Search results for ""Author New Scientist""

Congratulations! You're the proud owner of the most complex information processing device in the known universe. The human brain comes equipped with all sorts of useful design features, but also many bugs and weaknesses. Problem is you don't get an owner's manual. You have to just plug and play. As a result, most of us never properly understand how our brains work and what they're truly capable of. We fail get the best out of them, ignore some of their most useful features and struggle to overcome their design faults. Featuring witty essays, enlightening infographics and fascinating 'try this at home' experiments, New Scientist take you on a journey through intelligence, memory, creativity, the unconscious and beyond. From the strange ways to distort what we think of as 'reality' to the brain hacks that can improve memory, The Brain: A User's Guide will help you understand your brain and show you how to use it to its full potential.

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Where did we come from? Where are we going?Homo sapiens is the most successful, the most widespread and the most influential species ever to walk the Earth. In the blink of an evolutionary eye we have spread around the globe, taken control of Earth's biological and mineral resources, transformed the environment, discovered the secrets of the universe and travelled into space.Yet just 7 million years ago, we were just another species of great ape making a quiet living in the forests of East Africa. We do not know exactly what this ancestor was like, but it was no more likely than a chimpanzee or gorilla to sail across the ocean, write a symphony, invent a steam engine or ponder the meaning of existence. How did we get from there to here?Human Origins recounts the most astonishing evolutionary tale ever told. Discover how our ancestors made the first tentative steps towards becoming human, how we lost our fur but gained language, fire and tools, how we strode out of Africa, invented farming and cities and ultimately created modern civilisation - perhaps the only one of its kind in the universe. Meet your long-lost ancestors, the other humans who once shared the planet with us, and learn where the story might end.ABOUT THE SERIESNew Scientist Instant Expert books are definitive and accessible entry points to the most important subjects in science; subjects that challenge, attract debate, invite controversy and engage the most enquiring minds. Designed for curious readers who want to know how things work and why, the Instant Expert series explores the topics that really matter and their impact on individuals, society, and the planet, translating the scientific complexities around us into language that's open to everyone, and putting new ideas and discoveries into perspective and context.

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Why aren't there any green mammals?Is eating bogeys bad for you?Do dolphins and whales get thirsty?Why can't you tickle yourself?Where do astronauts put their dirty underwear?Children make excellent scientists - they're inquisitive, keen to learn and have open minds. And they especially love to learn about all the gross stuff and all the weird facts - this book is packed full of them. In Why Do Boys Have Nipples?, kids will discover how to extract iron from breakfast cereal; that fish communicate by farting; how to turn fried eggs green; why tigers have stripes, not spots; and much, much more.Behind each surprising question and answer or wacky experiment is a scientific explanation that will teach kids more about biology, chemistry and physics, and the world around them.

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From the phenomenal New Scientist series, with over 2,500,000 copies soldDo Polar Bears Get Lonely? is the third compilation of readers' answers to the questions in the 'Last Word' column of New Scientist, the world's best-selling science weekly. Following the phenomenal success of Does Anything Eat Wasps? (2005) and the even more spectacularly successful Why Don't Penguins' Feet Freeze? (2006), Do Polar Bears Get Lonely? includes a bumper crop of wise and wonderful answers never-before-seen in book form.Why does garlic make your breath smell? How toothpaste makers get the stripes in toothpaste? Why do we get 'pins and needles'? Why are some people left-handed and other people right-handed? Can insects get fat? Do elephants sneeze? And do fish get thirsty? What causes cells to stick together in the human body rather than simply fall apart? And why are pears pear-shaped (and not apple-shaped)?This all-new and eagerly awaited selection of the best once again presents popular science at its most entertaining and enlightening.

