Carl Zimmer's Blog, page 100

Synthetic Biology: Ten Years Old, Ten Years On

[image error]E. coli that can count? In my new podcast, I talk to James Collins, an engineer-turned-biologist who helped usher in the science of synthetic biology ten years ago. We talk about the challenges of getting cells to do what you want them to, and what synthetic biology will look like in 2020. Check it out.

I For One Welcome Our Microbial Overlords

Can the bacteria in our bodies control our behavior in the same way a puppetmaster pulls the strings of a marionette? I tremble to report that this wonderfully creepy possibility may be true.

The human body is, to some extent, just a luxury cruise liner for microbes. They board the SS Homo sapiens when we're born and settle into their assigned quarters–the skin, the tongue, the nostrils, the throat, the stomach, the genitals, the gut–and then we carry them wherever we go. Some of microbes...

The New Carnival of Evolution Is Up

Check out the latest Carnival of Evolution (with two items from the Loom) over at Mauka to Makai!

This Is The Dawning of Aquarius–In South Dakota

[image error]South Dakota, are you kidding me? Astrology in the classroom?

In the fine tradition of creationist legislation that claims that evolution is "just" a theory and that requires the teaching of alternatives, the South Dakota legislature has passed a resolution on the teaching of climate change. Here's how it starts.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the House of Representatives of the Eighty-fifth Legislature of the State of South Dakota, the Senate concurring therein, that the South Dakota...

What Is A Bird (a k a Euornithine Ornithothoracine Pygostylian…etc.)?

My post on birds and dinosaurs yesterday led to a little debate on Facebook, including this, from paleontologist Thomas Holtz:

All living birds share a common ancestor that would also be considered a bird, so they are a monophyletic group. Nevertheless, that group is deeply nested among euornithine ornithothoracine pygostylian avialian eumaniraptoran paravian metornithine maniraptoran maniraptoriform tyrannoraptoran coelurosaurian avetheropodan tetanurine averostran neotheropod theropod...

Webinar Follow-Up: Dinosaur Polls and More

A few questions came up during the webinar this afternoon that we didn't have a chance to get to.

1. I talked about a poll of Texans about evolution. Someone asked for the source of the chart I showed. Here it is. I used this poll mainly to illustrate the fact that being a journalist who writes about evolution in the United States is an inherently interesting job. (You get really interesting comments, for example.) But I don't think that Texas warrants singling out, judging by nationwide...

Shape-Shifting Across The Globe

Many animals have evolved camouflage, but nobody quite pulls it off as beautifully as the octopus and its tentacled cousin the cuttlefish. These invertebrates, which belong to a group called cephalopods, are covered in microscopic pigment organs that they can squeeze and stretch to take on the patterns around them. They can curl their tentacles to assume different shapes, and they can even change the texture of their skin to bumpy or smooth, as necessity demands.

Nobody knows the tricks of...

Virtual Book Party on Thursday–Win A Free Copy of The Tangled Bank

[image error]This Thursday at 2 pm EST, I will be taking part in a virtual book party. The slots are filling up, but there are still some left. Register here.

What's a virtual book party you ask? In this case, fellow Discover blogger Chris Mooney and I will each give a 15 minute talk about our new books. From the slipper-and-pajama'd comfort of your home or office (if you wear slippers and pajamas at the office), you can listen to us speak and behold our slide presentations in real time. After we're...

Open Laboratory 2009

Open Laboratory 2009, an anthology of science blogging goodness, is out! Get your copy now. (Full disclosure–I'm in there.)

Open Laboratory 2009, an anthology of science blogging go...

Open Laboratory 2009, an anthology of science blogging goodness, is out! Get your copy now. (Full disclosure–I'm in there.)