83 posts tagged with science.
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Book: The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood

A thoughtful and provocative exploration of the big ideas of the modern era: Information, communication, and information theory. [more inside]
posted by pwnguin on Mar 6, 2024 - 2 comments

Movie: Crater

After the death of his father, a boy growing up on a lunar mining colony takes a trip to explore a legendary crater, along with his four best friends, prior to being permanently relocated to another planet. [more inside]
posted by 2N2222 on Sep 18, 2023 - 4 comments

Amphibia: Hollywood Hop Pop/If You Give a Frog a Cookie  Season 3, Ep 8

Hollywood Hop Pop: Hop Pop, a failed actor in Amphibia, gets an audition for a Hollywood commercial and nails it, and it gets him an audition for a big movie role, but his face being everywhere makes it easy for Mr. X to track him down. If You Give a Frog a Cookie: the Plantars are homesick, resulting in Anne seeking the help of crazy Dr. Frakes, who's been working on a portal machine, to try to get them back home. [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Nov 20, 2021 - 2 comments

Movie: Dune

Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet's exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence-a commodity capable of unlocking humanity's greatest potential-only those who can conquer their fear will survive.
posted by Omon Ra on Oct 21, 2021 - 179 comments

Connected: The Hidden Science of Everything: Full Season 1  Season 1, Ep 0

Science journalist and RadioLab's Latif Nasser investigates the surprising and intricate ways in which we are connected to each other, the world and the universe. [Netflix] [more inside]
posted by ellieBOA on Aug 16, 2020 - 3 comments

Podcast: Sawbones: A Marital Tour of Misguided Medicine: Sawbones: COVID Lies, Darned Lies and Statistics

Two doctors made headlines this week by trying to construct the narrative that the COVID-19 pandemic has been overblown by the hospital system in pursuit of more profits. This week, Dr. Sydnee and Justin explain why their numbers don't add up, and how you can combat this narrative if it, depressingly, sticks around.Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers
posted by The corpse in the library on May 12, 2020 - 2 comments

Avenue 5: Eight Arms But No Hands  Season 1, Ep 9

After recent events, Matt goes into in hiding with a guilty conscience, and he has the airlock codes. Chaos ensues when a narrow window for escape on a rescue shuttle suddenly becomes available. [Season finale; renewed for Season 2] [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief on Mar 20, 2020 - 2 comments

Avenue 5: This Is Physically Hurting Me  Season 1, Ep 8

There's a new hope for Avenue 5, but it involves an effort to jettison non-essential items. Meanwhile, Billie tries to teach an inattentive Ryan how to dock the ship, and the passengers suspect all is not as it seems with the journey. "I'm around movie sets a lot. I work in VFX. Stands for visual effects." [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief on Mar 20, 2020 - 4 comments

Avenue 5: Are You a Spider, Matt?  Season 1, Ep 7

Judd enlists Ryan to help charm Harrison Aimes, an uber-wealthy passenger who has a strange effect on Judd. Meanwhile, the passengers become transfixed by a divine image circling the ship and Rav deals with the fallout when the ship's moral quandary hits the media. [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief on Mar 17, 2020 - 4 comments

Avenue 5: Was It Your Ears?  Season 1, Ep 6

As Avenue 5 celebrates the birth of a space baby, Ryan and Billie try to identify the source of an incessant beeping, and Judd shares his latest grand idea at Karen's passenger-crew liaison meeting. In the nation's capital, Rav appeals to the President for rescue funds but, in exchange, is faced with an ethical dilemma. [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief on Mar 17, 2020 - 0 comments

Avenue 5: He's Only There to Stop His Skeleton from Falling Over  Season 1, Ep 5

Leaks are closed, heroes are celebrated (and ignored), and a comedian is anxious. It's the halfway home party! Well, it would be, if .... [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief on Feb 18, 2020 - 16 comments

Avenue 5: Wait a Minute, Then Who Was That on the Ladder?  Season 1, Ep 4

With Judd worried about his reputation, Iris arranges a meet-and-greet with several passengers in his luxury suite. Ryan and Billie bond with the engineers, before Ryan steps up and to earn the title Mr. Wetsuit. Matt encourages Frank to become the man he always wanted to be. "Fly safe!" "Fly drunk!" [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief on Feb 12, 2020 - 3 comments

