I didn’t know Oliver Wendell Holmes thought the odors of boxwoods “carry us out of time into the abysses of the unbeginning past.” I didn’t know that the necks of daffodils bulge when their ova are fertilized. At least, I didn’t know such things before my wife Grace started to garden, and then to chronicle her experiences in a new blog . I think it’s delightful, but don’t take my spousal word for it–check it out!
Originally published April 22, 2010. Copyright 2010 Carl Zimmer.
Attention, people of Yale, New Haven, and environs! I will be giving a talk Friday called “Science and the Media: A Match Made in Heaven, or a Cosmic Train Wreck?”
I’ll offer my bipolar musings on the once and future state of science journalism. It’s free and open to the public
It’s sponsored by the Yale Training Program in Biophysics, the Department of Molecular Biology and Biophysics, and the Poynter Fellowship in Journalism at Yale.
Here are the details:
When: Friday, April 23, 2010 4:00 PM
Where: Bass Center for Molecular and Structural Biology (BASS), Rm. 305
266 Whitney Ave., New Haven, CT 06511
More information here. and here.
Originally published April 21, 2010. Copyright 2010 Carl Zimmer.
In my lastest podcast, I talk to Keith Klugman of Emory University about pneumonia–how its devastation worldwide is worse than we once thought, and how vaccines are proving surprisingly effective at keeping it in check. A pneumonia vaccine may even prevent a replay of the 50 million deaths during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. Check it out.
Originally published April 21, 2010. Copyright 2010 Carl Zimmer.
Some weird results on potential Neanderthal interbreeding are coming out. Nature News has a write-up. Hat tip, Vaughan Bell.
Originally published April 20, 2010. Copyright 2010 Carl Zimmer.
If blogs could have mascots, the Loom’s would be the Emerald Cockroach Wasp (Ampulex compressa). Back in 2006, I first wrote about the grisly sophistication of this insect, which turns cockroaches into zombie hosts to be devoured by their offspring. Since then I’ve blogged from time to time about new research on this parasite’s parasite. Last year I sang the praises of the Emerald Cockroach Wasp on the NPR show Radiolab, and, to my surprise, brought some peace of mind to a very scared kid.
Continue reading “A Wasp Finds the Seat of the Cockroach Soul”