Carl Zimmer's Blog, page 127

Bonobo Outbreak: Update from Democratic Republic of Congo

Yesterday I passed on some grim news about a virus sweeping through bonobos. Some readers had questions, such as whether there was a quarantine and exactly what sort of virus is on the attack. Vanessa Woods kindly sent this email just now from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The most important thing at the moment for us is to protect the bonobos for the release project. these bonobos are in complete quarantine, and only select members of staff go in and out. so again NO RELEASED BONOBOS HAVE GO

LL Cool J, Dr. Anthony Fauci, *and* Bobby Baccalieri In One Room? Oh, This Is Going To Be Good

This is quite an honor, although the list of honorees is exactly backwards. If you’ve dedicated your career to fighting HIV or heart disease, let me step aside so you can head straight to the front of the line. I’ll just hang back and see if I can get an autograph from Bobby Baccalieri from the Sopranos.

Our Cousins Are Sick

Bonobos, along with chimpanzees, are our closest living relatives. Unfortunately the entire species has dwindled down to a few thousand survivors, all in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This morning I got a worrying email from Vanessa Woods, a bonobo expert who’s at a bonobo research facility in DRC:

In the last month, a flu epidemic has hit the bonobo sanctuary where we work: Lola ya bonobo (www.friendsofbonobos.org). It is the only bonobo sanctuary in the world, with over 60 orphans from the

What Is Life? The Radio Version

In connection with my recent lecture on life, I had a good interview with the local NPR station in Oklahoma. We talked about making life from scratch, Microcosm, and the microbes that are eavesdropping on you from the inside. You can listen to it on this embedded player below, or download it from the KWGS web site.

George Will, Now With Misleading Links!

There’s a lot of dismally wrong coverage of global warming these days (see some recent examples chronicled by Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum at The Intersection, for example). But the way global warming gets treated on the op-ed pages of the Washington Post–particularly by George Will and his enabling editors–is particularly exquisite. For my little Ahab-like obsession with the editorial process there, check out this string of posts. Many other observers have made similar points, so you’d t

Scientia: A New Blog Carnival

GrrlScientist is seeking submissions to Scientia, a new carnival for natural and medical blog writing. You can submit your entries here. The first edition is going to published Monday, April 6, so submit now!

What Is Life? Slides and Gramophone

I’ve posted my John Wesley Powell Memorial Lecture, “What is Life?” on blip.tv and have embedded it here. It’s a combination of my slides for the talk and a so-so audio recording. I stopped recording after my main talk, because the questions and answer period was pretty inaudible. That’s too bad, because we got into some interesting questions about whether viruses, prions, or even the Internet can be considered alive. Abbie Smith, who was at the talk, wrote about the discussion, and her own dist

All Systems Go

After a mean blizzard and meaner times at O’Hare, I finally arrived in Tulsa. So we’re all set for my lecture Sunday evening. See you there.

Reminder: “What Is Life?” on Sunday in Tulsa (Blizzards Allowing)

ERV informs me there’s some snow between me and my delivery of this year’s John Wesley Powell Memorial Lecture on Sunday in Oklahoma (details here). But if Powell could paddle down the Grand Canyon one-handed, the least I can do is hang out in airports a few extra hours. I look forward to seeing any Loom readers around Tulsa.

PostNatural History

Last year I took part in a talk about biology, terrorism, and art during the World Science Festival. One of the best things about the experience was getting to talk with people before and after the actual event. The crowd was loaded with artists (for example, the wonderful photographer Justine Cooper) giving serious, interesting thought to how we think about science, and how science changes how we think about the natural world.

I also met Richard Pell, who is trying to reinvent the natural histor