Biological Sciences

Sixty years ago in the snowy valleys of Japan, a young snow monkey discovered a hotel’s hot spring, and others in her troop soon joined her. Now, generations of families have built their routines around their own hot springs. In this episode, we follow a young snow monkey as her troop leaps from rock to rock toward their favorite activity in winter: a long steamy soak.

Capybaras possess such a calm and gentle nature that many other animal species treat them as friends—including the birds who ride on their backs. In this episode, we follow a capybara as she lounges in the lagoon and covers herself in mud to repel bugs. And we’ll listen as she collectively parents her pups with the others in her herd, communicating through a complex language of whistles, clicks, and purrs.

In a quiet forest in Sweden, a cluster of Amanita muscaria mushrooms, with their iconic red caps dotted with white spots, push through a bed of soft reindeer moss. These crimson fungi interact with all manner of species in the forest—including a squirrel, who takes a nibble and wanders away in an altered state. These enchanted mushrooms also form partnerships with the trees, trading nutrients under the soil.

Andrew Huberman, host of the world’s leading health and science podcast Huberman Lab and neuroscientist and professor at Stanford School of Medicine, presents an essential guide to improving brain function, enhancing mood and energy, optimizing bodily health and physical performance, and...

THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'Tender, affecting, wise - a deeply human and uplifting story' CHLOE DALTON 'A moving, vulnerable portrait of love, nature and a life well-lived' RORY STEWART 'A warm, rich, generous book. A pleasure from first page to last.' KATHERINE RUNDELL The long-awaited...

Since 2020, Lee Asher has rescued more than 1,000 dogs and reached social media popularity with the pack at The Asher House, a nonprofit animal sanctuary in Oregon. In this audiobook, Asher shares the intimate journey that led him to rescue animals and inspire others to do good in the world, from his tumultuous childhood struggling with ADHD and bullies to a crushing corporate job that urged him to find his true purpose.

An award-winning neurologist on the Stone-Age roots of our screen addictions, and what to do about them. The human brain hasn't changed much since the Stone Age, let alone in the mere thirty years of the Screen Age. That's why, according to neurologist Richard Cytowic—who, Oliver Sacks...

A fun-to-listen-to guide to ecological principles and environmental understanding Ecology For Dummies transforms intimidating concepts into an engaging walkthrough that supports academic success and environmental literacy. This accessible text covers everything from energy flow and nutrient...

The Wildlife Year will help you reconnect with nature and take a walk on the wild side, wherever you live. Nature is right on your doorstep. Whether you’re in the countryside, city or somewhere in between, there is wildlife everywhere if you know where to look. And while it’s trickier to find in some places than others, nature can thrive in the most surprising spaces. The Wildlife Year is a gentle introduction to the events that mark the natural cycle of the year.

The definitive account of how a discarded strand of hair found in Thomas Jefferson’s Bible led to a sweeping, multi-year genomic investigation, drawing on technological advances in DNA to finally resolve a 200-year national controversy. “Written with the gravitas of history and the pace of a...

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Hidden Valley Road comes the heart-wrenching journey of a family facing an unthinkable destiny, whose flawed genetic code might hold the long-sought key to a cure for dementia. “A gripping real-life horror story of dementia, love and grief...

'A warm, joyful book about the transformative effect of pursuing your dreams in middle age' DAILY MAIL 'A glorious celebration of humanity, nature and the magnetic pull of the Scottish islands' CAT HARVEY 'A joyous read with heart, bravery and spectacular scene setting' ARLENE STUART 'It was...

An illuminating journey through the past, present and future of the botanical world How did plants shape the modern world? And what can they tell us about our future? Our peculiarly British obsession with gardens goes back a long way and Plants: From Roots to Riches takes us back to where it all...

In the early twentieth century, paleoanthropologists interpreted the differences between specimens of an expanding human fossil record as reflecting taxonomic and evolutionary diversity. Why, then, in the 1940s, did geneticist Theodosius Dobzhansky reconfigure human evolution into one...

Fans of Oliver Sacks and Gabor Maté will be intrigued by this journey into the human brain, full of fascinating stories—both personal and professional—by a neurologist who’s dedicated her life to understanding the body’s most complex organ.

There are few stories more remarkable than the evolution of life on earth. Where did humans come from? Where did life come from? New fields of study, such as molecular biology and astrobiology, are shedding remarkable new light on the origin of life and the origin of sex. In this Very Short...

The Farrier’s Mindset: How to Understand, Apply and Explain Farriery Knowledge Farriery is more than knowing what to do beneath a horse’s foot. It is about understanding why you are doing it, applying knowledge to the individual horse and being able to explain your decisions clearly. The...

Our ancestors didn't just take the piss. They used it too. The human body leaks. It oozes. It sweats and spits. It bursts, it bleeds and it squirts. Over the history of humanity, our bodies have evolved into sophisticated vessels for survival, leaving a long trail of fluids in our wake. Whether...

“Luminous.”—Bill McKibben, author of Here Comes the Sun Acclaimed nature writer Marina Richie guides us into a vertical world of old-growth forests through the eyes of the birds that inhabit them—exploring her journey as an environmentalist in her signature verdant prose. With exquisite...

From one of the world’s foremost neuroscientists and acclaimed author of Descartes’ Error comes a bold new theory of the origins—and consequences—of human consciousness “Damasio is the closest thing we have in the post-truth era to a great public intellectual.”—Mark Solms, Journal...

This book examines neuroplasticity without illusion and without despair. Against the popular belief that the brain can be endlessly reshaped by will alone, and against the opposing conviction that it is largely fixed and unchangeable, Neuroplasticity: Limits and the Architecture of Change offers a sober, philosophically grounded account of how the brain truly adapts. Plasticity is presented not as a miracle solution nor as a closed door, but as a fragile, conditional capacity—real, powerful, and constrained.

In the Catskills gathers eight of John Burroughs's finest nature essays, first published by Houghton Mifflin in 1910 with photographic illustrations by Clifton Johnson. Burroughs — nicknamed "John o' Birds" for his devotion to birdlife and often credited with creating the modern nature essay...

Connecting philosophical meditations with agricultural expertise, Seeding Hope urges us to reassess our relationships with ourselves, each other, and the vast living systems to which we belong—reminding us tht when we nurture the world around us, we nuture ourselves. In Seeding Hope, Jack...

Our Hope for Gene Therapy traces the developments in eye genetics and our understanding of chloridemia, an inherited retinal disorder. A first-in-Canada test of an experimental gene therapy to halt its progression started in Edmonton, Alberta in 2015. Nothing about the experiment was simple - but it taught Dr. MacDonald and his team a great deal and laid the foundations for future genetic therapies.

How do you escape ‘business as usual’ thinking and regularly and reliably create breakthrough ideas? Millions are spent every year in the quest to generate breakthrough ideas to drive growth. Yet fewer than 25% of people believe they’re doing a good job of harnessing creativity to get to big ideas. The Breakthrough Brain helps you harness human creativity with the digestible, inspiring and immensely practical Neuroscience of Creativity framework.