All Stories by Science News
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Letters
Predators inspire poetry and fear Regarding “Lopped off” (SN: 11/5/11, p. 26): One of the Tao Te Ching’s chapters (excerpt below) is very prescient on the unintended consequences of human behavior. It was written around 500 B.C., long before our innovative abilities threatened the entire planet. It is ironic that science both leads to innovations […]
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SN Online
EARTH Scientists get closer to knowing the exact makeup of Earth’s innards. Read “Oxygen a bit player in Earth’s outer core.” NASA GENES & CELLS A sense-mixing condition in which some people see smells or taste colors may have genetic roots. See “Unraveling synesthesia.” BODY & BRAIN An illusion that tricks people into thinking a […]
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Science Future for December 17, 2011
January 1 Last day of the “Science of Gingerbread” exhibit at the Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana, Calif. See bit.ly/SNginger January 22 Last day to visit an exhibit on race at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, N.C. See bit.ly/SNrace January 31 Deadline for entries in the 2012 Neuro Film Festival to […]
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Science Past from the issue of December 16, 1961
HORMONES AFFECT NERVES — Add sex hormones to all the other things that can make you feel depressed on some days and elated on others. Evidence that sex hormones can affect the body’s central nervous system in roles unrelated to sexual functions has been reported by physiologists at the University of California, Berkeley. The findings […]
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Powering the Future: How We Will (Eventually) Solve the Energy Crisis and Fuel the Civilization of Tomorrow by Robert B. Laughlin
A Nobel laureate in physics breaks down alternatives for the world’s energy supply. Basic Books, 2011, 224 p., $24.99
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How We See the Sky: A Naked-Eye Tour of Day and Night by Thomas Hockey
Learn to see more when you look up with this naked-eye guide to the day and night skies. Univ. of Chicago Press, 2011, 239 p., $20
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Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
A psychologist argues that separate mental systems organize decision making and inspire a litany of thinking errors. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011, 352 p., $27
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What Makes Your Brain Happy and Why You Should Do the Opposite by David DiSalvo
By weaving together the latest studies, a science writer examines why people’s desires often thwart their goals. Prometheus Books, 2011, 288 p., $19
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Controversial Bodies: Thoughts on the Public Display of Plastinated Corpses, John D. Lantos, ed.
A dozen authors discuss issues surrounding the display of human bodies whose flesh has been preserved by plastic. Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 2011, 145 p., $35
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- Climate
Matt Crenson, Reconstructions
In ancient Southwest droughts, a warning of dry times to come.
- Humans
Matt Crenson, Reconstructions
Tools tell a more complicated tale of the origin of the human genus.
