I am told that the Huffington Post represents the future of journalism. I sure hope it’s not the future of science journalism. Some of their posts on swine flu have caused a strange creaky sound in my skull, and for a few days now I haven’t been able to figure it out. It turns out to have been the prelude to a full-out head explosion, which took place when I just read this by New ager Marianne Williamson:

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The folks at The Reef Tank interviewed me about my writing–in particular, about my writing on the creatures of the deep. Check it out.

Originally published April 28, 2009. Copyright 2009 Carl Zimmer.

Last week I wrote about a piece in Slate in which Brendan Borrell argued that concerns over the threat to biodiversity from global warming is overshadowing the bigger threat from habitat destruction. Brendan is back from a trip to South Africa and has left a lengthy “and well-considered“comment below. Definitely check it out. I still have some problems with his argument, but it’s so much more satisfying to discuss these issues with somebody who takes the scientific research seriously than someone who just wants to quote mine .

Originally published April 27, 2009. Copyright 2009 Carl Zimmer.

I went to the Los Angeles Book Festival this weekend and was very impressed. Bibliophiles swarmed over the UCLA campus like literary army ants, and it seemed like every event of the day was packed. That included the panel discussion I was in, about science. My co-panelists were Avery Gilbert, a fellow finalist for the LA Times Science Book Prize, and Leonard Susskind, who won for his book on black holes. KC Cole, our moderator, managed to keep this herd of cats on the straight and narrow by having each of us answer her questions about science in general with our own particular examples from out books on black holes, the sense of smell, and E. coli.

Continue reading “LA Packs The House For Science” →

Alison, a high-school physics teacher, writes: Continue reading “I am Shiva, The Physics Teacher Of Worlds [Science Tattoos]” →