Supermodel microbes? You bet. Check out this gallery of lovely, sometimes whimsical microbe colonies.

Originally published November 9, 2009. Copyright 2009 Carl Zimmer.

Duygu writes, “I am a developmental biologist by training. Actually, my Ph.D. thesis does not really have an evolutionary focus because I study joint regeneration in embryonic chick limb. However, I have been an evolution enthusiast and also an activist for educating public about the theory of evolution for a long time. I could not imagine a better tattoo: Darwin’s finches arranged to look like a butterfly…I got it in 2009–Darwin’s 200th anniversary and On The Origin of Species‘ 150th anniversary. I spent last few years reading and writing a lot on evolution, as well as playing the “editor-in-chief” for translating UC Berkeley’s Understanding Evolution website into Turkish (Evrimi Anlamak – a completely volunteer work by our group called Hard-workers for Evolution). All in all, I am a biologist and ‘nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution‘… So, I celebrate it with four finches on my shoulder!”

Peter Wainwright and his colleagues at UC Davis study the weird ways in which fish eat. Two years ago I wrote about their creepy work on moray eels for the Times here. Now they’ve got a Youtube channel for their surreal films. Mick Jagger, meet the Red Bay Snook. And Mr. Mosquitofish, meet your doom. (h/t Jonathan Eisen)

Originally published November 7, 2009. Copyright 2009 Carl Zimmer.

Leave it to the Boston Globe’s Big Picture to pick out a staggering portfolio of pictures of Mars.

Originally published November 6, 2009. Copyright 2009 Carl Zimmer.

The Tangled Bank is now officially out; I’m getting word back from readers that it’s actually showing up from Amazon. If you’re curious about it, here are a couple ways to find out more.

1. I’ve set up pages on my web site where you can download the introduction, look at some of Carl Buell’s artwork for the book, read reviews, and get contact information if you’re a teacher interested in a desk copy.

2. The New York Academy of Sciences has published an excerpt in the new issue of their magazine. It’s about the evolution of the eye, and you can read it online here.

3. Discover has another excerpt, about coevolution, in their November issue. The print issue is out now, and it should be posted online some time soon.

Originally published November 6, 2009. Copyright 2009 Carl Zimmer.