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Letters
Musical bonding In the article “Birth of the beat” (SN: 8/14/10, p. 18), Sandra Trehub says that music’s evolutionary origins remain unknown. Evolution is the sum of many acts of natural selection, so the question is, what survival advantage did music provide? The mother teaching her infant musical skills wouldn’t be so prevalent if survival […]
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Book Review: Proofiness: The Dark Arts of Mathematical Deception by Charles Seife
Review by Alexandra Witze.
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Book Review: The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean
Review by Rachel Ehrenberg.
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The 50 Most Extreme Places in Our Solar System by David Baker and Todd Ratcliff
Tour Earth’s hottest, coldest, stormiest and stinkiest neighbors, plus the solar system’s weirdest phenomena. THE 50 MOST EXTREME PLACES IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM BY DAVID BAKER AND TODD RATCLIFF Harvard Univ. Press, 2010, 290 p., $27.95.
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Spider Silk by Leslie Brunetta and Catherine L. Craig
Arachnid evolution is woven into this history of one of the strongest natural materials. SPIDER SILK BY LESLIE BRUNETTA AND CATHERINE L. CRAIG Yale Univ. Press, 2010, 229 p., $30.
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2030: Technology That Will Change the World by Rutger van Santen, Djan Khoe and Bram Vermeer
A survey of science and engineering breakthroughs that may lead to technological leaps. 2030: TECHNOLOGY THAT WILL CHANGE THE WORLD BY RUTGER VAN SANTEN, DJAN KHOE AND BRAM VERMEER OxfordUniv. Press, 2010, 295 p., $29.95.
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How to Mellify a Corpse by Vicki León
Eighty-eight tales tell of science and superstition in the ancient world (including Alexander the Great’s mellification, or embalming in honey). HOW TO MELLIFY A CORPSE BY VICKI LEóN Walker, 2010, 308 p., $17.
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Much Ado About (Practically) Nothing: A History of the Noble Gases by David E. Fisher
Delve deep into the far right of the periodic table with a chemist who appreciates noble gases’ many uses. MUCH ADO ABOUT (PRACTICALLY) NOTHING: A HISTORY OF THE NOBLE GASES DAVID E. FISHER Oxford Univ. Press, 2010, 264 p., $24.95.
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We, robot: What real-life machines can and can’t do
As director of the Maryland Robotics Center, Satyandra Gupta oversees 25 faculty members working on all things robotic: snake-inspired robots, robotic swarms, minirobots for medicine and robots for exploring extreme environments on land, under the sea and in outer space. In September the Center hosted its first Robotics Day; afterward, Gupta talked robots with Science […]
- Space
Glowing auroras ring Saturn
A new movie documents changes in Saturn’s lights over nearly two days on the planet.
- Space
Particles in cahoots
Physicists have discovered curious connections in subatomic debris produced by the world’s largest particle collider.
- Life
Lone Star cats rescue cousins in Sunshine State
Florida panther numbers have tripled since the introduction of females from Texas injected vital genetic diversity, a new report says.
