The Science category has 986 audiobooks on Listento.it, with an average listener rating of 4.5★ across 9,896 ratings. The most-rated is Astrophysics for People in a Hurry.
Energy Systems
Summary
Modern societies require energy systems to provide energy for cooking, heating, transport, and materials processing, as well as for electricity generation. Energy systems include the primary fuel, its conversion, and transport to the point of use. In many cases this primary fuel is still a fossil fuel, a one-use resource derived from a finite supply within our planet, causing considerable damage to the environment. After 300 years of increasing reliance on fossil fuels, particularly coal, it is becoming ever clearer that the present energy systems need to change. In this Very Short Introduction, Nick Jenkins explores our historic investment in the exploitation of fossil energy resources and their current importance, and discusses the implications of our increasing rate of energy use. He considers the widespread acceptance by scientists and policy makers that our energy systems must reduce emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases, and looks forward to the radical changes in fuel technology that will be necessary to continue to provide energy supplies in a sustainable manner, and extend access across the developing world.
©2019 Nick Jenkins (P)2020 Tantor
Bee People and the Bugs They Love
Summary
Master Beekeeper Frank Mortimer invites listeners on an eye-opening journey into the secret world of bees and the singular world of his fellow beekeepers. There's the Badger, who introduces Frank to the world of bees; Rusty, a one-eyed septuagenarian bee-sting therapist certain that honey will be the currency of the future after the governments fail; Scooby the "dude" who gets a meditative high off the awesome vibes of his psychedelia-painted hives; and the Berserker, a honeybee hit man who teaches Frank a rafter-raising lesson in staving off the harmful influences of an evil queen: "Squash her, mash her, kill, kill, kill!" In connecting with this club of disparate but kindred spirits, Frank discovers the centuries-old history of the trade; the practicality of maintaining it; what bees see, think, and feel (emotionless but sometimes a little defensive); how they talk to each other and socialize; and what can be done to combat their biggest threats, both human and mite. With a swarm of offbeat characters and fascinating facts (did that bee just waggle or festoon?), Frank the Bee Man delivers an informative, funny, and galvanizing book about the symbiotic relationship between flower and bee, and bee and the beekeepers who are determined to protect the existence of one of the most beguiling and invaluable creatures on earth.
©2020 Frank Mortimer (P)2021 Tantor
Losing Eden
Summary
Brought to you by Penguin. A Times and Telegraph book of the year. Today many of us live indoor lives, disconnected from the natural world as never before. And yet nature remains deeply ingrained in our language, culture and consciousness. For centuries, we have acted on an intuitive sense that we need communion with the wild to feel well. Now, in the moment of our great migration away from the rest of nature, more and more scientific evidence is emerging to confirm its place at the heart of our psychological wellbeing. So what happens, asks acclaimed journalist Lucy Jones, as we lose our bond with the natural world-might we also be losing part of ourselves? Delicately observed and rigorously researched, Losing Eden is an enthralling journey through this new research, exploring how and why connecting with the living world can so drastically affect our health. Travelling from forest schools in East London to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault via primeval woodlands, Californian laboratories and ecotherapists' couches, Jones takes us to the cutting edge of human biology, neuroscience and psychology, and discovers new ways of understanding our increasingly dysfunctional relationship with the earth. Urgent and uplifting, Losing Eden is a rallying cry for a wilder way of life - for finding asylum in the soil and joy in the trees - which might just help us to save the living planet, as well as ourselves.
©2020 Lucy Jones (P)2021 Penguin Audio
The Red Limit
Summary
For centuries, it was assumed that our universe was static. In the late 1920s, astronomers defeated this assumption with a startling new discovery. From Earth, the light of distant galaxies appeared to be red, meaning that those galaxies were receding from us. This led to the revolutionary realization that the universe is expanding. The Red Limit is the tale of this discovery, its ramifications, and the passionately competitive astronomers who charted the past, present, and future of the cosmos.