Avenue 5: I'm a Hand Model  Season 1, Ep 3

With Avenue 5 staff slacking in their customer service, Ryan offers Karen the opportunity to channel her unique talent for speaking the passengers' language. Judd outlines a new plan and tasks Iris with organizing an effort to raise the money to fund it. Rav endures a barrage of messages from the ship and handles an unruly press conference. "Oh, come on. My door's always broken." [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief on Feb 12, 2020 - 1 comment

Book: The Triumph of Seeds

We live in a world of seeds. From our morning toast to the cotton in our clothes, they are quite literally the stuff and staff of life: supporting diets, economies, and civilizations around the globe. Just as the search for nutmeg and pepper drove the Age of Discovery, coffee beans fueled the Enlightenment and cottonseed sparked the Industrial Revolution. Seeds are fundamental objects of beauty, evolutionary wonders, and simple fascinations. Yet, despite their importance, seeds are often seen as commonplace, their extraordinary natural and human histories overlooked. Thanks to this stunning new book, they can be overlooked no more. This is a book of knowledge, adventure, and wonder, spun by an award-winning writer with both the charm of a fireside story-teller and the hard-won expertise of a field biologist. A fascinating scientific adventure, it is essential reading for anyone who loves to see a plant grow.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis on Feb 10, 2020 - 2 comments

Book: The Pandemic Century

A medical historian narrates the last century of scientific struggle against an enduring enemy: deadly contagious disease. Ever since the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic, scientists have dreamed of preventing catastrophic outbreaks of infectious disease. Yet despite a century of medical progress, viral and bacterial disasters continue to take us by surprise, inciting panic and dominating news cycles. From the Spanish flu to the 1924 outbreak of pneumonic plague in Los Angeles to the 1930 “parrot fever” pandemic, through the more recent SARS, Ebola, and Zika epidemics, the last one hundred years have been marked by a succession of unanticipated pandemic alarms. In The Pandemic Century, a lively account of scares both infamous and less known, Mark Honigsbaum combines reportage with the history of science and medical sociology to artfully reconstruct epidemiological mysteries and the ecology of infectious diseases. We meet dedicated disease detectives, obstructive or incompetent public health officials, and brilliant scientists often blinded by their own knowledge of bacteria and viruses. We also see how fear of disease often exacerbates racial, religious, and ethnic tensions―even though, as the epidemiologists Malik Peiris and Yi Guan write, “‘nature’ remains the greatest bioterrorist threat of all.” Like man-eating sharks, predatory pathogens are always present in nature, waiting to strike; when one is seemingly vanquished, others appear in its place. These pandemics remind us of the limits of scientific knowledge, as well as the role that human behavior and technologies play in the emergence and spread of microbial diseases.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis on Feb 1, 2020 - 1 comment

Avenue 5: And Then He's Gonna Shoot Off...  Season 1, Ep 2

As Avenue 5 sails on, there's optimism! And coordination! And a memorial. And advocacy. And marital counseling. [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief on Jan 30, 2020 - 9 comments

Avenue 5: I Was Flying  Season 1, Ep 1

Space captain Ryan Clark of the Avenue 5 tries to get along with others in the space tourism industry. (HBO US broadcast premiere) [more inside]
posted by oh yeah! on Jan 20, 2020 - 20 comments

Book: The Botanist and the Vintner

In the mid-1860s, grapevines in southeastern France inexplicably began to wither and die. Jules-Émile Planchon, a botanist from Montpellier, was sent to investigate. He discovered that the vine roots were covered in microscopic yellow insects. What they were and where they had come from was a mystery. The infestation advanced with the relentlessness of an invading army and within a few years had spread across Europe, from Portugal to the Crimea. The wine industry was on the brink of disaster. The French government offered a prize of three hundred thousand gold francs for a remedy. Planchon believed he had the answer and set out to prove it. Gripping and intoxicating, The Botanist and the Vintner brings to life one of the most significant, though little-known, events in the history of wine.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis on Jan 19, 2020 - 3 comments

Book: The Little Ice Age

The Little Ice Age tells the fascinating story of the turbulent, unpredictable, and often very cold years of modern European history. Using sources ranging from the dates of long-ago wine harvests and the business records of medieval monasteries to modern chemical analysis of ice cores, renowned archaeologist Brian Fagan reveals how a 500-year cold snap began in the fourteenth century. As Fagan shows, the increasingly cold and stormy weather dramatically altered fishing and farming practices, and it shaped familiar events, from Norse exploration to the settlement of North America, from the French Revolution to the Irish potato famine to the Industrial Revolution. Now updated with a new preface discussing the latest historical climate research, The Little Ice Age offers deeply important context for understanding today's age of global warming. As the Little Ice Age shows, climate change does not come in gentle, easy stages, and its influence on human life is profound.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis on Jan 3, 2020 - 5 comments

