Friday’s Elk, August 11, 2017

Posted on by Matt Kristoffersen

Greetings! I’m back from my break and putting the finishing touches on my heredity book. This is the anxious stage when I have to try to artfully slip late-breaking news–such CRISPR-edited human embryos (shown above)–into the manuscript. Everyone who writes a book about science silently wishes that scientists would halt all their relevant research once the book goes to the printer. After the book has safely made it to the paperback edition stage, I think it would be okay for the research to start again…

Speaking of CRISPR, I talked this week to Michael Barbaro of “The Daily,” the New York Times podcast. In a week dominated by talk of nuclear war, I was grateful to get a chance to chat about biology. Here’s the episode. My portion starts around 7:00.

For my first post-break “Matter” column for the New York Times, I write about some beautiful new fossils that tell us something new about the history of mammals. In the Age of Dinosaurs, a number of them glided overhead. Continue reading “Friday’s Elk, August 11, 2017” →

When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth, Mammals Took to the Skies

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The New York Times, August 9, 2017

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The Mesozoic Era, from 252 million years ago to 66 million years ago, is often called the Age of Dinosaurs. To generations of paleontologists, early mammals from the period were just tiny nocturnal insect-eaters, trapped in the shadows of leviathans.

In recent years, scientists have significantly revised the story. Mammals already had evolved into a staggering range of forms, fossil evidence shows, foreshadowing the diversity of mammals today.

In a study published on Wednesday, a team of paleontologists added some particularly fascinating new creatures to the Mesozoic Menagerie. These mammals did not lurk in the shadows of dinosaurs.

Continue reading “When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth, Mammals Took to the Skies” →

Friday’s Elk, July 14, 2017

Posted on by Matt Kristoffersen

Greetings! I’m taking a summer break, but I wanted to let you know about a couple of new pieces of audio for your listening pleasure.

–This week, I spoke with BBC World Service’s show, “The Inquiry.” The title of this week’s episode is, “Is Gene Editing Out of Control?” I told the story of how we got to the point where we can even ask that question.

–At last month’s Aspen Idea Festival, fellow science writer Ed Yong and I had a lively conversation in front of a live audience about the many ways science undermines our notion of ourselves as individuals. We roved over new discoveries about the human genome, microbiomes, and brains. You can listen to the hour-long recording here. Continue reading “Friday’s Elk, July 14, 2017” →

In Neanderthal DNA, Signs of a Mysterious Human Migration

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The New York Times, July 4, 2017

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With fossils and DNA, scientists are piecing together a picture of humanity’s beginnings, an origin story with more twists than anything you would find at the movie theater.

The expert consensus now is that Homo sapiens evolved at least 300,000 years ago in Africa. Only much later — roughly 70,000 years ago — did a small group of Africans establish themselves on other continents, giving rise to other populations of people today.

To Johannes Krause, the director of the Max Planck Institute for Human History in Germany, that gap seems peculiar.

Continue reading “In Neanderthal DNA, Signs of a Mysterious Human Migration” →

Friday’s Elk, July 1, 2017

Posted on by Matt Kristoffersen

A number of people just signed up this week for Friday’s Elk–I’m guessing after seeing a link to it in my Reddit Ask-Me-Anything session on Tuesday. Welcome!

Just so you know, I use this email to keep interested folks up to date with my writing and talks. And, taking a page from science writer Ed Yong (who puts out a superb email newsletter), I’m going to start sharing the science-related things I’m consuming–articles, podcasts, etc.–that I consider particularly link-worthy. Continue reading “Friday’s Elk, July 1, 2017” →