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Our tribal future : how to channel our foundational human instincts into a force for good / by Samson, David Ryan,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."An astounding and inspiring look at the science behind tribalism, and how we can learn to harness it to improve the world around us. What do you think of when you hear the word "tribalism?" For many, it conjures images of bigotry, xenophobia, and sectarian violence. Others may envision their own tribe: family, friends, and the bonds of loyalty that keep them together. Tribalism is one of the most complex and ancient evolutionary forces; it gave us the capacity for cooperation and competition, and allowed us to navigate increasingly complex social landscapes. It is so powerful that it can predict our behavior even better than race, class, gender, or religion. But in our vast modern world, has this blessing become a curse? Our Tribal Future explores a central paradox of our species: how altruism, community, kindness, and genocide are all driven by the same core adaptation. Evolutionary anthropologist David R. Samson engages with cutting-edge science and philosophy, as well as his own field research with small-scale societies and wild chimpanzees, to explain the science, ethics, and history of tribalism in compelling and accessible terms. This bold and brilliant book reveals provocative truths about our nature. Readers will discover that tribalism cannot, and should not, be eliminated entirely--to do so would be to destroy what makes us human. But is it possible to channel the best of this instinct to enrich our lives while containing the worst of its dangers?"--
Subjects: Collective behavior.; Human evolution.; Social evolution.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The invisible siege : the rise of coronaviruses and the search for a cure / by Werb, Dan,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."An engrossing family history of coronaviruses and the modern-day scientific quest to conquer viral epidemics forever. The urgency of the devastating COVID-19 pandemic has fixed humanity's gaze on the present crisis. But the story of this pandemic extends far further back than many realize. In this engrossing narrative, epidemiologist Dan Werb traces the rising threat of the coronavirus family and the attempts by a small group of scientists who worked for decades to stop a looming viral pandemic. When virologist Ralph Baric began researching coronaviruses in the 1980s, the field was a scientific backwater-the few variants that infected humans caused little more than the common cold. But when a novel coronavirus sparked the 2003 SARS epidemic, and then the MERS epidemic a decade later, Baric and his allies realized that time was running out before a pandemic strain would make the inevitable jump from animals to human hosts. In The Invisible Siege, Werb unpacks the dynamic history and microscopic complexity of an organism that has wreaked cycles of havoc upon the world for millennia. Elegantly tracing decades of scientific investigation, Werb reveals how Baric's team of scientists hatched an audacious plan not merely to battle COVID-19 but to end pandemics forever. Yet as they raced to find a cure, they ran into a complicated nexus of science, ethics, industry, and politics that threatened to derail their efforts just as COVID-19 loomed ever larger. The Invisible Siege is an urgent and moving testament to the unprecedented scientific movement to stop COVID-19-and a powerful look at the infuriating factors that threaten to derail discovery and leave the world vulnerable to the inevitable coronaviruses to come"--
Subjects: COVID-19 (Disease); Epidemics; Virus diseases;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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How to be an antiracist / by Kendi, Ibram X.,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index.Ibram X. Kendi's concept of antiracism reenergizes and reshapes the conversation about racial justice in America--but even more fundamentally, points us toward liberating new ways of thinking about ourselves and each other. In How to Be an Antiracist, Kendi asks us to think about what an antiracist society might look like, and how we can play an active role in building it. In this book, Kendi weaves an electrifying combination of ethics, history, law, and science, bringing it all together with an engaging personal narrative of his own awakening to antiracism. How to Be an Antiracist is an essential work for anyone who wants to go beyond an awareness of racism to the next step: contributing to the formation of a truly just and equitable society.
Subjects: Kendi, Ibram X.; Anti-racism; Racism;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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How to Use ChatGPT and Generative AI to Help Create Content. by PACKT Publishing (Firm),dst; Kanopy (Firm),dst;
Originally produced by PACKT Publishing in 2023.Learn to use cutting-edge language models ChatGPT, Dalle-2, and Midjourney to create high-quality written content and generative art in this course. Discover how to fine-tune these models for specific tasks and explore the ethical implications and future-proofing strategies for using AI in your work.Mode of access: World Wide Web.