Book: Squid Empire

Before there were mammals on land, there were dinosaurs. And before there were fish in the sea, there were cephalopods―the ancestors of modern squid and Earth’s first truly substantial animals. Cephalopods became the first creatures to rise from the seafloor, essentially inventing the act of swimming. With dozens of tentacles and formidable shells, they presided over an undersea empire for millions of years. But when fish evolved jaws, the ocean’s former top predator became its most delicious snack. Cephalopods had to step up their game. Many species streamlined their shells and added defensive spines, but these enhancements only provided a brief advantage. Some cephalopods then abandoned the shell entirely, which opened the gates to a flood of evolutionary innovations: masterful camouflage, fin-supplemented jet propulsion, perhaps even dolphin-like intelligence. Squid Empire is an epic adventure spanning hundreds of millions of years, from the marine life of the primordial ocean to the calamari on tonight’s menu. Anyone who enjoys the undersea world―along with all those obsessed with things prehistoric―will be interested in the sometimes enormous, often bizarre creatures that ruled the seas long before the first dinosaurs.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis on Dec 29, 2019 - 2 comments

Book: The Book of Barely Imagined Beings

From medieval bestiaries to Borges’s Book of Imaginary Beings, we’ve long been enchanted by extraordinary animals, be they terrifying three-headed dogs or asps impervious to a snake charmer’s song. But bestiaries are more than just zany zoology—they are artful attempts to convey broader beliefs about human beings and the natural order. Today, we no longer fear sea monsters or banshees. But from the infamous honey badger to the giant squid, animals continue to captivate us with the things they can do and the things they cannot, what we know about them and what we don’t. [more inside]
posted by Homo neanderthalensis on Nov 9, 2019 - 1 comment

Book: Built on Bones

Humans and their immediate ancestors were successful hunter-gatherers for hundreds of thousands of years, but in the last fifteen thousand years humans have gone from finding food to farming it, from seasonal camps to sprawling cities, from a few people to hordes. Drawing on her own fieldwork in the Mediterranean, Africa, Asia, and beyond, archeologist Brenna Hassett explores the long history of urbanization through revolutionary changes written into the bones of the people who lived it. For every major new lifestyle, another way of dying appeared. From the "cradle of civilization" in the ancient Near East to the dawn of agriculture on the American plains, skeletal remains and fossils show evidence of shorter lives, rotten teeth, and growth interrupted. The scarring on human skeletons reveals that getting too close to animals had some terrible consequences, but so did getting too close to too many other people. Each chapter of Built on Bones moves forward in time, discussing in depth humanity's great urban experiment. Hassett explains the diseases, plagues, epidemics, and physical dangers we have unwittingly unleashed upon ourselves throughout the urban past--and, as the world becomes increasingly urbanized, what the future holds for us. In a time when "Paleo" lifestyles are trendy and so many of us feel the pain of the city daily grind, this book asks the critical question: Was it worth it?
posted by Homo neanderthalensis on Oct 30, 2019 - 3 comments

Book: Never Home Alone

Even when the floors are sparkling clean and the house seems silent, our domestic domain is wild beyond imagination. In Never Home Alone, biologist Rob Dunn introduces us to the nearly 200,000 species living with us in our own homes, from the Egyptian meal moths in our cupboards and camel crickets in our basements to the lactobacillus lounging on our kitchen counters. You are not alone. Yet, as we obsess over sterilizing our homes and separating our spaces from nature, we are unwittingly cultivating an entirely new playground for evolution. These changes are reshaping the organisms that live with us--prompting some to become more dangerous, while undermining those species that benefit our bodies or help us keep more threatening organisms at bay. No one who reads this engrossing, revelatory book will look at their homes in the same way again.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis on Oct 8, 2019 - 2 comments

Book: Descartes' Bones

Sixteen years after René Descartes' death in Stockholm in 1650, a pious French ambassador exhumed the remains of the controversial philosopher to transport them back to Paris. Thus began a 350-year saga that saw Descartes' bones traverse a continent, passing between kings, philosophers, poets, and painters. But as Russell Shorto shows in this deeply engaging book, Descartes' bones also played a role in some of the most momentous episodes in history, which are also part of the philosopher's metaphorical remains: the birth of science, the rise of democracy, and the earliest debates between reason and faith. Descartes' Bones is a flesh-and-blood story about the battle between religion and rationalism that rages to this day.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis on Sep 4, 2019 - 1 comment

