Shameless Plug

Eureka!

laelaps — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 07:03:41 +0000

Eureka!

My 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 really run with these stories. It was a pleasure to work with them, and I hope to do so again in the not-too-distant future.

Anyway, I hope you like the stories, and, if you do, be sure to check out my forthcoming book on paleontology and evolution, Written in Stone (pardon the shameless plug).

laelaps Thu, 07/01/2010 - 03:03

Tags

Blogging

dinosaurs

paleontology

Shameless Plug

Some times i wonder if the geological column isn't the best evidence against long period evolution? Was there no weather for millions of years? why does the column go world wide? why doesn't the vast majority of it show erosion? The majority of the erosion to it is very very recent. look at all those layers and there are no stream beds no washouts from 100 year rainstorms, no windstorms? As i drove across Utah last summer all that uniformity of layers for 100s of miles just begs for an answer?

I agree with Chris "Some times i wonder if the geological column isn't the best evidence against long period evolution? Was there no weather for millions of years? why does the column go world wide? why doesn't the vast majority of it show erosion? The majority of the erosion to it is very very recent. look at all those layers and there are no stream beds no washouts from 100 year rainstorms, no windstorms? As i drove across Utah last summer all that uniformity of layers for 100s of miles just begs for an answer?"

EÄer herhangi bir nedenle yalnÄ±z iseniz, sadece ilanlardaki eskortlarla ve mutlaka endiÅeden arinmak her Åeyi bir kenara itip unutmak ilanlardaki guzellerle. Emin olun bu bayanlarÄ±n ilanlarÄ±ndaki kendi isteklerinize ulaÅacaksÄ±nÄ±z.Bu meslek escort kÄ±zlarÄ±na nasÄ±l onlarÄ±n sizi menun etmek icin kendilerine direk ulaÅabilirsiniz. Onlar sizi memnun etmek size baÅtan cÄ±karmak icin beden dili ve gerekli becerileri var.Gece icin bir arkadaÅÄ± gerektiÄinde eskort ilanlarÄ±na bakÄ±n.Gunu kalbinizdeki yalnÄ±zlÄ±k ile sizi gecmesine izin vermeyin.YapayalnÄ±z bir barda bira icmek daha iyi takilmak icin en iyi yol deÄildir.

Adventures of the argonaut

laelaps — Wed, 19 May 2010 15:58:59 +0000

Adventures of the argonaut

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 first time I saw it - an argonaut, complete with a reconstruction of the squishy organism which lived inside the shell.

At first I had no idea whether I was looking at a living creature or some recently-extinct cephalopod "brought to life" in the museum's collection. I knew of squid, octopus, cuttlefish, and the pearly nautilus, but no book I had ever read mentioned the shelled argonaut. Even after I stumbled across it at the AMNH I rarely heard anything about it, but this week the argonaut is getting a bit more press. Scientists have now discovered how the argonaut uses its shell to achieve neutral buoyancy, and you can read all about it in Ed Yong's excellent summary at Not Exactly Rocket Science.

laelaps Wed, 05/19/2010 - 11:58

Tags

Inverts

Marine Biology

Shameless Plug

American Museum of Natural History

Growing up, one of my most prized shells in my collection was a large Argonaut shell. They called it a Paper Nautilus, and for good reason, it was incredibly delicate. When I was packing it up to go into storage while I went off to college, our rather typical (read goofy and frantic) Golden Retriever sliced her ever swinging tail straight through it. Oh well.

I have since had the pleasure of finding a few in surface trawls on research cruises, and was one of the few who knew what it was. It felt kinda cool to be a microbiologist aboard a boat full of invert biologists to say, "Oh, that's an Argonaut" and get a couple of blank stares back.

Aww is it just me or is that Argonaut really cute! Such a delicate little thing.

Tracks and Traces 4.26.10

laelaps — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 11:00:02 +0000

Tracks and Traces 4.26.10

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

Director Ridley Scott says that the forthcoming ALIEN prequel will center around the story of the "Space Jockey"

Very cool video - shockwaves propagating through the eruption cloud of EyjafjallajÃ¶kull!

The Fossil of the Week, from the Museum of the Earth

A great interview with nonfiction/geo writer John McPhee

A new species of Pliopithecus found in a rubbish dump in Spain

laelaps Mon, 04/26/2010 - 07:00

Tags

Blogging

Shameless Plug

Tracks and Traces

You get people who pray for you; I just get the ones who urge me to be open-minded (to the possibility that, say, the machine made from old microwave parts in some guy's garage will really let us travel to the stars!).