©1977, 1983 Timothy Ferris (P)1999, 2017 Dove Audio / Phoenix Books
Nature's Nether Regions
Summary
The story of evolution as you’ve never heard it before. What’s the easiest way to tell species apart? Check their genitals. Researching private parts was long considered taboo, but scientists are now beginning to understand that the wild diversity of sex organs across species can tell us a lot about evolution. Menno Schilthuizen invites listeners to join him as he uncovers the ways the shapes and functions of genitalia have been molded by complex Darwinian struggles: penises that have lost their spines but evolved appendages to displace sperm; female orgasms that select or reject semen from males, in turn subtly modifying the females’ genital shape. We learn why spiders masturbate into miniature webs, discover she dungflies that store sperm from attractive males in their bellies, and see how, when it comes to outlandish appendages and bizarre behaviors, humans are downright boring. Nature’s Nether Regions joyfully demonstrates that the more we learn about the multiform private parts of animals, the more we understand our own unique place in the great diversity of life.
©2014 Menno Schilthuizen (P)2014 Gildan Media LLC
Smell
Summary
Our sense of smell - or olfaction as it is technically known - is our most enigmatic sense. It can conjure up memories, taking us back to very specific places and emotions, whilst powerful smells can induce strong feelings of hunger or nausea. In the animal kingdom smell can be used to find food, a mate, or a home; to sense danger; and to send and receive complex messages with other members of a species. Yet despite its fundamental importance in our mental life and in the existence of all animals, our scientific understanding of how smell works is limited. In this Very Short Introduction, Matthew Cobb describes the latest scientific research on smell in humans and other mammals, in insects, and even in fish. He looks at how smell evolved, how animals use it to navigate and communicate, and disorders of smell in humans. Understanding smell, especially its neurobiology, has proved a big challenge, but olfactory science has revealed genetic factors that determine what we can and cannot smell, and why some people like a given smell while others find it unbearable. He ends by considering future treatments for smell disorders, and speculating on the role of smell in a world of robots.
©2020 Matthew Cobb (P)2020 Tantor
Diet for a Hot Planet
Summary
Beyond what we already know about "food miles" and eating locally, the global food system is a major contributor to climate change, producing as much as one-third of greenhouse gas emissions. How we farm, what we eat, and how our food gets to the table all have an impact. And our government and the food industry are willfully ignoring the issue rather than addressing it. In Anna Lapp's controversial new book, she predicts that unless we radically shift the trends of what food we're eating and how we're producing it, food-system-related greenhouse gas emissions will go up and up and up. She exposes the interests that will resist the change, and the spin food companies will generate to avoid system-wide reform. And she offers a vision of a future in which our food system does more good than harm, with six principles for a climate friendly diet as well as visits to farmers who are demonstrating the potential of sustainable farming. In this measured and intelligent call to action, Lapp helps readers understand that food can be a powerful starting point for solutions to global environmental problems.
©2010 Anna Lappe, Foreword copyright 2010 by Bill McKibben (P)2013 Audible, Inc.
Dawn Light
Summary
In an eye-opening sequence of personal meditations through the cycle of seasons, Diane Ackerman awakens us to the world at dawn---drawing on sources as diverse as meteorology, world religion, etymology, art history, poetry, organic farming, and beekeeping. As a patient and learned observer of animal and human physiology and behavior, she introduces us to varieties of bird music and other signs of avian intelligence, while she herself "migrates" from winter in Florida to spring, summer, and fall in upstate New York. Humans might luxuriate in the idea of being "in" nature, Ackerman points out, but we often forget that we are nature---for "no facet of nature is as unlikely as we, the tiny bipeds with the giant dreams." Joining science's devotion to detail with religion's appreciation of the sublime, Dawn Light is an impassioned celebration of the miracles of evolution---especially human consciousness of our numbered days on a turning earth.
©2009 Diane Ackerman (P)2009 Tantor
Il lungo racconto dell'origine
Summary
Un tempo si studiava il cielo dall'alto dei templi. Oggi con telescopi spaziali. Un tempo si credeva che l'universo fosse una cupola sopra la Terra piatta. Oggi sappiamo di essere una briciola nello spazio-tempo che si espande dopo il Big Bang. Un tempo ogni civiltà aveva la sua cosmologia. Oggi tutto il mondo ha una sola scienza. In ogni caso, dai miti più ingenui alle teorie scientifiche più ardite, quello dell'Universo resta il "racconto" più affascinante che ha accompagnato l'evoluzione culturale dell'uomo. Questo audiolibro ripercorre le cosmologie delle grandi civiltà antiche - dai Sumeri agli Egizi, dai Maya ai Cinesi. E poi attraverso l'astronomia dell'Europa cristiana, arriva alle frontiere dell'astrofisica odierna e alla ricerca dell'intelligenza nell'Universo. Il lungo racconto di come si è evoluta la conoscenza del cielo dura da seimila anni, durante i quali l'uomo è diventato adulto. >> Questo audiobook in edizione integrale vi è offerto in esclusiva per Audible ed è disponibile solamente in formato audio digitale.
