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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 02/10/2026

Fascinating new review of what it takes for viruses to go airborne. Open access: journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Diagram of the human airway, showing what determines airborne transmission of viruses during inhalation and exhalation.

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 27/08/2026

Scientists are drawing the map of autism-linked proteins in search of treatments. Here’s a story on an ambitious new study. Gift link: nyti.ms/4wWPZpM

A map of autism-linked proteins (diamonds) and proteins they partner with (circles). Wang et al, Science 2026.

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 27/08/2026

The lab is a mysterious place--where some people have "magic hands," and some experiments just won't work. Here's my story about the unspoken knowledge of science, and the struggle to share it. Gift link: nyti.ms/3UccF7Z

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 23/08/2026

Airborne diseases like Covid are so tricky because transmission depends on so many crazy factors. One person with Covid may not have any detectable viruses in their breath. A single swab from another person may pick up 10 billion viruses! Review: paijournal.com/index.php/pa...

A chart showing the enormous variability in factors such as viral load that influence transmission of Covid

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 11/08/2026

How viruses travel around planets. A map of showing the arrival of H5N1 2.3.4.4b influenza in Australia. Preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 07/08/2026

Our year in Cyclospora so far. cyclo-resources.pophive.org#trends-over-...

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 06/08/2026

Here's a new kind of virus that scientists have generated with AI. And here's my story about what it means for us to have gotten to this remarkable moment: nyti.ms/4bBhoWB (Gift link) 🧪

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 25/07/2026

Cyclospora asymptote cyclo-resources.pophive.org

Graph of cumulative Cyclospora cases by year. This year is skyrocketing

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 15/07/2026

Here’s what I actually said. 9/10 web.archive.org/web/20130510...

Here's the trouble with the Up Goer Five craze, in way more than 140 characters. Yes, it's funny to see how difficult it is to explain something even somewhat complex using only the most common thousand words (or ten hundred, since "thousand" doesn't make the cut). But it seems that a lot of scientists who are sincerely interested in communicating to non-scientists have become convinced that Up Goer Five Text Editor offers useful training in writing simply about complex topics. This seems to me to be completely bonkers. Of course, I can't say "bonkers" in the Up Goer universe, because it doesn't make the cut. But you know what I mean. And my children know what I mean. Why? Because an average six-year-old has a vocabulary, by some estimates, of 16,000 words. And an average adult's vocabulary is around 60,000. So Up Goer Five is only useful if you are going to talk to pre-schoolers. For an audience that's any older--even second grade--I can't see how it can help. And the time people spend using Up Goer Five is time they can't spending developing their skill with metaphors and the other tools of language that make it possible to convey the gist of complicated ideas. I even get the feeling from some commenters that they see their failure to describe physics or genetics with Up Goer Five as a validation of their feeling that it's hopeless to even try. And that's the worst effect any writing exercise could ever have.

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 15/07/2026

Harford claims that I called the Up Goer Five Text Editor “a disheartening waste of time for any scientist trying to figure out how to explain their field to a lay audience, because they would only learn that it was hopeless to try.” 🤔 6/10

The passage from the Financial Times quoted in my post

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 10/07/2026

The @nytimes.com Lost Science series continues. USG killed funding for Jessica Cantlon's study of cognitive skills, saying it was turning from basic to applied science. "There won’t be more discoveries, and we’ll just stop at what we already know," Cantlon says. Gift link: nyti.ms/4hbDmCS

Photo of scientist Jessica Cantlon sitting in front of fMRI scanner and computers. Photo by Jake Reinhart for The New York Times

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 01/07/2026

The quest for a synthetic cell has a deep history, including high-profile failures. In my book "Life's Edge," I wrote about how John Butler Burke became famous early 1900s for making "radiobes"--mixing radium with beef broth to create life. Turned out he was very wrong!

