In a break from journalistic tradition, I thought I’d actually put up an end-of-year list at the actual end of the year. I know! I promise to live less dangerously in 2015.
It’s been a good and gratifying year. I gave a TED talk, enjoyed my second year at National Geographic, and signed a deal to write a book about partnerships between animals and microbes–I Contain Multitudes, to be released in early 2016).
Sincere thanks to everyone who read or listened to something I did in 2014. Here is a list of the work that I’m proudest of.
Longer reads:
- The Unique Merger That Made You (and Ewe, and Yew). On the one freakish event that gave rise to all sophisticated life on the planet.
- How malaria defeats our drugs. On the race to stop drug-resistant malaria.
- There Is No ‘Healthy’ Microbiome. On the reality of the microbes that share our lives.
- Coincidental killers. On how some microbes kill us by accident.
- DIY diagnosis: how an extreme athlete uncovered her genetic flaw. On an extreme athlete who discovered the cause of her two genetic diseases.
Talks
- My TED talk on parasites
- An interview at NYU about science journalism
- My Story Collider story about meeting David Attenborough and questioning our heroes.
Blog posts
- Electric Eels Can Remotely Control Their Prey’s Muscles
- It’s Behind You! Robot Creates Feeling of Ghostly Presence
- Deinocheirus Exposed: Meet The Body Behind the Terrible Hand
- A Flood of Borrowed Genes at the Origins of Tiny Extremists
- Cave-Exploring Snake Robot Gets Inspiration From Sidewinders
- When You Move House, Your Microbial Aura Moves Too
- One Species Becomes Two, Inside an Insect
- You Almost Certainly Have Mites On Your Face
- Seals May Have Carried Tuberculosis To The New World
- A Swarm of a Thousand Cooperative, Self-Organising Robots
- Octopus Cares For Her Eggs For 53 Months, Then Dies
- Nature’s Most Amazing Eyes Just Got A Bit Weirder
- Extinct Humans Passed High-Altitude Gene to Tibetans
- One Lichen Species Is Actually 126, And Probably More
- The Barnacle That Eats Glowing Sharks
- Does Your Microbiological Age Match Your Biological One?
- The Silence of the Crickets, The Silence of the Crickets
- The Surprising Closest Relative of the Huge Elephant Birds
- Man-Made Electromagnetic Noise Disrupts a Bird’s Compass
- Where’s All The Animal Vagina Research?
- On Privilege and Luck, or Why Success Breeds Success
- The Most Versatile Impressionist In the Forest
- Sailfish Use Inescapable Face- Swords to Wound, Then Kill
- In This Insect, Females Have Penises And Males Have Vaginas
- The Tiny Culprit Behind A Graveyard of Ancient Whales
- Now This Is How You Find Disease Genes
- Study Of 1.5 Million Cows Shows Daughters Get More Milk Than Sons
- The Mantis Shrimp Sees Like A Satellite
- 80-Year-Old Vintage Snake Venom Can Still Kill
- In Saving A Species, You Might Accidentally Doom It
Related Topics
Go Further
Animals
- This ‘saber-toothed’ salmon wasn’t quite what we thoughtThis ‘saber-toothed’ salmon wasn’t quite what we thought
- Why this rhino-zebra friendship makes perfect senseWhy this rhino-zebra friendship makes perfect sense
- When did bioluminescence evolve? It’s older than we thought.When did bioluminescence evolve? It’s older than we thought.
- Soy, skim … spider. Are any of these technically milk?Soy, skim … spider. Are any of these technically milk?
- This pristine piece of the Amazon shows nature’s resilienceThis pristine piece of the Amazon shows nature’s resilience
Environment
- This pristine piece of the Amazon shows nature’s resilienceThis pristine piece of the Amazon shows nature’s resilience
- Listen to 30 years of climate change transformed into haunting musicListen to 30 years of climate change transformed into haunting music
- This ancient society tried to stop El Niño—with child sacrificeThis ancient society tried to stop El Niño—with child sacrifice
- U.S. plans to clean its drinking water. What does that mean?U.S. plans to clean its drinking water. What does that mean?
History & Culture
- Meet the original members of the tortured poets departmentMeet the original members of the tortured poets department
- Séances at the White House? Why these first ladies turned to the occultSéances at the White House? Why these first ladies turned to the occult
- Gambling is everywhere now. When is that a problem?Gambling is everywhere now. When is that a problem?
- Beauty is pain—at least it was in 17th-century SpainBeauty is pain—at least it was in 17th-century Spain
- The real spies who inspired ‘The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare’The real spies who inspired ‘The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare’
Science
- Here's how astronomers found one of the rarest phenomenons in spaceHere's how astronomers found one of the rarest phenomenons in space
- Not an extrovert or introvert? There’s a word for that.Not an extrovert or introvert? There’s a word for that.
- NASA has a plan to clean up space junk—but is going green enough?NASA has a plan to clean up space junk—but is going green enough?
- Soy, skim … spider. Are any of these technically milk?Soy, skim … spider. Are any of these technically milk?
Travel
- What it's like to hike the Camino del Mayab in MexicoWhat it's like to hike the Camino del Mayab in Mexico
- Is this small English town Yorkshire's culinary capital?Is this small English town Yorkshire's culinary capital?
- This chef is taking Indian cuisine in a bold new directionThis chef is taking Indian cuisine in a bold new direction
- Follow in the footsteps of Robin Hood in Sherwood ForestFollow in the footsteps of Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest