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  COPOUT - How governments have...

  Nick Breeze

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  ‘Wry and passionate first-hand observations from the global climate negotiations – essential for capturing the spirit of this endlessly frustrating struggle’ – Bill McKibben 
  Most people tend to turn away, perhaps understandably, from the key existential issue of the day: climate change or, some would say more accurately, climate collapse. Nick Breeze tells the engaging, very human story of successive COP conferences over the past decade: it is a tale of imperfection, failure even, but not yet defeat. 
  So far, the UN process has achieved almost the exact opposite of what it first set out to achieve at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. Nick shows clearly that it is not Extinction Rebellion, Just Stop Oil nor any other climate protesters who are the extremists; the true extremists are the policymakers who consistently undermine faltering efforts to reduce emissions. Repeatedly claiming to be saving us whilst allowing carbon emissions to continue rising, governments have failed their people on climate. Nick shows us how, why and what we can do about it. 
  The public remains largely uninformed about climate change and, for the most part, those who seek to draw attention to the issue are seen as ‘crazy’. There remains a terrifying gap between scientific reality and political action. 
  Packed with his own experiences and insights from expert interviewees, Nick’s page-turning account is less about the intricacies of the science and more about the mainstream perception of how we are understanding and responding to the problem.

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  The Book of Frogs - A Life-Size...

  Tim Halliday

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  “A huge, beautiful compendium of 600 frogs from around the world, from the famed poison-arrow variety on up to the intriguingly named plaintive rain frog.” —Wired 
   
  With over 7,000 known species, frogs display a stunning array of forms and behaviors. A single gram of the toxin produced by the skin of the Golden Poison Frog can kill 100,000 people. Male Darwin’s Frogs carry their tadpoles in their vocal sacs for sixty days before coughing them out into the world. The Wood Frogs of North America freeze every winter, reanimating in the spring from the glucose and urea that prevent cell collapse. 
   
  The Book of Frogs commemorates the diversity and magnificence of all of these creatures, and many more. Six hundred of nature’s most fascinating frog species are displayed, with each entry including a distribution map, sketches of the frogs, species identification, natural history, and conservation status. Life-size color photos show the frogs at their actual size—including the colossal seven-pound Goliath Frog. Accessibly written by expert Tim Halliday and containing the most up-to-date information, The Book of Frogs will captivate both veteran researchers and amateur herpetologists. 
   
  As frogs increasingly make headlines for their troubling worldwide decline, the importance of these fascinating creatures to their ecosystems remains underappreciated. The Book of Frogs brings readers face to face with six hundred astonishingly unique and irreplaceable species that display a diverse array of adaptations to habitats that are under threat of destruction throughout the world. 
   
  “If you are a serious (and I mean serious) fan of the frog, you are in for a real treat.” —Boing Boing

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  Like a Thief in Broad Daylight -...

  Slavoj Žižek

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  In recent years, techno-scientific progress has started to utterly transform our world—changing it almost beyond recognition. In this extraordinary new book, renowned philosopher Slavoj Zizek turns to look at the brave new world of Big Tech, revealing how, with each new wave of innovation, we find ourselves moving closer and closer to a bizarrely literal realization of Marx's prediction that "all that is solid melts into air." With the automation of work, the virtualization of money, the dissipation of class communities, and the rise of immaterial, intellectual labor, the global capitalist edifice is beginning to crumble, more quickly than ever before—and it is now on the verge of vanishing entirely.But what will come next? Against a backdrop of constant socio-technological upheaval, how could any kind of authentic change take place? In such a context, Zizek argues, there can be no great social triumph—because lasting revolution has already come into the scene, like a thief in broad daylight, stealing into sight right before our very eyes. What we must do now is wake up and see it.Urgent as ever, Like a Thief in Broad Daylight illuminates the new dangers as well as the radical possibilities thrown up by today's technological and scientific advances, and their electrifying implications for us all.

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  Immortality Inc - Renegade...

  Chip Walter

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  This gripping narrative explores today's scientific pursuit of immortality, with exclusive visits inside Silicon Valley labs and interviews with the visionaries who believe we will soon crack into the aging process and cure death. We live in an age when billionaires are betting their fortunes on laboratory advances to prove aging unnecessary and death a disease that can be cured. Researchers are delving into the mysteries of stem cells and the human genome, discovering what it means to grow old and how to keep those processes from happening. This isn't science fiction; it's real, it's serious, and it's on track to revolutionize our definitions of life and mortality. In Immortality, Inc., veteran science journalist Chip Walter gains exclusive access to the champions of this radical cause, delivering a book that brings together for the first time the visions of molecular biologist and Apple chairman Arthur Levinson, genomics entrepreneur Craig Venter, futurist Ray Kurzweil, rejuvenation trailblazer Aubrey de Grey, and stem cell expert Robert Hariri. Along the way, Walter weaves in fascinating conversations about life, death, aging, and the future of the human race.

