Bacterial Ecosystems Divide People Into 3 Groups, Scientists Say

Posted on by Lori Jia

The New York Times, April 20, 2011

Link

In the early 1900s, scientists discovered that each person belonged to one of four blood types. Now they have discovered a new way to classify humanity: by bacteria. Each human being is host to thousands of different species of microbes. Yet a group of scientists now report just three distinct ecosystems in the guts of people they have studied.

Blood type, meet bug type.

“It’s an important advance,” said Rob Knight, a biologist at the University of Colorado, who was not involved in the research. “It’s the first indication that human gut ecosystems may fall into distinct types.”

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Warming up, turning sour, losing breath

Posted on by Matt Kristoffersen

We like to think about risks with simple arrows. If A, then B. If wildfires break out, some people may lose their homes. If an oil pipeline leaks, it can pollute the soil. But if you put a wildfire and an oil pipeline leak together in the same place at the same time, the whole becomes a lot nastier than sum of its parts.

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Celebrating a decade under the influence of parasites: My talk tomorrow (4/15) at SUNY Plattsburgh

Posted on by Matt Kristoffersen

I’ll be speaking tomorrow at SUNY Plattsburgh on the occasion of the publication ofthe new edition of Parasite Rex. I’ll be talking about the many ways in which parasites have infiltrated my mind since the book first came out a decade ago. I hope some Loominaries will be able to attend, and be infiltrated as well.

Where: SUNY Plattburgh, Plattsburgh NY. Room 206, Yokum Hall. (Directions and campus map)

When: Friday, April 15, 12:15 pm.

More details here.

Originally published April 14, 2011. Copyright 2011 Carl Zimmer.

“Blogger” is not synonymous with “angry child”–An interview on the Consilience podcast

Posted on by Matt Kristoffersen

An interview with me is running on the latest episode of “Consilience,” a podcast on science and skepticism out of South Africa. The conversation, which takes up the second half of the podcast, covers lots of ground. We talked about my new book, A Planet of Viruses, the secret weapons whales use for fighting cancer, and the enduring, tiresome mistake people make of thinking of bloggers as angry children. Check it out.

Originally published April 14, 2011. Copyright 2011 Carl Zimmer.