Science moves forward by flow. One experiment leads to another. Observations accrue. What seem like side trips or even dead ends may bring a fuzzy picture further into focus. Yet science often seems as if it moves forward one bombshell at a time, marked by scientific papers and press conferences. I can’t think of a bigger contrast between the bombshell illusion and the flowing reality of science than the day in 2000 when President Clinton announced the completion of the first draft of the human genome on the White House lawn. He declared it “an epoch-making triumph of science and reason.” 

Continue reading “You Don’t Miss Those 8,000 Genes, Do You?” →

Perhaps the notion of conservatives building an alternative to Wikipedia that includes many “scientific” entries based on creationist books aimed at seventh graders sounds like some bizarre hoax. For those who doubt, there’s now audio evidence.

National Public Radio ran a segment yesterday in which they interviewed the founder of Conservapedia, Andrew Schlalfly. The interviewer, Robert Siegel, got right to the point. He described Wikipedia’s entry on kangaroos, which includes details about extinct species of kangaroos known from fossils. 

Continue reading “Never Mind Those Kangaroo Fossils” →

Dinosaurs had small genomes. At least some of them did–the ones that gave rise to birds. If you have access to Science, you can read my News Focus article on the new field of “dinogenomics.” As I mentioned last week, my web site carlzimmer.com is in serious overhaul, so as soon as it’s ready, I’ll post a copy of the article there, too. 

Originally published March 12, 2007. Copyright 2007 Carl Zimmer.

If pubic lice are not the sort of thing you want to be seen reading about, let me give you the opportunity to close your browser window right now. But if you’re at all curious about the secret that pubic lice have been keeping for over three million years, the tale of a mysterious liaison between our ancestors and the ancestors of gorillas–read on.

Many parasites tend to stick close to their hosts. A parasitic wasp may wander through forests and fields to find a caterpillar from a single species of butterfly in which it will lay its eggs. Blood flukes taste the water of their ponds for molecules from human skin. 

Continue reading “Question of the Day: How Do You Get Crabs From A Gorilla?” →