Illustration of supposed cells from John Burke's "The origin of life." (1906)

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 01/07/2026

Meet SpudCell, a synthetic cell made from lifeless ingredients that feeds, grows, divides, and experiences selection. If it doesn't have all the hallmarks of life, it has a lot! Here's my story. Gift link: nyti.ms/4vCbTih

A series of images of a dividing synthetic cell

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 24/06/2026

The latest outbreak of Ebola disease has surpassed 1,000 cases since April. We have almost no idea of where Bundibugyo virus came from. Here's my story on the search for the disease's reservoirs. Gift link: nyti.ms/4eHK2pO

Ebola viruses--blue on pink micrograph. CDC

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 19/06/2026

Can buildings fight airborne diseases the way they fight fires? I went to Washington to meet scientists showing off works in progress. Here's my report (gift link): nyti.ms/3SijML2

An airborne sensor detects dust mite proteins

A diorama model of a daycare center where sensors control ventilation to keep the air safe

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 19/06/2026

Can buildings fight airborne diseases the way they fight fires? I went to Washington to meet scientists showing off works in progress. Here's my report (gift link): nyti.ms/3SijML2

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 17/06/2026

Plague bacteria may have caused lethal epidemics 5500 years ago among hunter-gatherers--almost 5000 years before the Black Death. Gift link: nyti.ms/3SdK8hb

Artistic reconstruction of Baikal hunter-gatherers from 5500 years ago burying victims of plague. Credit: Kelvin Wilson.

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 27/05/2026

You may recognize names like "Hantavirus" and "Ebola virus." But "Andes virus" & "Bundibugyo virus" may not ring a bell. I wrote about how recent outbreaks highlight virus diversity, and our difficulty putting names on it. Yet our survival depends getting names right. Gift link: nyti.ms/4dzRPqn

An Ebola virus (Orthoebolavirus zairense)

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 08/05/2026

Harvard's Joseph Allen spoke this evening on CNN about possible airborne spread of the Andes strain of hantavirus. I can't find the clip, but here's his tweet about a 2020 study of an Andes virus superspreader event. x.com/j_g_allen/st... NEJM paper: www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 23/04/2026

Spending on new medical research by the National Institutes of Health has fallen roughly $1 billion behind the pace of years past, delaying thousands of scientific projects. Story by Ben Mueller & @irenatfh.bsky.social Gift link: nyti.ms/4ctOSqM

Graph showing NIH awards by year. 2026 lags far behind 2021-2024 average.

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 22/04/2026

Ryan knows of what he speaks. He personally weighed my genome and an onion's. As a human, I'm a genomic lightweight. Details here: nyti.ms/4sNBUsE

Graph showing my genome size and an onion's. The onion wins.

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 22/04/2026

PCDH11Y--I've got two amino acid differences, but fortunately in the disordered areas, so my protein ("proband") should work fine.

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 20/04/2026

Bruce is a New Zealand parrot missing his top beak. It’s a serious disability, but he has managed to become the alpha of his group, through creativity. Here’s my story about Bruce and the mostly mysterious natural history of disability. Gift link: nyti.ms/4cwVGT5

A picture of Bruce, a green parrot, missing his upper beak. Photo by Alex Grabham

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 15/04/2026

Until now, scientists have identified only a few dozen variants that went through natural selection in humans in the past 10,000 years. A new study claims to find hundreds--maybe thousands. Here's my story on the provocative research, and the mixed reception it's getting. Gift link: nyti.ms/4tSJH9G

A scientist drills a skull in search of ancient human DNA

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 09/04/2026

A three-decade long study of chimpanzees has revealed a primate version of a bloody civil war. It's now at risk of getting eliminated due to cuts at the National Science Foundation. My story here (gift link): nyti.ms/4mhr5NQ

A picture of two chimpanzees sitting on the ground

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 07/04/2026

Earthset, courtesy of Artemis. Story by @katrinamillerphd.bsky.social Gift link: nyti.ms/4bVvp1R

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 05/04/2026

My story on science replication is in today’s print New York Times. The juxtaposition is interesting…

A spread of today’s New York Times. My story about science replication is on the left. A story about a FEMA official claiming he has teleported to a Waffle House is on the right, complete with skeptical quote from a physicist

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 03/04/2026

Artemis looks back at the home planet. www.nasa.gov/image-articl...

Picture of Earth in space, courtesy of NASA

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 26/03/2026

I have a story today about the quest to turn eggs into low-cost factories for medicines. Gift link: nyti.ms/4bzSabB

A scientist extracts stem cells from a chick embryo in an egg.

