Greetings–
 

This week at Stat I wrote about my experience as the father of a girl in a science fair. She had a great time, but I came away reminded of how problematic the science fair phenomenon has become. The piece triggered a lot of discussion on Twitter and Facebook, which Stat followed up with some thoughtful opinion pieces from science fair participants, sharing their own experiences. Also, physicist Chad Orzel chimed in about how parents can help kids think scientifically at home. Continue reading “Friday’s Elk, April 15, 2016” →

Greetings–

Guaranteed: Nothing on this list is an April Fool’s joke.
 

Endangered animals get a lot of medical attention in captivity–but are they getting too much attention for their own good? For my column this week in the New York Times, I write about some scientists who think that parasites are important to the long-term survival of species. Continue reading “Friday’s Elk, April 1, 2016” →

Greetings–

No stomach flu, no head cold. Just a case of playing hooky on a pleasant Friday. Without further ado, here’s Friday’s Late Elk:
 

I’ve been rather obsessed with how life came on land for my whole career. In my first book, At the Water’s Edge, I delved into the remarkable history of research into this question. I’ve tried to keep up with new studies on this great transition in the years since the book came out. Continue reading “Friday’s Elk, March 26, 2016” →