I just spoke yesterday about Microcosm, and brought a little recorder with me. This afternoon I fooled around with Soundslide and my Powerpoint, and produced this video. This is a format I’d like to experiment with more on this blog, so I’d be grateful if people would take a gander and offer their thoughts. The sound is a little scratchy (and a nearby fire company tested out their siren just as I was starting my talk), but all in all it should be easy listening. 

Originally published November 14, 2008. Copyright 2008 Carl Zimmer.

Memo to Sci-Fi Movie Development Dept.

Re: Plant People Concept

Here are the specifics for the aliens in our next movie, VOYAGE TO THE PLANET OF THE PLANT PEOPLE. The people there are vegetarians, eating salads, seaweed drinks, etc. They are green, because when they digest their meals, their bodies move some of the plant matter to their skin. They use it to capture energy from the sun through photosynthesis.

Continue reading “Going Green” →

Just spoke today on New Hampshire Public Radio about my latest Discover column on the battle between the parents. Listen here. 

Originally published November 13, 2008. Copyright 2008 Carl Zimmer.

…you can steer away from this biology-based blog and towards the newest addition to the Discover blog stable: Cosmic Variance. I’m a long-time fan of this cabal of highly literate physicists, and I welcome them here. 

Originally published November 13, 2008. Copyright 2008 Carl Zimmer.

Nature lies.

Organisms send signals to each other, and often those signals are honest–in other words, when another organism receives the signal, it can reliably use it to figure something out about the sender. Male fiddler crabs, like the one shown here, send a big, loud signal with their oversized claw. Often, that signal essentially says, “Do not mess with me.” And in many cases, that’s good advice.

Sometimes, though, it’s a major bluff.

Continue reading “You Want A Piece of This? (Please Please Please Don’t Take a Piece of This!)” →