view, and talks to the growing number of people from the worlds of philosophy, technology, science and the arts who are exploring smart ways to overcome them. How can we learn to widen our perception of time and honour our obligations to the lives of those not yet born?Praise for The Long View:'A wise, humane book laced with curiosity and hope. It will open your mind and horizons - and leave you giddy at the prospect of all that we may yet become.' Tom Chatfield, author of How to Think 'Hope-filled and revelatory ... Beautifully readable and scholarly, rich and personal, this book shows how, to leave a robust legacy for the future, we need to overcome our bias for the present.' Rowan Hooper, author of How to Spend a Trillion Dollars'A soaring hymn to all that might lie in the future; alongside the diverse and beautiful ways to think about it. Overflowing with wisdom and insight.' Thomas Moynihan, author of X-Risk' In a world of short-sightedness, The Long View is a helpful guide to understand and connect us to the future. In the light of the climate emergency, long-term thinking is more urgent than ever.' Andri Snær Magnason, author of On Time and Water'The Long View is a manifesto calling for a radical reconception of our relationship with time. Richard Fisher documents the social, psychological, and economic reasons we have become stranded on the Island of Now - and charts routes for us to get back to the mainland.' Marcia Bjornerud, the author of Timefulness...
The Long View: Why We Need to Transform How the World Sees Time
by Richard Fisher'A beautifully turned, calmly persuasive but urgent book' IAN MCEWAN 'A landmark book that could help to build a much brighter future' DAVID ROBSON A wide-ranging and thought-provoking exploration of the importance of long-term thinking.Humans are unique in our ability to understand time, able to comprehend the past and future like no other species. Yet modern-day technology and capitalism have supercharged our short-termist tendencies and trapped us in the present, at the mercy of reactive politics, quarterly business targets and 24-hour news cycles.It wasn't always so. In medieval times, craftsmen worked on cathedrals that would be unfinished in their lifetime. Indigenous leaders fostered intergenerational reciprocity. And in the early twentieth century, writers dreamed of worlds thousands of years hence. Now, as we face long-term challenges on an unprecedented scale, how do we recapture that far-sighted vision?Richard Fisher takes us from the boardrooms of Japan - home to some of the world's oldest businesses - to an Australian laboratory where an experiment started a century ago is still going strong. He examines the psychological biases that discourage the long view, and talks to the growing number of people from the worlds of philosophy, technology, science and the arts who are exploring smart ways to overcome them. How can we learn to widen our perception of time and honour our obligations to the lives of those not yet born?Praise for The Long View:'A wise, humane book laced with curiosity and hope. It will open your mind and horizons - and leave you giddy at the prospect of all that we may yet become.' Tom Chatfield, author of How to Think 'Hope-filled and revelatory ... Beautifully readable and scholarly, rich and personal, this book shows how, to leave a robust legacy for the future, we need to overcome our bias for the present.' Rowan Hooper, author of How to Spend a Trillion Dollars'A soaring hymn to all that might lie in the future; alongside the diverse and beautiful ways to think about it. Overflowing with wisdom and insight.' Thomas Moynihan, author of X-Risk' In a world of short-sightedness, The Long View is a helpful guide to understand and connect us to the future. In the light of the climate emergency, long-term thinking is more urgent than ever.' Andri Snær Magnason, author of On Time and Water'The Long View is a manifesto calling for a radical reconception of our relationship with time. Richard Fisher documents the social, psychological, and economic reasons we have become stranded on the Island of Now - and charts routes for us to get back to the mainland.' Marcia Bjornerud, the author of Timefulness...
