Have you ever seen a fungus firing its spores to the tune of the Anvil Chorus from Il Travatore?

I’ll take that as a no.

Nicholas Money, an expert on fungi at Miami University, has been playing around with very fast video. Ultra fast. As in 250,000 frames-a-second fast. He knew exactly what this kind of video was made for. To film fungi that live on dung as they discharge their spores. These tiny fungi can blast spores as far as six feet away, boosting the odds that they’ll land on a clean plant that a cow or other grazing animal may eat. The fungi develop inside the animal, get pooped out with its dung, and fire their spores once more.

Continue reading “Fungus Opera” →

A reminder and an announcement:

1. I’ll be speaking Wednesday at the Center for Science Writings at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken NJ. The topic will be my new book, Microcosm: E. coli and the New Science of Life. I’ll be speaking at 4 pm at the Babbio Center. (Here’s a campus map.)

2. Next Thursday, September 25, at 7 pm, I will be on a panel at Border’s Book at Columbus Circle in Manhattan. I’ll be joining Sylvia Nasar and Pulitzer-prize-winner Amy Harmon to talk about The Best American Science Writing 2008, which has just been published. (Take a browse online here.)

Continue reading “Upcoming Talks: New Jersey and New York” →

The Alliance for Science is running an essay contest for high school students, on the subject of Darwin. The top four winners will get cash prizes, plus a couple books, including one of mine, Microcosm. Spread the word! 

Originally published September 15, 2008. Copyright 2008 Carl Zimmer.

The October issue of Discover is just out, and it has my second brain column (following up on my first, on the perception of time). This time around, I take a look at our unconscious, considering just how powerful it can be. But don’t get too disturbed by that inner zombie. Our conscious minds are not just helpless moviegoers in the theater of the brain. They have work to do as well. Check it out. 

Originally published September 15, 2008. Copyright 2008 Carl Zimmer.

Philosopher Kate Devitt writes, “I started my undergraduate degree in the history and philosophy of science. For our second wedding anniversary, my beloved proposed getting matching shooting star tattoos to immortalize our first date under the night sky. The Halley’s comet design from the Bayeux tapestry was a perfect way to celebrate.”

Carl: The Bayeux Tapestry includes a picture of Halley’s comet (see below in the lower right corner). But its subject was not love, but the Norman Conquest, which just so happened to coincide with a visit from the comet.

Click here to go to the full Science Tattoo Emporium. 

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