Science Universe

Actor and best-selling science writer Ben Miller takes listeners to the cutting edge of one of the greatest questions of all: Is there life beyond Earth?

Scientists in the past few decades have made crucial discoveries about how our cosmos evolved over the past 13.8 billion years. But there remains a critical gap in our knowledge: We still know very little about what happened in the first seconds after the Big Bang. At the Edge of Time focuses on what we have recently learned and are still striving to understand about this most essential and mysterious period of time at the beginning of cosmic history.

In How Star Wars Conquered the Universe, veteran journalist Chris Taylor traces the series from the difficult birth of the original film through its sequels, the franchise’s death and rebirth, the prequels, and the preparations for a new trilogy. Taylor provides portraits of the friends, writers, artists, producers, and marketers who labored behind the scenes to turn Lucas’s idea into a legend.

Something strange is going on in the cosmos. Scientists are uncovering a catalogue of weird phenomena that simply can’t be explained by our long-established theories of the universe. After decades of fruitless searching, could we finally be catching glimpses of a profound new view of our physical world? Or are we being fooled by cruel tricks of the data? In Space Oddities, Harry Cliff, a physicist who does cutting-edge work on the Large Hadron Collider, provides a riveting look at the universe’s most confounding puzzles.

Twelve year old Jake's middle school is about to be shut down—unless Jake and his friends can figure out how to save it. When Jake spies a bowl of jellybeans at the hotel where his mom works, he eats them. But those weren't just jellybeans. One of the scientists at his mom's conference is developing the world's first ingestible information pills. And that's what Jake ate.

And so continues the saga of the Clan invasion and the explosive struggle within the Inner Sphere. With secret aid from ComStar, the Terran-based sect that serves as the keeper of the Inner Sphere's technological secrets, the Clans' BattleMech warriors have been incredibly successful in their campaign of invasion. But ComStar has its own reasons for giving aid to the enemy, and if its strategy proves successful, the Inner Sphere worlds will finally be reunited under ComStar's rule.

As a Mech Warrior of the Draconis Combine, Minobu Tetsuhara was bound by Bushido, a code that demands loyal service to the devious Warlord Grieg Samsonov. But when Minobu came upon a strange blue and gold Archer, Bushido also dictated that he not destroy the honorable but helpless warrior. And so he rescued Jaime Wolf.

Before the days of going toe-to-toe with the Avengers, a younger Loki is desperate to prove himself heroic and capable, while it seems everyone around him suspects him of inevitable villainy and depravity...except for Amora. Asgard's resident sorceress-in-training feels like a kindred spirit - someone who values magic and knowledge, who might even see the best in him. But when Loki and Amora cause the destruction of one of Asgard's most prized possessions, Amora is banished to Earth, where her powers will slowly and excruciatingly fade to nothing.

Humanity fought and won its freedom by establishing a fragile peace with the two great powers-the Qash'vo'tar and the Zhal Confederation—by bringing them proof that their ancient enemy, the Val'ayash, survived the great war. But despite that, Earth is still a minor player in a wider galaxy, with only one advantage. Magic. Two years after Earth won its freedom, the tensions between the three star nations are rising. And United Terran Systems council knows that it is only a matter of time before the two great powers pressure humanity for the secrets of their magi-tech.

A leading scholar, cultural historian, and Catholic priest who spent more than 50 years writing about our engagement with the Earth, Thomas Berry possessed prophetic insight into the rampant destruction of ecosystems and the extinction of species. In this book he makes a persuasive case for an interreligious dialogue that can better confront the environmental problems of the 21st century.

Annie Collins emerged from the wreckage of the last invasion of Sorrow Falls with a spaceship in her garden, a loud alien idea in her head, and—because returning to college was out of the question—a lot of free time. What she chose to do with the idea, the spaceship, and all that free time, kickstarted a worldwide technological boom. Now, nine years later, it seems as if not a day passes without the announcement of a new breakthrough in something, be it quantum computing, nuclear energy, neurobiology, or some other esoteric corner of cutting-edge science.

There are deep connections between stars and atoms, between the cosmos and the microworld. Just six numbers, imprinted in the "Big Bang", determine the essential features of our entire physical world. Moreover, cosmic evolution is astonishingly sensitive to the values of these numbers. If any one of them were "untuned", there could be no stars and no life. This realization offers a radically new perspective on our universe, our place in it, and the nature of physical laws.

From the nightmarish landscape of the Mirror Universe Earth to the joys of impending parenthood and marriage to the woman he loves, James T. Kirk is propelled into his most personal and dangerous mission yet, as he fights to uncover the secret of Emperor Tiberius' return, and learn the terrible truth behind the madman's real plans for the Federation. Written and read by William Shatner!

Harvard geometer and Fields medalist Shing-Tung Yau has provided a mathematical foundation for string theory, offered new insights into black holes, and mathematically demonstrated the stability of our universe. In this autobiography, Yau reflects on his improbable journey to becoming one of the world’s most distinguished mathematicians. With complicated ideas explained for a broad audience, listeners not only get insights into the life of an eminent mathematician, but also an accessible way to understand advanced and highly abstract concepts in mathematics and theoretical physics.

Brothers in arms...At long last, the Clans’ campaign for the Inner Sphere is about to come to a head. Alaric Wolf is preparing for his biggest moves yet...and is willing to enlist just about any force that can help him achieve his ultimate goal - the conquest of Terra. To do this, he sends one of his own on a very special mission. Marotta Kerensky is a Wolf warrior unlike any other - the perfect candidate for a mission unlike any other: Convince the legendary Wolf’s Dragoons to rejoin the Clan they originally came from.

Years ago, cosmologist Stephon Alexander received life-changing advice: to discover real physics, he needed to stop memorizing and start taking risks. In Fear of a Black Universe, Alexander shows that great physics requires us to think outside the mainstream - to improvise and rely on intuition. His approach leads him to three principles that shape all theories of the universe: the principle of invariance, the quantum principle, and the principle of emergence. Alexander uses them to explore some of physics' greatest mysteries.

In order to heal after his mother's death, Sal learned how to meditate. But no one expected him to be able to take it further and "relax" things into existence. Turns out he can reach into time and space to retrieve things from other universes - even his mom! He has promised his dad and stepmom that he won't bring back his mother anymore (it causes marital tension), but sometimes, he can't help himself. Sal doesn't talk about his ability with anyone. But when he meets Gabi, the student council president and editor of the school paper, he realizes she is someone with whom he can work.

The final novel in the Orion War series, Return to Sol sees the I2 and her crew return to where it all began....

This bundle of six books includes works covering such varied topics as astrophysics and speculation on matters such as UFOs and time travel.

Clarity's home is her spaceship. Living on the move. Planet to planet. When money trouble forces Clarity and her traveling companion, Irohann, to take on passengers, Irohann worries his secret identity will be revealed. He's a canine alien on the run from an empire of sentient plants, and their queen has a personal vendetta against him. Heartsick at the idea of losing their ship, Clarity accepts an offer that's clearly too good to be true, and they find themselves swept up in the crazy schemes of a rogue AI in a stolen robot body, and her haphazardly assembled team of disparate aliens.