CHRISTINE KENNEALLY

I reviewed four new science books for The New York Times. They span millions of years, beginning with the birth of humanity and ending with a serious look at AI. 

Even as the number of hours in the day remains fixed, the number of decisions we must make grows. Organic versus non? Public versus private? Paper versus digital? Modern adults must navigate real and virtual worlds, and if they have children, they need to keep an eye on their increasingly complicated worlds as well. Indeed, there is now a well-established body of science showing that there are only so many decisions you can make in a day before all your choices become bad ones. Decision-making doesn’t just feel exhausting, it really drains us.

Mark Greenwood wrote a wonderful book for children called Ned Kelly and the Green Sash.

Dr. Jeremy Smith, Senior Archeologist at Heritage Victoria, wrote about his investigation into the skeletal remains found at Pentridge Prison for Providence, the journal of the Public Records Office, to be published in September/October.

The scientists and researchers at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine have also written about their investigation into the old skulls and bones.

The sins of the fathers may be visited on the deoxyribose nucleic acids of the sons. I wrote about the "Epigenetics: The Ultimate Mystery of Inheritance" for Slate.

Lice are humanity's most ardent companions. I couldn't stop scratching my head while I wrote this for The Monthly.

Faced with pictures of odd clay creatures sporting prominent heads and pointy limbs, students at Carnegie Mellon were asked to identify which “aliens” were friendly and which were not... New York Times.