Biological Sciences

Join Stephen Fry for the greatest story on Earth: the story of life itself. A twelve-part exploration of the incredible diversity of living beings on our planet. Our journey starts four billion years ago with the earliest signs of life deep in the ocean. Along the way it will take in Earth’s extraordinary range of life forms, from microbes to invertebrates, birds, amphibians, mammals and humanity itself.

At the southernmost tip of South Africa, where fresh and salt water collide, a tiny seahorse appears to levitate. Seahorses are the ocean’s slowest swimmers, but they have one of the world’s fastest muscle contractions, using it to suction up their prey. In this episode, we meander through eelgrass with a male Knysna seahorse as he twines tails with his partner, changes color to match the sand, and even gives birth to a brood of tiny seahorses.

An expert on otters dives into their wild and wondrous world You’ve heard of a murder of crows and a pride of lions—but what about a romp of otters? In this informative and entertaining book, animal behaviorist Heide Island takes readers on an odyssey through otterdom, focusing on a family...

In The Book of Cannabis, Jeremy Narby―renowned author of The Cosmic Serpent―delivers a sweeping, clear-eyed exploration of cannabis as both plant and cultural phenomenon. From its ancient medicinal and ritualistic roles to its vilification, Narby traces how cannabis became one of the most controversial plants in modern history.

Brain injuries can result in highly specific and surprising changes in behavior that have revealed to us how the mind works. The brain is the most complicated object in the known universe. After spending millennia trying to understand our ever-changing world, the brain is now turning its...

Concrete Botany is a gritty, kick-in-the-guts look at the ecological disturbance humans have caused and the resilience of the plants living amongst it. Delivered in his raw and unapologetic yet botanically accurate tone, Joey Santore—the unforgettable host of Crime Pays but Botany...

INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER Discover the joy of houseplant care with this welcoming and practical guide filled with no-nonsense tips and encouraging advice from plant expert and content creator Tanner Mitchell a.k.a. Tanner The Planter. Caring for plants can be a meditative practice, even a form...

Equine behavior specialist Shelby Dennis challenges traditional horse training with a science–backed, force–free approach that builds trust and partnership between horse and rider, debunking myths and exploring the deeper behavior and communication of horses. Secrets of the Horse is a...

En Jardinología, el Dr. Stuart Farrimond se sirve de datos científicos para poner a prueba la sabiduría popular más arraigada y desmontar algunos de los mitos, creencias y teorías más comunes de la jardinería.

In this riveting portrait of George B. Schaller, the world’s leading field biologist, Miriam Horn captures the seventy years he spent living among wild animals in the world’s remotest regions, forever altering how we see—and save—the natural world In 1959, though just twenty-six years...

From the New York Times bestselling author of A World on the Wing, an exploration of the efforts led by scientists, conservationists, and Indigenous peoples to save birds around the world. As populations fall and once-great migration multitudes wither away, the future of birds may seem grim. But...

Consciousness is the most fascinating but tantalizingly difficult topic in biology. Although many people now believe that mammals, birds, and possibly all vertebrates are conscious, there are also claims that many other animals such as crabs and insects may be conscious too. Such claims, if true...

Brought to you by Penguin. The immune system is our most valuable resource, our first and most important line of defence, protecting us around the clock. It also determines how quickly we age, regulates our body weight and metabolism, and impacts our brain health. Yet modern life, with toxins...

Always help, or at least do no harm." Following this simple yet revolutionary idea, Hippocrates laid the foundation for modern medicine over two millennia ago. From the Hippocratic Oath to the human genome, from Pasteur's germ theory to the worldwide eradication of smallpox, Medical Firsts brings to life 2,500 years of medical advances and discoveries. Organized chronologically, the book describes each milestone in a vivid capsule history, making it a fascinating and wonderfully listenable resource for anyone interested in medicine's past progress and future promise.