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  Letters to the Earth: Writing to...

  Emma Thompson, Others

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  A profound, powerful and moving collection of 100 letters from around the world responding to the climate crisis, introduced by Emma Thompson and lovingly illustrated by CILIP award winner Jackie Morris. 
  ‘All power to this amazing project.’ JOANNE HARRIS 
  ‘Makes sense of the climate crisis in a whole new way’ MAGID MAGID 
  How can we begin to talk about what is happening to the world? How can we explain to our children, and to ourselves, what the future of our planet might look and feel like? 
  Letters to the Earthis the beginning of a new conversation. One that attempts to answer some of these questions by listening to the voices of parents and children; politicians and poets; songwriters and scientists. Gathering together over 100 letters written in response to a callout from Culture Declares Emergency, each entry begins to give language to the unspeakable, and shows how our collective power is present when we are ready to slow down and listen to each other. 
  It’s natural to feel worried or concerned about what the future of the earth holds. These letters are an opportunity to reflect on our connection to the planet and the way it faithfully sustains us. But they are also an opportunity to act, to respond to this crisis. To put pen to paper and make your voice heard. 
  Includes contributions from activist Yoko Ono, actor Mark Rylance, poet Kate Tempest, actor Mark Rylance, author Laline Paull, illustrator of The Lost Words Jackie Morris, novelist Anna Hope, environmental writer Jay Griffiths and Green Party MP Caroline Lucas.  
  This audiobook includes performances from over 60 actors, authors, and activists, including: 
  – Emma Thompson 
  – Mark Rylance 
  – Andrew Scott 
  – Juliet Stevenson 
  – Caroline Lucas MP 
  – Alex Lawther 
  – Kate Tempest 
  – Matthew Todd 
  – Jumoke Fashola 
  – Dr Gail Bradbrook 
  – Jackie Morris 
  – Morfydd Clark 
  – Danny Sapani 
  – Hannah Scott 
  – Paapa Essiedu 
  – Anna Hope 
  – Greg Hicks 
  – Sudha Bhuchar 
  – Tyrone Huggins 
  – and the Youth Strikers 
  The full cast also includes: Jo McInness, Jay Griffiths, Kay Michael, Jennifer Lim, Greg Hicks, Freya Manor, Leah Brotherhead, Isla Lee, Dolly Webb, Nia Towle, Chirag Lobo, Sudha Bhuchar, Charlie Beck, Kiki May, Daniela Torres Perez, Justice Savage, Simreth Child, Olivia Dowd, Jessica Hayles, Jem Bendell, Hairkiran Dhingra, Simon McBurney, Sylvian, Stephen Dillane, Nimmi, Mickey Lyndon, Nicola Espitalier Noel, Joy Elias-Rilwan, Colin Brown, Jumoke Fashola, Jessica Siân, Matthew Todd, Blythe Pepino, Dr Martin Shaw, Azul-Valerie Thomé, Naomi Wirthner, Ashby Martin, Tia Khodabocus, Dr Rupert Read, Mairéad Godber, Toni Spencer, Mina Andala, Paul-Ryan Carberry, Saba da Silva, Luzmira Zerpa, Farhana Yamin, and Lee Ross. 
  Music © ‘I’m Going to Lift My People Up’ 2019 The Fire Choir, led by Blythe Pepino; ‘Turtle Dove’ 2019 Lee Ross; ‘One Love’ 2019 Jarvis Smith at the Rally for the Imagination, Youth Strike 4 Climate, 20th September, organised by Culture Declares, Music Declares, and Architects Declare; ‘Power’ 2019 The Fire Choir, led by Blythe Pepino. 
  This collection, a literary masterpiece, is a testament to the power of the written word in raising awareness about nature conservation and ecology. It is a social commentary that ranks among the best, offering a unique perspective on the urgent need for environmental protection. 
  For fans of Robert Macfarlane (Underland), Melissa Harrison (The Stubborn Light of Things), Katherine May (The Electricity of Every Living Thing), Caroline Roberts (Graphic Design Visionaries), and Fred Pearce (When the Rivers Run Dry).

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  Cosmic Impact - Understanding...

  Andrew May

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  As end-of-the-world scenarios go, an apocalyptic collision with an asteroid or comet is the new kid on the block, gaining respectability only in the last decade of the 20th century with the realization that the dinosaurs were wiped out by just such an impact. Now the science community is making up for lost time, with worldwide efforts to track the thousands of potentially hazardous near-Earth objects and plans for high-tech hardware that could deflect an incoming object from a collision course—a procedure depicted, with little regard for scientific accuracy, in several Hollywood movies. Astrophysicist and science writer Andrew May disentangles fact from fiction in this fast-moving and entertaining account, covering the nature and history of comets and asteroids, the reason why some orbits are more hazardous than others, the devastating local and global effects that an impact event would produce, and—more optimistically—the way future space missions could avert a catastrophe.

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