Category: Blog
My latest story for the New York Times has just gone online. It continues my string of stories in which I look at the familiar and find it deeply strange. The previous one was about fireflies. Tomorrow’s story is about the surface of the ocean. It turns out to be a deeply weird thing–a gelatinous biofilm inhabited by a peculiar menagerie of microbes that play a vital role in our own well-being.
Originally published July 27, 2009. Copyright 2009 Carl Zimmer.
The National Institutes of Health funds research on the biology of morality in the human brain, as well as the evolution of human morality by comparing humans to other primates. Francis Collins, who has been nominated to head NIH, has repeatedly criticized this sort of research–and has used its failure as evidence for the existence of God. In 2008, for example, he said, “I think human altruism can be seen as one of strongest signposts to the existence of a personal God. I can see no fully satisfactory explanation for it coming from biology.”
Margot, a zoo veterinary technician writes, “In reading Carl Charles Seife’s fabulous book Zero, he presents a graph of complex numbers which plot a changing exponent for the basic formula (X+iY)n in which X represents real numbers and Y represents imaginary numbers. If Y=1, the result is a circle. Y<1 creates a spiral inside the circle and Y>1 creates a spiral outside the circle. The logarithmic spiral is a very natural and fractal form, and being in the biology field and a fractal freak, I was captivated by this figure. Then the philosopher in me started seeing all the symbolism one could glean from this and it was all over. The other side of the story is that after 3 years of cortisone shots, physical therapy, surgery, more therapy and acupuncture to treat tendonitis in my right elbow, my arm is finally back to “as good as it’s going to get.” Unfortunately, my lifestyle as a zoo veterinary technician, musician, and mother all conspire to cause re-injury unless I am extremely careful. This tattoo is a colorful and metaphorical reminder to be mindful yet still live my life to the fullest extent possible.”
Click here to go to the full Science Tattoo Emporium.
Originally published July 24, 2009. Copyright 2009 Carl Zimmer.
Scientists tinker with my favorite bug so that it can solve mathematical puzzles.
Originally published July 24, 2009. Copyright 2009 Carl Zimmer.
Sweet! Richard Dawkins paid a visit to the Explore Evolution museum exhibit I helped put together. Here’s the first of a series of videos he filmed while he was there, on the evolution of whales. You can watch the others here.
Originally published July 23, 2009. Copyright 2009 Carl Zimmer.