The Long View: Why We Need to Transform How the World Sees Time
by Richard FisherA wide-ranging and thought-provoking exploration of the importance of long-term thinking.Humans are unique in our ability to understand time, able to comprehend the past and future like no other species. Yet modern-day technology and capitalism have supercharged our short-termist tendencies and trapped us in the present, at the mercy of reactive politics, quarterly business targets and 24-hour news cycles.It wasn't always so. In medieval times, craftsmen worked on cathedrals that would be unfinished in their lifetime. Indigenous leaders fostered intergenerational reciprocity. And in the early twentieth century, writers dreamed of worlds thousands of years hence. Now, as we face long-term challenges on an unprecedented scale, how do we recapture that far-sighted vision?Richard Fisher takes us from the boardrooms of Japan - home to some of the world's oldest businesses - to an Australian laboratory where an experiment started a century ago is still going strong. He examines the psychological biases that discourage the long view, and talks to the growing number of people from the worlds of philosophy, technology, science and the arts who are exploring smart ways to overcome them. How can we learn to widen our perception of time and honour our obligations to the lives of those not yet born?Praise for The Long View:'A wise, humane book laced with curiosity and hope. It will open your mind and horizons - and leave you giddy at the prospect of all that we may yet become.' Tom Chatfield, author of How to Think 'Hope-filled and revelatory ... Beautifully readable and scholarly, rich and personal, this book shows how, to leave a robust legacy for the future, we need to overcome our bias for the present.' Rowan Hooper, author of How to Spend a Trillion Dollars'A soaring hymn to all that might lie in the future; alongside the diverse and beautiful ways to think about it. Overflowing with wisdom and insight.' Thomas Moynihan, author of X-Risk'Few books can claim to shake your perspective on life, but The Long View does exactly that ... a landmark book that could help to build a much brighter future for many generations to come.' David Robson, author of The Expectation Effect'The Long View is a manifesto calling for a radical reconception of our relationship with time. Richard Fisher documents the social, psychological, and economic reasons we have become stranded on the Island of Now - and charts routes for us to get back to the mainland.' Marcia Bjornerud, the author of Timefulness...(P) 2023 Headline Publishing Group Ltd
The Long and Short Non-coding RNAs in Cancer Biology
by Erwei SongThe book conveys a comprehensive knowledge of long and short ncRNAs in cancer regulation and their potentials as diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets. Topics covered include the molecular mechanisms of various classes of ncRNAs (with emphasis on long non-coding RNAs and microRNAs) in cancer, the functional roles of ncRNAs in regulating different cancer hallmarks (including proliferation, apoptosis, stem-cell properties, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, metabolism, angiogenesis, tumor-host interactions and therapeutic resistance), the role of ncRNAs in regulating cancer signaling circuitry programs (highlighting their involvement in c-myc, p53 and NFkB signaling), a systemic summary of clinical and preclinical studies that evaluate the potential of ncRNA signatures for cancer diagnosis and prognosis and strategies to delivery short ncRNAs as therapeutic molecules for cancer treatment. This book may serve as a comprehensive resource for researchers, graduate students and oncologists in ncRNA and cancer research and help drug development by identifying ncRNA targets.
The Long and the Short of It: The Science of Life Span and Aging
by Jonathan SilvertownEverything that lives will die. That's the fundamental fact of life. But not everyone dies at the same age: people vary wildly in their patterns of aging and their life spans--and that variation is nothing compared to what's found in other animal and plant species. A giant fungus found in Michigan has been alive since the Ice Age, while a dragonfly lives but four months, a mayfly half an hour. What accounts for these variations--and what can we learn from them that might help us understand, or better manage, our own aging? With The Long and the Short of It, biologist and writer Jonathan Silvertown offers readers a witty and fascinating tour through the scientific study of longevity and aging. Dividing his daunting subject by theme--death, life span, aging, heredity, evolution, and more--Silvertown draws on the latest scientific developments to paint a picture of what we know about how life span, senescence, and death vary within and across species. At every turn, he addresses fascinating questions that have far-reaching implications: What causes aging, and what determines the length of an individual life? What changes have caused the average human life span to increase so dramatically--fifteen minutes per hour--in the past two centuries? If evolution favors those who leave the most descendants, why haven't we evolved to be immortal? The answers to these puzzles and more emerge from close examination of the whole natural history of life span and aging, from fruit flies, nematodes, redwoods, and much more. The Long and the Short of It pairs a perpetually fascinating topic with a wholly engaging writer, and the result is a supremely accessible book that will reward curious readers of all ages.
The Long, Long Journey: The Godwit’s Amazing Migration
by Sandra Markle Mia PosadaCrackle! Crackle! Crunch! What's hatching from that egg? It's a young bar-tailed godwit. She will spend the summer in Alaska learning to fly, find her own food, and escape from scary predators. Her long, long journey begins in October when she flies to New Zealand. This 7,000-mile flight is the longest nonstop bird migration ever recorded. Follow along on her amazing voyage!
The Long, Long Life of Trees
by Fiona StaffordA lyrical tribute to the diversity of trees, their physical beauty, their special characteristics and uses, and their ever-evolving meanings Since the beginnings of history trees have served humankind in countless useful ways, but our relationship with trees has many dimensions beyond mere practicality. Trees are so entwined with human experience that diverse species have inspired their own stories, myths, songs, poems, paintings, and spiritual meanings. Some have achieved status as religious, cultural, or national symbols. In this beautifully illustrated volume Fiona Stafford offers intimate, detailed explorations of seventeen common trees, from ash and apple to pine, oak, cypress, and willow. The author also pays homage to particular trees, such as the fabled Ankerwyke Yew, under which Henry VIII courted Anne Boleyn, and the spectacular cherry trees of Washington, D. C. Stafford discusses practical uses of wood past and present, tree diseases and environmental threats, and trees' potential contributions toward slowing global climate change. Brimming with unusual topics and intriguing facts, this book celebrates trees and their long, long lives as our inspiring and beloved natural companions.