Perhaps the closest a human being comes to visiting another planet is to descend into the sea. In Soundings, Kennedy Warne connects his lifelong exploration of the underwater world with a global story of humanity’s relationship with the sea. Drawing on over 20 years of work for National Geographic, he shares experiences that range from diving with harp seals under the sea ice of the Gulf of St Lawrence to following the legendary ‘sardine run’ along South Africa’s Wild Coast; from watching turret-building ghost crabs in Arabia to witnessing the impact of dynamite fishing in the Philippines…

Ancient and carbon-rich, old-growth forests play an irreplaceable role in the environment. Their complex ecosystems clean the air, purify the water, cool the planet, and teem with life. In a time of climate catastrophe, old-growth and other natural forests face existential threats caused by...

James Dewey Watson (April 6, 1928-November 6, 2025) was an American molecular biologist, geneticist, and zoologist. Francis Harry Compton Crick (June 8, 1916-July 28, 2004) was an English molecular biologist, biophysicist, and neuroscientist. In 1953, Watson and Crick co-authored an academic paper in Nature proposing the double helix structure of the DNA molecule, building on research by Rosalind Franklin and Raymond Gosling. The following TV interview is from 1993.

PreciGenetics: The Technology That Lets Us Watch Life Think explores a radical idea: cancer keeps winning because biology is still half-blind. Cancer is not one disease but an adaptive system that evolves between our measurements. Traditional tools rely on snapshots, averages, and destructive methods that miss the real enemy—time-based change and resistant minority cells. The book introduces a new approach: using light (photonics) to read living cells without labels or destruction, capturing real-time “epigenetic movies.

For centuries, we have viewed viruses as simple parasites—mindless invaders to be fought and eradicated. But when SARS-CoV-2 swept across the globe, adapting with seeming precision to evade our defenses, a deeper question emerged: How do entities without brains, without consciousness, without any capacity for thought, achieve outcomes that appear so intelligent?

The question "what came first?" has shaped human thought since its earliest stirrings, from theological first principles to the search for base reality in simulation theory. This demand for ultimate origins appears so natural that it goes unnoticed, like air supporting breath without announcing itself. But what if this demand contains a hidden error? Boris Kriger's groundbreaking work argues that for certain closed hierarchical structures, the question of primary foundation is not merely unanswered—it is unanswerable.

High-yield study guides break intimidating topics into manageable chunks. Every pathway, mechanism, and core concept is organized with clinical context so you understand WHY it matters—not just WHAT happens. Covering glycolysis, gluconeogenesis, protein/lipid metabolism, enzyme kinetics, and more.

Struggling to house-train your dog—no matter what you try? If your dog still pees in the house, refuses to go outside, or seems impossible to train, you are not alone—and it’s not your fault. Many dogs face hidden challenges that make traditional house-training frustrating for even the most dedicated owners. House-Training the Difficult Dog delivers fast, effective results using a blend of proven strategies, expert guidance, and compassionate insight. Whether you're working with a stubborn puppy, an anxious rescue, or an adult dog set in his ways, this audiobook gives you the tools to succeed.

Einmal im Leben einen Wal sehen – für die 23-jährige Malina beginnt mit diesem Traum ein Abenteuer, das ihr Leben verändern wird. Sie zieht für ein halbes Jahr auf eine winzige Atlantikinsel, um dort als Wal-Tour-Guide zu arbeiten – ganz allein, ohne jemals dort gewesen zu sein und ohne Plan. Zwischen Selbstzweifel, Heimweh und Seekrankheit wächst Malina über sich hinaus, lernt, die eigenen Ängste zu überwinden und ihrer Begeisterung zu folgen.

“Constantly fascinating and impeccably reported...You won’t look at yourself in the same way again.” —Ed Yong, bestselling author of An Immense World and I Contain Multitudes A captivating exploration of the remarkable ways our DNA mutates over the course of our lives, with radical...

We call ourselves a nation of animal lovers--- yet millions of dogs, cats, and other animals are abandoned, surrendered, or killed every year. In Disposable Lives: The Animal Crisis Paradox, psychotherapist and animal advocate Marci Elliott confronts the painful contradiction at the heart of America's pet overpopulation crisis. Drawing on decades of experience in animal welfare and mental health, she examines irresponsible pet ownership, unchecked breeding, shelter overcrowding, and the cultural attitudes that have allowed this cycle to continue for far too long.