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There's a whole universe out there...Imagine you had a spacecraft capable of travelling through interstellar space. You climb in, blast into orbit, fly out of the solar system and keep going. Where do you end up, and what do you see along the way?The answer is: mostly nothing. Space is astonishingly, mind-blowingly empty. As you travel through the void between galaxies your spaceship encounters nothing more exciting than the odd hydrogen molecule. But when it does come across something more exotic: wow!First and most obviously, stars and planets. Some are familiar from our own backyard: yellow suns, rocky planets like Mars, gas and ice giants like Jupiter and Neptune. But there are many more: giant stars, red and white dwarfs, super-earths and hot Jupiters. Elsewhere are swirling clouds of dust giving birth to stars, and infinitely dense regions of space-time called black holes. These clump together in the star clusters we call galaxies, and the clusters of galaxies we call... galaxy clusters.And that is just the start. As we travel further we encounter ever more weird, wonderful and dangerous entities: supernovas, supermassive black holes, quasars, pulsars, neutron stars, black dwarfs, quark stars, gamma ray bursts and cosmic strings.A Journey Through The Universe is a grand tour of the most amazing celestial objects and how they fit together to build the cosmos. As for the end of the journey - nobody knows. But getting there will be fun.ABOUT THE SERIESNew Scientist Instant Expert books are definitive and accessible entry points to the most important subjects in science; subjects that challenge, attract debate, invite controversy and engage the most enquiring minds. Designed for curious readers who want to know how things work and why, the Instant Expert series explores the topics that really matter and their impact on individuals, society, and the planet, translating the scientific complexities around us into language that's open to everyone, and putting new ideas and discoveries into perspective and context.

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Murder for hire. Drug trafficking. Embezzlement. Money laundering... These might sound like plot lines of a thriller, but they are true stories from the short history of cryptocurrencies - digital currencies conceived by computer hackers and cryptographers that represent a completely new sort of financial transaction that could soon become mainstream. The most famous - or infamous - cryptocurrency is bitcoin. But look beyond its tarnished reputation and something much shinier emerges. The technology that underlies bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies - the blockchain - is hailed as the greatest advancement since the invention of the internet. It is now moving away from being the backbone for a digital currency and making inroads into other core concepts of society: identity, ownership and even the rule of law.The End of Money is your essential introduction to this transformative new technology that has governments, entrepreneurs and forward-thinking people from all walks of life sitting up and taking notice.ABOUT THE SERIESNew Scientist Instant Expert books are definitive and accessible entry points to the most important subjects in science; subjects that challenge, attract debate, invite controversy and engage the most enquiring minds. Designed for curious readers who want to know how things work and why, the Instant Expert series explores the topics that really matter and their impact on individuals, society, and the planet, translating the scientific complexities around us into language that's open to everyone, and putting new ideas and discoveries into perspective and context.

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From the phenomenal New Scientist series, with over 2,500,000 copies soldThe second compilation of readers' answers to the questions in the 'Last Word' column of New Scientist, the world's best-selling science weekly. Following the phenomenal success of Does Anything Eat Wasps? - the Christmas 2005 surprise bestseller - Why Don't Penguins' Feet Freeze? includes answers to the most fascinating, trivial, idiosyncratic, baffling and strange questions in popular science. Ever wondered why we have fingerprints? Or whether bumblebees really defy the laws of physics when they fly? And why are eggs egg-shaped? And dogs' noses black? Why do our eyes water when we cut onions? Why doesn't superglue stick to the inside of its tube?Why Don't Penguins' Feet Freeze? is popular science at its most entertaining and enlightening.

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Ever wondered . . . - what is earwax for?- when is the moon blue?- why are there only two sexes?- do doctors live longer?Informative, hilarious, sometimes unsettling and always unexpected, the questions and answers from New Scientist readers in the magazine's popular 'Last Word' column are endlessly fascinating. Will We Ever Speak Dolphin? brings the best of the bunch together in another witty, weird and wise compendium that's irresistible for 'Last Word' fans and new readers alike.If you've ever wanted to know why you can't hear shouting underwater, whether ants get scared of humans towering over them, how butterflies know where they're heading, or whether there really is a difference between martinis shaken or stirred, New Scientist has all the weird and witty answers.

