Some of the blogs that I find most interesting are also the most sporadic. Fortunately, RSS feeds mean their occasional utterances don’t disappear off my radar. Rob Carlson’s blog, synthesis, is an excellent, deeply considered blog on the rise of synthetic biology. (Full disclosure–I interviewed Carlson for a recent article in Discover.) Even though a week or two may pass between posts, they’re always interesting. His latest entry, on the hype around Craig Venter’s development of artificial chromosomes, is like a very sharp needle poking a very fat balloon:

Continue reading “Artificial Life: Please Breathe in This Paper Bag” →

In my latest column for Wired, I take a look at the ever-fascinating intersection between engineering and biology. An electrical engineer-turned-ecologist uses the principles of circuits to track the flow of genes in endangered species. Remarkably, it works. Take a look. 

Originally published December 12, 2007. Copyright 2007 Carl Zimmer.

In tomorrow’s New York Times, I have a story about some very fun research–the study of the world’s biggest gulp. Some new research indicates that the biggest species of whales eat by gulping their own weight in water every thirty seconds. They do so in much the same way a parachute stops a race car.

Here’s the article.

Here’s the podcast (I come on at about 8:30)

Here’s the original paper.

Continue reading “Feeding Leviathans One Gulp at a Time” →

I’ve set up a web page for the workshop I’ll be teaching at Yale next month. If I had to sum up my line of work in four hours, a few things to read, and one writing assignment, this would probably be it. 

Originally published December 8, 2007. Copyright 2007 Carl Zimmer.

Here is my first obituary in the New York Times, for Seymour Benzer. (It was pure coincidence, apparently, that they contacted me a couple days after I blogged about Benzer here.) It’s a nerve-racking experience summing up someone’s life in a few hundred words, especially a life as jam-packed as Benzer’s. Here’s one of many things that didn’t make it in: Benzer’s quest to find the genetic basis for loving spicy Asian food (via Jim Hu) 

Originally published December 7, 2007. Copyright 2007 Carl Zimmer.