Exoplanets, creativity, mind

Fascinating topics for every taste and tablet! To view this email as a web page, go here. Exoplanet Findings Upend Ideas of Planetary Formation Few if any astronomers expected the sheer diversity of planets beyond our solar system. We thought other planetary systems would resemble our own, but after more than 1,000 exoplanets have been found, scientists realized that this assumption couldn't be less true. In this eBook, Exoplanets: Worlds Without End, we analyze the bizarre and wondrous worlds beyond our own. From gas giants that have journeyed far from their point of origin to so-called "diamond planets" with alien chemistries to a second generation of planets forming around white dwarfs to distant planets orbiting binary stars, we delve into the findings that have confounded expectations. >> Read More More from Scientific American: An eBook for Every Interest Creativity Creativity was long thought to be a gift from the muses, a special quality of a select minority of people. Fortunately, more recent studies have debunked this belief and have shown promise for techniques to help us all boost our creative potential. In this eBook, we look at this difficult-to-define quality from all angles: where creativity comes from, lessons we can learn from creative geniuses and how to cultivate creativity. >> Buy Now Dinosaurs! Dinosaurs are endlessly fascinating. In this eBook, we look at what the latest research tells us and what we still have to learn about these creatures. How did different species interact? What do things like bite marks say about their behavior? Paleontologists have overturned one misconception after another. Find out what they have to say about how dinosaurs lived, died and adapted to their world. >> Buy Now Ask the Experts The third eBook in our Ask the Experts series, The Human Body and Mind tackles questions about our own strange and mysterious biology. Our experts cover all manner of queries from genetics and evolution to bodily quirks to feats of the mind. Are you curious about what causes the sound when we crack our knuckles? Or what causes insomnia? Or if we really only use 10% of our brains? Our experts can help! >> Buy Now Tomorrow's Medicine Here we explore some intriguing areas where technology is transforming health, including cybernetics, regenerative medicine, nanotechnology and genetically tailored treatments. Although many of these advances may not be ready to treat humans for many years, some of them may profoundly change—and even extend—our lives. >> Buy Now Fact or Fiction? Did NASA really spend millions creating a pen that would write in space? Is chocolate poisonous to dogs? Does urine really relieve the pain of a jelly fish sting? Over the years, our writers have confronted many of these popular myths. In this eBook, we've selected 58 of the most surprising, fascinating, bizarre and wacky topics debunked by our writers. >> Buy Now Smart Cities Our phones are smart. Our TVs are smart. Are smart cities the next logical step in trying to create a brighter, more sustainable future? Smart cities encourage sustainable economic development and promote a high quality of life. In this eBook, we elaborate on the trend toward urbanization and the qualities needed for a city and its citizens to survive and thrive. >> Buy Now Also from Scientific American: Online Courses! The Neuropsychology of Brain Injury Brain injury is a major public health issue, affecting people of all ages. Dr. Lynn Schaefer, a board-certified clinical neuropsychologist and brain injury specialist, will explain the different types of brain injury and the difficulties with thinking, memory, and behavior that may result from damage to the brain. Dr. Schaefer will discuss the different types of brain injuries, including risk factors, causes and the potential cognitive and psychiatric symptoms from intellectual deficits to common mood disorders. Students will also learn the effects of injury on families and caregivers, some common legal issues that arise, as well as the roles of the many rehabilitation specialists that care for people with brain injury. >> Read More Applied Cryptography The last 30+ years have witnessed a revolution in the area of cryptography, bringing real-life security problems to the attention of a vast research community. This revolution created modern cryptography, where researchers started rigorously treating and solving several problems that only a few years before were unknown or seemed impossible to solve. Today modern cryptography is a well-established mathematical discipline, generating a significant amount of interest among theoreticians and practitioners alike. This class offers a summary introduction to modern cryptography, and specifically its main problems, solutions and open questions with a heavy focus on application aspects, including real-life uses of modern cryptography solutions. >> Read More