Jordan writes: “My tattoo is of the ‘glider’ formation from John Conway’s Game of Life. As a History of Science student I love this geometric arrangement and its promise of self-contained (not viral) reproduction, and travel.”Carl: For more on Conway’s primordial artificial life, see here.

Click here to go to the full Science Tattoo Emporium. 

Originally published June 17, 2008. Copyright 2008 Carl Zimmer.

Carrie writes:

“I am an immunologist, and a second-generation biologist; my mother was a cell biologist (she passed away from brain cancer, which influenced my choice of career). I find DNA to be elegant; the code is so simple, and yet capable of enormous complexity. So I had my artist make a stylized DNA double-helix for me. The two double-stranded breaks don’t bother me; adaptive immune cells have those as part of normal development. 😉 “

Click here to go to the full Science Tattoo Emporium. 

Originally published June 16, 2008. Copyright 2008 Carl Zimmer.

Sandra writes, “My tattoo is an intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cell, my favourite type of neuron. Only discovered a few years ago, it detects light without vision and communicates directly to a part of the brain (the suprachiasmatic nucleus) that helps control circadian rhythms.”

Click here to go to the full Science Tattoo Emporium. 

Originally published June 15, 2008. Copyright 2008 Carl Zimmer.

This is a crazy day–an eight hour drive to visit relatives, followed promptly by a last-minute appearance live on the radio show Science Fantastic, hosted by physicist Michio Kaku. I’m about to go on (6 pm EST) to talk about E. coli, Darwin, and much more. Listen live! 

Originally published June 14, 2008. Copyright 2008 Carl Zimmer.

We’ve all heard about the dire straits polar bears are facing if they lose their icy habitat to global warming. But just how many species may global warming drive extinct? One way to find out is to look over the mass extinctions of the past–and the picture there’s not pretty, as I explain in my new article, “Biodiversity in the Balance.” It appears today in the new publication Yale Environment 360, an online environment magazine from the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. They’ve already got some pieces from some big names, like Bill McKibben and Carl Safina. So check the whole place out.

Continue reading “Hot Times in Deep Time: My New Piece for the New Yale Environment 360” →