Weaving together the cosmos' history and our own in an expanding intellectual adventure story, Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs takes us from the mysteries of dark matter and our cosmic environment to the conditions for life on Earth.Sixty-six million years ago, an object the size of a city descended from space to crash into Earth, creating a cataclysm that killed off the dinosaurs, along with three-quarters of the other species on the planet. What was its origin? Randall proposes it was a comet that was dislodged from its orbit as the Solar System passed through a disk of dark matter that is embedded in the plane of the Milky Way. Her research challenges the usual assumptions about the simple nature of dark matter and demonstrates how scientists formulate and establish new ideas. In a sense, it might have been dark matter that killed the dinosaurs.With her unique and wide-ranging perspective, Randall connects dark matter to the history of the world in the broadest terms. Bringing in pop culture and social and political viewpoints, she shares with us the latest findings—established and speculative—regarding dark matter, the cosmos, the galaxy, asteroids, comets, and impacts, as well as life's development and extinctions. Randall makes clear how connected the planet is to the makeup of the Universe, but also how fragile our place in the Universe, which evolved over billions of years, might be.In this brilliant and fresh exploration of our cosmic environment, Professor Randall explains the underlying science of our world in the breathtaking tale of a Universe in which the small and the large, the visible and the hidden are intimately related. Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs illuminates the deep relationships that are critical to our world as well as the astonishing beauty of the structures and connections that surround us. It's impossible to read this book and look at either Earth or sky again in the same way.

    But where should you start? Americans are slowly becoming ill from impaired glucose metabolism that manifests itself as a debilitating illness or chronic condition. You may try to manage one problem after another– diuretics to treat blood pressure, statins to lower cholesterol, metformin and insulin to treat diabetes--without fully realizing that the root of these issues is insulin resistance which revs up inflammation, damages the immune system, and disrupts the whole hormonal/chemical system in the body.It's time to feel better and get healthy by following a simple step-by-step plan to a healthy lifestyle. Rob Thompson, MD and Dana Carpender create the ultimate dream team in your journey to wellness.The Insulin Resistance Solution offers a step-by-step plan and 75 recipes for reversing even the most stubborn insulin resistance.The Program:- Reduce Your Body's Demand for Insulin: This is the stumbling block of many other plans/doctor recommendations. Even "healthy" and "moderate" carb intake can continue to fuel insulin resistance.- Fat is Not the Enemy: Stop Worrying about Fat, Cholesterol, and Salt- Exercise--the RIGHT way:- Use Carb Blockers: Eat and Supplement to Slow Glucose Digestion and Lower Insulin Levels- Safe, Effective Medication

    The Science of Evolution. From both, Richard Dawkins weaves a fascinating and beautifully illustrated account of how nature and humans have learned to overcome the pull of gravity and take to the skies.Do you sometimes dream you can fly like a bird? Gliding effortlessly above the treetops, soaring and swooping, playing and dodging through the third dimension. Computer games, virtual reality headsets, and some drugs can lift our imagination and fly us through fabled, magical spaces. But it's not the real thing. No wonder some of the past's greatest minds, including Leonardo da Vinci's, have yearned for flying machines and struggled to design them.Flights of Fancy is a book about flying – all the different ways of defying gravity that have been discovered by humans over the centuries and by other animals over the millions of years, from the mythical Icarus, to the sadly extinct but magnificent bird Argentavis magnificens, to the Wright Flyer and the 747. But it also means flights of digression into more general ideas and principles that take off from a discussion about actual flight.Fascinating and elegantly written, this is a unique collaboration between one of the world's leading zoologists and a talented artist, and perfect for enquiring teenage minds.

    In Dark Winter, author John L. Casey, a former White House national space policy advisor, NASA headquarters consultant, and space shuttle engineer tells the truth about ominous changes taking place in the climate and the Sun.Casey’s research into the Sun’s activity, which began almost a decade ago, resulted in discovery of a solar cycle that is now reversing from its global warming phase to that of dangerous global cooling for the next thirty years or more. This new cold climate will dramatically impact the world’s citizens. In Dark Winter, he provides evidence of the following:• The end of global warming• The beginning of a “solar hibernation,” a historic reduction in the energy output of the Sun• A long-term drop in Earth’s temperatures• The start of the next climate change to decades of dangerously cold weather• The high probability of record earthquakes and volcanic eruptionsA sobering look at Earth’s future, Dark Winter predicts worldwide, crop- destroying cold; food shortages and riots in the United States and abroad; significant global loss of life; and social, political, and economic upheaval.