©2013 Baldini&Castoldi Srl (P)2016 Audible Studios
Exploring Creation with Biology (3rd Edition)
Summary
This student textbook Exploring Creation with Biology (3rd Edition) is Apologia’s award-winning, college prep biology course that provides a detailed introduction to the methods and concepts of general biology. This student textbook contains all student material, study questions, laboratory exercises, and module study guides.
©2020 Apologia Educational Ministries (P)2020 Apologia Educational Ministries
Duckweed Ethanol
Summary
The smallest flowering plant, on Earth, is one of the most powerful, and widespread: duckweed. Usually, considered a nuisance, duckweed, upon close examination, is an impressive crop, in photosynthetic value. Ethanol, an industry dominated by the Corn Industry (King Corn), faces many challenges, including large water draws, rising fertilizer costs, large diesel fuel bills, and unintended impacts on Food markets. Corn, as a choice for ethanol production, pits food, versus fuel, for agricultural resources, increasing stresses between fundamental markets. An ideal source of biomass, for ethanol production, would not be a food crop, rather, a waste-crop. King Corn, dominates current domestic ethanol production markets, worth billions, each year. Supported with Federal Farm Subsidies, worth billions of dollars annually, the corn industry dictates the US ethanol markets, using Corn as the principle feedstock crop. At first glance, Corn, is an odd choice for ethanol production. Corn, began as a wild seed crop, domesticated by ancient man. Before the modern age, thousands of years of selective breeding, produced a Corn rich in proteins, and high in nutritional value. Modern Corn, has been engineered to go "the other direction," and reduce Corn's Protein, and increase Corn's Starch (Carbohydrate) production. The "Starch" in corn, is used for Ethanol production, and other by-products, such as Corn Syrup, and Distillers Dried Grains and Solubles (DDGS). Duckweed, is a choice for bulk biomass, which offers significant advantages over corn. Duckweed advantages include, lower energy costs, lower water resources, lower fertilizer costs, doesn't require valuable farmland, doesn't compete in Food markets, has higher Starch yield, per acre. Duckweed, in a controlled environment, can be grown, year round, and in diverse locations.
©2014 Christopher Kinkaid (P)2014 Christopher Kinkaid
Biochemistry - Medical School Crash Course
Summary
AudioLearn's Medical School Crash Courses presents Biochemistry Written by experts and authorities in the field and professionally narrated for easy listening, this crash course is a valuable tool both during school and when preparing for the USMLE, or if you're simply interested in the subject of human Biochemistry. The audio is focused and high-yield, covering the most important topics you might expect to learn in a typical Medical school Biochemistry course. Included are both capsule and detailed explanations of critical issues and topics you must know to master Medical School-level Biochemistry. The material is accurate, up to date and broken down into bite-sized sections. There is a "Q&A" and a "key takeaways" section following each topic to review questions commonly tested and drive home key points. Also included is a comprehensive test containing the top 100 most commonly tested questions in Biochemistry with the correct answers. In this course, we'll cover the following topics: Water and Biochemistry Proteins and Amino Acids Carbohydrates and Sugars Lipids and Fatty Acids DNA, RNA and Nucleotides Enzymes and Enzymology Aerobic Metabolism Anaerobic Metabolism Glucose Catabolism Citric Acid Cycle Gluconeogenesis and Glycogenesis Biochemistry in Medicine AudioLearn's Medical School Crash Courses support your studies, help with USMLE preparation and provide a comprehensive audio review of the topic matter for anyone interested in what medical students are taught in a typical medical school Biochemistry course.
