Showing results by publisher "Audible Studios" in Biology

Anthony Warner, author of The Angry Chef, is back, and he wants answers. In The Truth About Fat he scrutinises the explanations of academics, doctors, researchers and journalists. He lays out the best evidence available, rails against quack theories preying on the desperate and considers whether we are blaming our bodies for other people’s ignorance and cruelty. What remains is the unvarnished truth about one of the great preoccupations of our age.

In Strange Bedfellows, David P. Barash and Judith Eve Lipton look at how biology actually promotes monogamy in some species and how these lessons apply to human beings. An accessible work of science that is relevant to our intimate daily life, Strange Bedfellows will reassure some people, surprise others, and engage everyone.

Delve deeper into the scientific terms and theories at the core of the Peabody-winning, cult favorite show. With exclusive insights from the show's cocreator, Graeme Manson, and science consultant Cosima Herter, The Science of Orphan Black takes you behind the closed doors of the Dyad Institute and inside Neolution.

The human reaction to insects is neither purely biological nor simply cultural. And no one reacts to insects with indifference. Insects frighten, disgust, and fascinate us. Jeff Lockwood explores this phenomenon through evolutionary science, human history, and contemporary psychology, as well as a debilitating bout with entomophobia in his work as an entomologist. Exploring the nature of anxiety and phobia, Lockwood explores the lively debate about how much of our fear of insects can be attributed to ancestral predisposition for our own survival and how much is learned through individual experiences.

Este libro descubre la más sucia, sorprendente y festiva intimidad de los seres vivos. Ahí fuera se vive una orgía permanente en la que los chimpancés disfrutan de sus penes con espinas y los patos, de sus enormes sacacorchos; donde los pájaros se ponen los cuernos sin remordimiento alguno y las ranas se hacen las muertas para escapar de los pretendientes más insistentes; en el que los hongos tienen tres, cuatro o hasta miles de sexos, algunos peces cambian de sexo y otros llevan los genitales de sus examantes pegados a sus escamas; donde los zánganos eyaculan tan fuerte que revientan.

Stimmt es, dass Elefanten über ihre Füße hören können? Wie wird CO2 im Ozean abgebaut? Warum sind Bärtierchen gar nicht so groß wie sie klingen? Was haben Farne schon alles überlegen? Warum sind Sukkulenten wahre Spezialisten? Und was haben Gene eigentlich mit einer Schere zu tun? In unserem Podcast beantworten eine marine Mikrobiologin und ein Herpetologe die großen und kleinen Fragen rund um die Biologie der Tiere, Menschen, Pflanzen und allem dazwischen.

Sie sind überall, meist sind sie unsichtbar, und sie halten unsere Welt am Laufen - Bakterien, Viren, Algen und Pilze. Wie konnte ein unscheinbares Bakterium dem Christentum Fronleichnam bescheren? Warum ist ein Augentierchen der Hoffnungsträger der Raumfahrt? Und weshalb sollten Umweltschützer Fische mit Herpes-Viren infizieren? Florian Freistetter und Helmut Jungwirth zeigen uns die Welt, wie sie sich unter dem Mikroskop offenbart. In 100 informativen wie schrägen Kapiteln erklären sie den Kosmos der Mikrobiologie und erzählen eine Geschichte der Welt, wie es sie noch nicht gegeben hat.

Nous sommes constamment entourés de vie : abondante, diverse et extraordinaire, elle ne cesse de nous surprendre. Mais savons-nous réellement ce que signifie être en vie ? Sir Paul Nurse, lauréat du prix Nobel de médecine 2001, a passé sa carrière à répondre à cette interrogation. Dans cet ouvrage, il offre une plongée fascinante au cœur des grands concepts qui fondent la science du vivant.

★進化思考──それは、生物の進化のように二つのプロセス(変異と適応)を繰り返すことで、本来だれの中にもある創造性を発揮する思考法。

Saviez-vous que le loup dominant d'une meute est aussi le meilleur des pères pour sa progéniture ? Et qu'un cheval connait votre état d'esprit rien qu'à vous regarder marcher vers lui ? Connaissez-vous le curieux rituel olfactif des rhinocéros et des lémuriens en cas de confrontation ? Profiter de la vie, cultiver sa chance, coopérer avec les autres, s'adapter aux circonstances, renoncer à l'ego.