Subjects: Education films.; Science.; Technical education.; Instructional films.; Computer science.;
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The school for whatnots / by Haddix, Margaret Peterson.;
Ages 8-12.LSC
Subjects: Suspense fiction.; Mystery fiction.; Science fiction.; Friendship; Social classes; Schools; Androids; Corporations;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The road to wisdom : on truth, science, faith, and trust / by Collins, Francis S.,author.;
"In The Road to Wisdom, Francis Collins reminds us of the four core sources of judgment and clear thinking: truth, science, faith, and trust. Drawing on his work from the Human Genome Project and heading the National Institutes of Health, as well as on ethics, philosophy, and Christian theology, Collins makes a robust, thoughtful case for each of these sources -- their reliability, and their limits. Ultimately, he shows how they work together, not separately -- and certainly not in conflict. It is only when we relink these four foundations of wisdom that we can begin to discern the best path forward in life."--
Subjects: Belief and doubt.; Judgment.; Knowledge, Sociology of.; Public opinion.;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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The future of us : the science of what we'll eat, where we'll live, and who we'll be / by Ingram, Jay,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."A fascinating look at the cutting-edge science and technologies that are on the cusp of changing everything from where we'll live, how we'll look, and who we'll be, by the popular science broadcaster and bestselling author Jay Ingram. Where will we live? How will we get around? What will we look like? These are just some of the questions bestselling author and popular science broadcaster Jay Ingram answers in this exciting examination of the science and technologies that will affect every aspect of human life. In these pages, Ingram explores the future of our technological civilization. He reports on cutting-edge research in organ and limb regeneration, advances in prosthetics, the merging of the human and the synthetic, and gene editing. Vertical farming and lab-grown food might help feed millions and alleviate pressure on the planet. Cities could accommodate green space and the long-awaited flying car. Finally, he speculates on the future of artificial general intelligence, even artificial superintelligence, as well as our place on Earth and in the universe. The potential impact of these developments in science and technology will be powerful and wide-ranging, complicated by ethics and social equity. And they will inevitably revolutionize every aspect of life and even who we are. This is The Future of Us."--
Subjects: Forecasting; Science.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Unsavory truth : how food companies skew the science of what we eat / by Nestle, Marion,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."Is chocolate heart-healthy? Does yogurt prevent type 2 diabetes? Do pomegranates help cheat death? News accounts bombard us with such amazing claims, report them as science, and influence what we eat. Yet, as Marion Nestle explains, these studies are more about marketing than science; they are often paid for by companies that sell those foods. Whether it's a Coca-Cola-backed study hailing light exercise as a calorie neutralizer, or blueberry-sponsored investigators proclaiming that this fruit prevents erectile dysfunction, every corner of the food industry knows how to turn conflicted research into big profit. As Nestle argues, it's time to put public health first. Written with unmatched rigor and insight, Unsavory Truth reveals how the food industry manipulates nutrition science--and suggests what we can do about it"--
Subjects: Food industry and trade; Food; Nutrition policy; Food;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Land of milk and honey / by Zhang, C Pam,author.;
"About a Chinese American chef who, lured to a decadent, enigmatic colony of the superrich in a near future in which food is disappearing, discovers the meaning of pleasure and the ethics of who gets to enjoy it, altering her life and, indirectly, the world"--
Subjects: Dystopian fiction.; Novels.; Chinese Americans; Cooks; Dystopias; Elite (Social sciences); Food supply; Social classes;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Mercies in disguise : a story of hope, a family's genetic destiny, and the science that rescued them / by Kolata, Gina Bari,1948-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."The phone rings. The doctor from California is on the line. "Are you ready Amanda?" The two people Amanda Baxley loves the most had begged her not to be tested-at least, not now. But she had to find out. If your family carried a mutated gene that foretold a brutal illness and you were offered the chance to find out if you'd inherited it, would you do it? Would you walk toward the problem, bravely accepting whatever answer came your way? Or would you avoid the potential bad news as long as possible? In Mercies in Disguise, acclaimed New York Times science reporter and bestselling author Gina Kolata tells the story of the Baxleys, an almost archetypal family in a small town in South Carolina. A proud and determined clan, many of them doctors, they are struck one by one with an inscrutable illness. They finally discover the cause of the disease after a remarkable sequence of events that many saw as providential. Meanwhile, science, progressing for a half a century along a parallel track, had handed the Baxleys a resolution-not a cure, but a blood test that would reveal who had the gene for the disease and who did not. And science would offer another dilemma-fertility specialists had created a way to spare the children through an expensive process. A work of narrative nonfiction in the tradition of the The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Mercies in Disguise is the story of a family that took matters into its own hands when the medical world abandoned them. It's a story of a family that had to deal with unspeakable tragedy and yet did not allow it to tear them apart. And it is the story of a young woman-Amanda Baxley-who faced the future head on, determined to find a way to disrupt her family's destiny."--
Subjects: Medical genetics.; Genetic disorders.; Genetic screening;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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