I'm praying for you - do you want to guess which side of the "evolution" issue I'm on?

Oooh, ooh, I know — the uninformed one!

[sigh]

"I'll pray for you" is just the fundie way of giving someone the finger.

Alien prequel! Cool. Hope there's no damn humans in it. Humans ruin the Jurassic Park series, too. Wish all the humans, especially the annoying kids, would just get eaten in the first couple minutes, and the dinos get on with doing their thing.

I've always wondered about the fact that they're rather non-specific about what outcome they're hoping for from said praying...

I just respond, Thank you (usually). Or if I'm snarky I'll ask what for, and depending on what they tell me I usually get to point out they've just made a judgment about my personal beliefs without even the courtesy of asking me about them. "I'll take Wrong Assumptions for a 1,000, Alex". Or if I'm just cranky, I'll take them to task for judging.

Brian -

I looked up your blog after seeing the N&O article. Enjoyed the posts I've read so far. I think I'll get your book as well (or at least look for it in the library :)). If you've not visited Raleigh's natural history museum before make sure to stop in if you're in town. It's really a gem for our fair city.

Down here when folks pray for you it's always with the best intentions!

John - Thanks for the comment, and I am glad you have been enjoying the blog. The book won't be out until November, but I hope you give it a look when it comes out. :)

And I did have the chance to visit the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences last January. The tour was a bit of a whirlwind (I wish I had more time to explore!), but it was lovely, and it was certainly nice to poke around in the collections for a bit. Maybe, when the book comes out, I will organize a talk down there and visit again.

Tracks and Traces 04.19.10

laelaps — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 11:17:29 +0000

Tracks and Traces 04.19.10

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 little late, but still funny - A tax form for freelance writers

laelaps Mon, 04/19/2010 - 07:17

Tags

Blogging

Shameless Plug

Ha! I've actually owned a copy of the "Thai Elephant Orchestra" CD for about 5 years. It's pretty fascinating to listen to, and not too hard on the ears! I think I'll give it another listen on the way home from work.

The freelancer tax form is a riot.

Tracks and Traces 04.12.10

laelaps — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 07:33:08 +0000

Tracks and Traces 04.12.10

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 @Bonesholmes)

The Science of Kissing gets a cover (via @Sheril_)

laelaps Mon, 04/12/2010 - 03:33

Tags

What's up with that new hominin? I'll tell you Friday

laelaps — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 10:17:55 +0000

What's up with that new hominin? I'll tell you Friday

Want 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 Wed, 04/07/2010 - 06:17

Tags

Anthropology

communicating science

A brief note on a publication

laelaps — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 11:18:57 +0000

A brief note on a publication

The 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 Thoracosaurus neocesariensis, and there a few other ideas and projects I have planned over the next few months. Expect updates here as my research (hopefully) goes to press.

laelaps Wed, 03/31/2010 - 07:18

Tags

Palaeontologia Electronica

The Paleobiological Revolution

history of science

As proud as I am to hear that you're taking up working on crocodyliforms, I just want to say that piece of art screams to me "YEAAAAH UNDERWATER REPTILE BUDDIES, YEAAAH, AWESOME"

Presenting the cover of Written in Stone

laelaps — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 08:44:38 +0000

Presenting the cover of Written in Stone

Today 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 be a "b-sides" collection of stories that complement Written in Stone. I have already completed five of the essays, and with any luck it will be finished this year.

laelaps Fri, 02/26/2010 - 03:44

Tags

Really nice cover! Enjoy your day in!

Looks terrific Brian!

Happy Birthday!

Great looking cover, very enticing! I look forward to reading the book.

Happy birthday as well!

Happy birthday, yer wee whippersnapper!

Happy birthday and Congrats! Book looks awesome and I can't wait to get a copy.
-Jason

Very nice, and happy birthday!

Best,

Brett

I love how the title kind of looks like museum label... awesome, Brian. Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday! Looking forward to the book.

Nein, wirklich. Wer hat gefurzt?

Happy birthday!

Great looking cover.Looking forward to the rest of it!

Many happy returns on your natal anniversary.

The cover looks very nice -- but I've got to say, if that book was next to Giant Killer Lungfish From Hell, well. I know which book I'd grab.

Happy birthday!

I agree with the previous posters that the cover looks really good. Too bad one'll just see the spine when it's sitting in the bookshelf ...

What a lovely present. May the rest of your day live up to it.

Snazzy cover!

As I said at ScienceOnlineAgain 2010, if you end up going the print-on-demand route with Giant Killer Lungfish From Hell, I'd be happy to help with the typesetting part of it. I have to do something with these mad skillz of mine while I wait for next year's Open Laboratory project.

