I’m bound for LA today to talk about Microcosm. My talk is part of the Zocalo lecture series. I’ll be talking tonight at 7:30 pm at the Skirball Cultural Center. Here are the details.
Originally published June 25, 2008. Copyright 2008 Carl Zimmer.
Michael writes: “This is a tattoo of how our galaxy could look from a distance, with our solar system’s position marked by the red star burst. A map, if you will, so that I do not get lost. I need only let my foot guide me home.”
Carl: For the latest version of the Milky Way, see here.
Click here to go to the full Science Tattoo Emporium.
Originally published June 25, 2008. Copyright 2008 Carl Zimmer.
The strange thing about E. coli, as I explain in my book Microcosm, is that it has played a central part not just in the modern science of life, but in the political conflicts over life. It may come as a surprise that a humble gut germ could get involved in culture wars. But you need only consider how much attention creationists have been lavishing on E. coli in recent years, hoping to use it as evidence that life did not evolve–that it was created or designed instead.
Originally, creationists claimed that structures in E. coli showed clear evidence of being created–they were complex, made up of lots of parts, and seemed to work like manmade machines. The flagellum–the tail E. coli spins hundreds of times a second–was one of their favorite examples. It reminded them of car engines, of outboard motors.
At noon EST, I’ll be talking on “Word of Mouth,” a radio show coming from New Hampshire Public Radio. The topic will be my recent article on global warming and mass extinctions in Yale Environment 360. You can listen live (look for the mp3 stream here, or look for a podcast on the show page.)
Originally published June 24, 2008. Copyright 2008 Carl Zimmer.
The British edition of Microcosm is coming out on July 3 (Brits can pre-order here, and here’s a link for Americans). In conjunction with its publication, the Telegraph asked me to explain why I love E. coli so. Here’s why.
Originally published June 24, 2008. Copyright 2008 Carl Zimmer.