Showing titles in Biology

Throughout the ages, human beings have had a profound fascination with the natural world. It has influenced all aspects of our civilisation, from science and religion to music, art, literature and film. These 12 episodes, taken from Radio 4's epic series Natural Histories, find presenter Brett Westwood exploring two major groups of animals - fish, who have lived on Earth for over 450 million years, and invertebrates, who make up 97 percent of all species worldwide - to find out how our perception and representation of them has changed over time.

Sommer 1934. Die Meeresbiologin Gloria Hollister sitzt an Bord eines Schiffes in der Nähe der Atlantikinsel Nonsuch, mit einer Hand presst sie einen Hörer ans Ohr, mit der anderen schreibt sie fieberhaft in ein Notizbuch. Die Telefonleitung reicht über 900 m tief ins Meer hinab. Dort unten baumelt an einem Stahlseil eine Tauchkugel, in der William Beebe zusammengekauert sitzt. Durch winzige Bullaugen blickt er in die fremde Unterwasserwelt. Aufgeregt beschreibt er fantastische Kreaturen und wundersame Licht- und Farbeffekte.

In Star Trek, crew members travel to unusual planets, meet diverse beings, and encounter unique civilizations. Throughout these remarkable space adventures, does Star Trek reflect biology and evolution as we know it? What can the science in the science fiction of Star Trek teach us? In Live Long and Evolve, biologist and die-hard Trekkie Mohamed Noor takes fans on a fun, fact-filled scientific journey. Noor offers Trekkies, science-fiction fans, and anyone curious about how life works a cosmic gateway into introductory biology.

Bedbugs. Few words strike such fear in the minds of travelers. In cities around the world, lurking beneath the plush blankets of otherwise pristine-looking hotel beds, are tiny, bloodthirsty beasts just waiting for weary wanderers to surrender to vulnerable slumber. Though bedbugs today have infested the globe, the common bedbug is not a new pest at all. Indeed, as Brooke Borel reveals in this unusual history, this most-reviled species may date back over 250,000 years.

As the snow melts and the spring approaches, the animal kingdom awakens. In Summer World, Bernd Heinrich, the best-selling author of Winter World, brings us an up-close and personal view of that awakening and rebirth.

As human beings, we are fascinated by what makes us tick. We know that nature gave us certain biological appetites to ensure our survival, among those the need for water, food, sex, and love, but meeting these alone is not enough to ensure happiness. Scientists, and now managers, are realizing that people have a biological need to experience social rewards like praise, the thrill of innovation, and the satisfaction of acquiring new skills.

An indispensable guide to the revolutionary advances in pregnancy and childbirth. After decades of research into how babies develop in the womb, Susan J. Fisher, PhD, shares her expert advice to empower expecting parents. Complete with helpful illustrations, practical tips, and the essential questions to ask health-care providers, here is everything you need to take charge of your health and your baby’s.

Learn about the nature of Extinction with iMinds insightful knowledge series. Extinction means the death of a species of animal or plant. When you think of extinct species, you probably think of dinosaurs. So it may amaze you to know that 99% of all species that once lived on the earth are now extinct!

After 25 years on a farm in the Ozarks, award-winning writer and naturalist Sue Hubbell moved to a small town on the coast of Maine. There, in the pools, tides, and thickets, she found a vast array of creatures that aroused her considerable curiosity. Join Hubbell on a unique tour of the world of invertebrates. From humpbacked camel crickets to glow worms, from horseshoe crabs to elegantly-furred sea mice, Hubbell offers vivid descriptions and fascinating details about these superb examples of survival.

Is the five-second rule legitimate? Are electric hand dryers really bacteria blowers? How gross is backwash? When it comes to food safety and germs, there are as many common questions as there are misconceptions. And yet there has never been a book that clearly examines the science behind these important issues - until now.

