• Mashup Score: 2

    What happens when two massive hunks of hurtling space debris slam into each other? Welcome to round one in the Cosmic Collisions series–an exciting children’s debut from an expert astrophysicist. There’s a comet speeding in from the outer solar system, and it’s about to slam into an asteroid. Who will be left standing after this interplanetary smackdown? The pockmarked asteroid, a veteran fighter who’s already seen some action? Or the dazzling comet, with its incredible velocity and a tail that stretches millions of miles? Kicking off a dynamic series on cosmic collisions, Asteroid vs. Comet starts by comparing the two opponents, then offers hints and context to encourage readers to use real science to form a hypothesis. Action-packed full-color illustrations with a graphic, comic-book feel will attract reluctant readers and kids who love smash-and-crash, along with budding scientists. Curious readers can find back matter addressing the question of fact versus fiction, how to become a

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    • Do you know kiddos who love space? Are you tired of reading them boring and uninspiring kid science books? Try this new, FUN book by NASA astrophysicist @marckuchner! https://t.co/wfR7n1PoSj Cosmic Collisions: Asteroid vs. Comet https://t.co/YVNGgnxBuO

  • Mashup Score: 1

    An evolutionary case for the existence of free will Scientists are learning more and more about how brain activity controls behavior and how neural circuits weigh alternatives and initiate actions. As we probe ever deeper into the mechanics of decision making, many conclude that agency–or free will–is an illusion. In Free Agents, leading neuroscientist Kevin Mitchell presents a wealth of evidence to the contrary, arguing that we are not mere machines responding to physical forces but agents acting with purpose. Traversing billions of years of evolution, Mitchell tells the remarkable story of how living beings capable of choice arose from lifeless matter. He explains how the emergence of nervous systems provided a means to learn about the world, granting sentient animals the capacity to model, predict, and simulate. Mitchell reveals how these faculties reached their peak in humans with our abilities to imagine and to be introspective, to reason in the moment, and to shape our possible

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    • RT @sciencegoddess: Free Agents: How Evolution Gave Us Free Will by @WiringTheBrain is available now. https://t.co/sWQUbMA5KH https://t.co…