Author: Matt Kristoffersen

“Therefore his shipmates called him mad”: The Science of Moby-Dick

Posted on by Matt Kristoffersen

Medium, January 9, 2018

Link

(In 2013, the Los Angeles Public Library asked me to write an essay about the science in Moby-Dick for an online celebration of the book. At some point, its page vanished into the digital ether. So I decided to re-post it here.)

Continue reading ““Therefore his shipmates called him mad”: The Science of Moby-Dick” →

Friday’s Elk: End of 2017 Edition!

Posted on by Matt Kristoffersen

At the close of 2017, I just wanted to thank all of you for reading “Friday’s Elk” through the year. One of the joys of this job is learning more about the world. Another one is sharing that joy.

To round out the year, here’s a feature I published this past week in the New York Times about the mysteries of proteins.

The genesis of the story goes back seven years ago, to a podcast I recorded with a biologist named David Baker. He explained to me just how hard it was for scientists to figure out the rules by which proteins fold into their final shapes. Protein scientists simply call this challenge “the folding problem.” Continue reading “Friday’s Elk: End of 2017 Edition!” →

Friday’s Elk, December 13, 2017

Posted on by Matt Kristoffersen
Autographed Books!

I have a couple shelves of my books I need to clear out. You have to buy holiday gifts. We need to talk!

If you’d like to get an autographed copy of one of my books, please check out the Amazon links below. They’re all in good or like-new condition.

Amazon’s gotten a little buggy when it comes to presenting used books, but these links should take you to a collectible offer marked “Carl Zimmer–Author.” First come, first serve! Continue reading “Friday’s Elk, December 13, 2017” →

Friday’s Elk November 16, 2017

Posted on by Matt Kristoffersen

Three years ago I wrote about a provocative new idea for the gene-editing technology known as CRISPR. Maybe conservation biologists could wipe out invasive species with a fast-spreading gene.

One of the key thinkers behind that idea was a biologist named Kevin Esvelt. Recently Esvelt did something remarkable: he got in touch with me to let me know he now thinks that the idea is a bad one. Maybe even a dangerous one. This week, I wrote about Esvelt’s change of heart in my column for the New York Times. Continue reading “Friday’s Elk November 16, 2017” →