検索キーワード： 生物学

Throughout the ages, human beings have had a profound fascination with the natural world. It has influenced all aspects of our civilisation, from science and religion to music, art, literature and film. These 12 episodes, taken from Radio 4's epic series Natural Histories, find presenter Brett Westwood exploring two major groups of animals - fish, who have lived on Earth for over 450 million years, and invertebrates, who make up 97 percent of all species worldwide - to find out how our perception and representation of them has changed over time.

Nature is rife with cheating. Possums play possum, feigning death to cheat predators. Crows cry wolf to scare off rivals. Amphibians and reptiles are inveterate impostors. Even genes and cells cheat. The Liars of Nature and the Nature of Liars explores the evolution of cheating in the natural world, revealing how dishonesty has given rise to wondrous diversity.

This book comes from two authors with scientific backgrounds. It recognizes the huge advances made through science and their beneficial impact on society. However, it also expresses concern that the essentially tentative nature of scientific conclusions is being replaced by a growing tendency to accord to science the last word on a range of subjects.

For many of us, the buzzing of a bee elicits panic. But the next time you hear that low droning sound, look closer: the bee has navigated to this particular spot for a reason using a fascinating set of tools. What a Bee Knows: Exploring the Thoughts, Memories, and Personalities of Bees invites us to follow bees' mysterious paths and experience their alien world.

Von einer, die auszog, die Schildkröten zu retten. Elegant gleiten sie durchs Wasser, legen Tausende Kilometer zurück und finden selbst Jahre später noch den Weg an die Strände ihrer Geburt. Meeresschildkröten sind faszinierende Urzeitwesen, und Christine Figgener macht sich seit Langem für ihre Erforschung und ihren Schutz stark. Expertenwissen einer engagierten Meeresbiologin. Nun nimmt sie uns mit auf eine Reise durch das Leben dieser Tiere und durch ihr eigenes.

At every moment, within your body and all around you, trillions of microscopic combatants are fighting an invisible war. Countless times per second, 'good' viruses known as phages are infecting and destroying bacteria. These phages are the most abundant life form on the planet and have an incredible power to heal rather than harm. So why have most of us never even heard of them? The Good Virus reveals how personalities, power and politics have repeatedly crashed together to hinder our understanding of these weird and wonderful life forms.

What is life? Many scientists believe life can be reduced to ‘mechanistic’ factors, such as genes and information codes. Yet there is a growing army of scientists, philosophers and artists who reject this view. The gene metaphor is not only too simplistic but deeply misleading. If there is a way to reduce life to a single principle, that principle must acknowledge the creativity of life, turning genetic determinism on its head.

How do vaccines work? What is special about stem cells? How did we evolve from bacteria? The science of life can be dauntingly complex, and it can be hard to separate "good" science from "bad", fundamental truths from the much-hyped breakthroughs reported in the media. Packed with fascinating facts, How Biology Works demystifies both the core biology that may have eluded us at school, and the cutting-edge life science that makes the news, answering the questions that spark our curiosity.

Brought to you by Penguin. Why do women live longer than men? Why do women have menopause? Why are women more likely to get Alzheimer's? Why do girls score better at every academic subject than boys until puberty, when suddenly their scores plummet? And does the female brain really exist? In Eve...

The egg is a paradox―both alive and not alive―and a symbol as old as culture itself. In this wide-ranging and delightful journey through its natural and cultural history, Lizzie Stark explores the egg’s deep meanings, innumerable uses, and metabolic importance through a dozen dazzling specimens. Egg is playful, informative, and guarantees that you’ll never take this delicate ovoid for granted again.

Menstruation is something half the world does for a week at a time, for months and years on end, yet it remains largely misunderstood. Scientists once thought of an individual’s period as useless and some doctors still believe it’s unsafe for a menstruating person to swim in the ocean wearing a tampon. Period counters the false theories that have long defined the study of the uterus, exposing the eugenic history of gynecology while providing an intersectional feminist perspective on menstruation science.

This is an inspiring tour of the world's oceans and 80 of its most notable inhabitants. Beautifully illustrated, the book includes fascinating stories of the fish, shellfish and other sea life that have somehow impacted human life - whether in our medicine, culture or folklore - in often surprising and unexpected ways.

As we continue to live through a pandemic, all eyes are on microbes: an imperceptible and pervasive threat that hangs heavy on the air and clings to surfaces. But the reality of micro-organisms is far more diverse and life-sustaining than such a notion would have us believe.

As dramatic as The Double Helix and as absorbing as The Soul of a New Machine, Natural Obsessions explores the advanced reaches of molecular biology, the nature of the human cell, and the genes that control cancer. It unforgettably portrays some of the best young scientists in the world, the rewards and discouragements of scientific research, and the very process of scientific inquiry.

To date, more than a million insect species have been described, with probably at least another 5-8 million species waiting in the wings for a name. Insects are a fascinatingly diverse and beautiful spectrum of animals. They range in size from the tiny parasitic wasp, measuring a mere 139µm, to the aptly named Titan beetle, which can reach lengths of up to 17cm. They can be found on all continents of the world, from the Sahara Desert to the frozen wastes of Antarctica. While no insects live beneath the waves, the intrepid sea skaters skim the surface of some of the world's oceans.

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Tap into an ancient cellular survival program to optimize health and longevity. Understanding Life will help curious people understand how life might have originated, how metabolism evolved, and what the implications are for health, aging, and disease.

An indispensable guide to the revolutionary advances in pregnancy and childbirth, Taking Charge of Your Pregnancy contains trailblazing science that explains: Why the first eight weeks are the most important and how to optimize them Which prenatal genetic tests are risk‑free and which are a...

What exactly made the earth round? How do boomerangs turn around mid-air? And why do cats always land on their feet? “A basic scientific concept receives long overdue attention” (Kirkus Reviews) in this “fascinating” (Wall Street Journal) new book from the masterful author of The Age of...

An ambitious, eye-opening, myth-busting, and groundbreaking history of the evolution of the female body, by a brilliant new researcher and writer Why do women live longer than men? Why do women have menopause? Why are women more likely to get Alzheimer’s? Why do girls score better at every...