On my latest podcast, I talk to Forest Rohwer, a San Diego State University scientist, about those rain forests of the sea, coral reefs. Rohwer studies the criss-crossing partnerships that keep corals alive–the animals that build the reefs, the algae that harness sunlight for them, the bacteria that make compounds and recycle waste, the fish that scrape off parasitic algae, and on and on. When you consider the hundreds of microbe species that live in each reef, corals and our own bodies become surprisingly similar. Have a listen.

Originally published September 2, 2010. Copyright 2010 Carl Zimmer.

In July I cobbled together a list of the science bloggers who had decided to pull up stakes and leave scienceblogs.com because of a dispute over a blog written by Pepsi. I started the list out of sympathy for bloggers who risk losing lots of readers as they move off the Google radar, expecting that they’d move out of the big scienceblogs city to build a little sod house of their own on the WordPress prairie. But to my surprise, a lot of them have moved into other blog networks, or created new ones of their own, like cities rising from the wasteland. (Mix, my little metaphors, mix!)

Continue reading “Networks Upon Networks!” →

Can burning scrap fight global warming, provide energy to the world’s poor without killing millions with smoke, and boost their food supply by improving the soil–all at once? The mysterious “black earth” of the Amazon, created by its inhabitants 8,000 years ago, hints that all this might be possible. I take a look at the story of biochar in “Black is the New Green,” appearing in the new issue of Conservation.

Originally published September 1, 2010. Copyright 2010 Carl Zimmer.

I just wanted to send out a quick reminder to any readers at Yale that my class, Writing about Science and the Environment (EVST 215a) will have its first meeting this coming Tuesday, 9/6, at 9:20 am.

You can check out the syllabus at the university course information page. (Search for EVST 215.)

If it interests you, please consider applying. And if you’re not interested, please pass on this information to anyone you think might be. Thanks.

Originally published August 31, 2010. Copyright 2010 Carl Zimmer.

Thank you, hive mind. (Actually, Dallas in particular.) Here’s the whole episode of Inside Nature’s Living Giants in which Dawkins ponders the anatomical wonder and goofiness of the giraffe.

Originally published August 30, 2010. Copyright 2010 Carl Zimmer.