    Whether you're looking for the best live music spots and lively clubs, most interesting architecture, or want to find the best places in New Orleans to shop for Mardi Gras souvenirs; this guide is the perfect pocket-sized companion. Rely on dozens of Top 10 lists for all budgets — from the Top 10 jazz clubs and the Top 10 gay and lesbian venues to the Top 10 restaurants, children's activities, performing arts venues, shops and hotels and, to save you time and money, there's even a list of the Top 10 things to avoid. Eyewitness Top 10 New Orleans is packed with beautiful illustrations of the city's attractions with sections on the Garden District and Uptown, the Warehouse, Arts and Central Business District, the Lower French Quarter and the Upper French Quarter, providing the insider knowledge every visitor needs. Explore every corner effortlessly using the FREE pull-out map, plus many smaller maps included within the guide.

    For five years in his mid-twenties, he sailed on the BEAGLE around the world, exploring jungles, climbing mountains, trekking across deserts. With every new landfall, he had new adventures: he rode through bandit country, was thrown into jail by revolutionaries, took part in an armed raid with marines, survived two earthquakes, hunted and fished. He suffered the terrible cold and rain of Tierra del Fuego, the merciless heat of the Australian outback and the inner pangs of heartbreak. He also made the discoveries that finally led him to formulate his theory of Natural Selection as the driving force of evolution. The five-year voyage of the BEAGLE was the basis for all Darwin's later work; but it also turned him from a friendly idler into the greatest scientist of his century. Kevin Jackson is a writer, broadcaster and film-maker. His most recent book is Constellation of Genius: 1922 and All That Jazz (Farrar Strauss Giroux, 2013). He lives in Cambridge, England.

    So how could two-thirds of us fail to measure up when it comes to eating right and exercising? HBO and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences have joined together to bring you the nation’s foremost experts and definitive research on weight and weight loss. The Weight of the Nation explains how we got to this unhealthy place and how we can get to a healthy weight by overcoming the forces that drive us to eat too much and move too little.Three years in the making, The Weight of the Nation answers crucial questions like:--Is there such a thing as the right diet?--Am I doomed to yo-yo for the rest of my life?--How does stress affect my weight?--Is my slow metabolism making me fat?--How does carrying too much weight affect my health?--Why do I eat junk food even though I know it’s unhealthy?--Is exercise enough to help most people maintain an ideal weight?--How can I keep weight off forever?Based on the rich research behind HBO’s documentary series, The Weight of the Nation is the only book that tells it like it is: losing weight is hard, keeping it off is even harder, and there’s no quick fix. Weight loss takes a lot of work and a lifetime commitment, but thousands have done it and this book will show you how.

    

    The tree is decorated, the mistletoe is in place, and the crab puffs are to die for. Nothing can spoil this celebration…except for some wayward magic and a pesky ghost who crashes the party.SPIRITS OF BOURBON STREETIt’s Halloween on Bourbon Street, and white witch Jade Calhoun is ready to party. But when a sexy spirit traps everyone in the past, she’s forced to forgo the cocktails in order to save those she loves...again.A MIRACLE ON BOURBON STREETIt’s Christmas Eve and Jade Calhoun’s ready for a quiet, magical night with her husband Kane. But when Santa demons and energy-stealing elves start wreaking havoc, it’s going to take a miracle on Bourbon Street to save Christmas.A BOURBON STREET VALENTINEIt’s Valentine’s Day and magic’s in the air. Only Kat Hart never expected her handmade jewelry to be at the center of everything. So when her night out at Cupid’s Ball turns into a competition to be a handsome stranger’s wife, it’s up to her to break the spell…or she might get more than she bargained for.SPIRITS, HURRICANES, AND THE KREWE OF GHOULIt’s Halloween and Pyper Rayne’s all vamped up, ready to play the vampire bride. And so is Ida May, her resident ghost. But when the “vampires” they're partying with start to appear to be real, there’s more at stake than just a little bite.KISSED BY TEMPTATIONThe last place sex-witch Mati Ballintine wants to be is at a holiday sorority party. But when the high angel from the council orders her to protect a new angel recruit, she has no choice but to go and grit her teeth through the frat boys’ advances.
The night turns from bad to worse when a demon appears and is hell-bent on taking the angel to Hell. Mati and her incubus boyfriend Vaughn will need to combine forces to not only save the angel, but everyone else the demon leaves in his wake.

