Ashton writes:

“My boyfriend and I wanted tattoos that looked good on their own but had significance when they were joined. It took a long time to find the right design; my doodles went nowhere. Then, in the course of research for the American Museum of Natural History where I’m a staff writer, I saw a picture of a cell during meiosis, and bingo! (visualize a membrane surrounding both sets of chromosomes on our forearms.) We love the way it looks, as well as the way it symbolizes both pulling apart and coming together. And it ended up being the catalyst for a book project about tattoos with a shared meaning ( http://www.tattoosfortwo.com/).”

Continue reading “Two Become One (Becoming Two)” →

In my last post I wrote about how scientists are learning about the origin of animals by studying their genomes. One of the surprising findings of the latest research is that a group of animals called comb jellies (ctenophores) belong to the oldest lineage of living animals. Comb jellies look a bit like jellyfish–soft, tentacled creatures without brains or eyes but with a nervous system. As I wrote in the Boston Globe Monday, earlier studies had generally pointed to sponges as belonging to the oldest lineage. If comb jellies take their place, that may mean that the ancestors of sponges lost their nerve(s) and became anchored filter-feeders.

Continue reading “Why Weird Animals Matter, Continued: Untangling the Branches” →

Paul writes:

“I have a degree in Computer Science, and I work with RFID (or at least I did till recently).” On his Livejournal blog, he adds, “For the curious, this is an Alien Technology’s European model Gen 1 Squiggle RFID tag. It’s actually copper in color and about six centimetres long. I scanned it and blew it up to a bit over twice it’s original size, and changed its color to black.”

Continue reading “Tagged” →

Today in the Boston Globe, I write about how scientists are revising their understanding of the evolution of animals, thanks to more DNA and more weird animals. My favorite quote comes from biologist Mark Pallen, who says that the human genome would have been worthless without understanding how humans are related to other animals.

Unfortunately, this research has been subject to some poor reporting, and to some distortions from creationists. Ryan Gregory and Troy Britain set them straight, respectively. 

Originally published April 28, 2008. Copyright 2008 Carl Zimmer.

Therese writes, “I teach molecular and cell biology at a University in Atlanta. Many of my students have commented on the tatoo, I think they think it makes me ‘cool.’ Haha!”

Carl: In honor of National DNA Day, here’s another image of one of the most common images on this blog.

Click here to go to the full Science Tattoo Emporium. 

Originally published April 27, 2008. Copyright 2008 Carl Zimmer.