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The Loom

A blog about life, past and future

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Zimmer133.jpg Carl Zimmer is a science writer. PLEASE VISIT THE LOOM AT ITS NEW HOME.

Books by Carl Zimmer

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"Essential reading"--Publisher's Weekly
Microcosm: E. coli and the New Science of Life



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Charles Darwin's The Descent of Man: The Concise Edition



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"As fine a book as one will find on the subject."-- Scientific American

Revised with a new introduction





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"Superb...a non-stop delight."-- New Scientist





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"Fascinating...thrilling... Zimmer has produced a top-notch work of popular science." --LA Times





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"A fascinating story, which Zimmer unfolds as a tale of high-stakes scientific sleuthing...thanks to marvelous lucid writing." --Booklist





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The Original Home of the Giant Flatulent Raccoon

Why the Loom?

"...among the joyous, heartless, ever-juvenile eternities, Pip saw the multitudinous, God-omnipresent, coral insects, that out of the firmament of waters, heaved the colossal orbs. He saw God's foot upon the treadle of the loom, and spoke it; and therefore his shipmates called him mad."
--Moby Dick

March 31, 2006

Learning To Ignore Your Viruses

Category: Evolution

A couple weeks ago I wrote about the 98,000 viruses that have permanently pasted their genes into our genome over the past 60 million years. What makes these viruses doubly fascinating is that scientists are making new discoveries about them...

Read on »

March 28, 2006

Not Dead, Just Deadlines

Category: General

No, there's nothing wrong with your RSS feed. This blog has just gone very quiet as I've become insanely busy with an upcoming talk and my new book project (more on both later). I don't expect to have time to...

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March 23, 2006

You're a Dim Bulb (And I mean that in the best possible way)

Category: Brains

I have a fondness for collecting brain lore--memes about the wonders of the human brain that race around the world for decades. The classic of brain lore is the "ten-percent myth." As I wrote here, people often claim we only...

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March 22, 2006

Kate Wong on the Hobbit Trail

Category: Hobbits (Homo floresiensis)

Kate Wong, Scientific American's excellent paleo reporter has a two-parter on the latest dish on Homo floresiensis a k a the Hobbit. No cymbal crashes, I'm afraid, but interesting nonetheless....

Read on »

March 19, 2006

Pharyngula on penguins

Category: Evolution

Check out Pharyngula on the new paper that uses penguin fossils to time the evolution of living bird groups. In October I posted this picture of a reconstruction of the penguin in question, which now has a name: Waimanu. I'd...

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March 17, 2006

Gross, and then really gross

Category: The Parasite Files

Even I have my limits....

Read on »

Hipster Dodos

Category: Evolution

Randy Olson, who sparked a massive discussion here a couple weeks ago in connection to his movie, Flock of Dodos and how to explain evolution, sends an update: Hello Carl - Big news here -- the official World Premiere of...

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March 14, 2006

Evolution Resumes in November!

Category: Evolution

Harper has put up a new page on Amazon for the reissued paperback of Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea. It will include an introduction I've written that surveys some of the important developments in both the science and politics...

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Frivolous Creationist Lawsuits

Category: Evolution

Last October, a lawsuit was leveled against an evolution web site at UC Berkeley, based on the claim that government funds had been used to promote religious belief. I contributed the section on the history of biological thought. Judy Scotchmoor,...

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March 13, 2006

Mothers, Children, and Genes in Conflict

Category: Evolution

Natural selection can favor genes that allow children to grow up healthy. But in order to grow up healthy, they need nurturing from their mothers, both before and after birth. If a baby's development puts a strain on a mother,...

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