Shameless Plug
laelaps | July 1, 2010My contribution to the Sb-wide Zombie Day will soon be posted, but if you need something to sink your teeth into before then, check out today's new issue of the Times of London science magazine Eureka (included inside the Times, for UK readers). Inside you will find two stories by me - one on paleobiology in the 21st century and the other on our changing view of tyrannosaurs - and you can access them online behind a free registration wall. It was a wonderful opportunity to write for Eureka, and I am indebted to editors Mark Henderson and Antonia Senior for their support and the freedom to…
laelaps | May 19, 2010
If for no other reason, I love the American Museum of Natural History because it contains a web of seemingly endless nooks and crannies to explore. One, just far enough away from the main exhibit halls to go unnoticed by most visitors (it is not even denoted on the museum map anymore), is a collection of seashells from a time when neatly-arrayed collections of specimens set in place next to their identification labels formed the core of natural history museums. Most are relatively familiar, curled houses without their occupants, but there is one which immediately grabbed my attention the…
laelaps | April 26, 2010
Check out my article on the atmosphere and evolution, "The History of Air", over at Smithsonian.
The Raleigh News & Observer has a brief interview with me (conducted by DeLene Beeland) on paleontology, evolution, and my forthcoming book Written in Stone. (Check out the comments, too - I already have fundamentalists praying for me *headdesk*)
The next time you use a latrine in Peru, watch out for two-toed sloths
Cool new science blog centered around Yale museum specimens - The Life You (And I) Never Knew
Welcome another paleo blog to the blogohedron - March of the Fossil Penguins…
laelaps | April 19, 2010
Ask a Biologist is back! Go check it out at the new website.
There's a new T. rex in town, plus other cool science news. (Not Exactly Rocket Science)
Cobra rib muscles were co-opted to flare their hoods (ht @friendsofdarwin)
Julia got an awesome Camarasaurus tattoo. Check it out!
An amazing photo of a South Korean warship being raised from the depths.
Sometimes you photograph the bear, sometimes the bear runs over and steals your camera equipment (ht @NerdyChristie)
Bloggers vs. journalists (AGAIN *headdesk*) (by @mjrobbins)
The Thai Elephant Orchestra (via @edyong209)
A…
laelaps | April 12, 2010
Caterpillars must walk before they can anally scrape (Not Exactly Rocket Science)
Twitter taphonomy conversation reminded me of one of my favorite books, Recent Vertebrate Carcasses and Their Paleobiological Implications by Johannes Weigelt
Deep-sea scavengers risk low-oxygen levels to have ham for dinner (via @mjvinas)
The explosive chemistry of coal mines (by @deborahblum)
Lemur species rediscovered after 100 years (ht @dendroica)
Watch out for those falling blocks! - NYC gets destroyed, 8-bit style (ht @PD_Smith)
Creepy cadavers - photos of old school dissections (ht @…
laelaps | April 7, 2010Want the dirt on the new species of fossil human which will be described in Science this week? Tune in to the BBC World Service "Science in Action" program this Friday to hear me discuss the discovery with host Jon Stewart. The program should be available on the web sometime after it airs, as well.
laelaps | March 31, 2010The latest edition of the open-access paleontology journal Palaeontologia Electronica was recently published, and I am happy to say that it contains my review of The Paleobiological Revolution. If you are interested in the history of science and how paleontology has changed during the past four decades, definitely check it out.
With any luck, I will be able to publish a few more contributions to the technical literature this year. I have one paper in press, another which is presently inching through the review process, a piece I just started writing up about an enormous example of…
laelaps | February 26, 2010Today is my 27th birthday. To celebrate Tracey and I were planning on visiting Philadelphia's Mutter Museum and the Academy of Natural Sciences, but given the deep accumulation of snow we thought better of going into the city. I can still celebrate by sharing something with you, though. Presented below is the cover of my forthcoming book Written in Stone: Evolution, the Fossil Record, and Our Place in Nature.
And, in related news, I am dusting off the old "Best of Laelaps" anthology project. It is tentatively-titled Giant Killer Lungfish From Hell and Other Tales From Deep Time, and it will…
laelaps | February 4, 2010I got a pretty nice surprise yesterday morning; Laelaps was listed as one of the "Top 30 Science Blogs" by the Times science magazine Eureka! I was proud to see this blog featured alongside those of Scicurious, Ed, Carl, David, Sheril, Bora, and many of the others who made the list. Even better, Eureka wants to expand the list to include the top 100 science blogs, so be sure to send in your nominations for the best of the best to eureka@thetimes.co.uk, with "Best blogs" in the subject line.
