Carl Zimmer's Blog, page 88
July 6, 2010
A John Schoenherr Blog
In April, I noted with sadness the passing of the artist (and friend) John Schoenherr. (His New York Times obituary appeared a few days later.) His son, the artist Ian Schoenherr, has been sifting through his mountain of paintings and other effects, and yesterday he launched a blog to publish interesting things as he comes across them.
It's a wonderful way to celebrate a wonderful life full of bears, geese, astronauts, and, of course, giant alien sandworms. So check it out!
July 5, 2010
And You Are…? [Feeding the Meme]
A couple years ago, Ed Yong, blogger/whippersnapper, asked his readers to describe themselves in a comment thread. It was a very successful experiment, one that many science bloggers have since replicated. Now Ed's reviving the meme, which seems as good a time as any for me to join in (especially after a day so hot that my brain was parboiled inside my skull like some exotic delicacy). So, to quote from the memester:
In the comments below, tell me who you are, what your background is and what...
July 2, 2010
A Sketch of Science [Science Tattoo]
Caitlin, a graduate student, writes:
About four years ago, a close friend from college got her first tattoo – something meaningful and marking a particular point in her life – and she asked me if I would ever get one. I said sure, but that at that point in my life there was nothing I could come up with that was meaningful enough to have permanently etched in my skin. That was my first year of graduate school and I was still very unsure of myself and my future.
Four years of graduate school...
July 1, 2010
Bonnie Bassler on Learning To Speak Microbe
Princeton biologist Bonnie Bassler studies the chemical conversations bacteria use to work together and (sometimes) to make us sick. She joined me for my latest podcast, bringing her trademark enthusiasm and rare skill at telling a good scientific story. Check it out.
And if you crave more, check out her excellent TED lecture last year.
June 30, 2010
Choice Magazine Reviews The Tangled Bank: "Highly Recommended"
I'm thrilled that the evolutionary biologist Brian K. Hall has such great things to say about The Tangled Bank in a review for Choice, the leading review journal for academic librarians (subscriber link):
Those familiar with the books, newspaper and journal columns, and commentaries by Zimmer (e.g., Microcosm, CH, Sep'08, 46-0275; Soul Made Flesh, CH, Dec'04, 42-2220) will be delighted that he has turned his considerable writing skills to creating an accessible and superbly illustrated...
What, If Anything, Is Big Bird?
Zoologist Mike Dickison throws his hat into the dinosaur comedy ring (yes, dinosaur):
[Hat tip to the brother in Jersey]
June 24, 2010
The Tonya Harding of the Dinosaur Kingdom
Here's the best paleontology routine I've heard in the last…well, I'm not sure I've ever heard a paleontology routine before. This guy knows his dinosaurs, cold! Just look at his contempt when an audience member shouts out "Pterosaur." Warning: f-bombs away!
Thanks to Boing Boing
36,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
36,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 is a big number. But that's actually the number of microbes in the ocean. How on Earth do you comprehend that monstrous menagerie? In my new Meet the Scientist podcast, I talk to pioneering microbiologist Mitch Sogin about a major new project to census the sea's microbial diversity. Check it out.
June 21, 2010
Discover Takes Top Two Quarks!
Congratulations to my colleague across the sea, Ed Yong, for scoring first place in 3 Quark Daily's science prize. Yours truly snagged second place for my post on the Neanderthal genome. And a toast of the morning coffee to Margaret Morgan for her post on the evolution of chloroplasts.
I see an interesting pattern here. My piece focused on signs of interbreeding between humans and Neanderthals. Ed wrote about gut bacteria picking up genes from marine bacteria as an adaptation for eating...
June 19, 2010
Small Microcosm [Science Tattoo]
Luke writes, "I'm about to start postgrad studies in biochemistry but currently work in a bacteriology diagnostics lab. Working with the nasty side of E. coli all day long makes it easy to forget how important the little guy is to science – I definitely have a soft spot for it now though! I was recently in Amsterdam and wanted to get a tattoo done while I was there. I happened to be reading your book Microcosm at the time and decided to get an E. coli tattoo on my foot. I only found the...