Por meio de fotografias subaquáticas incríveis, de altíssima qualidade, e relatos exclusivos, Gabriel Ganme, instrutor de mergulho há mais de trinta anos, apresenta neste audiolivro as mais variadas espécies de tubarões, compartilhando suas divertidas e curiosas experiências mergulhando com esses animais. 'Assassino dos mares' ou 'terror dos oceanos' são apenas algumas das injustas alcunhas atribuídas a essas criaturas maravilhosas que possuem importância incontestável para o equilíbrio e a saúde dos ecossistemas marinhos.

Depuis l'apparition d'homo sapiens et la révolution cognitive il y a 50 000 ans, les capacités de notre espèce à comprendre et modifier son environnement paraissent sans limites. Un seul mystère reste inviolé : celui de la nature humaine et de sa civilisation. Ce que nous sommes vraiment, pourquoi notre espèce fait ce qu'elle fait, défie toute explication rationnelle.

How smart machines are transforming us all - and what we should do about it. The smart machines revolution is reshaping our lives and our societies. Here, Nigel Shadbolt (one of Britain’s leading authorities on artificial intelligence) and Roger Hampson dispel terror, confusion and misconception. We are not about to be elbowed aside by a rebel army of superintelligent robots of our own creation. We were using tools before we became Homo sapiens and will continue to control them. How we exercise that control - in our private lives, in employment, in politics - and make the best of the wonderful opportunities will determine our collective future well-being.

Crave answers? A Feast of Science demystifies the chemistry of everyday life, serving up practical knowledge to both inform and entertain. Guaranteed to satiate your hunger for palatable and relevant scientific information, Dr. Joe Schwarcz proves that "chemical" is not necessarily synonymous with "toxic".

Since the birth of civilization, human beings have manipulated other life-forms. We have selectively bred plants and animals for thousands of years to maximize agricultural production and cater to our tastes in pets. The observation of the creation of artificial animal and plant variants was a key stimulant for Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. The ability to directly engineer the genomes of organisms first became possible in the 1970s, when the gene for human insulin was introduced into bacteria.

The Western world has had an enduring love affair with dolphins since the early 1960s, with fanciful claims of their 'healing powers' and 'super intelligence'. Myths and pseudoscience abound on the subject. Justin Gregg weighs up the claims made about dolphin intelligence and separates scientific fact from fiction. He puts our knowledge about dolphin behavior and intelligence into perspective, with comparisons to scientific studies of other animals, especially the crow family and great apes.

We have long fantasized about finding life on planets other than our own. Yet even as we become aware of the vast expanses beyond our solar system, it remains clear that Earth is exceptional. The question is: Why? In Lucky Planet, astrobiologist David Waltham argues that Earth’s climate stability is what makes it uniquely able to support life, and it is nothing short of luck that made such conditions possible. The four-billion-year stretch of good weather that our planet has experienced is statistically so unlikely that chances are slim that we will ever encounter intelligent extraterrestrial others.

Did you know that the CIA once made use of a “spy cat”, or that, although delicious, eating the flesh of an armadillo can give you leprosy? And what about Terry, the small black Cairn Terrier from Kansas who was paid today’s equivalent of $2,000 a week for her work in The Wizard of Oz? Even if you think you have a handle on all things trivia, you're guaranteed a big surprise with Now I Know: Animals.

Did you know that San Diego’s Frozen Zoo is home to preserved DNA samples from over 8,000 endangered or threatened species, or that the tell-tale smell of freshly mowed grass is actually the plant’s version of a distress call? And what about Henrietta Lacks, the “immortal woman” whose cancer cells have been divided and multiplied for research purposes for over 60 years? Even if you think you have a handle on all things trivia, you're guaranteed a big surprise with Now I Know: Science.

Our health care system is crippled by desperate efforts to prevent the inevitable. A third of the national Medicare budget - nearly $175 billion - is spent on the final year of life, and a third of that amount on the final month, often on expensive (and futile) treatments. Such efforts betray a fundamental flaw in how we think about healthcare: we squander resources on hopeless situations, instead of using them to actually improve health.