Climate Change Is Altering Lakes and Streams, Study Suggests

Posted on by Zimmer

The New York Times, January 11, 2018

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To scientists who study lakes and rivers, it seems humans have embarked on a huge unplanned experiment.

By burning fossil fuels, we have already raised the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by 40 percent, and we’re on track to increase it by much more. Some of that gas may mix into the world’s inland waters, and recent studies hint that this may have profound effects on the species that live in them.

“We’re monkeying with the very chemical foundation of these ecosystems,” said Emily H. Stanley, a limnologist (freshwater ecologist) at the University of Wisconsin — Madison. “But right now we don’t know enough yet to know where we’re going. To me, scientifically that’s really interesting, and as a human a little bit frightening.”

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“Therefore his shipmates called him mad”: The Science of Moby-Dick

Posted on by Matt Kristoffersen

Medium, January 9, 2018

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(In 2013, the Los Angeles Public Library asked me to write an essay about the science in Moby-Dick for an online celebration of the book. At some point, its page vanished into the digital ether. So I decided to re-post it here.)

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In the Bones of a Buried Child, Signs of a Massive Human Migration to the Americas

Posted on by Zimmer

The New York Times, January 3, 2018

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The girl was just six weeks old when she died. Her body was buried on a bed of antler points and red ocher, and she lay undisturbed for 11,500 years.

Archaeologists discovered her in an ancient burial pit in Alaska in 2010, and on Wednesday an international team of scientists reported they had retrieved the child’s genome from her remains. The second-oldest human genome ever found in North America, it sheds new light on how people — among them the ancestors of living Native Americans — first arrived in the Western Hemisphere.

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Friday’s Elk: End of 2017 Edition!

Posted on by Matt Kristoffersen

At the close of 2017, I just wanted to thank all of you for reading “Friday’s Elk” through the year. One of the joys of this job is learning more about the world. Another one is sharing that joy.

To round out the year, here’s a feature I published this past week in the New York Times about the mysteries of proteins.

The genesis of the story goes back seven years ago, to a podcast I recorded with a biologist named David Baker. He explained to me just how hard it was for scientists to figure out the rules by which proteins fold into their final shapes. Protein scientists simply call this challenge “the folding problem.” Continue reading “Friday’s Elk: End of 2017 Edition!” →

Fiber Is Good for You. Now Scientists May Know Why.

Posted on by Zimmer

The New York Times, January 1, 2018

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A diet of fiber-rich foods, such as fruits and vegetables, reduces the risk of developing diabetes, heart disease and arthritis. Indeed, the evidence for fiber’s benefits extends beyond any particular ailment: Eating more fiber seems to lower people’s mortality rate, whatever the cause.

That’s why experts are always saying how good dietary fiber is for us. But while the benefits are clear, it’s not so clear why fiber is so great. “It’s an easy question to ask and a hard one to really answer,” said Fredrik Bäckhed, a biologist at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden.

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