Awesome cover!!!!!!!!!!! Can't wait for the book to come out.

Happy birthday!

Oh, it's gorgeous. Congratulations!

Happy birthday. I love the cover, especially the typewriter typeface! Stands out among other science books, I think. Super cool.

Following up Blake's comment, I work as a book cover designer, so if you're absolutely without any other options, I'd be happy to help you with Lungfish. Which is a freakin' solid title.

happy birthday!

Nice cover. It must feel good to see what your book will look like on the shelf. Happy birthday, too.

1) That book will look nice on my coffee table. (Note: I actually read the books that are on my coffee table.)

2) I'm looking forward to reading Giant Killer Lungfish From Hell when it comes out.

3) Happy birthday! Having published a book is quite a thing to have accomplished by your 27th year, IMO. (I'm 48 and I haven't got around to authorship yet.)

Happy Birthday, Brian, and yes this is an awesome cover and i can't wait to buy the book!

Happy birthday, and the book cover looks great!

http://www.nature.com/nrg/journal/v8/n12/full/nrg2225.html

Is there much overlap between the 2?
Nature Reviews Genetics 8, 911-920 (December 2007) | doi:10.1038/nrg2225

Written in stone: fossils, genes and evoâdevo
Rudolf A. Raff

Very sleek.
Happy Birthday!
I saw somewhere that the Muetter Museum is hosting a ball some tine this year.

Very nice cover. And Happy Birthday!

Yeah Inverts!!

Looking very nice. Can't wait to see it in the flesh (rock? paper?).

Good news, everyone!

laelaps — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 06:44:41 +0000

Good news, everyone!

I 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 fostering such connections between print and the web. He has been a great supporter of science blogs, and I am glad to see that Eureka is taking web-based science writing seriously. If you can get it, be sure to check out the latest issue of the magazine, out today with the Times (and if you can't, check out the Eureka Zone on the Times website).

I am also pleased to tell you that I have a new essay out in the latest issue (Vol. 3, Issue 2) of the newsletter Giraffa, published by the IUCN/SSC ASG International Giraffe Working Group. It is all about early interpretations of Sivatherium, an extinct giraffe that some naturalists thought may have had a trunk, and you can download it for free here. Many thanks to Julian Fennessey who invited me to rework my original post on Sivatherium for the newsletter.

And, speaking of good news, ResearchBlogging.org recently announced its first-ever Research Blogging Awards competition. All the details can be found here, including a list of categories and prizes, but nominations are only open for another week so be sure to visit soon to cast your vote for yourself or your favorite research blogger. I would be much obliged to anyone who cast a vote for Laelaps and/or Dinosaur Tracking.

Given all this good news I am tempted to share a bit more, but I think I am going to keep a few things under my hat for the moment. In addition to polishing up Written in Stone I have a few other pieces (both academic and popular) in the works that should appear in the next few months. I really want to outdo myself this year, and so far 2010 has gotten off to a great start.

laelaps Thu, 02/04/2010 - 01:44

Tags

Blogging

communicating science

congrats. you deserve it.

Congratulations! You've earned it.

Congratulations! Still, I'm disappointed that Tetrapod Zoology was not on the list.

Wo0000! Great job!

Congrats, Brian. WOOT!

Sir, this is turning out to be a real year of progress for you. I can hardly wait to see what happens next.

Congratulations.

Several good names on that "Top 30 science blogs" list, though it's rather marred by the climate-science denialist Watts.

[sigh]

Bravo...encore!

Excellent!

In my personal opinion, "Laelaps" is one of the top TWO science blogs (tied for first place with "Tetrapodzoology"). (Which should not be considered a slight against the many other fine science blogs out there -- I could name at least another eight that are near the top of my personal favorites list.)

And I seem to recall that a year or so ago, you were kinda bummed out about a lot of things -- school, your career plans, your writing ... Now it's gotten a lot better, hasn't it? I told you it would!

Most excellent! Congratulations. You certainly deserve this.

Under what category do you fall for nomination, Brian?

Well done!

@Laelaps, as recommended by SciAm

laelaps — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 09:39:54 +0000

@Laelaps, as recommended by SciAm

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 Sun, 01/24/2010 - 04:39

Tags

Blogging

personal

Shameless Plug

Wow. The next step is to get them to review your book.

One has to take what one can get. It's not bad for a start.

Congratulations.

Huzzah!

I've been following you on twitter since you started tweeting. I'm looking forward to reading your book.