The Long-Term Fate of Invasive Species
by Arne JernelövThis book examines the long-term fate of invasive species by detailing examples of invaders from different zoological and botanical taxa from various places around the world. Readers will discover what happened, after a century or so, to 'classical' invaders like rabbits in Australia, house sparrows in North America, minks in Europe and water hyacinths in Africa and Asia. Chapters presented in the book focus on eighteen species in the form of in-depth case studies including: earthworms, zebra mussels, Canadian water weed, Himalayan balsam, house sparrows, rabbits, crayfish plague, Colorado beetles, water hyacinths, starlings, Argentine ant, Dutch elm disease, American mink, cane toad, raccoons, Canadian beavers, African killer bees and warty comb jelly. Invaded areas described are in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, Pacific islands, and South America. Readers will get some ideas about the likely future of current invaders from the fate of old ones. This book is intended for undergraduates studying environmental sciences, researchers and members of environmental NGO's.
The Longest Journey: An Arctic Tern's Migration
by Amy HevronFollow the epic annual migration of an Arctic Tern on its sixty-thousand-mile journey to the South Pole and back again, the longest such migration in the animal kingdom. In their thirty-year lifetimes, Arctic Terns travel nearly 1.5 million miles, that&’s enough to fly to the Moon and back three times! Each year they brave blistering winds, storms, rough seas, and airborne predators as they travel between the Earth&’s poles, chasing the summer. In The Longest Journey: An Arctic Tern&’s Migration, we follow one such bird as it spreads its wings and sets out to make its first globe-spanning trip with its flock. Amy Hevron is the illustrator of Trevor by Jim Averbeck, the recipient of multiple starred reviews. She also illustrated Candace Fleming&’s The Tide Pool Waits which was the recipient of the Portfolio Honor Award from the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. Her brilliant, naturalistic artwork mimicking maps and nautical charts is supported by extensive research and paired with material at the back of the book explaining the science behind the life cycle of Arctic Terns. A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
The Longest Yawn (Science Solves It!)
by Jennifer DusslingSolve kid-sized dilemmas and mysteries with the Science Solves It! series. These fun books for kids ages 5–8 blend clever stories with real-life science. Why did the dog turn green? Can you control a hiccup? Is that a UFO? Find the answers to these questions and more as kid characters dive into physical, life, and earth sciences. Barry's teacher says that acting is mainly about control. But how can Barry control hiccups and yawns? Will he ever be a real actor? Books in this perfect STEM series will help kids think like scientists and get ahead in the classroom. Activities and experiments are included in every book! (Level Two; Science topic: Involuntary reflexes)
The Longevity Diet: Discover The New Science Behind Stem Cell Activation And Regeneration To Slow Aging, Fight Disease, And Optimize Weight
by Valter LongoThe internationally renowned, clinically tested, revolutionary diet program to lose weight, fight disease, and live a longer, healthier life. Can what you eat determine how long, and how well, you live? The clinically proven answer is yes, and The Longevity Diet is easier to follow than you'd think. The culmination of 25 years of research on aging, nutrition, and disease across the globe, this unique program lays out a simple solution to living to a healthy old age through nutrition. The key is combining the healthy everyday eating plan the book outlines, with the scientifically engineered fasting-mimicking diet, or FMD; the FMD, done just 3-4 times a year, does away with the misery and starvation most of us experience while fasting, allowing you to reap all the beneficial health effects of a restrictive diet, while avoiding negative stressors, like low energy and sleeplessness. Valter Longo, director of the Longevity Institute at USC and the Program on Longevity and Cancer at IFOM in Milan, designed the FMD after making a series of remarkable discoveries in mice, then in humans, indicating that specific diets can activate stem cells and promote regeneration and rejuvenation in multiple organs to significantly reduce risk for diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer’s, and heart disease. Longo’s simple pescatarian daily eating plan and the periodic fasting-mimicking techniques can both yield impressive results. Low in proteins and sugars and rich in healthy fats and plant-based foods, The Longevity Diet is proven to help you: • Lose weight and reduce abdominal fat • Extend your healthy lifespan with simple everyday changes • Prevent age-related muscle and bone loss • Build your resistance to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer's and cancer Longo’s healthy, life span-extending program is based on an easy-to-adopt pescatarian plan along with the fasting-mimicking diet no more than 4 times a year, just 5 days at a time. Including 30 easy recipes for an everyday diet based on Longo's five pillars of longevity, The Longevity Diet is the key to living a longer, healthier, more fulfilled life.
