Category: Blog
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.
Benjamin writes, “The tattoo on my ankle is of a one-bit binary full adder. It one of the most basic building blocks of all computer chips. The flow of binary state would be from left to right as oriented in the picture.”
Click here to go to the full Science Tattoo Emporium.
Originally published June 14, 2009. Copyright 2009 Carl Zimmer.
As I mentioned earlier, as part of the World Science Festival, I’ll be talking Sunday with Eric Sanderson, an ecologist who has just published the book Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City, based on his remarkable project to map out the ecosystems of New York on the eve of the arrival of Europeans. We’ll be at the Author’s Corner, which is now in a different location: The Discovery Theater, on the 8th floor of the Kimmel Center at NYU on Washington Square. Here are the details and a map .
Eric and I will speak from 11:00 am to 11:30 and then we’ll both be signing books at noon.
See you there!
Originally published June 12, 2009. Copyright 2009 Carl Zimmer.
Here’s a vision of how science may work in the future.
Last month I scrambled to write a story about the evolution of swine flu for the New York Times. I talked to some of the top experts on the evolution of viruses who were, at that very moment, analyzing the genetic material in samples of the virus isolated around the world. One scientist, whom I reached at home, said, “Sure, I’ve got a little time. I’m just making some coffee while my computer crunches some swine flu. What’s up?”
Continue reading “Swine Flu Science: First Wiki, Then Publish”
The story of Darwinius masilae continues…
In our previous chapter, we noted that the scientists who described this fossil claimed “no competing interests exist,” ignoring the fact that the fossil was the center of a spectacular media circus that included a heavily financed TV documentary. I contacted Peter Binfield of PLOS One, where the paper was published, and asked for a comment. He said he was contacting the authors and would get back to me.
He has.
Continue reading “Darwinius: Science, Showbiz, and Conflicts of Interest”