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A journey through 55 alternative realities, parallel worlds and possible futures.It's lucky you're here. But for a series of incredible coincidences and roads not taken, your life could be very different. The same goes for reality. We live in just one of many possible worlds. In others, dinosaurs still rule the Earth, the Russians got to the Moon first, time flows backwards and everyone is vegetarian.And that's just for starters. What if the laws of physics were different? If we really did live in a multiverse? If robots became smarter than us? If humans were wiped off the face of the planet?Join New Scientist on a thrilling journey through these and dozens of other incredible but perfectly possible alternative realities, thought experiments and counterfactual histories - each shining a surprising and unexpected spotlight on life as we know it.

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Forget everything you thought you knew about reality.The world is a seriously bizarre place. Things can exist in two places at once and travel backwards and forwards in time. Waves and particles are one and the same, and objects change their behaviour according to whether they are being watched. This is not some alternative universe but the realm of the very small, where quantum mechanics rules. In this weird world of atoms and their constituents, our common sense understanding of reality breaks down - yet quantum mechanics has never failed an experimental test. What does it all mean? For all its weirdness, quantum mechanics has given us many practical technologies including lasers and the transistors that underlie computers and all digital technology. In the future, it promises computers more powerful than any built before, the ability to communicate with absolute privacy, and even quantum teleportation. The Quantum World explores the past, present and future of quantum science, its applications and mind-bending implications. Discover how ideas from quantum mechanics are percolating out into the vast scale of the cosmos - perhaps, in the future, to reveal a new understanding of the big bang and the nature of space and time.ABOUT THE SERIESNew Scientist Instant Expert books are definitive and accessible entry points to the most important subjects in science; subjects that challenge, attract debate, invite controversy and engage the most enquiring minds. Designed for curious readers who want to know how things work and why, the Instant Expert series explores the topics that really matter and their impact on individuals, society, and the planet, translating the scientific complexities around us into language that's open to everyone, and putting new ideas and discoveries into perspective and context.

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Part of the "New Scientist" series, this book investigates everything from what it's like to die, to exploding trousers and recycled urine.

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As you read this, billions of neutrinos from the sun are passing through your body, antimatter is sprouting from your dinner and the core of your being is a chaotic mess of particles known only as quarks and gluons.If the recent discovery of the Higgs boson piqued your interest, then Why The Universe Exists will take you deeper into the world of particle physics, with leading physicists and New Scientist exploring how the universe functions at the smallest scales. Find out about hunt for dark matter and why there is something rather than nothing. Discover how accelerators such as the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland are rewinding time to the first moments after the big bang, and how ghostly neutrino particles may hold the answers to the greatest mysteries of the universe. ABOUT THE SERIESNew Scientist Instant Expert books are definitive and accessible entry points to the most important subjects in science; subjects that challenge, attract debate, invite controversy and engage the most enquiring minds. Designed for curious readers who want to know how things work and why, the Instant Expert series explores the topics that really matter and their impact on individuals, society, and the planet, translating the scientific complexities around us into language that's open to everyone, and putting new ideas and discoveries into perspective and context.

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Ever wondered what's going on inside your head?You are your brain. Everything that makes you you, and all your experiences of the world, are somehow conjured up by 1.4 kilograms of grey matter inside your skull. That might seem impossible, but science has advanced so much that we now understand not just its structures and inner workings but also how it can give rise to perception, consciousness, emotions, memories, intelligence, sleep and more. HOW YOUR BRAIN WORKS explores the amazing world inside your head. Discover the evolution and anatomy of the brain. Learn how we can peer inside it and watch it at work, and how the latest technology can allow us to control our minds and those of others. ABOUT THE SERIESNew Scientist Instant Expert books are definitive and accessible entry points to the most important subjects in science; subjects that challenge, attract debate, invite controversy and engage the most enquiring minds. Designed for curious readers who want to know how things work and why, the Instant Expert series explores the topics that really matter and their impact on individuals, society, and the planet, translating the scientific complexities around us into language that's open to everyone, and putting new ideas and discoveries into perspective and context.

