Kate Lester grows up in Florida under the tu telage of her domineering widowed mother, who gives her daug hters an unusual education and a bizarre view of the world. '

The interdisciplinary field of Astrobiology constitutes a joint arena where provocative discoveries are coalescing concerning, e.g. the prevalence of exoplanets, the diversity and hardiness of life, and its increasingly likely chances for its emergence. Biologists, astrophysicists, biochemists, geoscientists and space scientists share this exciting mission of revealing the origin and commonality of life in the Universe. The members of the different disciplines are used to their own terminology and technical language. In the interdisciplinary environment many terms either have redundant meanings or are completely unfamiliar to members of other disciplines. The Encyclopedia of Astrobiology serves as the key to a common understanding. Each new or experienced researcher and graduate student in adjacent fields of astrobiology will appreciate this reference work in the quest to understand the big picture. The carefully selected group of active researchers contributing to this work and the expert field editors intend for their contributions, from an internationally comprehensive perspective, to accelerate the interdisciplinary advance of astrobiology.

From the primordial soup to meteorite impact zones, the Manhattan Project to the latest research, this book is the first full history of the scientists who strive to explain the genesis of life. How did life begin? Why are we here? These are some of the most profound questions we can ask. For almost a century, a small band of eccentric scientists has struggled to answer these questions and explain one of the greatest mysteries of all: how and why life began on Earth. There are many different proposals, and each idea has attracted passionate believers who promote it with an almost religious fervor, as well as detractors who reject it with equal passion. But the quest to unravel life’s genesis is not just a story of big ideas. It is also a compelling human story, rich in personalities, conflicts, and surprising twists and turns. Along the way, the journey takes in some of the greatest discoveries in modern biology, from evolution and cells to DNA and life’s family tree. It is also a search whose end may finally be in sight. In The Genesis Quest, Michael Marshall shows how the quest to understand life’s beginning is also a journey to discover the true nature of life, and by extension our place in the universe.

Life's Evolutionary Journey: From Primordial Soup to Modern Species dives deep into the captivating world of evolutionary biology, providing an in-depth exploration of the processes and concepts that have shaped life on Earth. This book offers a comprehensive understanding of evolution, from its historical development to its relevance in the 21st century, appealing to both scientific enthusiasts and curious minds. The book begins with an Introduction to Evolutionary Biology, presenting an overview of the field and highlighting the importance of evolutionary analysis in understanding the natural world. Moving on to Mechanisms of Evolution, the reader is introduced to key concepts such as natural selection, genetic drift, mutation, and gene flow, illustrating the fundamental forces that drive evolutionary change. Population Genetics is explored in Chapter 3, delving into the Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium, genetic variation, adaptation, and speciation. The subsequent chapter, Macroevolution, takes a closer look at the patterns and processes that have shaped life's diversity, including biogeography, the fossil record, and extinction events. Evolutionary Developmental Biology, covered in Chapter 5, explores the role of Hox genes, embryonic development, phylogenetic constraints, and their relationship to evolutionary change. The following chapter, Molecular Evolution, examines genetic variation, mutation rates, molecular clocks, and provides insight into evolutionary relationships through phylogenetics and horizontal gene transfer. Coevolution and Mutualism are explored in Chapter 7, focusing on interspecific interactions, the coevolutionary arms race, symbiotic relationships, and adaptive radiation. Chapter 8 takes a closer look at Human Evolution and provides an in-depth understanding of primate evolution, the origin and spread of Homo sapiens, the evolution of human traits, and the genetic evidence supporting human origins. Evolutionary Ecology, covered in Chapter 9, explores the interplay between ecological interactions and evolutionary dynamics, including the arms race in predator-prey relationships, adaptive radiation in island environments, and evolutionary responses to changing environments. Chapter 10 highlights the importance of Evolutionary Conservation Biology, discussing topics such as conservation genetics, evolutionary approaches to conservation, and the use of evolutionary principles in species management. Chapters 11 to 19 dive into more specific topics, including Evolutionary Medicine, Social Evolution, Evolutionary Psychology, Biotechnology and Evolution, Theoretical and Mathematical Approaches in Evolutionary Biology, Evolutionary Ethics, Evolution and Religion, and Frontiers in Evolutionary Biology. Each chapter uncovers fascinating insights, examining the intersection of evolution with various fields and offering a deeper understanding of the complex interactions and implications. Finally, The Evolution-Culture Interface and The Future of Evolutionary Biology are explored in Chapters 19 and 20, respectively. These chapters address the relevance of evolutionary biology in our rapidly advancing world, highlighting technological advancements, unanswered questions, and the importance of education and public engagement. Life's Evolutionary Journey: From Primordial Soup to Modern Species is an invaluable resource for those seeking to expand their knowledge of evolutionary biology. With its comprehensive coverage of key topics, engaging writing style, and the exploration of cutting-edge advancements, this book is a must-have for individuals passionate about understanding life's evolutionary journey.

