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"Kean, Sam"
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The disappearing spoon and other true tales of madness, love, and the history of the world from the periodic table of the elements
These tales follow carbon, neon, silicon, gold, and all the elements in the table as they play out their parts in human history.
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The 'Other' Breast Cancer Genes
Since the discovery of BRCA1 and BRCA2 , dozens more breast cancer genes have come to light. But what risk they pose—and what to tell women who carry them—remain quandaries. First there were the BRCA genes. Now, dozens or more breast cancer genes have been unmasked. But unlike BRCA1 and BRCA2 , the risk these genes pose is uncertain. And that leaves doctors and genetic counselors in a bind. With understanding so limited, is information on these genes even helpful? Should women with a family history of breast cancer be tested for them? And what do you tell them if the test comes back positive?
Journal Article
The violinist's thumb : and other lost tales of love, war, and genius, as written by our genetic code
\"In The Disappearing Spoon, bestselling author Sam Kean unlocked the mysteries of the periodic table. In THE VIOLINIST'S THUMB, he explores the wonders of the magical building block of life: DNA. There are genes to explain crazy cat ladies, why other people have no fingerprints, and why some people survive nuclear bombs. Genes illuminate everything from JFK's bronze skin (it wasn't a tan) to Einstein's genius. They prove that Neanderthals and humans bred thousands of years more recently than any of us would feel comfortable thinking. They can even allow some people, because of the exceptional flexibility of their thumbs and fingers, to become truly singular violinists. Kean's vibrant storytelling once again makes science entertaining, explaining human history and whimsy while showing how DNA will influence our species' future\"-- Provided by publisher.
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Making Smarter, Savvier Robots
What machines of the future really need to learn, say experts who plan to have them explore the far reaches of the solar system, is more independent behavior. There's a defect in current space-exploration technology: Basically, robots are pretty dumb. Now scientists across the world are striving to change that by developing intelligent robots that can circumvent danger and spot enticing features on their own. Hundreds of scientists, mostly at NASA and at universities, are working on improving robot explorers. But only a few dozen specialize in developing robots with true, high-level independence. The main NASA lab, at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, has a dozen people and a budget of about $4 million—a lower figure than in the past. But scientists there see promising signs. For one, NASA chief technologist Robert Braun has begun a new, general Space Technology Program that lists \"machine intelligence\" as one thrust.
Journal Article
Disrupting Hedgehog May Reverse Advanced Cancer, If Only Temporarily
A drug has dramatically shrunk cancerous tumors by disrupting a key genetic pathway, although one deadly brain cancer quickly developed resistance. A study published online this week in Science describes the mechanism by which this resistance developed. In the first clinical proof of its kind, a drug has dramatically shrunk cancerous tumors by disrupting a key genetic pathway. But a study targeting one deadly brain cancer, medulloblastoma, ended in disappointment as the patient's once-tamed tumor quickly developed resistance to the drug and killed him. A separate study published online this week in Science describes the mechanism by which the man's brain tumor developed resistance.
Journal Article
The icepick surgeon : murder, fraud, sabotage, piracy, and other dastardly deeds perpetrated in the name of science
\"Science is a force for good in the world--at least usually. But sometimes, when obsession gets the better of scientists, they twist a noble pursuit into something sinister. Under this spell, knowledge isn't everything, it's the only thing--no matter the cost. Bestselling author Sam Kean tells the true story of what happens when unfettered ambition pushes otherwise rational men and women to cross the line in the name of science, trampling ethical boundaries and often committing crimes in the process\"-- Provided by publisher.
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SCIENCE’S DEBT TO THE SLAVE TRADE
Historians confront the tainted origins of key plant and animal collections. At the dawn of the 1700s, European science seemed poised to conquer all of nature. Isaac Newton had recently published his monumental theory of gravity. Telescopes were opening up the heavens to study, and Robert Hooke and Antonie van Leeuwenhoek's microscopes were doing the same for the miniature world. But one of the most important scientists alive then was someone few people have ever heard of, an apothecary and naturalist named James Petiver. And he was important for a startling reason: He had good connections within the slave trade. Petiver set up a museum and research collection of animal and plant specimens collected by ship surgeons and captains, many of them in the slave trade. Today, by examining scientific papers, correspondence between naturalists, and the records of slaving companies, historians are ferreting out connections between science and slavery and piecing together just how deeply intertwined they were. \"We do not often think of the wretched, miserable, and inhuman spaces of slave ships as simultaneously being spaces of natural history,\" writes one historian. \"Yet Petiver's museum suggests that this is exactly what they were.\"
Journal Article
Dinner with King Tut : how rogue archaeologists are recreating the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of lost civilizations
From the mighty pyramids of Egypt to the majestic temples of the Aztec, we have a good idea of what the past looked like. But what about our other senses: The tang of Roman fish sauce, and the springy crust of Egyptian sourdough? The boom of medieval cannons and clash of Viking swords? The breathless plays of an Aztec ballgame, and the chilling reality that the losers might also lose their lives? History all too often neglects the tastes, textures, sounds, and smells that were an intimate part of our ancestors' daily experience, but a new generation of researchers is resurrecting those hidden details, pioneering an exciting new discipline called experimental archaeology.
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The Violinist's Thumb: Stories about Genetics, Retro Diagnosis, and Human Life
This is a transcription of the speech by Sam Kean at the Washington Academy of Sciences 2013 Awards Banquet. Kean is the author of the New York Times national bestseller, The Disappearing Spoon, and most recently The Violinist's Thumb. Both books were named among the top five science books of the year, and each was nominated for major awards here in the United States and abroad. The author and his books have been featured on NPR's \"Radiolab,\" \"All Things Considered,\" and \"Fresh Air.\" References for these two Kean books appear at the end of this presentation.
Journal Article