Search Results for: book reviews
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- Science & Society
Nudge theory’s popularity may block insights into improving society
Small interventions that influence people’s behavior can be tested. But the real world requires big, hard-to-measure changes too, scientists say.
By Sujata Gupta - Climate
‘Ice Rivers’ invites you to get to know our world’s melting glaciers
In her new book, Jemma Wadham brings readers along on her scientific expeditions to the world’s iciest places.
- Science & Society
Our favorite books of 2020 covered climate change, Mars, the end of the universe and more
In a year when the coronavirus pandemic dominated the news, these books were a welcomed distraction.
- Physics
With Steven Weinberg’s death, physics loses a titan
The Nobel laureate advanced the theory of particles and forces, and wrote insightfully for a wider public.
- Life
Two new books investigate why it’s so hard to define life
For centuries, scientists have struggled to define what it means to be alive. ‘What Is Life?’ and ‘Life’s Edge’ explore the question.
- Anthropology
‘The Dawn of Everything’ rewrites 40,000 years of human history
A new book recasts human social evolution as multiple experiments with freedom and domination that started in the Stone Age.
By Bruce Bower - Science & Society
COVID-19 has killed a million Americans. Our minds can’t comprehend that number
We intuitively compare large, approximate quantities but cannot grasp such a big, abstract number as a million U.S. COVID-19 deaths.
By Sujata Gupta - Computing
Artificial intelligence challenges what it means to be creative
Computer programs can mimic famous artworks, but struggle with originality and lack self-awareness.
By Richard Moss - Anthropology
Lasers reveal construction inspired by ancient Mexican pyramids in Maya ruins
Archaeologists have uncovered structures in Guatemala that are remarkably similar to La Ciudadela and its temple at the ancient city of Teotihuacan.
- Psychology
How mindfulness-based training can give elite athletes a mental edge
Mindfulness and acceptance and commitment therapy are two types of training psychologists are using to bolster athletes’ mental health.
- Genetics
‘The Code Breaker’ tells the story of CRISPR pioneer Jennifer Doudna
In his latest book, Walter Isaacson chronicles the discovery of CRISPR and delves into the ethics of gene editing.
- Health & Medicine
How I decided on a second COVID-19 booster shot
Boosters help for a short time, and mixing vaccines doesn’t seem to push the immune system toward making unhelpful antibodies, studies show.