Blindsight

Blindsight

Author: Peter Watts

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2006-10-03

Total Pages: 388

ISBN-13: 1429955198

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Hugo and Shirley Jackson award-winning Peter Watts stands on the cutting edge of hard SF with his acclaimed novel, Blindsight Two months since the stars fell... Two months of silence, while a world held its breath. Now some half-derelict space probe, sparking fitfully past Neptune's orbit, hears a whisper from the edge of the solar system: a faint signal sweeping the cosmos like a lighthouse beam. Whatever's out there isn't talking to us. It's talking to some distant star, perhaps. Or perhaps to something closer, something en route. So who do you send to force introductions with unknown and unknowable alien intellect that doesn't wish to be met? You send a linguist with multiple personalities, her brain surgically partitioned into separate, sentient processing cores. You send a biologist so radically interfaced with machinery that he sees x-rays and tastes ultrasound. You send a pacifist warrior in the faint hope she won't be needed. You send a monster to command them all, an extinct hominid predator once called vampire, recalled from the grave with the voodoo of recombinant genetics and the blood of sociopaths. And you send a synthesist—an informational topologist with half his mind gone—as an interface between here and there. Pray they can be trusted with the fate of a world. They may be more alien than the thing they've been sent to find. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.


Arthrogryposis

Arthrogryposis

Author: Lynn T. Staheli

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1998-04-28

Total Pages: 298

ISBN-13: 9780521571067

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The term arthrogryposis describes a range of congenital contractures that lead to childhood deformities. It encompasses a number of syndromes and sporadic deformities that are rare individually but collectively are not uncommon. Yet, the existing medical literature on arthrogryposis is sparse and often confusing. The aim of this book is to provide individuals affected with arthrogryposis, their families, and health care professionals with a helpful guide to better understand the condition and its therapy. With this goal in mind, the editors have taken great care to ensure that the presentation of complex clinical information is at once scientifically accurate, patient oriented, and accessible to readers without a medical background. The book is authored primarily by members of the medical staff of the Arthrogryposis Clinic at Children's Hospital and Medical Center in Seattle, Washington, one of the leading teams in the management of the condition, and will be an invaluable resource for both health care professionals and families of affected individuals.


Rhythms of the Brain

Rhythms of the Brain

Author: G. Buzsáki

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 465

ISBN-13: 0199828237

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Studies of mechanisms in the brain that allow complicated things to happen in a coordinated fashion have produced some of the most spectacular discoveries in neuroscience. This book provides eloquent support for the idea that spontaneous neuron activity, far from being mere noise, is actually the source of our cognitive abilities. It takes a fresh look at the coevolution of structure and function in the mammalian brain, illustrating how self-emerged oscillatory timing is the brain's fundamental organizer of neuronal information. The small-world-like connectivity of the cerebral cortex allows for global computation on multiple spatial and temporal scales. The perpetual interactions among the multiple network oscillators keep cortical systems in a highly sensitive "metastable" state and provide energy-efficient synchronizing mechanisms via weak links. In a sequence of "cycles," György Buzsáki guides the reader from the physics of oscillations through neuronal assembly organization to complex cognitive processing and memory storage. His clear, fluid writing-accessible to any reader with some scientific knowledge-is supplemented by extensive footnotes and references that make it just as gratifying and instructive a read for the specialist. The coherent view of a single author who has been at the forefront of research in this exciting field, this volume is essential reading for anyone interested in our rapidly evolving understanding of the brain.


Living and Working in Space

Living and Working in Space

Author: William David Compton

Publisher: Courier Corporation

Published: 2013-05-13

Total Pages: 466

ISBN-13: 0486264343

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The official record of America's first space station, this book from the NASA History Series chronicles the Skylab program from its planning during the 1960s through its 1973 launch and 1979 conclusion. Definitive accounts examine the project's achievements as well as its use of discoveries and technology developed during the Apollo program. 1983 edition.