And, as Ed already said, Times science editor Mark Henderson deserves three cheers (and a bit more) for…
laelaps | January 24, 2010
I got a nice little surprise this week. It turns out that my twitter feed (@Laelaps) was recommended by Scientific American in their latest issue. The scan I have (kindly sent to me by Anne-Marie Hodge) makes the endorsement a little difficult to see, but it simply reads;
Brian Switek, science writer with a focus on evolution (@Laelaps)
With any luck my name will someday appear in the magazine as an author of an article, but this is not a bad start. And congrats to Karen James (@kejames), too, who was also recommended by the folks over at SciAm.
laelaps | January 13, 2010For the third consecutive year I was surprised to find that one of my posts made it into the annual science blogging anthology The Open Laboratory. Not only was the number of submissions very high (760!), but my essays were up against some stiff competition (and I should know since I sifted through quite a few as a judge).* There was a good chance that none of my entries would make the cut, but I am proud to say that my essay on the early whale Maiacetus will be included in the 2009 anthology. Many thanks to those who nominated my posts on "Ida" and "Ardi", the judges, Bora, and Scicurious…
laelaps | January 11, 2010Pterosaur fans, rejoice! Today marks the launch of Pterosaur.net, a website entirely dedicated to the famous flying reptiles. Put together by an all-star team of paleo bloggers, it is the best resource for information on pterosaurs available on the web. Go check it out!
laelaps | November 25, 2009I'm pleased to announced that paleontologist Scott Sampson, author of the new book Dinosaur Odyssey and host of the children's tv show Dinosaur Train, has just launched a blog. It is called The Whirlpool of Life. Go check it out!
laelaps | October 22, 2009If you have not heard enough about fossil primates in the past month already, I will be on today's edition of BBC Radio 4's "Material World" to talk about Ida and Afradapis. My interview will follow one about Ardipithecus ramidus with Tim White and Yohannes Haile-Selassie, so if you are interested in primate evolution you should definitely tune in. The program airs in the afternoon in the UK, but in case you miss it it should be available through the show's website.
laelaps | September 28, 2009
As some of you may recall, last week I posted a list of new and forthcoming books written by science bloggers. I tried to include all the authors and titles I could think of, but there was one book that I intentionally left off the list; my own.
I am now proud to announce that my first book, Written in Stone, will be released by Bellevue Literary Press in the fall of 2010. In it I tell the stories of some of the most magnificent evolutionary transitions in the vertebrate fossil record, such as the evolution of birds from feathered theropod dinosaurs and whales from land-dwelling ancestors,…
laelaps | September 24, 2009This year has seen an explosion of books written by science bloggers, and it looks like the trend is going to continue well into 2010.
Jason Rosenhouse recently published The Monty Hall Problem and is hard at work on a new title about what goes on at creationist conferences.
Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum released Unscientific America, and Kirshenbaum is nearing completion on a new book, The Science of Kissing.
The ever-popular Carl Zimmer brought us two new gems, Microcosm and the soon-to-be-released The Tangled Bank. I can't wait to see what's next.
Rebecca Skloot's long-…
laelaps | August 14, 2009An urgent dispatch from Mike of Tangled Up in Blue Guy;
Bing Haubrich has made new friends in Japan, but they want to keep him there. In fact, they have threatened to hold him for ransom unless his American friends and family do two things:
1. Answer questions about Japan/Nippon culture and cuisine.
2. Donate money to help his mother pay the plane fare for his trip.
It's tempting for a young man to stay in Japan, because so far he has found the food to be awesome and the shopping (even in vending machines) to be, let's say, "unique." In fact, the Japanese students think that if he stays long…
laelaps | August 5, 2009I have been writing a lot about extinct proboscideans lately, but when it comes to essays about elephants and their extinct relatives John McKay can't be beat. His latest is about various representations of mammoths locked in ice and is a must-read. (He even references one of the worst movies I have ever seen, Mammoth.) John promises that he has "lots more to say about this topic", too, so keep your fingers crossed for a sequel to his wonderful essay.
laelaps | July 21, 2009Even though I regret dropping it due to time constraints I am glad the paleo carnival The Boneyard has taken on a life of its own. The latest edition, which is quite excellent, is up at The Dragon's Tales. I especially liked the chronological sequence of this one, and many thanks to Will for including so many of my posts!
laelaps | July 17, 2009Yesterday the 13th edition of The Giant's Shoulders was posted over at Skulls in the Stars. It is an excellent edition in a "guided tour" format. The next iteration will go on display next month at The Dispersal of Darwin.