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For you to be here today reading this requires a mind-boggling series of lucky breaks, starting with the Big Bang and ending in your own conception. So it's not surprising that we persist in thinking that we're in with a chance, whether we're playing the lottery or working out the likelihood of extra-terrestrial life. In Chance, a (not entirely) random selection of the New Scientist's sharpest minds provide fascinating insights into luck, randomness, risk and probability. From the secrets of coincidence to placing the perfect bet, the science of random number generation to the surprisingly haphazard decisions of criminal juries, it explores these and many other tantalising questions.Following on from the bestselling Nothing and Question Everything, this book will open your eyes to the weird and wonderful world of chance - and help you see when some things, in fact, aren't random at all.

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Introduced by Jim Al-KhaliliCould you surf down an erupting volcano?Why do zebras have stripes?Are you breathing the same air as Leonardo da Vinci?Are there any green mammals?Why do pineapples have spikes?Why do songs get stuck in your head?What happens when black holes collide?Can you extract your DNA?New Scientist has been a treasure trove of fascinating and surprising questions and answers for over a decade. From how to measure the speed of light using chocolate, to why dogs howl at sirens, Eureka! brings together 365 mindblowing questions, fascinating facts and exciting experiments.If you've ever wondered how to escape quicksand, what would happen if the moon vanished, and why cats (nearly) always land on their feet, you've come to the right place.

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How did it all begin? Where is it all going?A little over a century ago, a young Albert Einstein presented his general theory of relativity to the world and utterly transformed our understanding of the universe. His theory changed the way we think about space and time, revealed how our universe has been expanding from a hot dense state called the big bang and predicted black holes. WHERE THE UNIVERSE CAME FROM is a 13.8-billiion-year journey through the cosmos. Discover how Einstein's work explains why the cosmos is the way it is, why 95% of the universe is missing, how physicists go to extraordinary lengths to unlock gravity's secrets and how black holes could hold the key to a theory of everything.ABOUT THE SERIESNew Scientist Instant Expert books are definitive and accessible entry points to the most important subjects in science; subjects that challenge, attract debate, invite controversy and engage the most enquiring minds. Designed for curious readers who want to know how things work and why, the Instant Expert series explores the topics that really matter and their impact on individuals, society, and the planet, translating the scientific complexities around us into language that's open to everyone, and putting new ideas and discoveries into perspective and context.

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Every year, readers send in thousands of questions to New Scientist, the world's best-selling science weekly, in the hope that the answers to them will be given in the 'Last Word' column - regularly voted the most popular section of the magazine.Does Anything Eat Wasps? is a collection of the best that have appeared, including: Why can't we eat green potatoes? Why do airliners suddenly plummet? Does a compass work in space? Why do all the local dogs howl at emergency sirens? How can a tree grow out of a chimney stack? Why do bruises go through a range of colours? Why is the sea blue inside caves? Many seemingly simple questions are actually very complex to answer. And some that seem difficult have a very simple explanation. New Scientist's 'Last Word' celebrates all questions - the trivial, the idiosyncratic, the baffling and the strange. This selection of the best is popular science at its most entertaining and enlightening.

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A Sunday Times bestsellerHow long is 'now'? The short answer is 'somewhere between 2 and 3 seconds'. The long answer involves an incredible journey through neuroscience, our subconscious and the time-bending power of meditation. Living in the present may never feel the same. Ready for some more? Okay. Why isn't Pluto a planet? Why are dogs' noses wet? Why do hens cluck more loudly after laying an egg? What happens when one black hole swallows another? Do our fingerprints change as we get older? How young can you die of old age? And what is at the very edge of the Universe?Life is full of mind-bending questions. And, as books like What If? and Why Don't Penguins' Feet Freeze? have shown, the route to find each answer can take us on the weirdest and most wonderful journeys. How Long is Now? is a fascinating new collection of questions you never thought to ask, along with answers that will change the way you see everything.