©2017 AudioLearn (P)2017 AudioLearn
Animal Madness
Summary
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. Charles Darwin developed his evolutionary theories by looking at physical differences in Galapagos finches and fancy pigeons. Alfred Russell Wallace investigated a range of creatures in the Malay Archipelago. Laurel Braitman got her lessons closer to home - by watching her dog. Oliver snapped at flies that only he could see, ate Ziploc bags, towels, and cartons of eggs. He suffered debilitating separation anxiety, was prone to aggression, and may even have attempted suicide. Her experience with Oliver forced Laurel to acknowledge a form of continuity between humans and other animals that, first as a biology major and later as a PhD student at MIT, she'd never been taught in school. Nonhuman animals can lose their minds. And when they do, it often looks a lot like human mental illness Thankfully, all of us can heal. As Laurel spent three years traveling the world in search of emotionally disturbed animals and the people who care for them, she discovered numerous stories of recovery: parrots that learn how to stop plucking their feathers, dogs that cease licking their tails raw, polar bears that stop swimming in compulsive circles, and great apes that benefit from the help of human psychiatrists. How do these animals recover? The same way we do: with love, with medicine, and above all, with the knowledge that someone understands why we suffer and what can make us feel better. After all of the digging in the archives of museums and zoos, the years synthesizing scientific literature, and the hours observing dog parks, wildlife encounters, and amusement parks, Laurel found that understanding the emotional distress of animals can help us better understand ourselves.
©2014 Laurel Braitman (P)2014 Simon & Schuster Audio
The Modern Scholar
Summary
Every human is composed of an amazing assortment of cells and tissues that carry out myriad functions necessary for sustaining life. In this series of lectures, Professor John K. Young of the Howard University College of Medicine takes audiences through the microscope on a fascinating journey of discovery into the world of cells and tissues, where a complex scheme of activity is taking place all the time, literally just beneath the surface. In clear, concise language, Professor Young explains the basic categories of cells and tissues and then delves into their specialized functions, whether it be for muscle cells and nervous tissue or the cells of reproductive organs and the highly unusual entities known as "extreme" cells. Finally, Professor Young wraps up the lectures with a topic of universal interest-the death and aging of cells.
©2007 John K. Young (P)2007 Recorded Books
Star Settlers
Summary
The story behind the elite scientists, technologists, SF enthusiasts, and billionaires who believe that humanity’s destiny is to populate the stars.... Does humanity have a destiny "in the stars"? Should a species triggering massive extinctions on its own planet instead stay put? This new book traces the waxing and waning of interest in space settlement through the decades, and offers a journalistic tour through the influential subculture attempting to shape a multiplanetary future. What motivates figures such as billionaires Elon Musk and Yuri Milner? How important have science fiction authors and filmmakers been in stirring enthusiasm for actual space exploration and settlement? Is there a coherent motivating philosophy and ethic behind the spacefaring dream? Star Settlers offers both a historical perspective and a journalistic window into a peculiar subculture packed with members of the scientific, intellectual, and economic elite, and captures the extra-scientific zeal for space travel and settlement, places it in its historical context, and tackles the somewhat surreal conceptions underlying the enterprise and prognoses for its future. PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2020 Fred Nadis (P)2020 Oasis Audio
Mars
Summary
An inspiring exploration of the establishment of humans on Mars - tying into the National Geographic television documentary series Mars. The next frontier in space exploration is Mars, the Red Planet - and human habitation of Mars isn't much farther off. In October 2015, NASA declared Mars "an achievable goal"; that same season, Ridley Scott and Matt Damon's The Martian drew crowds into theaters, grossing over $200 million. Now the National Geographic Channel fast forwards years ahead with Mars, a six-part series documenting and dramatizing the next 25 years as humans land on and learn to live on Mars. Following on the visionary success of Buzz Aldrin's Mission to Mars and the visual glory of Marc Kaufman's Mars Up Close, this companion book to the Nat Geo series shows the science behind the mission and the challenges awaiting those brave individuals. The book combines science, technology, and storytelling, offering what only National Geographic can create. Clear scientific explanations make the Mars experience real.
©2016 Leonard David (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Is My iPhone Conscious?
Summary
Can science ultimately explain consciousness? This little book explores the subject from both a purely physicalist perspective and also from an Eastern philosophy angle.
