This was fun. My editors at the Times asked me to take part in a special edition of Science Times coming out tomorrow, called “What’s Next.” My own charge was to pick ten scientists from across a wide range of disciplines and get their ideas about what we might expect to be reading about in 2011. It’s hardly an exhaustive list–I prefer to think of it as a tasting menu, full of pungent surprises, from stem-cell garage biology to the Indian Ocean’s global reach. The piece is set up as an interactive feature, including some additional audio comments from the scientists. Check it out, and check out the other articles in this special section, too.

Originally published November 9, 2010. Copyright 2010 Carl Zimmer.

On my latest podcast, I talk beer–that marvel of microbiology that people have been swilling for thousands of years. My guide to the brewing cosmos is Charles Bamforth, a professor of brewing science at the University of California, Davis.Check it out.

Originally published November 5, 2010. Copyright 2010 Carl Zimmer.

Just a reminder to residents of the Elm City and science writers converging here for their annual meeting: here are two public events you don’t want to miss…

1. Great Science Writing at Yale. Friday, 4 pm, Beinecke Library. Jonathan Weiner, Annie Murphy Paul, Richard Conniff, Jennifer Ouellette. Details here.

2. A conversation with Misha Angrist, author of Here Is A Human Being. Saturday, 6 pm, Labyrinth Books. Details here.

Originally published November 4, 2010. Copyright 2010 Carl Zimmer.

I recently served as a judge for the Imagine Science Film Festival, and Nature (one of the festival’s sponsors) asked if I’d write about the experience. I’m pretty suspicious of the whole idea of bringing movies and science together. It can be bad for science and bad for movies. Here’s how I put it in my essay:

Continue reading “Science and movies: My new essay in Nature” →