Frankenstein's Cat

Author: Emily Anthes
Publisher: Scientific American / Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN: 142994952X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 255

Book Description
Winner of 2014 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Best Young Adult Science Book Longlisted for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award One of Nature's Summer Book Picks One of Publishers Weekly's Top Ten Spring 2013 Science Books For centuries, we've toyed with our creature companions, breeding dogs that herd and hunt, housecats that look like tigers, and teacup pigs that fit snugly in our handbags. But what happens when we take animal alteration a step further, engineering a cat that glows green under ultraviolet light or cloning the beloved family Labrador? Science has given us a whole new toolbox for tinkering with life. How are we using it? In Frankenstein's Cat, the journalist Emily Anthes takes us from petri dish to pet store as she explores how biotechnology is shaping the future of our furry and feathered friends. As she ventures from bucolic barnyards to a "frozen zoo" where scientists are storing DNA from the planet's most exotic creatures, she discovers how we can use cloning to protect endangered species, craft prosthetics to save injured animals, and employ genetic engineering to supply farms with disease-resistant livestock. Along the way, we meet some of the animals that are ushering in this astonishing age of enhancement, including sensor-wearing seals, cyborg beetles, a bionic bulldog, and the world's first cloned cat. Through her encounters with scientists, conservationists, ethicists, and entrepreneurs, Anthes reveals that while some of our interventions may be trivial (behold: the GloFish), others could improve the lives of many species-including our own. So what does biotechnology really mean for the world's wild things? And what do our brave new beasts tell us about ourselves? With keen insight and her trademark spunk, Anthes highlights both the peril and the promise of our scientific superpowers, taking us on an adventure into a world where our grandest science fiction fantasies are fast becoming reality.

Frankenstein's Cat

Author: Curtis Jobling
Publisher: Hachette Children's Books
ISBN: 9780340969960
Category : Cats
Languages : en
Pages : 32

Book Description
Dr. Frankenstein creates a cat named Nine for the nine felines it took to make him. The only thing in the world Nine wants is a friend--but who wants to be pals with a mismatched kitty whose tail falls off occasionally? Dr. Frankenstein then assembles the perfect solution--Frankenstein's Dog! Full-color illustrations.

The Great Indoors

Author: Emily Anthes
Publisher: Scientific American / Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN: 0374716684
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 304

Book Description
An Architectural Record Notable Book A fascinating, thought-provoking journey into our built environment Modern humans are an indoor species. We spend 90 percent of our time inside, shuttling between homes and offices, schools and stores, restaurants and gyms. And yet, in many ways, the indoor world remains unexplored territory. For all the time we spend inside buildings, we rarely stop to consider: How do these spaces affect our mental and physical well-being? Our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors? Our productivity, performance, and relationships? In this wide-ranging, character-driven book, science journalist Emily Anthes takes us on an adventure into the buildings in which we spend our days, exploring the profound, and sometimes unexpected, ways that they shape our lives. Drawing on cutting-edge research, she probes the pain-killing power of a well-placed window and examines how the right office layout can expand our social networks. She investigates how room temperature regulates our cognitive performance, how the microbes hiding in our homes influence our immune systems, and how cafeteria design affects what—and how much—we eat. Along the way, Anthes takes readers into an operating room designed to minimize medical errors, a school designed to boost students’ physical fitness, and a prison designed to support inmates’ psychological needs. And she previews the homes of the future, from the high-tech houses that could monitor our health to the 3D-printed structures that might allow us to live on the Moon. The Great Indoors provides a fresh perspective on our most familiar surroundings and a new understanding of the power of architecture and design. It's an argument for thoughtful interventions into the built environment and a story about how to build a better world—one room at a time.

Frankenstein's Cat

Author: Emily Anthes
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 0374158592
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 255

Book Description
"A report from the frontiers of the scientific campaign to reengineer animals to fulfill human desires"--Dust jacket back.

Dr Frankenstein's Human Body Book

Author: Richard Walker
Publisher: Dorling Kindersley Ltd
ISBN: 1405332522
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 98

Book Description
Explore the human body from the inside-out in this anatomical adventure book.

Instant Egghead Guide: The Mind

Author: Emily Anthes
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
ISBN: 142995616X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 235

Book Description
Everything from neurons to consciousness in the blink of an eye (which takes 300 milliseconds). Take a "fantastic voyage" through the whorls and curves of the human brain, no miniaturization required. Learn everything from how quickly you can possibly think (and that left-handed people think faster) to why being bad feels so good (yes, there's a biochemical explanation). Whether you're a fan of Scientific American's wildly popular "60-Second Science" podcast or just curious about science, you're going to love the tingly way your synapses feel after enjoying the same bite-sized knowledge in The Instant Egghead Guide to the Mind.

Animal Madness

Author: Laurel Braitman
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1451627009
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 384

Book Description
"For the first time, a historian of science draws evidence from across the world to show how humans and other animals are astonishingly similar when it comes to their feelings and the ways in which they lose their minds"--

Cat Wars

Author: Peter P. Marra
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691167419
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 222

Book Description
Why our cats are a danger to species diversity and human health In 1894, a lighthouse keeper named David Lyall arrived on Stephens Island off New Zealand with a cat named Tibbles. In just over a year, the Stephens Island Wren, a rare bird endemic to the island, was rendered extinct. Mounting scientific evidence confirms what many conservationists have suspected for some time—that in the United States alone, free-ranging cats are killing birds and other animals by the billions. Equally alarming are the little-known but potentially devastating public health consequences of rabies and parasitic Toxoplasma passing from cats to humans at rising rates. Cat Wars tells the story of the threats free-ranging cats pose to biodiversity and public health throughout the world, and sheds new light on the controversies surrounding the management of the explosion of these cat populations. This compelling book traces the historical and cultural ties between humans and cats from early domestication to the current boom in pet ownership, along the way accessibly explaining the science of extinction, population modeling, and feline diseases. It charts the developments that have led to our present impasse—from Stan Temple's breakthrough studies on cat predation in Wisconsin to cat-eradication programs underway in Australia today. It describes how a small but vocal minority of cat advocates has campaigned successfully for no action in much the same way that special interest groups have stymied attempts to curtail smoking and climate change. Cat Wars paints a revealing picture of a complex global problem—and proposes solutions that foresee a time when wildlife and humans are no longer vulnerable to the impacts of free-ranging cats.

Feet First

Author: Scott Sonneborn
Publisher: Capstone
ISBN: 1434289990
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 81

Book Description
On the day the orphanage where he has grown up closes, J.D. discovers that he is the son of Frankenstein's monster, so he sets out to find the people that all the mismatched parts that he inherited came from--and do it before Frankenstein's creepy daughter, who wants to outdo her father, can find them.

A Crankenstein Valentine

Author: Samantha Berger
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 0316257648
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 40

Book Description
Even the crankiest monsters have hearts in this Valentine tale from fan favorite author Samantha Berger and Caldecott medalist illustrator Dan Santat. Cheesy cards, allergy-inducing bouquets, and heart-shaped everything? YECHHHH! It's enough to turn anyone into a monster! An ordinary kid becomes Crankenstein on the most lovey-dovey, yuckiest day of the year: Valentine's Day. Can Crankenstein find a way to turn his sour day sweet? Can a monster find a little love in his heart? Find out in the monstrously funny A Crankenstein Valentine.