TOP 100 SCIENCE SITES
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| New Fault Lines in Mountaintop Coal Debate Both sides in the mountaintop removal mining debate are hardening their positions, taking their cases to Washington -- and to the courts. feeds.nytimes.com |
Where's the oil? On the Gulf floor, scientists say By CAIN BURDEAU and SETH BORENSTEIN 2010-09-13T21:01:05ZNEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Far beneath the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, deeper than divers can go, scientists say they are finding oil from the busted BP well on the sea's muddy and mysterious bottom.... hosted.ap.org |
Birdbooker Report 137 Compiled by an ardent bibliophile, this is a weekly report about nature, science and history books that have been newly published in North America and the UKBooks to the ceiling, Books to the sky,My pile of books is a mile high.How I love them! How I need them!I'll have a long beard by the time I read them. ~ Arnold Lobel [1933-1987] author of many popular children's books. Compiled by Ian "Birdbooker" Paulsen, the Birdbooker Report is a long-running weekly report listing the wide variety of nature, natural history, ecology, animal behaviour, science and history books that have been newly released or republished in North America and in the UK. The books listed here were received by Ian during the previous week, courtesy of their publishers. Featured titles: Kington, John. Climate and Weather. 2010. Collins. Paperback: 484 pages. Price: $50.00 U.S. (30 GBP). [Amazon UK; Amazon US]. SUMMARY: Reviewing the history and causes of climatic change and evaluating regional models, this New Naturalist volume offers an important analysis of climatic variations. Much has happened in our knowledge of climate and weather over the past fifty years. The recording of relations between weather and natural history has continued to be of constant interest, with the weather providing a continual and essential backdrop to natural history accounts. But the significance of this backdrop has been very much widened by our better understanding of climate change and its effects on flora, fauna and biodiversity and also by our increased knowledge of historical climates and weather events. In this timely addition to the New Naturalist Library, leading climatologist John Kington offers a comprehensive and up-to-date survey of the diverse climate of the British Isles. Examining the ways in which regional climates evolve from the interplay of meteorological conditions and geography of the British Isles, the author analyses the climatic characteristics and provides a historical overview of changing weather patterns, which is complemented by fascinating and never-before published photographs. Kington reviews the many ways in which people have observed and recorded weather conditions throughout the ages. It is a story based on a rich and varied resource stretching back 2,000 years. This approach has allowed climatic trends, anomalies and extremes to be identified over the past two millennia, putting our present experience of weather into striking perspective.IAN'S RECOMMENDATION: For those with an interest in British climate and weather or who collect the New Naturalist series. Scott, S. David and Casey McFarland. Bird Feathers: A Guide to North American Species. 2010. Stackpole Books. Paperback: 358 pages. Price: $34.95 U.S. [Amazon UK; Amazon US]. SUMMARY: This guide teaches birders to use the characteristics of wing types and feather morphology to identify feathers - not only by species but also by their place on the bird's body.The introductory chapters give a detailed overview of the feather - how feathers developed, the parts of a single feather, and the variety of types of feathers on a bird. In the feather identification section, more than 400 color photographs show feather samples from 379 bird species from all over North America. Along with the wing type of the species and a map showing its range, several types of feathers are included for each bird; each feather is labeled with its type and its size.IAN'S RECOMMENDATION: North American birders will want to have this book! Other naturalists with a general interest in birds or feathers will find it useful. British and European books that are similar include: Feathers: Identification for Bird Conservation [NHBS] and The Tracks and Signs of the Birds of Britain and Europe: An Identification Guide. [Amazon UK] New and recent titles: Ayala, Francisco J. Am I A Monkey? Six Big Questions about Evolution. 2010. Johns Hopkins University Press. Hardbound: 85 pages. Price: $12.95 U.S. [Amazon UK; Amazon US]. SUMMARY: Despite the ongoing cultural controversy in America, evolution remains a cornerstone of science. In this book, Francisco J. Ayala - an evolutionary biologist, member of the National Academy of Sciences, and winner of the National Medal of Science and the Templeton Prize - cuts to the chase in a daring attempt to address, in nontechnical language, six perennial questions about evolution:• Am I a Monkey?• Why Is Evolution a Theory?• What Is DNA?• Do All Scientists Accept Evolution?• How Did Life Begin?• Can One Believe in Evolution and God?This to-the-point book answers each of these questions with force. Ayala's occasionally biting essays refuse to lend credence to disingenuous ideas and arguments. He lays out the basic science that underlies evolutionary theory, explains how the process works, and soundly makes the case for why evolution is not a threat to religion.Brief, incisive, topical, authoritative, Am I a Monkey? will take you a day to read and a lifetime to ponder.IAN'S RECOMMENDATION: A very good introduction on the subject. Drisdelle, Rosemary. Parasites: Tales of Humanity's Most Unwelcome Guests. 