    . . and why? The answers may surprise you.Through touching true stories and inspiring insight Debbie Macomber takes readers on a journey to discover the shaping influence others have on us and the power we have to shape and influence those whose paths cross ours.Each of us have “influencers” that have affected our lives—some from a distance, some through word or deed, some through example, be it good or bad. Often we don’t even recognize the deep impact others have had and how God has used them to shape us into who we are. By pausing to recognize these influences we begin to grasp how God’s guest list had a purpose far beyond what we imagined. We begin to see the seeds of influence that grew into our personal values and character.In some people God invites into our lives, we see only what appears to be painful or negative influence. We bear the scars of disappointment, hurt, betrayal, and pain. Here Macomber redirects our attention, opening our eyes to how those experiences prompted strength, resilience, resolve, decisions, and choices about how we would change and who we would become. In other instances, God has surprised us with just the people at just the right time to support, teach, lead, or love us, but perhaps we haven't quite recognized God's timing and work through these "guests."But perhaps the greatest treasure this book holds is the power to grasp our own power to influence others, and even to anticipate what lives we have yet to touch. In the tradition of How to Win Friends and Influence People, Macomber casts a vision to seize every opportunity to be a positive and faithful influence on others. With this realization comes the willingness and anticipation to live with the door of our lives wide open to greet each new life God brings across the threshold.God's Guest List is filled with true stories and rich insight that will forever change how you see the people in your life.

    In Wicked Plants, Stewart takes on over two hundred of Mother Nature’s most appalling creations. It’s an A to Z of plants that kill, maim, intoxicate, and otherwise offend. You’ll learn which plants to avoid (like exploding shrubs), which plants make themselves exceedingly unwelcome (like the vine that ate the South), and which ones have been killing for centuries (like the weed that killed Abraham Lincoln's mother). Menacing botanical illustrations and splendidly ghastly drawings create a fascinating portrait of the evildoers that may be lurking in your own backyard. Drawing on history, medicine, science, and legend, this compendium of bloodcurdling botany will entertain, alarm, and enlighten even the most intrepid gardeners and nature lovers.

    The most fatal virus known to science, rabies — a disease that spreads avidly from animals to humans — kills nearly one hundred percent of its victims once the infection takes root in the brain. In this critically acclaimed exploration, journalist Bill Wasik and veterinarian Monica Murphy chart four thousand years of the history, science, and cultural mythology of rabies. From Greek myths to zombie flicks, from the laboratory heroics of Louis Pasteur to the contemporary search for a lifesaving treatment, Rabid is a fresh and often wildly entertaining look at one of humankind’s oldest and most fearsome foes.

    The book also includes a special sneak peek at season five of the TV show. It's everything kids need to master the world of Spinjitzu.

    Her mother Nora, long divorced from Ruby's father, is a woman whose past is just about to catch up with her - in the form of blackmail by a former lover. After an accident (an attempted suicide?) Ruby returns to care for her stricken mother - bitterly resenting the fact that once again her mother's life has colonized hers. When she is approached by a publisher to write a biography of her mother, Ruby is desperate for the princely sum offered. Yet her research into her mother's past reveals a woman very different from the one Ruby expected. And what began as "mommy dearest" ends as a love story - not only between mother and daughter, but involving two very different men who play a key role in linking the past to the present. True Colors: The Grey sisters had only each other when their mother died years ago. Their father provided for them physically on Water's Edge, the ranch that had been in their family for three generations, each of them however, longed for their father's love. Winona, the oldest, knew early on that she could never get it. An overweight dreamer and reader, she didn't exhibit the kinds of talents and strengths her father valued. Vivi Anne, the youngest, had those things. And it was Vivi Anne who only ever saw a glimmer of their father's approval. When Vivi Anne makes a fateful decision to follow her heart, rather than take the route of a dutiful daughter, events are set in motion that will test the love and loyalties of the Grey sisters.

    She’s finishing a design for a new type of battery. And she’s also doing some traveling to explore the Rocky Mountains. It’s going to be an enjoyable three months. A relatively new Christian, she wants to know God better than she does now and that, too, is part of her summer plans. What she hadn’t considered was a summer romance, but walks into one compliments of God who has been richly blessing her. This is the story of Emily Worth and Noah Shepherd. It’s also a story of God’s romance with us through Jesus for God has purposed in His heart to love us forever. Dee Henderson is the author of numerous novels, including An Unfinished Death, Taken, Unspoken and the acclaimed O’MALLEY series. Several titles have appeared on the USA Today Bestseller list; Full Disclosure has also appeared on the New York Times Bestseller list. Her books have won or been nominated for several industry awards, such as the RITA Award, the Christy Award and the ECPA Gold Medallion.