Plight of the Living Dead
Plight of the Living Dead

Author: Matt Simon

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2018-10-02

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 1524705144

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A brain-bending exploration of real-life zombies and mind controllers, and what they reveal to us about nature—and ourselves Zombieism isn’t just the stuff of movies and TV shows like The Walking Dead. It’s real, and it’s happening in the world around us, from wasps and worms to dogs and moose—and even humans. In Plight of the Living Dead, science journalist Matt Simon documents his journey through the bizarre evolutionary history of mind control. Along the way, he visits a lab where scientists infect ants with zombifying fungi, joins the search for kamikaze crickets in the hills of New Mexico, and travels to Israel to meet the wasp that stings cockroaches in the brain before leading them to their doom. Nothing Hollywood dreams up can match the brilliant, horrific zombies that natural selection has produced time and time again. Plight of the Living Dead is a surreal dive into a world that would be totally unbelievable if very smart scientists didn’t happen to be proving it’s real, and most troublingly—or maybe intriguingly—of all: how even we humans are affected. “Fantastic . . . You'll be thinking about this book long after you're done reading it.” —Kelly Weinersmith, New York Times bestselling coauthor of Soonish

Zombie Ants
Zombie Ants

Author: Frances Nagle

Publisher: Gareth Stevens Publishing LLLP

Published: 2015-07-15

Total Pages: 26

ISBN-13: 1482428288

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Ants are known for being industrious insects. They follow set paths to find food and are often seen walking in a straight line. If you follow them, they’ll lead you right back to their nest. When scientists found ants that were walking off course in tropical forests, they knew something was wrong. Readers learn all the latest information about these fascinating zombie ants, including what causes their strange behavior and what threat it poses to their species. Full-color photographs show the deadly end of these ants, and fact boxes offer more details about a rare parasitic phenomenon.

The Boy on the Bridge
The Boy on the Bridge

Author: M. R. Carey

Publisher: Orbit

Published: 2017-05-02

Total Pages: 381

ISBN-13: 0316300314

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One exceptional boy journeys into the ashes of society to find the cure for a devastating plague in this riveting post-apocalyptic standalone set in the same world as the USA Today-bestselling The Girl With All the Gifts. Once upon a time, in a land blighted by terror, there was a very clever boy. The people thought the boy could save them, so they opened their gates and sent him out into the world. To where the monsters lived. "Strange and surprising and humane" (Lauren Beukes), The Boy on the Bridge is a gripping, powerful story that will make you question what it means to be human.

Get the Scoop on Animal Puke!
Get the Scoop on Animal Puke!

Author: Dawn Cusick

Publisher: Charlesbridge Publishing

Published: 2014-09-09

Total Pages: 84

ISBN-13: 1623540453

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Budding scientists and animal behaviorists: get ready to be grossed out! Following in the footsteps of the bestselling Get the Scoop on Animal Poop!, Get the Scoop on Animal Puke offers hours of learning about the natural world. Animal vomit serves many purposes in the natural world: it can scare and distract predators, feed family and neighbors, protect animals from poisoning (they can’t call 911), aid with digestion, and so much more. Fun facts and cool photos will delight young scientists. Maybe puke isn't so gross after all!

