Selected Articles
An incomplete assortment of features and essays, news and ideas, and reviews I've written.
Features & Essays
"Interview with Will Wright: The master of the computer "god game" tackles alien life and dreams up a world that would make Darwin drool."
Discover, August 2006
"The Future of Time: Can we increase productivity by revving up the neural pacemakers in the brain?"
Discover, April 2006
"The Lives They Lived: Miriam Rothschild"
The New York Times Magazine, December 25, 2005
"War of the Weeds: The Invading Aliens Are Already Among Us"
The Los Angeles Times Commentary, July 1, 2005
"The Truth About Invasive Species: How to stop worrying and learn to love ecological intruders"
Discover, May 2005
**Angry? Read the editor's letter and my response to letters in the July 2005 issue.**
"When Nature Assaults Itself"
The New York Times Op-Ed , April 22, 2005
"Seeding the Universe: The search for life on Mars could be a bit complicated by the hitchhikers on our rovers"
Discover, October 2004
"Gross Anatomy: Technology makes cadavers an art form and dissection uncomfortably real"
Discover, March 2004
"Why I Love Her"
Glamour, February 2003
"Caught in Traffic: A synaptic detour from the boardwalk to the Great White Way"
Natural History , November 2002
"Psst! Sounds like a meteor: In the debate about whether or not meteors make noise, skeptics have had the upper hand--until now."
Natural History, June/July 2002
"Four Ears to the Ground: For the elephant, the foot may be a powerful listening device"
Natural History, April 2002
"Now Hear This: Listening back on a century of sound"
Harper's, July 2001
"Victim of Geology: Whatever you do, don't get started on fossils"
Discover, July 2001
"Here Comes the Sun: Get ready for space weather, the perfect foil for a new century's ambitions"
The New York Times Magazine, February 4, 2001
"Name That Star! When our writer set out to hang his name upon a celestial body, he never imagined he would have to navigate such an Earthbound bureaucracy"
Discover, February 2000
"Endless Bummer: In which the author goes to Hawaii, learns to surf, and encounters a sea monster"
GQ, June 1997
"A Handmade Tale: An interview with claymation director Nick Park"
The New York Times Magazine, December 1, 1996
News & Ideas
"How Did the Deer Cross the Road? (The Ecology of Roadkill)"
Discover, March 2004
"Socket To Me (The Biology of Batteries)"
Discover, January 2004
"Brother Can You Spare 18 Cents? (The Mathematics of ... Pocket Change)"
Discover, October 2003
"A Farewell to Sprinklers (The Biology of Lawns)"
Discover, July 2003
"Stopping Time: What can you do in a billionth of a billionth of a second?"
Discover, June 2003
"Cement on the Half Shell (The Biochemistry of Glue)"
Discover, February 2003
"The Voice of Tomorrow (The Mathematics of Artificial Speech)"
Discover, January 2003
"Insect from the Underground: The London Tube is home to several novel species of mosquitoes,"
Natural History, February 2001
"The Document That Can't Be Forged"
The New York Times Magazine, June 11, 2000
"The Only Book You'll Ever Need to Read"
The New York Times Magazine, June 11, 2000
Book Reviews
"The Grail Bird: Hot on the Trail of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker"
The New York Times Book Review, July 3, 2005
"Nature Noir: A Park Ranger's Patrol in the Sierra"
The New York Times Book Review, February 20, 2005
"Empire of Death (Review of "Aztecs" at the Royal Academy of Arts, London)"
Discover, March 2003
"Techno-Kingdom (Review of Godfrey Reggio's film "Naqoyqatsi")"
Discover, October 2002
"Kilimanjaro: To the Roof of Africa (IMAX film)"
Discover, June 2002






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