Strange Angel: Aeon  Season 2, Ep 7

Susan and Patty's relationship reaches a breaking point when Susan learns of her sister's indiscretions - nevertheless, they must join forces to use Virgil as a means to an end. After Marisol receives devastating news, she gains a new perspective on her relationship with Richard. Jack has a chance to get back into the military's good graces, but the conditions may be too tough to swallow. Jack's power within the Agape rises to new heights; however, the arrival of a new prospective tenant at the Parsonage threatens to change all that. [Season finale] [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief on Jul 26, 2019 - 1 comment

Strange Angel: The Tower  Season 2, Ep 6

Following the party at the Parsonage, Jack must strike a dangerous bargain, while the police investigate the Agape. Meanwhile, Richard, Chiang and Mesulam are sent to London for a military research project, where Richard goes to great lengths to clear Jack's name. Devastating truths come to light, putting Jack and Susan's future in doubt, and relationships continue to change. [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief on Jul 26, 2019 - 0 comments

Strange Angel: The Hanged Man  Season 2, Ep 5

Facing increasing suspicions from the federal government, Jack tries to clear the air with a summer dinner party and everyone is invited! Ernest pushes Jack to find his true path. "A man of fire should not be bowing before a man of clay."
posted by filthy light thief on Jul 26, 2019 - 0 comments

Strange Angel: The Wheel of Fortune  Season 2, Ep 4

Jack's earns Ernest's loyalty but divides the rest of the devout. Marisol confronts her father about the secret that destroyed their family as Richard deals with his broken heart by diving deeper into the rocketry project. Meanwhile, when Susan's attempt to use bureaucracy to the group's benefit hits a roadblock, she turns to Ernest in hopes of putting a stop to Virgil's harassment once and for all.
posted by filthy light thief on Jul 11, 2019 - 1 comment

Strange Angel: The Lovers  Season 2, Ep 3

When Jack's secret notebook goes missing, he looks for guidance, and seeks out Ernest's help to deal with the situation, while Susan attempts to mollify their conservative, upper crust neighbors. Virgil turns the screws to his confidant. "I do love a good propaganda film. Everything is so black and white. If only life were so simple."
posted by filthy light thief on Jul 11, 2019 - 0 comments

Strange Angel: The Fool  Season 2, Ep 1

Two years since the events in season one of Strange Angel, the U.S. Military offers Jack, Richard and their team a classified mission that could turn the tide of World War II, but which comes with increased scrutiny of Jack's personal life. As Jack strives to straddle the worlds of mysticism and science, Virgil Byrne's crusade against the beliefs of Jack and Susan, they offer the religious family safe haven, and find a familiar face returns.
posted by filthy light thief on Jun 21, 2019 - 0 comments

Strange Angel: The Magus  Season 2, Ep 2

Ernest's intentions are questioned, and alliances shift with new revelations. Richard seeks Marison's family, and finds more than he anticipated, and has more questions. Patty works to become a valued participant in the war effort, and at home. Jack finds help from an unlikely source.
posted by filthy light thief on Jun 21, 2019 - 0 comments

Strange Angel: The Sacrificial Dance  Season 1, Ep 10

When Jack receives an invitation to ascend to the next degree, the Parsons must decide if this is what they both want for their future. After uncovering the truth about her own past, Susan is forced to deal with the chilling revelation back in the real world. Richard and Jack finally find common ground, rallying the Suicide Club for a dangerous final demonstration. Jack has all he needs except for one crucial element.
posted by filthy light thief on Jun 21, 2019 - 0 comments

Strange Angel: Sacrament of the Ancestors  Season 1, Ep 9

Susan turns to the religion that seemed to hold so much for Jack, while he becomes increasingly disenchanted it, with so much promised yet so little delivered. Richard and his rocket team hit a massive stumbling block, forcing Richard to invite Jack and Susan out to a lavish dinner in an attempt to gain Jack's help. But Jack has been offered a promotion at Pueblo Powder and must decide between providing Susan with the life she always wanted or burying the hatchet...
posted by filthy light thief on Jun 20, 2019 - 0 comments