Zombies and Calculus
Zombies and Calculus

Author: Colin Adams

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2016-10-04

Total Pages: 236

ISBN-13: 0691173206

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A novel that uses calculus to help you survive a zombie apocalypse How can calculus help you survive the zombie apocalypse? Colin Adams, humor columnist for the Mathematical Intelligencer and one of today's most outlandish and entertaining popular math writers, demonstrates how in this zombie adventure novel. Zombies and Calculus is the account of Craig Williams, a math professor at a small liberal arts college in New England, who, in the middle of a calculus class, finds himself suddenly confronted by a late-arriving student whose hunger is not for knowledge. As the zombie virus spreads and civilization crumbles, Williams uses calculus to help his small band of survivors defeat the hordes of the undead. Along the way, readers learn how to avoid being eaten by taking advantage of the fact that zombies always point their tangent vector toward their target, and how to use exponential growth to determine the rate at which the virus is spreading. Williams also covers topics such as logistic growth, gravitational acceleration, predator-prey models, pursuit problems, the physics of combat, and more. With the aid of his story, you too can survive the zombie onslaught. Featuring easy-to-use appendixes that explain the book's mathematics in greater detail, Zombies and Calculus is suitable both for those who have only recently gotten the calculus bug, as well as for those whose disease has advanced to the multivariable stage.

Host Manipulation by Parasites
Host Manipulation by Parasites

Author: David P. Hughes

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2012-06-07

Total Pages: 247

ISBN-13: 0199642230

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Parasites that manipulate the behaviour of their hosts represent striking examples of adaptation by natural selection. This text provides an authoritative review of host manipulation by parasites that assesses developments in the field and lays out a framework for future research.

The Mutant Mushroom Takeover
The Mutant Mushroom Takeover

Author: Summer Rachel Short

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2020-09-22

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 1534468676

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Stranger Things meets The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl in this offbeat adventure about Maggie, an aspiring young naturalist, and her YouTuber best friend, Nate, who use their smarts and science to solve the mystery behind a mutant fungus that’s threatening the town. Ever since Magnolia Stone’s scientist dad left Shady Pines to find a new job, Maggie’s been stuck in her gramma’s mobile home with her grumpy older brother, Ezra. Now she’s on a mission to put her family back together by winning the Vitaccino Junior Naturalist Merit Award. When Maggie and her best friend, Nate, a wannabe YouTube star and alien conspiracy theorist, scout out a rare bioluminescent fungus, Maggie is certain she’s a shoo-in to win. But after animals around town start sprouting unusual growths and Ezra develops a bluish glow and hacking cough, Maggie wonders what they’ve really stumbled onto. As things in Shady Pines become stranger and more dangerous, and conversations with her dad get complicated, Maggie must use her scientific smarts and Nate’s impressive knowledge of all things spooky to put things back in order and prevent these peculiar glowing mushrooms from taking over their home.

Zombie Makers
Zombie Makers

Author: Rebecca L. Johnson

Publisher: Millbrook Press ™

Published: 2013-11-01

Total Pages: 48

ISBN-13: 1467737356

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Are zombies real? As far as we know, dead people do not come back to life and start walking around, looking for trouble. But there are things that can take over the bodies and brains of innocent creatures, turning them into senseless slaves. Meet nature's zombie makers—including a fly-enslaving fungus, a suicide worm, and a cockroach-taming wasp—and their victims.

Secret Lives of Ants
Secret Lives of Ants

Author: Jae Choe

Publisher: JHU Press

Published: 2012-04-01

Total Pages: 183

ISBN-13: 1421405210

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In the great naturalist tradition of E. O. Wilson, Jae Choe takes readers into a miniature world dominated by six-legged organisms. This is the world of the ant, an insect that humans, as well as most other life forms, depend upon for their very survival. Easily one of the most important animals on earth, ants seem to mirror the actions, emotions, and industries of the human population, often more effectively than humans do themselves. They developed ranching and farming long before humans, and their division of labor resembles the assembly lines of automobile factories and multinational enterprises. Self-sacrifice and a finely tuned chemical language are the foundations of their monarchical society, which is capable of waging large-scale warfare and taking slaves. Tales of their massacres and atrocities, as well as struggles for power, are all too reminiscent of our own. The reality of ant society is more fascinating than even the most creative minds could imagine. Choe combines expert scientific knowledge with a real passion for these miniscule marvels. His vivid descriptions are paired with captivating illustrations and photographs to introduce readers to the economics, culture, and intrigue of the ant world. All of nature is revealed through the secret lives of the amazing ants. In the words of the author, “Once you get to know them, you’ll love them.”