Tag Archives: disappearing

The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2018 – Sam Kean & Tim Folger

READ GREEN WITH E-BOOKS

The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2018

Sam Kean & Tim Folger

Genre: Essays

Price: $9.99

Publish Date: October 2, 2018

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Seller: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company


Best-selling author of The Disappearing Spoon, The Violinist’s Thumb , and more, Sam Kean, selects the year’s top science and nature writing, looking for writers who balance research with humanity and in the process uncover riveting stories of discovery across the disciplines.  

Continue reading: 

The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2018 – Sam Kean & Tim Folger

Posted in alo, Anchor, FF, GE, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, LG, ONA, PUR, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2018 – Sam Kean & Tim Folger

The Disappearing Spoon – Sam Kean

READ GREEN WITH E-BOOKS

The Disappearing Spoon
And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements
Sam Kean

Genre: Science & Nature

Price: $2.99

Publish Date: July 12, 2010

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Seller: Hachette Digital, Inc.


From New York Times bestselling author Sam Kean comes incredible stories of science, history, finance, mythology, the arts, medicine, and more, as told by the Periodic Table. Why did Gandhi hate iodine (I, 53)? How did radium (Ra, 88) nearly ruin Marie Curie’s reputation? And why is gallium (Ga, 31) the go-to element for laboratory pranksters?* The Periodic Table is a crowning scientific achievement, but it’s also a treasure trove of adventure, betrayal, and obsession. These fascinating tales follow every element on the table as they play out their parts in human history, and in the lives of the (frequently) mad scientists who discovered them. THE DISAPPEARING SPOON masterfully fuses science with the classic lore of invention, investigation, and discovery–from the Big Bang through the end of time. *Though solid at room temperature, gallium is a moldable metal that melts at 84 degrees Fahrenheit. A classic science prank is to mold gallium spoons, serve them with tea, and watch guests recoil as their utensils disappear.

See the original article here:

The Disappearing Spoon – Sam Kean

Posted in alo, Anchor, Crown, FF, Gandhi, GE, LAI, LG, Little, Brown and Company, ONA, PUR, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Disappearing Spoon – Sam Kean

There are just 97 of these adorable porpoises left

Doing It On Porpoise

There are just 97 of these adorable porpoises left

By on 19 Jun 2015commentsShare

Heads up, animal lovers: This is going to be a sad one – sadder than starving sea lions (gasp!), tick-infested moose (the horror!), and even dying penguin chicks (NO!).

The latest addition to the list of dying critters: These adorable vaquita porpoises, which get ensnared and then drown in gill-nets off Mexico’s Gulf of California. Now there are only 97 vaquitas left in the world, The New York Times reports.

Recent data from acoustic monitoring show that the species is declining by an average of 30 percent a year — much higher than the previous estimate of 18.5 percent, which scientists said was the steepest decline of cetaceans on record.

The decline is still going strong despite Mexican government officials implementing a two-year moratorium on gill-net fishing. Some fishermen are still using the nets illegally to catch totoaba fish, a Chinese delicacy. Activists are still fighting for the tiny porpoises, but time is running out.

“I was out there about a month ago and saw blatant gill-net setting within the vaquita refuge,” said Barbara Taylor, a member of the vaquita recovery committee and a conservation biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

While there was a strong law-enforcement presence when the refuge was established in 2008, efforts have trickled to virtually nothing in the past few years, Dr. Taylor said. The committee has urged Mexico’s government to increase patrols, including nighttime surveillance, to ensure that gill-net fishing ceases.

“Unless there is nearly perfect enforcement, it’s game over for vaquita,” she said.

You can read more about the vaquita’s sad story here and here. No need to be embarrassed, friend. We’re crying right along with you.

Source:
Disappearing Porpoise: Down to 97 and Dropping Fast

, The New York Times.

Share

Please

enable JavaScript

to view the comments.

Get Grist in your inbox

Follow this link:

There are just 97 of these adorable porpoises left

Posted in alo, Anchor, Dolphin, FF, G & F, GE, LG, ONA, Radius, TOTO, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on There are just 97 of these adorable porpoises left