Fabric Formwork

Fabric Formwork

Author: Alan Chandler

Publisher:

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 87

ISBN-13: 9781859462843

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Fabric-cast concrete involves casting concrete in forms made with flexible formwork. This provides the potential to produce forms that are both structurally efficient and architecturally exciting in a relatively inexpensive and practical manner. By careful shaping of the fabric it is possible to produce complex shapes that would otherwise be difficult and expensive to produce using conventional formwork systems. This book contains six essays that describe the collaboration between the Universities of Edinburgh and East London, together with the Centre for Architectural and Structural Technology (CAST) at the University of Manitoba, in their detailed and practical research into concrete casting and formwork. Richly illustrated with photographs and diagrams and containing new and innovative research this book offers the architect, engineer and student inspiration and technical guidance in this re-emerging material.


Non-Crimp Fabric Composites

Non-Crimp Fabric Composites

Author: Stepan V Lomov

Publisher: Elsevier

Published: 2011-04-19

Total Pages: 557

ISBN-13: 0857092537

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Non-crimp fabric (NCF) composites are reinforced with mats of straight (non-crimped) fibres, giving them such advantages as strength, ease of handling and low manufacturing costs. Non-crimp fabric composites provides a comprehensive review of the use of NCF composites, their manufacture and applications in engineering.Part one covers the manufacture of non-crimp fabrics, including also topics such as structural stitching and automated defect analysis. Part two goes on to discuss the manufacture of non-crimp fabric composites, with chapters covering such topics as deformability and permeability of NCF. Part three focuses on the properties of NCF composites, with chapters on stiffness and strength, damage progression and fatigue. Finally, part four covers the applications of NCF composites, including chapters on the aerospace and automotive industries as well as wind turbines and helicopter applications. The book concludes with a discussion of cost analysis of NCF composites in engineering applications.With its distinguished editor and international team of expert contributors, Non-crimp fabric composites is an essential reference for composite manufacturers and structural and mechanical engineers in industries using NCF composites, as well as academics with a research interest in the field. - Provides a comprehensive review of the use of NCF composites, their manufacture and applications in engineering - Reviews the manufacture of non-crimp fabrics, including also topics such as structural stitching and automated defect analysis - Examines the properties of NCF composites considering stiffness and strength, damage progression and fatigue


Medical and Veterinary Entomology

Medical and Veterinary Entomology

Author: Gary R. Mullen

Publisher: Academic Press

Published: 2009-04-22

Total Pages: 646

ISBN-13: 0080919693

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Medical and Veterinary Entomology, Second Edition, has been fully updated and revised to provide the latest information on developments in entomology relating to public health and veterinary importance. Each chapter is structured with the student in mind, organized by the major headings of Taxonomy, Morphology, Life History, Behavior and Ecology, Public Health and Veterinary Importance, and Prevention and Control. This second edition includes separate chapters devoted to each of the taxonomic groups of insects and arachnids of medical or veterinary concern, including spiders, scorpions, mites, and ticks. Internationally recognized editors Mullen and Durden include extensive coverage of both medical and veterinary entomological importance. This book is designed for teaching and research faculty in medical and veterinary schools that provide a course in vector borne diseases and medical entomology; parasitologists, entomologists, and government scientists responsible for oversight and monitoring of insect vector borne diseases; and medical and veterinary school libraries and libraries at institutions with strong programs in entomology. Follows in the tradition of Herm's Medical and Veterinary Entomology The latest information on developments in entomology relating to public health and veterinary importance Two separate indexes for enhanced searchability: Taxonomic and Subject New to this edition: Three new chapters Morphological Adaptations of Parasitic Arthropods Forensic Entomology Molecular Tools in Medical and Veterinary Entomology 1700 word glossary Appendix of Arthropod-Related Viruses of Medical-Veterinary Importance Numerous new full-color images, illustrations and maps throughout


IUTAM-IASS Symposium on Deployable Structures: Theory and Applications

IUTAM-IASS Symposium on Deployable Structures: Theory and Applications

Author: Sergio Pellegrino

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2000-10-31

Total Pages: 522

ISBN-13: 9780792365167

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This collection presents 49 contributions by engineers, architects, biologists, and applied mathematicians interested in deployable structures. Aerospace structures are currently at the leading edge, and this is reflected by a larger number of contributions covering the full spectrum of concepts, simulations, testing, and working systems.