©2008, 2017 David Christopher Lane (P)2017 David Christopher Lane
Honey and Venom
Summary
A year in the life of New York City's premier beekeeper, who chronicles his adventures and the quirky personalities he encounters while spreading his infinite knowledge of and passion for the remarkable honey bee. “Cote´’s charming and poignant essay collection delivers the entertainment and smarts required to make real change in how we look at our planet - and ourselves.” (Andrew Zimmern) Considered an "industry legend" by The New York Times, Andrew Coté has one of the most intriguing, challenging, and unique jobs in New York City - maintaining millions of honey bees atop some of the city's most iconic buildings. His apiaries have crowned the Waldorf Astoria and the Museum of Modern Art; reside on the North Lawn of the United Nations; reign above stores, hotels, restaurants, schools, churches, and synagogues; and are situated in community gardens, and even cemeteries, throughout the five boroughs. In this debut collection, Coté takes listeners with him on his daily apiary adventures over the course of a year, in the city and across the globe. Here, among his many duties, he is called to capture swarms that have clustered on fire hydrants, air-conditioning units, or street-vendor umbrellas. Annually, he travels with his father to regions like remote Fijian islands, rural Uganda, Haiti, Ecuador, or Iraq with his organization, Bees Without Borders, where he teaches beekeepers how to increase their honey yield and income via beekeeping endeavors. Written with Coté’s trademark humor, acumen, and a healthy dose of charm, Honey and Venom illuminates the obscure culture of New York City "beeks" and the biology of the bees themselves, from the humble drone to the fittingly named worker to the queen herself - who is more a slave than a monarch. The hive world, Coté reveals, is full of strivers and slackers, givers and takers, and even some insect promiscuity - startlingly similar to the prickly human variety. For Coté, a fourth-generation beekeeper, this is a family tradition, and this personal significance pervades his celebration of the romance and mystery of bees, their honey, and the beekeepers whose lives revolve around these most magical creatures.
©2020 Andrew Coté (P)2020 Random House Audio
The Road to Einstein's Relativity
Summary
Choice Highly Recommended Title, August 2019 Expertly guided by renowned cosmologist Dr David Lyth, learn about the pioneering scientists whose work provided the foundation for Einstein’s formulation of his theories of relativity and about Einstein's groundbreaking life and work as well. This highly listenable and accessible panorama of the field delicately balances history and science as it takes the listener on an adventure through the centuries. Without complex mathematics or scientific formulae, this book will be of interest to all, even those without a scientific background, who are intrigued to find out more about what paved the way for one of our most famous physicists to push the boundaries of physics to new lengths. Features: Written by an internationally renowned physicist and cosmologist Describes the life and times of Einstein and his important predecessors Focuses on one of the most famous areas of science, Einstein’s Relativity Theory
©2019 David Lyth (P)2020 Taylor & Francis
Toxic Algae
Summary
Toxic Algae is an epidemic threatening natural waterways locally, and globally. Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB) are an explosive growth of photosynthetic organisms in a body of water which can harm amphibians, fish, wildlife, pets, and human health by producing dangerous toxins. Fresh water systems such as ponds, lakes, rivers, and reservoirs are under assault from many directions increasing chemical imbalance stressing the aquatic water systems ability to stay in healthy balance. Toxic Algae in Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB) are an increasing threat to waterways throughout the country, and are reported with greater frequency in all 50 states. The water quality of our Ponds, Lakes, Rivers, and Reservoirs are of prime importance to local communities, and the general health of local environments and ecosystems globally. Used for recreation, and as a food source for millions of people worldwide, healthy waterways are vital for ecosystems and people everywhere. Cyanobacteria are a photosynthetic bacteria which is normally a very productive part of the aquatic ecosystem. However, when Cyanobacteria and Algae "Break bad" then very harmful toxins can be produced by some species which can be highly dangerous. Stressed from nutrient loading events such as a storm run-off, natural water bodies are being stressed to the point of imbalance introducing invasive species - including Toxic Algae. Cyanobacteria (called a Blue-Green Algae) are a type of photosynthetic bacteria. When a pond, lake, stream, river, or other water body experiences a nutrient loading event conditions can trigger an algal bloom which may result in a Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB). This Audiobook describes the conditions which trigger Harmful Algal Blooms, and how they can be treated, and prevented, in Ponds, Lakes, Rivers, and Reservoirs.
©2014 Christopher Kinkaid (P)2015 Christopher Kinkaid