The Longevity Paradox: How to Die Young at a Ripe Old Age (The Plant Paradox #4)
by Dr. Steven R Gundry, MDFrom the author of the New York Times bestseller The Plant Paradox comes a groundbreaking plan for living a long, healthy, happy life.From the moment we are born, our cells begin to age. But aging does not have to mean decline. World-renowned surgeon Dr. Steven Gundry has been treating mature patients for most of his career. He knows that everyone thinks they want to live forever, until they hit middle age and witness the suffering of their parents and even their peers. So how do we solve the paradox of wanting to live to a ripe old age—but enjoy the benefits of youth?This groundbreaking book holds the answer. Working with thousands of patients, Dr. Gundry has discovered that the “diseases of aging” we most fear are not simply a function of age; rather, they are a byproduct of the way we have lived over the decades. In The Longevity Paradox, he maps out a new approach to aging well—one that is based on supporting the health of the “oldest” parts of us: the microorganisms that live within our bodies.Our gut bugs—the bacteria that make up the microbiome—largely determine our health over the years. From diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s to common ailments like arthritis to our weight and the appearance of our skin, these bugs are in the driver’s seat, controlling our quality of life as we age.The good news is, it’s never too late to support these microbes and give them what they need to help them—and you—thrive. In The Longevity Paradox, Dr. Gundry outlines a nutrition and lifestyle plan to support gut health and live well for decades to come. A progressive take on the new science of aging, The Longevity Paradox offers an action plan to prevent and reverse disease as well as simple hacks to help anyone look and feel younger and more vital.
The Longevity Seekers: Science, Business, and the Fountain of Youth (From Obscurity, 1980-2005 -- Greater Than The Double Helix Itself, 1980-1990 -- The Grim Reaper, 1991-1993 -- Sorcerer's Apprentices, 1991-1996 -- Race For A Master Switch, 1989-2000 -- Money To Burn, 2000-2003 -- Longevity Noir, 2003-2004 -- Betting The Trifecta, 2005-2006 -- Defying Gravity: The Battle To Find A Drug For Extending Health, 2005-2013 -- Sex, Power And The Wild: The Evolution Of A)
by Ted Anton&“[A] beautifully told story of twenty-first-century researchers in pursuit of the secrets of longevity . . . a book both engaging and illuminating.&” —Deborah Blum, Pulitzer Prize-winning author People have searched for the fountain of youth everywhere from Bimini to St. Augustine. But for a steadfast group of scientists, the secret to a long life lies elsewhere: in the lowly lab worm. By suppressing the function of just a few key genes, these scientists were able to lengthen worms&’ lifespans up to tenfold, while also controlling the onset of many of the physical problems that beset old age. As the global population ages, the potential impact of this discovery on society is vast—as is the potential for profit. With The Longevity Seekers, science writer Ted Anton takes readers inside this tale that began with worms and branched out to snare innovative minds from California to Crete, investments from big biotech, and endorsements from TV personalities like Oprah and Dr. Oz. Some of the research was remarkable, such as the discovery of an enzyme in humans that stops cells from aging. And some—like an oft-cited study touting the compound resveratrol, found in red wine—proved highly controversial, igniting a science war over truth, credit, and potential profit. As the pace of discovery accelerated, so too did powerful personal rivalries and public fascination, driven by the hope that a longer, healthier life was right around the corner. Anton has spent years interviewing and working with the scientists at the frontier of longevity science, and this book offers a behind-the-scenes look at the state-of-the-art research and the impact it might have on global public health, society, and even our friends and family
The Longitude Prize
by Joan DashBy the start of the eighteenth century, many thousands of sailors had perished at sea because their captains had no way of knowing longitude, their east-west location. Latitude, the north-south position, was easy enough, but once out of sight of land not even the most experienced navigator had a sure method of fixing longitude. So the British Parliament offered a substantial monetary prize to whoever could invent a device to determine exact longitude at sea. Many of the world's greatest minds tried -- and failed -- to come up with a solution. Instead, it was a country clockmaker named John Harrison who would invent a clock that could survive wild seas and be used to calculate longitude accurately. But in an aristocratic society, the road to acceptance was not a smooth one, and even when Harrison produced not one but five elegant, seaworthy timekeepers, each an improvement on the one that preceded it, claiming the prize was another battle. Set in an exciting historical framework -- telling of shipwrecks and politics -- this is the story of one man's creative vision, his persistence against great odds, and his lifelong fight for recognition of a brilliant invention. <P> [This text is listed as an example that meets Common Core Standards in English language arts in grades 9-10 at http://www.corestandards.org.] <P> Winner of the Sibert Honor
