Florida Citizens for Science asked me and my fellow Discoverite Phil Plait to be among the judges for their “Stick Science Cartoon” contest, in which entrants used stick figure cartoons to explain a misunderstanding about science with humor and brevity. You can now see the winners here. Congratulations to all. Next time I’m bogged down with an explanation that’s just too long and too dull, I’ll bear you folks in mind and start cutting.

Originally published June 19, 2009. Copyright 2009 Carl Zimmer.

I wrote about the two sides of our brains in April for Discover. Now some of the scientists whose research I highlighted have an article of their own in Scientific American, focusing on the ancient evolutionary origins of specializations in each hemisphere. So if you still have interhemispheric cravings, check it out!

Originally published June 19, 2009. Copyright 2009 Carl Zimmer.

Meet Limusaurus. It is not–I repeat NOT–the missing link between anything. And yet it is still an important fossil that may help us understand how birds evolved from dinosaurs.

The recent splash about a certain fossil primate has revealed yet again just how much a lot of people (sadly, including a lot of journalists) want to cling to the notion that paleontologists are only interested in missing links–which, I guess, are supposed to be the direct ancestors of some living group of organisms that are precisely halfway between primitive forerunners and the advanced living creatures.

Continue reading “Of Birds and Thumbs” →

Mind wandering is the subject of my new column for Discover. Far from just useless mental static, mind-wandering actually creates a distinctive pattern of activity in our brains–a pattern that suggests that it may actually be playing a crucial role in our mental life. Check it out.

Originally published June 15, 2009. Copyright 2009 Carl Zimmer.