"Lively writing about science and nature depends less on the offering of good answers, I think, than on the offering of good questions," said David Quammen in the original introduction to Natural Acts. For more than two decades, he has stuck to that credo. In this updated version of Natural Acts, curiosity leads him from New Mexico to Romania, from the Congo to the Amazon, asking questions about mosquitoes (what are their redeeming merits?), dinosaurs (how did they change the life of a dyslexic Vietnam vet?), and cloning (can it save endangered species?).

Dieses Hörbuch macht die komplexe Entstehung des Lebens auf unserem Planeten erstmals für alle verständlich. Dabei stand das Leben auf der Erde schon mehrfach kurz vor der Auslöschung. Es gab zwei Millionen Jahre dauernde Vulkanausbrüche und mehrfach schwere Asteroideneinschläge. Katastrophen, ohne die allerdings etwa die Ausbreitung der Säugetiere nicht möglich gewesen wäre. Henry Gee schildert unterhaltsam und anschaulich, wie sich das Leben immer wieder durchsetzte.

The term "gender" was first distinguished from "sex" in the 1950s when psychologists began to discuss the idea of "gender roles", behaviors and responsibilities given to people by a society rather than flowing from their biology. Since then, leaders across disciplines have sought to better understand the roles of biology, psychology, and culture on gender. New language has emerged alongside rich scientific inquiry and research. Increased visibility of transgender and nonbinary communities has brought awareness to a range of gender diverse experiences....

Ants number in the ten quadrillions, and they have been here since the Jurassic era. Inside an anthill, you'll find high drama worthy of a royal court; and between colonies, high-stakes geopolitical intrigue is afoot. Just like us, ants grow crops, raise livestock, tend their young and infirm, and make vaccines. And, just like us, ants have a dark side: They wage war, despoil environments, and enslave rivals - but also rebel against their oppressors.

With all the advances in science in the last century, why are there still so many infectious diseases? Why haven’t we found cures for difficult cancers? Why hasn’t any major progress been made in the treatment of mental illness? And how do we intend to stop, and not only that but reverse, global warming and the climate crisis? In Saved by Science, scientist Mark Poznansky examines the many crises facing humanity while encouraging us with the promise of an emerging solution: synthetic biology.

This serves as the second book in the Basics of Biology series. In this segment, the functions of membranes are explored. With regards to fully understanding biological organisms, the cell membrane is essential to developing an understanding of how cell function to control the substance that enter and exit them along with they way in which they interact with their environment.

The ocean teems with life that thrives under difficult situations in unusual environments. The Extreme Life of the Sea takes listeners to the absolute limits of the ocean world - the fastest and deepest, the hottest and oldest creatures of the oceans. It dives into the icy Arctic and boiling hydrothermal vents - and exposes the eternal darkness of the deepest undersea trenches - to show how marine life thrives against the odds. This thrilling book brings to life the sea's most extreme species, and tells their stories as characters in the drama of the oceans.

John Tyler Bonner, one of our most distinguished and insightful biologists, here challenges a central tenet of evolutionary biology. In this concise, elegantly written book, he makes the bold and provocative claim that some biological diversity may be explained by something other than natural selection. With his customary wit and accessible style, Bonner makes an argument for the underappreciated role that randomness - or chance - plays in evolution.

When a good friend with a severe illness wrote, asking if he might have his “green burial” at Bernd Heinrich’s hunting camp in Maine, it inspired the acclaimed biologist to investigate a subject that had long fascinated him. How exactly does the animal world deal with the flip side of the life cycle? And what are the lessons, ecological to spiritual, raised by a close look at how the animal world renews itself?

John C. Kendrew (1917-1997) was a pioneer in structural biology and a catalyst for the emergence of molecular biology in the second half of the 20th century. He was the first person to determine the three-dimensional structure of a protein at atomic resolution and, for this, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1962. Kendrew ultimately became an international organizer, administrator, and advocate for science, and his expansive legacy lives on today.