The Wild Life of Columbus

The untold story of the species that stowed away on Columbus’s ship and how they have since changed the world. Columbus sailed to the Caribbean [...]

By |2016-11-22T13:46:43-05:00February 2nd, 2016|

The First National Inventory of All Household Life (on a swab)

In dust one can record the actions of storms, the wearing of mountains, the consequences of industrialization. The study of dust has a long history. [...]

By |2016-11-22T13:46:44-05:00August 25th, 2015|

Could there be 200 million species on Earth?

Recently, one of my colleagues, Brian Brown, found thirty new species of flies in urban Los Angeles. Species not yet named. Species not yet studied. [...]

By |2016-11-22T13:46:44-05:00April 13th, 2015|

Evolution of the Indoor Biome

There is something living in the north-facing wall of our apartment. My partner and I have narrowed it down to an organism in the phylum [...]

By |2016-11-22T13:46:45-05:00March 16th, 2015|

The Future of Discovery

In March 2014, Rob spoke at TEDxSantaCruz, explaining how much we don’t know about the species living on us, in us and around us – [...]

By |2016-11-22T13:47:07-05:00April 21st, 2014|

The Wild Life of Chimpanzee Nests

We share a lot with you, dear readers. Some might say too much (ahem, the plight of our own armpit bacteria, for example). Yet believe [...]

By |2016-11-22T13:47:08-05:00April 15th, 2014|

How to turn any dataset into a glowing worm

A few decades ago gene expression, the process by which the code books of genes are turned into proteins, was invisible. It happened in every [...]

By |2016-11-22T13:47:15-05:00January 12th, 2014|

The Climate Inside

Our houses modify the climate around them. In great densities, our houses and other buildings can change weather patterns. Urbanization increases temperatures. It can also [...]

By |2016-11-22T13:47:20-05:00August 5th, 2013|
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