The Look Book: Fall 2016 Non-Fiction Sampler
by Jay Ingram Charlotte Gray Wendel Clark Peter C Newman Marty KlinkenbergExploring bold new perspectives on our country, our athletic heroes, and the magic of the natural world, The Look Book offers a taste of nonfiction from across the Fall 2016 Simon & Schuster Canada list.Experience the sweeping history of Canada through its people and ideas, then discover the tales of those who found shelter here from the storm of revolution. Learn the bizarre and fascinating science behind every day phenomena, and answer more than a few age-old questions. Connect with two of hockey's greatest players: one who helped define the game today and one who's forging its future. With chapter excerpts from the following fall 2016 new releases: The McDavid Effect: Connor McDavid and the New Hope for Hockey, by Marty Klinkenberg The Promise of Canada: 150 Years--People and Ideas That Have Shaped Our Country, by Charlotte Gray Bleeding Blue: Giving My All for the Game, by Wendel Clark The Science of Why: Answers to Questions About the World Around Us, by Jay Ingram Hostages to Fortune: The United Empire Loyalists and the Making of Canada, by Peter C. Newman We hope you learn something extraordinary. The Team at Simon & Schuster Canada If you would like to learn more about any of our authors or the titles featured, please visit us at SimonandSchuster.ca, follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @simonschusterCA, or like us at Facebook.com/SimonandSchusterCanada.
The Loop (The Loop #1)
by Ben Oliver"A script-ready story with blockbuster potential." -- Kirkus (Starred Review)Life inside The Loop--the futuristic death row for teens under eighteen--is one long repetitive purgatory. But when news of the encroaching chaos in the outside world reaches the inmates and disorder begins to strike, the prison becomes the least of their worries. Perfect for fans of The Maze Runner and The Fifth Wave.It's Luka Kane's 16th birthday and he's been inside The Loop for over two years. Every inmate is serving a death sentence with the option to push back their execution date by six months if they opt into "Delays," scientific and medical experiments for the benefit of the elite in the outside world.But rumors of a war on the outside are spreading amongst the inmates, and before they know it, their tortuous routine becomes disrupted. The government-issued rain stops falling. Strange things are happening to the guards. And it's not long until the inmates are left alone inside the prison.Were the chains that shackled Luka to his cell the only instruments left to keep him safe? In a thrilling shift, he must overcome fellow prisoners hell-bent on killing him, the warden losing her mind, the rabid rats in the train tunnels, and a population turned into murderous monsters to try and break out of The Loop, save his family, and discover who is responsible for the chaos that has been inflicted upon the world.
The Loop: How Technology Is Creating a World Without Choices and How to Fight Back
by Jacob WardThis eye-opening narrative journey into the rapidly changing world of artificial intelligence reveals the dangerous ways AI is exploiting the unconscious habits of our minds, and the real threat it poses to humanity: "The best book I have ever read about AI" (New York Times bestselling author Roger McNamee). Artificial intelligence is going to change the world as we know it. But the real danger isn't some robot that's going to enslave us: It's our own brain. Our brains are constantly making decisions using shortcuts, biases, and hidden processes—and we're using those same techniques to create technology that makes choices for us. In The Loop, award-winning science journalist Jacob Ward reveals how we are poised to build all of our worst instincts into our AIs, creating a narrow loop where each generation has fewer, predetermined, and even dangerous choices. Taking us on a world tour of the ongoing, real-world experiment of artificial intelligence, The Loop illuminates the dangers of writing dangerous human habits into our machines. From a biometric surveillance state in India that tracks the movements of over a billion people, to a social media control system in China that punishes deviant friendships, to the risky multiple-choice simplicity of automated military action, Ward travels the world speaking with top experts confronting the perils of their research. Each stop reveals how the most obvious patterns in our behavior—patterns an algorithm will use to make decisions about what's best for us—are not the ones we want to perpetuate. Just as politics, marketing, and finance have all exploited the weaknesses of our human programming, artificial intelligence is poised to use the patterns of our lives to manipulate us. The Loop is call to look at ourselves more clearly—our most creative ideas, our most destructive impulses, the ways we help and hurt one another-so we can put only the best parts of ourselves into the thinking machines we create.