Apologies for the long radio silence. This month has been full of distractions, and not just the election. I went to London for a few days to report on a scientific meeting about evolution and cranking out a story about it. It was published this Tuesday by Quanta.
Seventy years ago, geneticists and other researchers created a new framework for investigating Darwin's theory of evolution. The Modern Synthesis, as it's now known, has been a powerful tool ever since. But in recent years, some scientists have argued that it needs an overhaul. They've developed a new framework that they call an "Extended Evolutionary Synthesis." They hold that we need a broader understanding of the causes of evolutionary change. Scientists need to take into account the constraints on development, for example. They need to explore how species shape their environment, which in turn shapes their evolution.
At the London meeting, some of these scientists were met head-on by skeptical biologists who don't see what the fuss is about. These debates are a vital part of the scientific enterprise, and I found it fascinating to watch one play out in such a public way. You can read my account here.
After I got home, I wrote a new column for the New York Times about global warming. In the past few weeks there's been a lot of news about just how hard the Arctic is getting slammed by the greenhouse gases we've put in the atmosphere, with insanely high temperatures and staggeringly low levels of ice.
There are many reasons to take this change seriously, one of which is that the ecology of the entire Arctic Ocean is changing as a result. I wrote about a new study showing how the ocean's food web is getting massively altered by the retreat of the ice. You can read it here. (Image courtesy of Mati Kahru.)
I can't predict what this coming year will be like. But I do promise that I will work as hard as I can to learn about what scientists are discovering about global warming, evolution, and other aspects of the natural world, and I will write about it for you as accurately as I can. That's my job, and nothing will change that.
January 28-29, 2017 Rancho Mirage Writers Festival
March 2-3, 2017 San Diego. The Future of Genome Medicine. Details here.
You can also follow me on Twitter, Facebook , LinkedIn, and Google+. And there's always carlzimmer.com.
Best wishes, Carl
If you'd like to learn more about my books, you can visit my web site
"Friday's Elk" is free. If you'd like to support my writing, you can pay what you'd like for an optional subscription