NPR’s Jon Hamilton has a nice piece on Einstein’s brain, and what might have made it special. The difference doesn’t seem to have to do with its neurons, but with the other cells of the brain, the glia. I wrote about the glia–what I called the dark matter of the brain–in this Discover column last fall.
Originally published June 2, 2010. Copyright 2010 Carl Zimmer.
Bacteria and other microbes suck up and blast out vast amounts of greenhouse gases. Over at Yale Environment 360, I take a look at how they will behave in a world warming up as we inject carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Will they draw down some of the extra CO2, or will the heat spur them to spew out more? Or both? The answer isn’t clear yet, but it’s important. After all, it’s a microbial planet, and we just live on it. Check it out.
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Originally published June 1, 2010. Copyright 2010 Carl Zimmer.
Yale Environment 360, June 1, 2010
When new reports about global warming come out, they typically include a picture of the land and sky, with arrows marking the movement of carbon dioxide around the planet. Some arrows rise up from cities and farmland, while other arrows plunge down to forests and oceans. This sort of diagram does a great job of illustrating the big picture. Thanks to human activity, carbon dioxide is rising into the atmosphere faster than the planet can draw it down. But the giant scale of this picture hides some of the most important players in the global warming story, which are as crucial to the future of the planet as factories and forests: the planet’s vast swarms of microbes.
Continue reading “The Microbe Factor and Its Role in Our Climate Future”
Mandy writes, “I am actually a microbiologist, but my side interest is the trilobite. I went in thinking I’d just get a small black outline of a trilobite, and the tattoo artist was so excited that I wanted a trilobite, and insisted on designing something more complicated for me. So attached is a photo of my right foot. It’s like a pet trilobite that follows me everywhere.”
Click here to go to the full Science Tattoo Emporium.
Originally published May 29, 2010. Copyright 2010 Carl Zimmer.
Two of my favorite bloggers, John Hawks and Christina Agapakis, talk about the big genome news of recent weeks on Bloggingheads. Gets technical, but in a good way!
Originally published May 29, 2010. Copyright 2010 Carl Zimmer.