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The ancient Greeks called it Gaia; the Romans Terra. We know it simply as Earth, the planet we call home. And what a planet it is.Formed around 4.6 billion years ago from the debris of the big bang and long-dead stars, at first it was nothing special, but somehow it evolved to become the most amazing place in the known Universe. The only living planet we know of, it also has a very unusual moon, a remarkably dynamic surface, a complex atmosphere and a deeply mysterious interior.This is Planet Earth is dedicated to the wonders of Planet Earth. Its past is long and dramatic and its future shrouded in mystery. Yet despite centuries of research, only now are we starting to understand Earth's complexity.ABOUT THE SERIESNew Scientist Instant Expert books are definitive and accessible entry points to the most important subjects in science; subjects that challenge, attract debate, invite controversy and engage the most enquiring minds. Designed for curious readers who want to know how things work and why, the Instant Expert series explores the topics that really matter and their impact on individuals, society, and the planet, translating the scientific complexities around us into language that's open to everyone, and putting new ideas and discoveries into perspective and context.

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We all want to be happier, more successful and less stressed, but what really works? From building confidence and boosting creativity to forming better relationships and getting smarter (and healthier), This Book Could Fix Your Life explores the real science behind self-help. HOW TO BOOST YOUR IQ THE SCIENCE OF SUCCESSFUL DATING HOW TO BREAK BAD HABITS HOW TO ACE EXAMS WHAT TO EAT TO FEEL HAPPIER HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE HOW TO LIVE HEALTHIER LONGER Award-winning science writer Helen Thomson has zero desire to become a lifestyle guru, she just wants to help us understand the often surprising truths behind meditation, resilience, addiction, willpower, love, good sleep, CBT, success, dieting, antidepressants, intelligence and much, much more. Full of fascinating evidence-based advice pulled from the very latest research and packed with experiments you can try on yourself (including one guaranteed to lift your mood), this book really could help you fix your life.

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AN FT SUMMER BOOK OF 2020We all want to be healthier, stronger and live longer, but what really works? From stress to saturated fats, HIIT to HRT, veganism to vitamins, This Book Could Save Your Life debunks the fads and explores the real science of better health.What's the best way to lose weight (and keep it off)? How can you ensure a good night's sleep? What are the real superfoods? How can you minimise the risks of getting diabetes, cancer or Alzheimer's? And how can you slow the ageing process? Cutting through confusing statistics and terrifying headlines, here is the truth about dieting, drugs, 10,000 steps a day, bacon, calorie-counting, coffee, dairy, sleep, fibre, hangovers, salt, sugar, cardio, sunscreen, statins, vitamins, and much more. Full of the latest research and ground-breaking evidence, packed with useful advice, this book really could save your life.

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Where did we come from? Where are we going?Homo sapiens is the most successful, the most widespread and the most influential species ever to walk the Earth. In the blink of an evolutionary eye we have spread around the globe, taken control of Earth's biological and mineral resources, transformed the environment, discovered the secrets of the universe and travelled into space.Yet just 7 million years ago, we were just another species of great ape making a quiet living in the forests of East Africa. We do not know exactly what this ancestor was like, but it was no more likely than a chimpanzee or gorilla to sail across the ocean, write a symphony, invent a steam engine or ponder the meaning of existence. How did we get from there to here?Human Origins recounts the most astonishing evolutionary tale ever told. Discover how our ancestors made the first tentative steps towards becoming human, how we lost our fur but gained language, fire and tools, how we strode out of Africa, invented farming and cities and ultimately created modern civilisation - perhaps the only one of its kind in the universe. Meet your long-lost ancestors, the other humans who once shared the planet with us, and learn where the story might end. ABOUT THE SERIESNew Scientist Instant Expert books are definitive and accessible entry points to the most important subjects in science; subjects that challenge, attract debate, invite controversy and engage the most enquiring minds. Designed for curious readers who want to know how things work and why, the Instant Expert series explores the topics that really matter and their impact on individuals, society, and the planet, translating the scientific complexities around us into language that's open to everyone, and putting new ideas and discoveries into perspective and context.

