Water is the most every day of substances. It pours from our taps and falls from the sky. We drink it, wash with it, and couldn't live without it. Yet, on closer examination it is also a very strange substance (it is one of only a very small number of molecules which expand when cooled). Look closer again and water reveals itself as a key to a scientific story on the biggest of canvases. Water is crucial to our survival - life depends on it - but it was also fundamental in the origins of life on Earth. The millions of gallons of water which make up our rivers, lakes and oceans, originated in outer space. How it arrived here and how those molecules of water were formed, is a story which takes us back to the beginning of the universe. Indeed, we know more about the depths of space than we do about the furthest reaches of the oceans. Water has also shaped the world we live in. Whether it is by gently carving the Grand Canyon over millennia, or in shaping how civilisations were built; we have settled our cities along rivers and coasts. Scientific studies show how we feel calmer and more relaxed when next to water. We holiday by the seas and lakes. Yet one day soon wars may be fought over access to water. The Water Book will change the way you look at water. After reading it you will be able to hold a glass of water up to the light and see within it a strange molecule that connects you to the origins of life, the birth (and death) of the universe, and to everyone who ever lived.

This book integrates a science and business approach to provide an introduction and an insider view of intellectual property issues within the biotech industry, with case studies and examples from developing economy markets. Broad in scope, this book covers key principles in pharmaceutical, industrial, and agricultural biotechnology within four parts. Part 1 details the principles of intellectual property and biotechnology. Part 2 covers plant biotechnology, including biotic and abiotic stress tolerance, GM foods in sustainable agriculture, microbial biodiversity and bioprospecting for improving crop health and productivity, and production and regulatory requirements of biopesticides and biofertilizers. The third part describes recent advances in industrial biotechnology, such as DNA patenting, and commercial viability of the CRISPR/Cas9 system in genome editing. The final part describes intellectual property issues in drug discovery and development of personalized medicine, and vaccines in biodefence. This book is an ideal resource for all postgraduates and researchers working in any branch of biotechnology that requires an overview of the recent developments of intellectual property frameworks in the biotech sector.

Death by Euphoria. Dysgenics. Population Death Spiral. Genetic Superhumans. Geomagnetic Reversal. Galactic Collision. Strangelets. Whether we like it or not, everything's going to come to a pretty unpleasant halt on our planet at some point in the future. What we don't know is what form our extinction is likely to take. In this accessible and entertaining book, acclaimed writer Alok Jha explains the head-spinning apocalyptic science behind 50 horrifying doomsday scenarios.

How to clone a sheep. How to build a brain. How to boil a planet. How to save the world. From the microscopic to the cosmic, this book takes you on a glorious tour of the known universe and beyond, encompassing alien worlds, bizarre life forms, quantum weirdness, parallel dimensions and dissected brains along the way.