Gutenberg, the Solar System, and Biological Cities: New Reviews at Download the Universe

Posted on March 17, 2012September 12, 2021 by Matt Kristoffersen

Here’s the latest batch of reviews from Download the Universe. Check out these science ebooks:

Living Architecture: How Synthetic Biology Can Remake Our Cities: A contemplation of how tinkering with cells can change civilization.

The Solar System: An interactive guide to the planets.

Gutenberg the Geek: How the explosion of the Internet today mirrors the birth of movable type.

Natural History: Mammals – Carnivores: Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

The Stir of Waters: Radiation, Risk, and the Radon Spa of Jáchymov . A journey to a bizarre resort where people bathe in radioactive waters.

Animal Friendships on the Faith Middleton Show

Posted on March 16, 2012September 12, 2021 by Matt Kristoffersen

This week on Connecticut Public Radio I had a great talk with Faith Middleton about my recent Time magazine story about animal friendships. You can listen to the episode here. (I show up at about 33:00.)

The Evolution of New York City: The Video

Posted on March 15, 2012September 12, 2021 by Matt Kristoffersen

Last summer I wrote in the New York Times about the exploits of Jason Munshi-South, a biologist who studies evolution in the wilds of New York City. Jason has now given a nice quick talk for TED-ED, TED’s new educational project, which is illuminated with lovely animations. Check it out:

Fifty-seven Years of Darkness

Posted on March 14, 2012September 12, 2021 by Matt Kristoffersen

In caves around the world, animals and other creatures have adapted to endless night. Cavefish, for example, have lost their eyes and pigment, evolving a greater power in other senses.

In 1954, Syuichi Mori, a biologist at Kyoto University, put flies into a cave of their own. He took eggs from ordinary flies of the species Drosophila melanogaster put them in milk bottles, which he placed in pots and covered in dark cloth. There they lived in utter darkness. He tended to the flies, generation after generation, dividing them into three separate lines. Meanwhile, he reared three lines of flies in normal light for comparison.

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Bird Flu: Any Information to Declare?

Posted on March 13, 2012September 12, 2021 by Matt Kristoffersen

One thing that’s fascinated me about the ongoing debate about the manipulated bird flu (check out my pieces for Slate, the Loom, and the Times for background) is that it comes down, in large part, to information. Should the scientists who turned bird flu into a mammal-to-mammal virus make the details of their experiments public?

The debate has also touched on the concern that the viruses themselves might escape their labs. And yet the physical viruses have remained mostly in the background. If the information alone manages to get out, that might be enough for virologists to recreate the viruses. In fact, at a recent meeting about the flu in DC, a lot of the discussion about the security of these virus strains centered on the hard drives where the data is now stored.

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