Between her well-tempered writing style and her atypical subject, Young will have readers enthralled.
Humans have polluted the land, the seas, the top of Mount Everest—next stop: outer space.
Well, surprise, writes science journalist Young in this limpid and engrossing (two words not normally associated with trash) overview: we’ve been leaving our junk in space for over 60 years now, even on the moon. Fortunately, we never got to the point of launching our nuclear waste into low orbit as once proposed, but we have sent over 6,600 satellites into space—some as big as your head, some as big as a school bus—for a number of scientific and military reasons. Their current status: 1,000 are still at work; 3,000 entered orbital decay and hurtled Earthward, mostly to burn up in the upper atmosphere due to friction, though some found terra firma. That leaves 2,600 “zombies.” Young delivers a concise history of our flinging objects into outer space—along with some excellent illustrations and photographs—and explains the numerous terms such as zombies (“nonoperational satellites”) and space junk (“any human-made debris in space,” with about 20,000 pieces at the moment and an anticipated 60,000 in 15 years). Young also looks into work being done on NASA’s Visual Inspection Poseable Invertebrate Robot to retrofit the zombies. In addition, wonder of wonders, countries are working on projects simply to go pick up the trash.
Between her well-tempered writing style and her atypical subject, Young will have readers enthralled. (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4677-5600-6
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Twenty-First Century/Lerner
Review Posted Online: Oct. 5, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Brief yet inspirational, this story will galvanize youth to use their voices for change.
Testa’s connection to and respect for nature compelled her to begin championing animal causes at the age of 10, and this desire to have an impact later propelled her to dedicate her life to fighting plastic pollution. Starting with the history of plastic and how it’s produced, Testa acknowledges the benefits of plastics for humanity but also the many ways it harms our planet. Instead of relying on recycling—which is both insufficient and ineffective—she urges readers to follow two additional R’s: “refuse” and “raise awareness.” Readers are encouraged to do their part, starting with small things like refusing to use plastic straws and water bottles and eventually working up to using their voices to influence business and policy change. In the process, she highlights other youth advocates working toward the same cause. Short chapters include personal examples, such as observations of plastic pollution in Mauritius, her maternal grandparents’ birthplace. Testa makes her case not only against plastic pollution, but also for the work she’s done, resulting in something of a college-admissions–essay tone. Nevertheless, the first-person accounts paired with science will have an impact on readers. Unfortunately, no sources are cited and the lack of backmatter is a missed opportunity.
Brief yet inspirational, this story will galvanize youth to use their voices for change. (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-22333-8
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
A comprehensive introduction to biofluorescence and bioluminescence by an expert in the field.
The cold light of living creatures from fireflies to deep-sea fishes has provided science with new tools to track body processes and the progress of disease.
Beginning with a general explanation of luminescence in animals and the discovery of the chemicals luciferase and luciferin that animals use to give off light, researcher Zimmer goes on to introduce some of the animals that use the light they produce to find prey, communicate, and defend themselves. There’s a whole chapter on fireflies as “model organisms” frequently studied as representative of bioluminescent creatures. After a chapter on the use of bioluminescent chemicals in science, the author goes on to consider biofluorescence: the emission of received light at a lower-energy color. Mantis shrimp and crystal jellyfish are the example animals here. The green fluorescent protein genes that make biofluorescence possible can be transferred into other organisms for a wide variety of scientific and medical uses. The author is a working and teaching scientist; his explanations are complex but clear enough for an interested student. Boxed information on related topics and interesting examples appear throughout the text, along with plentiful illustrations, mostly photographs.
A comprehensive introduction to biofluorescence and bioluminescence by an expert in the field. (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4677-5784-3
Page Count: 72
Publisher: Twenty-First Century/Lerner
Review Posted Online: July 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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