Science

A pair of identical twins lived apart for 28 years after one off them was accidentally switched with another infant in the hospital nursery. Twin expert Nancy Segal details what happened next in Someone Else's Twin: The True Story of Babies Switched at Birth.

When Columbus crossed the Atlantic in 1493, his journey prompted the exchange of not only information but also food, animals, insects, plants and disease between the continents. In a new book, Charles C. Mann describes the aftermath of Columbus' arrival in the Americas.

To make the electric car viable, manufacturers need to create better batteries. But the road to creating a better, long-lasting battery has not been easy. Science writer Seth Fletcher explains why in his book, Bottled Lightning: Superbatteries, Electric Cars and the New Lithium Economy.

Animal behaviorist John Bradshaw has spent much of his career debunking bad advice given to dog owners. His new book Dog Sense details what pet owners should expect from their dogs -- and what their dogs should expect in return from their owners.

Would you eat a steak grown in a laboratory? Science writer Michael Specter examines the progress scientists have made in developing test-tube meat. "Depending on what your definition of any sort of life is, this is as fundamental as any animal is," he says.

Parasitic tapeworms, the world's largest hornet and a bug with overly aggressive mating habits are all featured in science writer Amy Stewart's book Wicked Bugs, which examines more than 100 of the strangest entomological creatures on the planet.

In Sex, Drugs, and Sea Slime: The Oceans' Oddest Creatures and Why They Matter, underwater researcher Ellen Prager describes some of the craziest activities that help ocean creatures stay alive, fight predators, find food and reproduce.

Science journalist Marc Kaufman says we're closer than ever to finding out if there's life on other planets in the universe. He details the current research and challenges for scientists in First Contact: Scientific Breakthroughs in the Hunt for Life Beyond Earth.

Physician Kevin Patterson has treated patients in the Arctic, in Kandahar and on remote Pacific Islands. He says that Western ideas and effects of urbanization are making people everywhere in the world both fatter and sicker.

It is possible that there are many other universes that exist parallel to our universe. Theoretical physicist Brian Greene, author of The Elegant Universe, explains how that's possible in the new book, The Hidden Reality.