Scott Solomon's Blog, page 2

Future Humans named a “Best Book of 2017”!

Science Books and Films (a division of the AAAS, the American Association for the Advancement of Science) has named Future Humans as a “Best Book of 2017”!

http://www.sbfonline.com/Documents/20...

Interview for Discovery Canada’s ‘Daily Planet’

(the segment with my interview begins at 15:50)

Darwin Day OpEd: At the dawn of the age of human genetic engineering, let’s be sure we understand our own evolution

NBC News: Evolution is hard to control — but what if you had a magic wand?

Evolution is hard to control — but what if you had a magic wand?

https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/10-scientists-tell-what-extra-body-feature-or-ability-they-ncna835416

Rice Science Cafe Feb 6: Evolution Beyond Earth

TEDx talk

My TEDx talk is live! “Human Evolution on Mars”

 

NSF RAPID award to study how Harvey’s floodwaters affected ants

Great news! The National Science Foundation is funding a proposal by Tom Miller, Sarah Bengston, and myself to determine how extreme flooding associated with Hurricane Harvey in August 2017 affected the abundance and community composition of ants in the Big Thicket region of east Texas. This region hosts dozens of native ant species that provide valuable ecosystem services, such as decomposition and pest control, as well as noxious invasive species (fire ants and tawny crazy ants).

The ultimate goals of the project are to understand how extreme events like catastrophic floods influence the abundance of plants and animals, including species that affect human well-being such as pollinators or invasive pests. To do this, we will use “before” and “after” samples to test the hypothesis that Hurricane Harvey disrupted east Texas ant communities, favoring an increase in abundance and extent of invasive ants.

Interview for National Academy of Science video series

I was recently interviewed for a video series by the National Academy of Sciences called “From Research to Reward.” This piece will focus on how advances in the science of weather forecasting affected people’s experiences and outcomes during Hurricane Harvey.

Gizmodo asked: Could humans ever evolve superhuman abilities?

Could humans ever evolve superhuman abilities? Gizmodo asked me to weigh in on this question for their latest edition of Giz Asks…

http://gizmodo.com/can-superhuman-mutants-be-living-amongst-us-1795696308

Featured on the “Academic Minute”

I recorded a piece for “Inside Higher Ed”‘s “Academic Minute.” You can listen or read the transcript here: https://academicminute.org/2017/05/sc...