Catalog Search Results
Author
Series
Pub. Date
2021.
Summary
"For most of us, the story of mammal evolution starts after the asteroid impact that killed the dinosaurs, but over the last 20 years scientists have uncovered new fossils and used new technologies that have upended this story. In Beasts Before Us, palaeontologist Elsa Panciroli charts the emergence of the mammal lineage, Synapsida, beginning at their murky split from the reptiles in the Carboniferous period, over three-hundred million years ago....
Author
Series
Bloomsbury sigma volume 4
Pub. Date
2015.
Summary
Seashells, stretching from the deep past into the present day, are touchstones leading into fascinating realms of the natural world and cutting-edge science. Members of the phylum Mollusca are among the most ancient animals on the planet. Their shells provide homes for other animals, and across the ages, people have used shells not only as trinkets but also as a form of money, and as powerful symbols of sex and death, prestige and war. The science...
Author
Series
Bloomsbury sigma volume 13
Pub. Date
2016.
Summary
As of 2015, there were nearly 30 described species of tyrannosaur, but during the last decade at least one new species has been identified and named every year, greatly improving what we know about how they lived, fed, bred, and died. THE TYRANNOSAUR CHRONICLES tracks the rise of these dinosaurs, and presents the latest research into their biology, showing off more than just their impressive statistics--tyrannosaurs had feathers, and fought and even...
Author
Series
Bloomsbury sigma volume 2
Pub. Date
2014.
Summary
"All of us have lurking in our DNA a most remarkable gene. Its job is to protect us from cancer. This gene-known simply as p53-constantly scans our cells to ensure that when they grow and divide as part of the routine maintenance of our bodies, they do so without mishap. If a cell makes a mistake in copying its DNA during the process of division, p53 stops it in its tracks, sending in the repair team before allowing the cell to carry on dividing....
Author
Series
Pub. Date
2017.
Summary
"Catching Breath--the story of one of the world's oldest diseases--looks at the hidden biology behind the interaction of Mycobacterium tuberculosis with its human host, and shows how drug resistance, the HIV epidemic, poverty and inequality work together to ensure that TB remains one of the most serious problems in world medicine."--Jacket flap.
Author
Series
Pub. Date
2016.
Summary
"The animal world is full of mysteries. Why do dogs slurp from their drinking bowls while cats lap up water with a delicate flick of the tongue? How does a tiny turtle hatchling from Florida circle the entire North Atlantic before returning to the very beach where it was hatched? And how can a Komodo dragon kill a water buffalo with a bite that is only as strong as a domestic cat's? These puzzles-- and my more besides-- are all explained by physics....
Author
Series
Pub. Date
2017.
Summary
"Immune explores the incredible arsenal that lives within us - how it knows what to attack and what to defend, and how it kills everything from the common cold virus to plague bacteria. We see what happens when the immune system turns on us, and how life is impossible without its protection. We learn how diseases try to evade the immune system and exploit its vulnerabilities, and we discover how scientists are designing new drugs to harness the power...