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What's the nature of reality? Does the universe ever end? What is time and does it even exist? These are the biggest imagination-stretching, brain-staggering questions in the universe - and here are their fascinating answers.From quantum weirdness to freaky cosmology (like white holes - which spew out matter instead of sucking it in), This Book Will Blow Your Mind takes you on an epic journey to the furthest extremes of science, to the things you never thought possible. This book will explain: Why part of the universe missing (and how scientists finally found it)How time might also flow backwardsHow human head transplants might be possible (in the very near future)Whether the universe is a hologramAnd why we are all zombiesFilled with counterintuitive stories and factoids you can't wait to share, as well as lots of did-you-knows and plenty of how-did-we-ever-not-knows, this new book from the bestselling New Scientist series will blow your mind - and then put it back together again. You don't need a spaceship to travel to the extremes of science. You just need this book.

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Informative, surprising and hilarious, New Scientist tackles questions about the animal kingdom from readers in the magazine's popular 'Last Word' column. This book brings together the best of the bunch:Why do millipedes have so many legs? Will we ever speak dolphin?Do geese always fly in a V formation?And, at long last, a scientific verdict on the ultimate question: cats or dogs?

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If you thought you knew who you were, THINK AGAIN.Did you know that half your DNA isn't human? That somebody, somewhere has exactly the same face? Or that most of your memories are fiction?What about the fact that you are as hairy as a chimpanzee, various parts of your body don't belong to you, or that you can read other people's minds? Do you really know why you blush, yawn and cry? Why 90 per cent of laughter has nothing to do with humour? Or what will happen to your mind after you die?You belong to a unique, fascinating and often misunderstood species. How to be Human is your guide to making the most of it.

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We all want to be healthier, stronger and live longer, but what really works? From stress to saturated fats, HIIT to HRT, veganism to vitamins, This Book Could Save Your Life debunks the fads and explores the real science of better health.What's the best way to lose weight (and keep it off)? How can you ensure a good night's sleep? What are the real superfoods? How can you minimise the risks of getting diabetes, cancer or Alzheimer's? And how can you slow the ageing process? Cutting through confusing statistics and terrifying headlines, here is the truth about dieting, drugs, 10,000 steps a day, bacon, calorie-counting, coffee, dairy, sleep, fibre, hangovers, salt, sugar, cardio, sunscreen, statins, vitamins, and much more. Full of the latest research and ground-breaking evidence, packed with useful advice, this book really could save your life.

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We all want to be happier, more successful and less stressed, but what really works? From building confidence and boosting creativity to forming better relationships and getting smarter (and healthier), This Book Could Fix Your Life explores the real science behind self-help. HOW TO BOOST YOUR IQ THE SCIENCE OF SUCCESSFUL DATING HOW TO BREAK BAD HABITS HOW TO ACE EXAMS WHAT TO EAT TO FEEL HAPPIER HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE HOW TO LIVE HEALTHIER LONGER Award-winning science writer Helen Thomson has zero desire to become a lifestyle guru, she just wants to help us understand the often surprising truths behind meditation, resilience, addiction, willpower, love, good sleep, CBT, success, dieting, antidepressants, intelligence and much, much more. Full of fascinating evidence-based advice pulled from the very latest research and packed with experiments you can try on yourself (including one guaranteed to lift your mood), this book really could help you fix your life.

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Introduction by Professor Stephen Hawking.When Edwin Hubble looked into his telescope in the 1920s, he was shocked to find that nearly all of the galaxies he could see through it were flying away from one another. If these galaxies had always been travelling, he reasoned, then they must, at some point, have been on top of one another. This discovery transformed the debate about one of the most fundamental questions of human existence - how did the universe begin?Every society has stories about the origin of the cosmos and its inhabitants, but now, with the power to peer into the early universe and deploy the knowledge gleaned from archaeology, geology, evolutionary biology and cosmology, we are closer than ever to understanding where it all came from. In The Origin of (almost) Everything, New Scientist explores the modern origin stories of everything from the Big Bang, meteorites and dark energy, to dinosaurs, civilisation, timekeeping, belly-button fluff and beyond.From how complex life evolved on Earth, to the first written language, to how humans conquered space, The Origin of (almost) Everything offers a unique history of the past, present and future of our universe.

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