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 20/03/2026

Submitted without comment: An "AI-curated knowledge platform" emailed me to let me it has a profile of me and my work. Here's the picture the AI picked for my story on Neanderthal male/modern-human female mating preferences.

An AI-generated image of an old man and a young man, with an outline of a heart in between them.

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 12/03/2026

The Lost Science series continues: Erin McGuire talks to @emilyanthes.bsky.social about how her team of 200 scientists studying crops across Africa, Asia, and Latin America got shut down because their work "was no longer of interest to the American government." Gift link: nyti.ms/4sMi8hQ

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 08/03/2026

Greetings, good people of Tucson! I'll be at the Tucson Book Festival next weekend. Hope to see you there! Details here tucsonfestivalofbooks.org?action=displ...

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 26/02/2026

Neanderthals, modern humans, and the rules of attraction. Here's my story on a tantalizing study on mating preferences as far back as 250,000 years ago. Gift link: nyti.ms/4bcNzvy

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 23/02/2026

The origin of our eyes over half a billion years ago is looking more and more weird--from a cyclops to four eyes to two. Here's my story (gift link): nyti.ms/4rzisQP

"The Cyclops," painted by Odilon Redon, 1914. Via Wikipedia

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 18/02/2026

Scientists have seen Asgard archaea crawling for the first time. When it comes to the origin of eukaryotes, this is like seeing a feathered dinosaur in the wild. (Video courtesy of Philipp Ralder)

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 18/02/2026

One of the biggest questions in biology is how complex cells evolved about 2 billion years ago. Here's my new story on how scientists are solving the mystery of eukaryotes like us. Gift link: nyti.ms/4qMbo22

A pilot in a submersible vehicle collecting sediments samples in 30 meters of water looking for Asgards (microbial relatives of eukaryotes)

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 25/01/2026

Newsmax fabricated a quote from me about my father Richard Zimmer today. They never contacted me. It's not just outrageous but funny. He was talented in many ways, but most definitely not at golf or cooking or craftsmanship. www.newsmax.com/john-gizzi/z...

One of many error-ridden paragraphs in an article about Richard Zimmer: "His son Carl Zimmer, a popular science writer, recalled his father as 'a talented golfer, a great cook, and a skilled craftsman who took pride in every project around the house.'”

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 19/01/2026

Hello, Chicago! I'll be giving a public talk on Wednesday about reporting on science in these rocky times. events.uchicago.edu/event/259056...

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 11/01/2026

UCSF scientists build brain organoids at scale equipped with blood vessels, "leading to high fidelity neurodevelopment." Preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Figuring showing assembly of vascularized cortical assembloid

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 08/01/2026

Chicago, I'm headed your way to talk about the state of science in America. Register here: events.uchicago.edu/event/259056...

Poster for my upcoming January 21 talk at the University of Chicago

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 06/01/2026

Here's a figure from the lead author of the new study that lays out the rules of the game.

Explanation of how lizards play rock-paper-scissors

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 06/01/2026

Lizards have evolved their own version of rock-paper-scissors. Here's my story on the genetics behind nature's games. Gift link: nyti.ms/493KGMI

Three male side-blotched lizard with three neck colors: orange, blue, and yellow

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 05/01/2026

Here's my latest contribution to the @nytimes "Lost Science" series. Brenna Henn's sweeping study of African genetics has been frozen. Gift link: nyti.ms/3Ypmm1A

Portrait of Brenna Henn next to an open freezer of samples.

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 27/12/2025

The @nytimes.com Lost Science series continues. Here's my Q&A with a scientist who was studying how wildfire smoke threatens human health when the EPA decided that her research was no longer a funding priority. Gift link: nyti.ms/4jhpw14

Portrait of Marina Vance, a scientist, sitting in a Colorado grassland.

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 22/12/2025

Scientists scanned people in an fMRI as they listened to me talk about my book She Has Her Mother's Laugh. I altered their brains! (Or at least my semantics did...)

Figure of two brain hemispheres with orange and blue regions indicating changes in brain activity as people listen to a journalist on a radio show and link words together to build meaning.

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