Sorry to start the New Year on a down note, but the January 1, 2008 issue of the New York Times has a review I wrote about a book called No Way Home. It’s a sobering look at the decline of the world’s great migrations. I’ve written a fair amount about the marvels of migration in recent months (here, here, and here), so it’s sad to see that there might not be much to write about in years to come unless the world gets its act together. 

Originally published January 2, 2008. Copyright 2008 Carl Zimmer.

Last week I wrote about a new study that identified a fossil mammal as the closest relative to whales, helping to shed light on how whales moved from land to sea. The mammal, Indohyus, was a small four-legged creature that probably spent a fair amount of time in water and ate vegetation. The authors of the new study proposed that the ancestors of whales originally lived this way. Gradually, the whale lineage became more adapted to life in water and shifted to eating meat, as exemplified by early whales like Ambulocetus, which was something like a furry alligator.

In the comment thread, Noumenon asked this question:

Continue reading “Return to the Dawn of Whales: Cousins Versus Grandparents” →

Nobody wants to be hit on the head with a ten-mile asteroid. But what if giant impacts are actually good for life in the long-term? I contemplate that strange possibility over at Wired.com. Check it out.

Meteorites May Have Fostered Life on Earth  

Originally published December 21, 2007. Copyright 2007 Carl Zimmer.

“My right forearm has a 8″ ruler on it that I use for everything from measuring PVC diameter to wire lengths. My background is in embedded hardware design, but I choose to spend my time doing experimental building, transportation, and energy these days. The tattoo gets used daily.”–Mikey

The science tattoo train started to peter out this month. But then Boing Boing unleashed a tidal wave of scientific ink in my direction. Now we’re up to 111 pictures, with over 296,000 views of the Flickr set. I don’t even know what those numbers mean anymore.

Continue reading “Science Tattoo Friday: A Boing Boing Burst” →