Desperate to find a cure for his depression, a young man forges an odd relationship with a disgraced scientist. The descendant of a refugee tells her family story using symbols instead of names. A lonely boy from a broken family finds solace in a television show hosted by a mysterious man. In these stories, equal parts sad and funny, Pablo Piñero Stillmann's characters lose themselves as they search for meaningful human connection. These are stories of chaos--internal and external--of chasing and escaping, of intense longing, but most of all, the nine stories in this book are portraits of people wrestling with their deepest flaws.

Do sharks lay eggs or give birth to live young? Do sharks sleep? How long do they live? How likely are shark attacks? This book answers your questions about some of nature’s most misunderstood animals. Answering every conceivable question about sharks, authors Gene Helfman and George H. Burgess describe the fascinating biology, behavior, diversity (there are more than 1,000 species worldwide), and cultural importance of sharks, their close relationship to skates and rays, and their critical role in healthy ecosystems. Helfman and Burgess take readers on a round-the-world tour of shark habitats, which include oceans as well as lakes and even rivers (as far up the Mississippi as St. Louis). They describe huge, ferocious predators like (Great) White and Tiger sharks and species such as Basking and Whale sharks that feed on microscopic prey yet can grow to lengths of more than 40 feet. The mysterious and powerful Greenland shark, the authors explain, reaches a weight of 2,200 pounds on a diet of seal flesh. Small (less than 2-foot long) Cookiecutter sharks attack other sharks and even take a chunk out of the occasional swimmer. Despite our natural fascination with sharks, we have become their worst enemy. Many shark species are in serious decline and a number are threatened with extinction as a result of overfishing and persecution. Sharks: The Animal Answer Guide presents a perfect mix of current science, history, anthropology, intriguing facts, and gripping photographs. Whether your fascination with sharks stems from fear or curiosity, your knowledge of these animals will improve immensely when you consult this book.

As Kurt Vonnegut, Indiana's most famous writer, once remarked, "Wherever you go, there is always a Hoosier doing something important there." A Flame Called Indiana features 65 writers of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry who have all had the pleasure of being Hoosiers at one time or another. Curated by the Indiana University Bloomington creative writing department, this diverse anthology features everything from the immigrant experience to the Indianapolis 500 to science fiction. Altogether, the work stands testament to the vibrancy and creativity of this Midwest state. An excellent gift for your favorite reader and an important resource for creative writers, A Flame Called Indiana serves as both a chronicle of where Indiana's writing is today and a beacon to those who'll take it where it's going next.

The brain is perhaps one of the most fundamental organs in all vertebrates. It determines not only an individual's ability to sense and process stimuli from the environment, but is also crucial in maintaining internal homeostatic processes as well as determining an individual's cognitive abilities. Brains come at a steep energetic cost however, with neural tissue requiring ~20 times the energy of muscle tissue. With such an important role to play, the 'expensive brain hypothesis' was been established to understand the evolutionary correlates of brain size. Maternal investment, defined as energetic investment during development, is a strong underlying factor in brain size evolution where higher energy investment from mothers is associated with increased brain size. However, much of what we know about brains comes from studying birds and mammals, while generally overlooking other vertebrate classes. Despite their diversity, all jawed vertebrate brains are comprised of similar components, a pattern that first appeared in sharks, rays, and chimaeras (Chondrichthyans). Chondrichthyans are often disregarded as unremarkable from a comparative perspective, which overlooks their true diversity of life histories and ecological niches. This thesis seeks to understand the evolution of brain size and organization in relation to life history and maternal investment using chondrichthyans as a model system. First, I reveal the sequence of reproductive evolution, finding that egg-laying is ancestral and that live-bearing and additional maternal investment (matrotrophy) have evolved independently several times, and are correlated with increasing body size. Second, I find that the evolution of reproductive mode and ecological lifestyle underlie the evolution of both brain size and brain organization, such that shallowwater matrotrophic species have large brains that are predominantly composed of regions related to enhanced cognitive abilities, the telencephalon and cerebellum. Conversely, deepwater lecithotrophic species have small brains composed predominantly of medulla oblongata. Lastly, I find that similar patterns of regional scaling in mammals, birds and chondrichthyans differ from those of teleosts, agnathans, and amphibians, and I propose that differing reproductive strategies may underlie this variation.

2022 KIDS' BOOK CHOICE AWARDS WINNER FOR BEST INFO MEETS GRAPHICS! Readers are welcomed to the Lobe Labs and Dr. Brain activities in this brightly illustrated, highly engaging book that uses science to answer interesting questions that kids have about the brain and human behavior. This is a fun primer on psychology and neuroscience that makes complex psychological phenomenon and neural mechanisms relatable to kids through illustrations, interesting factoids, and more. Chapters include: What is the brain made up of and how does it work? Why can’t I tickle myself? Why do they shine a light in my eyes when I hit my head in the game? Answers draw from both psychology and neuroscience, giving ample examples of how the science is relevant to the question and to the reader’s life experiences.

A richly illustrated reference. Sharks are awe-inspiring, beautiful, mysterious and frightening. However perceived, they never fail to excite and impress. They predate the dinosaurs and have ruled the seas for 400 million years. Shark presents the facts and explores the fallacies about these nearly perfectly adapted fish, from their prehistoric beginning to their struggle for survival today. The book covers: Their origins and ancestors Diversity of the species Shark behavior and physiology Research projects Face-to-face encounters Conservation efforts. A detailed chapter on shark attacks explains where, when and why attacks occur. The book also describes the different types of attacks -- hit-and-run, bump-and-bite and sneak attacks -- and provides useful tips for not becoming a statistic. Engagingly written and illustrated with stunning photographs, Shark combines the latest scientific findings and celebrates the mystery and diversity of a remarkable species.

First published in 1980. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.