Strange Angel: Evocation of the Elders  Season 1, Ep 8

Richard goes alone to present the team's proposal at the Department of War. But without Jack there to do the talking, Richard looks elsewhere to find the confidence he needs. Meanwhile, Jack continues to drift away from Susan, skipping work to go on a spontaneous road trip with a troubled Ernest. Meanwhile, Susan searches for answers behind Jack's behavior by confronting Jack's mother Ruth and the potential source of all Jack's troubles.
posted by filthy light thief on Jun 20, 2019 - 0 comments

Strange Angel: Glorification of The Chosen One  Season 1, Ep 7

While Richard and the rocketry team leave's Jack and his work for more conventional pursuits, Jack turns to other means to convince General Braxton that reaching the moon isn't just comic book fantasy. Susan's concerns about Jack grow after she researches Aleister Crowley and confronts Maggie with the mysterious truths behind this cult religion. Susan's questions leave Maggie at a breaking point, forcing Ernest to confront his inner demons.
posted by filthy light thief on Jun 20, 2019 - 0 comments

Strange Angel: The Mystic Circle of Young Girls  Season 1, Ep 6

Recent experiences have Jack wanting more, inspiring him to push boundaries at home with Susan, despite her misgivings. Ernest's sudden presence at the Rocketry Team's new testing facility has Richard questioning the whole endeavor, until he meets a mysterious woman who helps restore his faith. Meanwhile, Maggie has doubts about Ernest's fidelity.
posted by filthy light thief on Jun 18, 2019 - 0 comments

Strange Angel: Dance of the Earth  Season 1, Ep 5

The team finalizes their prototype but, in a role reversal, Richard has confidence in the design while Jack doubts it will work. Jack leaves the team to test fire without him as he and Susan accept Ernest and Maggie's invitation to go camping in Joshua Tree. While Susan gets better acquainted with Maggie, Ernest expands Jacks' mind, showing him a way forward. "We just have 51 more prototypes to go."
posted by filthy light thief on Jun 18, 2019 - 0 comments

Strange Angel: The Sage  Season 1, Ep 4

Jack's expert witness testimony at a high profile trial thrusts the rocketry team into the spotlight and helps land them a coveted invitation to The Athenaeum. Meanwhile, Virgil drops off Patty, Susan's rebellious teenage sister, for a trying weekend stay, and Ernest's wife, Maggie, makes a surprise return. When Jack's evening at The Athenaeum doesn't go as planned, Jack seeks out Ernest to blow off some steam and ends up on a detour into a darker part of Los Angeles on Hallween.
posted by filthy light thief on Jun 18, 2019 - 0 comments

Strange Angel: Ritual of the Rival Tribes  Season 1, Ep 3

Feeling the pressure to succeed and provide Susan with the life he promised, Jack urges the rocketry team to take a risk and start testing their experiments at full volume. Sensing the Parsons' mounting frustrations, Ernest offers a way to make all their dreams come true. "I promise you, our life will never be boring."
posted by filthy light thief on Jun 17, 2019 - 0 comments

Strange Angel: Ritual of Abduction  Season 1, Ep 2

Jack and Richard set off to create the first ever rocketry university-sponsored team. But with uncertain acceptance, coupled with Ernest's looming presence, Jack and Susan are feeling more on edge than ever before, desperate to figure out Ernest's intentions. “Can I get there by candlelight?”
posted by filthy light thief on Jun 17, 2019 - 1 comment

Strange Angel: Augurs of Spring  Season 1, Ep 1

In 1930s Los Angeles. Jack Parsons (Jack Reynor) works as a janitor at a chemical factory by day, but, by night, he nurses a secret ambition: to build rockets that will take mankind to the moon. The pressures of his double life are further complicated when Jack and his wife Susan (Bella Heathcote) are confronted by a mysterious new neighbor, Ernest Donovan (Rupert Friend), who appears to be leading a double life of his own. [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief on Jun 14, 2019 - 8 comments

Book: First Bite

In First Bite, award-winning food writer Bee Wilson draws on the latest research from food psychologists and neuroscientists to reveal that our food habits are shaped by a host of factors: family and culture, memory and gender, hunger and love. Taking the reader on a journey across the globe, Wilson introduces us to people who can only eat foods of a certain color, an anosmia sufferer who has no memory of the flavor of her mother's cooking, and researchers who have pioneered new ways to persuade children to try new vegetables. An exploration of the surprising origins of our tastes, First Bite shows us how we can change our palates to lead healthier, happier lives.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis on May 4, 2019 - 3 comments

