Author: Lori Jia
If you’re a scientist mysteried by the media, AAAS has set up a nice site to help. Included are a series of interviews with members of that dubious profession, including Science Friday’s Ira Flatow talking about radio, and the New York Times’s environment writer Andrew Revkin on newspaper reporting. I talk> about life as a multitasking freelancer, and how blog posts and books are and are not the same.
Originally published March 13, 2008. Copyright 2008 Carl Zimmer.
Steve writes:
“I got my two tattoos the summer after I graduated from the University of Massachusetts with a degree in Chemical and Nuclear Engineering. On the left shoulder is the recognizable radiation warning trefoil, and on the right is the U.S. Army’s hazard symbol for chemical weapons (I interpret it more as a general chemical warning symbol). Some would say that hazard symbols like these represent a desire to for isolation, but I like to think of them as my two pillars of training. That no matter what happens to me I’ll always have my knowledge of these two sciences to rest upon.”
Julian writes:
“Attached is my tattoo of the 17-hydroxyandrost-4-en-3-one molecule a.k.a testosterone. I got it a couple of years ago after many years of thinking about getting it. I have a degree in biotechnology and am currently undertaking honours in molecular biology. I am studying the effects of glucocorticoids on fetal lung development.The tat has to do with my love of lifting heavy weights and the most important molecule for that is testosterone. People can take all the synthetic testosterones and steroid derivatives they want but nothing feels better than knowing after a heavy lift that all you used was that which your testes produced.
I’m heading to Sarasota, Florida, to talk tonight about the evolution of whales. If anybody bearing oranges gives me a hard time, I’ll let you know.
The talk will be part of Mote Marine Laboratory’s public lecture series. Here are the details. If you’re in the neighborhood, come on by.
Originally published March 10, 2008. Copyright 2008 Carl Zimmer.
Jim describes his tattoo:
“a design of Opabinia regalis, a Burgess Shale fossil dating from the Cambrian. It has some pirate imagery, including the hourglass, skull, and nukes. As an evolutionary dead end, Opabinia reminds me of the diversity and tenacity of life through difficulty (how do you put ‘Ad Astra Per Aspera’ into fossil terms?), and plus it looks awesome.”
Carl: Opabinia is the weirdest of the weird, a creature with five eyes and a single appendage sticking out of its head like the arm of a backhoe. It existed half a billion years ago, and its fossil remains were preserved exquisitely in the Burgess Shale formation of Canada.