Visiting Scholar a k a The Wandering Blogger

Posted on by Matt Kristoffersen

I’m delighted to report that I’ve been appointed the first Visiting Scholar at the Science, Health, and Environment Reporting Program at New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. I’ve felt like an informal visiting scholar there for a while now, having given talks and spoken with classes of journalism students a number of times. But I was particularly impressed on a recent visit when I could see how they’re grappling head-on with the changing nature of journalism. Nobody gets out of there without knowing how to shoot and edit video, for example. So while I’ll be offering my thoughts on how to thrive (not just survive) in science journalism in years to come, I’m hoping to learn a few new tricks myself.

[Image: Wikipedia]

Originally published June 19, 2009. Copyright 2009 Carl Zimmer.

A Big Prize For Finch Beaks

Posted on by Matt Kristoffersen

The Kyoto Prize has gone to Peter and Rosemary Grant, I see from 80 Beats. Congratulations to them both for this Nobel-esque honor. If you don’t immediately recognize their names, you can start with this post I wrote last fall about the Grants’ research on the evolution of Darwin’s Finches, and then finish up with a couple books: their own How and Why Species Multiply: The Radiation of Darwin’s Finches and the Pulitzer-Prize winning The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time by Jonathan Weiner.

Originally published June 19, 2009. Copyright 2009 Carl Zimmer.

Behold The Irreducible Complexity of the Almond

Posted on by Matt Kristoffersen

Florida Citizens for Science asked me and my fellow Discoverite Phil Plait to be among the judges for their “Stick Science Cartoon” contest, in which entrants used stick figure cartoons to explain a misunderstanding about science with humor and brevity. You can now see the winners here. Congratulations to all. Next time I’m bogged down with an explanation that’s just too long and too dull, I’ll bear you folks in mind and start cutting.

Originally published June 19, 2009. Copyright 2009 Carl Zimmer.

Left Brain, Right Brain Redux

Posted on by Matt Kristoffersen

I wrote about the two sides of our brains in April for Discover. Now some of the scientists whose research I highlighted have an article of their own in Scientific American, focusing on the ancient evolutionary origins of specializations in each hemisphere. So if you still have interhemispheric cravings, check it out!

Originally published June 19, 2009. Copyright 2009 Carl Zimmer.

Of Birds and Thumbs

Posted on by Matt Kristoffersen

Meet Limusaurus. It is not–I repeat NOT–the missing link between anything. And yet it is still an important fossil that may help us understand how birds evolved from dinosaurs.

The recent splash about a certain fossil primate has revealed yet again just how much a lot of people (sadly, including a lot of journalists) want to cling to the notion that paleontologists are only interested in missing links–which, I guess, are supposed to be the direct ancestors of some living group of organisms that are precisely halfway between primitive forerunners and the advanced living creatures.

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