Book: Eager

In Eager, environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb reveals that our modern idea of what a healthy landscape looks like and how it functions is wrong, distorted by the fur trade that once trapped out millions of beavers from North America’s lakes and rivers. The consequences of losing beavers were profound: streams eroded, wetlands dried up, and species from salmon to swans lost vital habitat. Today, a growing coalition of “Beaver Believers”―including scientists, ranchers, and passionate citizens―recognizes that ecosystems with beavers are far healthier, for humans and non-humans alike, than those without them. From the Nevada deserts to the Scottish highlands, Believers are now hard at work restoring these industrious rodents to their former haunts. [more inside]
posted by Homo neanderthalensis on Apr 6, 2019 - 1 comment

Book: Bad Blood

In 2014, Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes was widely seen as the female Steve Jobs: a brilliant Stanford dropout whose startup “unicorn” promised to revolutionize the medical industry with a machine that would make blood testing significantly faster and easier. Backed by investors such as Larry Ellison and Tim Draper, Theranos sold shares in a fundraising round that valued the company at more than $9 billion, putting Holmes’s worth at an estimated $4.7 billion. There was just one problem: The technology didn’t work. [more inside]
posted by Homo neanderthalensis on Mar 27, 2019 - 10 comments

Book: Horseshoe Crabs and Velvet Worms

From one of the world’s leading natural scientists and the acclaimed author of Trilobite!, Life: A Natural History of Four Billion Years of Life on Earth and Dry Storeroom No. 1 comes a fascinating chronicle of life’s history told not through the fossil record but through the stories of organisms that have survived, almost unchanged, throughout time. Evolution, it seems, has not completely obliterated its tracks as more advanced organisms have evolved; the history of life on earth is far older—and odder—than many of us realize. [more inside]
posted by Homo neanderthalensis on Mar 25, 2019 - 1 comment

Movie: The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley

The story of Theranos, a multi-billion dollar tech company, its founder Elizabeth Holmes, the youngest self-made female billionaire, and the massive fraud that collapsed the company. Directed and written by Alex Gibney (Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room).
posted by Cash4Lead on Mar 21, 2019 - 19 comments

Book: The Fate of Rome

A sweeping new history of how climate change and disease helped bring down the Roman Empire Here is the monumental retelling of one of the most consequential chapters of human history: the fall of the Roman Empire. The Fate of Rome is the first book to examine the catastrophic role that climate change and infectious diseases played in the collapse of Rome's power, a story of nature's triumph over human ambition. Interweaving a grand historical narrative with cutting-edge climate science and genetic discoveries, Kyle Harper traces how the fate of Rome was decided not just by emperors, soldiers, and barbarians but also by volcanic eruptions, solar cycles, climate instability, and devastating viruses and bacteria. [more inside]
posted by Homo neanderthalensis on Mar 20, 2019 - 2 comments

Book: Baking Powder Wars

First patented in 1856, baking powder sparked a classic American struggle for business supremacy. For nearly a century, brands battled to win loyal consumers for the new leavening miracle, transforming American commerce and advertising even as they touched off a chemical revolution in the world's kitchens. Linda Civitello chronicles the titanic struggle that reshaped America's diet and rewrote its recipes. [more inside]
posted by Homo neanderthalensis on Mar 15, 2019 - 1 comment

Book: The Poisoner's Handbook

A fascinating Jazz Age tale of chemistry and detection, poison and murder, The Poisoner's Handbook is a page-turning account of a forgotten era. In early twentieth-century New York, poisons offered an easy path to the perfect crime. Science had no place in the Tammany Hall-controlled coroner's office, and corruption ran rampant. However, with the appointment of chief medical examiner Charles Norris in 1918, the poison game changed forever. Together with toxicologist Alexander Gettler, the duo set the justice system on fire with their trailblazing scientific detective work, triumphing over seemingly unbeatable odds to become the pioneers of forensic chemistry and the gatekeepers of justice. [more inside]
posted by Homo neanderthalensis on Mar 11, 2019 - 8 comments

Book: Washington Black

High adventure fraught with cliffhanger twists marks this runaway-slave narrative, which leaps, sails, and soars from Caribbean cane fields to the fringes of the frozen Arctic and across a whole ocean. (Opening line from Kirkus Review, one of many publications to list Esi Edugyan's novel among the best fiction of 2018). Booker Prize shortlisted nominee. [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief on Feb 2, 2019 - 3 comments

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