2010. University of California Press. Hardbound: 258 pages. Price: $27.50 U.S. [Amazon UK; Amazon US]. SUMMARY: Hidden away within living tissues, parasites are all around us - and inside us. Yet, despite their unsavoury characteristics, as we find in this compulsively readable book, parasites have played an enormous role in civilisations through time and around the globe. Parasites: Tales of Humanity's Most Unwelcome Guests puts amoebae, roundworms, tapeworms, mites, and others at the centre of the action as human cultures have evolved and declined. It shows their role in exploration, war, and even terrorist plots, often through an unpredictable ripple effect. It reveals them as invisible threats in our food, water, and luggage; as invaders that have shaped behaviors and taboos; and as unexpected partners in such venues as crime scene investigations. Parasites also describes their evolution and life histories and considers their significant benefits. Deftly blending the sociological with the scientific, this natural and social history of parasites looks closely at a fascinating, often disgusting group of organisms and discovers that they are in fact an integral thread in the web of life.IAN'S RECOMMENDATION: An interesting guide to what's eating you, literally! Not for the squeamish! Taylor, Richard Cachor. Birds of Southeastern Arizona. 2010. R.W. Morse Company. Paperback: 430 pages. Price: $19.95 U.S. [Amazon UK; Amazon US]. SUMMARY: Birds of Southeastern Arizona is an identification guide for the birds that live in, or migrate through, Pima, Santa Cruz, and Cochise Counties, as well as southern Maricopa, Pinal, Graham, and Greenlee Counties, an area of approximately 25,000 square miles.The Species Account pages provide colour photographs of 640 birds and have a companion page with key information about birds. Elevation Charts (exclusive to this new title) show during which season and at what elevation most birds can be found.A Quick Guide to Local Birds provides an easy colour-coded means to find birds in the book.Common Local Birds shows photographs of the most common birds in southeastern Arizona.There are a number of sections of the book designed for the beginning and expert birder:· Identifying Birds (how to tell one bird from another)· Bird Habitats in Southeastern Arizona (habitat map and text describes ten primary habitats)· Elevation Charts (show elevation and seasonal occurrence)· Helpful Resources (where to get more information)· Index/Checklist (use this checklist to record your bird sightings) IAN'S RECOMMENDATION: A good introduction to the birds of the region. You can read the early Birdbooker Reports in the archives on my former ScienceBlogs site, and Ian has his own website, The Birdbooker Report, where you can read his synopses about newly published science, nature and animal books.GrrlScientistguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Podcast: Nobel prizewinner Andre Geim, and the science of incest The 2010 Nobel prizes have been awarded and Britain has done rather well (two out of three ain't bad). The pod and a couple of special guests take an extended look at the three science categories.Nobel prizewinner Andre Geim joins us on the line from Manchester University to tell us why he's just been awarded this year's Nobel prize for physics for his work on graphene. He's the first person to get both a Nobel and an IgNobel award. He's also famous for levitating frogs! To help us dissect the physiology or medicine prize, which was awarded to Professor Robert Edwards and Patrick Steptoe for pioneering IVF (in vitro fertilisation), one of Professor Edward's former students Professor Martin Johnson tells us about their work and how controversial it was at the time. He's just written a paper about it. We also discuss the parallels with today's science funding crisis. Professor in biophysics Astrid Graslund helps us get our head around the chemistry prize for a clever technique for building the carbon backbones of complex organic molecules which has become invaluable in drug design. It's all down to palladium catalysis.In the coming weeks, Guardian Science will be presenting two videos a week from the Newton Channel. We play a snippet from our first one, in which Professor Brian Cox takes us underground at Cern for a quick look around the Large Hadron Collider. Keep an eye on our Twitter and Facebook feeds to be alerted to when the next videos go online. Steve Jones is presenting the first of UCL's lunch hour lectures this year, 'Incest and Folk-dancing: why sex survives'. Believe it or not, the editing is meant to sound like this!We were very disappointed that this week's panellists, the Guardian's Nell Boase and Observer science editor Robin McKie, failed to get the recognition they deserve from the Nobel committee for their sterling work in science communication.WARNING: contains two instances of strong language! See if you can spot them ... Check out our shiny new science front page and meet our crack team of science bloggers:The Lay Scientist by Martin RobbinsLife and Physics by Jon ButterworthPunctuated Equilibrium by GrrlScientistPolitical Science by Evan Harris Follow the podcast on our Science Weekly Twitter feed and receive updates on all breaking science news stories from Guardian Science. Email scienceweeklypodcast@gmail.com. Guardian Science is now on Facebook. You can also join our Science Weekly Facebook group. Listen back through our archive.Subscribe free via iTunes to ensure every episode gets delivered. (Here is the non-iTunes URL feed).Alok JhaAndy DuckworthRobin McKieNell BoaseIan Sample guardian.co.uk |
Branson dedicates spaceport runway in NM desert By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN 2010-10-22T23:37:30ZUPHAM, N.M. (AP) -- World's first commercial spaceport. Check. Solo flight of a rocket ship for tourists. Check. A runway in the southern New Mexico desert to help them climb to the heavens. Check.... hosted.ap.org |