The First, and Greatest, Reality Show: Evolutionary Biology

Posted on by Lori Jia

Discover, November 23, 2009

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Anne Gaskett, a Cornell University biol­ogist, spends her days crouching quietly next to orchids in Australia. It may seem like an uneventful way to pass the time, but she is actually observing a marvelous act of sexual deception. The flowers are fooling wasps into making love to them.

Male wasps normally seek out females by sniffing for their pheromones, signaling chemicals that they produce. Each species makes a unique pheromone, which means that male wasps rarely end up with the wrong females.

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Vancouver BC: Infection Commences Tomorrow

Posted on by Matt Kristoffersen

I’m waiting to board my Air Canada flight to the rain-drenched city of Vancouver. Residents of that fair city are invited to come to the Beaty Biodiversity Museum, dry off for a spell, and hear my talk tomorrow at 7 about Darwin, the flu, and evolution . It’s free, but you have to register here. See you tomorrow.

Originally published November 17, 2009. Copyright 2009 Carl Zimmer.

Math Monkeys

Posted on by Matt Kristoffersen

Math is the subject of my new Discover column on the brain. How do we do it, and when did we (or our primate ancestors) start doing it? The answer, or at least some intriguing new research, is here.

Originally published November 17, 2009. Copyright 2009 Carl Zimmer.