Will the First Batch be just the Beginning... or the beginning of The End? Sadako Sōzō, the evil heiress of the powerful corporate empire Hidora Neo, inherits a secret buried in the Antarctic ice that will change the world. Four decades later, daikaiju have become a reality, thanks to the corrupt scientists of Hidora Neo using their secrets from the South Pole. Ivan Strand and his government-sanctioned rivals, Bionautics Inc., will rise to the challenge, striving to create their own giant monsters. An epic battle of the genetically modified organisms is imminent!Meanwhile, enigmatic doors opened at the bottom of the world will unleash an ancient evil older than time. Lives will be lost trying to drive it back to whatever Hell it came from.A savior in the form of an otherworldly force will awaken, ready to take them all on to save the Earth from an apocalypse.Rated Ex (Explicit) - Contains graphic violence, strong language, and other intense themes.

Uniting the foundations of physics and biology, this groundbreaking multidisciplinary and integrative book explores life as a planetary process.

A fascinating deep dive on innovation from the New York Times bestselling author of How We Got To Now and Unexpected Life The printing press, the pencil, the flush toilet, the battery--these are all great ideas. But where do they come from? What kind of environment breeds them? What sparks the flash of brilliance? How do we generate the breakthrough technologies that push forward our lives, our society, our culture? Steven Johnson's answers are revelatory as he identifies the seven key patterns behind genuine innovation, and traces them across time and disciplines. From Darwin and Freud to the halls of Google and Apple, Johnson investigates the innovation hubs throughout modern time and pulls out the approaches and commonalities that seem to appear at moments of originality.

This classic of biochemistry offered the first detailed exposition of the theory that living tissue was preceded upon Earth by a long and gradual evolution of nitrogen and carbon compounds. "Easily the most scholarly authority on the question...it will be a landmark for discussion for a long time to come." — New York Times.

A major scientific revolution has begun, a new paradigm that rivals Darwin's theory in importance. At its heart is the discovery of the order that lies deep within the most complex of systems, from the origin of life, to the workings of giant corporations, to the rise and fall of great civilizations. And more than anyone else, this revolution is the work of one man, Stuart Kauffman, a MacArthur Fellow and visionary pioneer of the new science of complexity. Now, in At Home in the Universe, Kauffman brilliantly weaves together the excitement of intellectual discovery and a fertile mix of insights to give the general reader a fascinating look at this new science--and at the forces for order that lie at the edge of chaos. We all know of instances of spontaneous order in nature--an oil droplet in water forms a sphere, snowflakes have a six-fold symmetry. What we are only now discovering, Kauffman says, is that the range of spontaneous order is enormously greater than we had supposed. Indeed, self-organization is a great undiscovered principle of nature. But how does this spontaneous order arise? Kauffman contends that complexity itself triggers self-organization, or what he calls "order for free," that if enough different molecules pass a certain threshold of complexity, they begin to self-organize into a new entity--a living cell. Kauffman uses the analogy of a thousand buttons on a rug--join two buttons randomly with thread, then another two, and so on. At first, you have isolated pairs; later, small clusters; but suddenly at around the 500th repetition, a remarkable transformation occurs--much like the phase transition when water abruptly turns to ice--and the buttons link up in one giant network. Likewise, life may have originated when the mix of different molecules in the primordial soup passed a certain level of complexity and self-organized into living entities (if so, then life is not a highly improbable chance event, but almost inevitable). Kauffman uses the basic insight of "order for free" to illuminate a staggering range of phenomena. We see how a single-celled embryo can grow to a highly complex organism with over two hundred different cell types. We learn how the science of complexity extends Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection: that self-organization, selection, and chance are the engines of the biosphere. And we gain insights into biotechnology, the stunning magic of the new frontier of genetic engineering--generating trillions of novel molecules to find new drugs, vaccines, enzymes, biosensors, and more. Indeed, Kauffman shows that ecosystems, economic systems, and even cultural systems may all evolve according to similar general laws, that tissues and terra cotta evolve in similar ways. And finally, there is a profoundly spiritual element to Kauffman's thought. If, as he argues, life were bound to arise, not as an incalculably improbable accident, but as an expected fulfillment of the natural order, then we truly are at home in the universe. Kauffman's earlier volume, The Origins of Order, written for specialists, received lavish praise. Stephen Jay Gould called it "a landmark and a classic." And Nobel Laureate Philip Anderson wrote that "there are few people in this world who ever ask the right questions of science, and they are the ones who affect its future most profoundly. Stuart Kauffman is one of these." In At Home in the Universe, this visionary thinker takes you along as he explores new insights into the nature of life.