Award-winning science writer Carl Zimmer explores the frontiers of biology in his writing. His work appears regularly in The New York Times and many magazines, and he is the author of twelve books, including A Planet of Viruses.

Zimmer is a contributing editor and columnist for Discover, and his blog, The Loom, appears on the magazine’s web site. He has won the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Science Journalism Award twice, in 2004 and 2009.

Blog Posts

• Carl Zimmer: Curing our Influenza Amnesia

  For many diseases, our immunological memories can endure like etchings in stone. Once children get shots for polio, they're usually protected for the rest of their lives. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the flu virus. When it comes to influenza, it's as if we have short-term amnesia. Read »

• The Curious Symmetry of Sleep

  Not long ago, I woke up in a hotel in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Waking up for me is a slow climb, and so I was still a bit bleary by the time I reached the front desk. I was checking my bags for the day, which I would be spending at a conference nearby, when I noticed a familiar face out of the corner of my eye—a face that resembled a bespectacled Viggo Mortensen. Not having self-administered my morning dose of caffeine, I couldn’t quite make out who he was. The man had walked out of view towards the hotel dining room by the time my brain clicked. His name was Giulio Tononi, a scientist who studies sleep. Read »

• Animals Like Us

  What is it that makes us humans unique? Is it our capacity to learn language? To cooperate on a vast scale and build civilizations? To make fun of celebrities? To answer all those questions (except maybe the last one), scientists don't limit their research to our own species. We may be special, but our specialness evolved. If you look at other animals, you can find echoes of our own faculties. Depending on the species, though, you'll find different faculties. Read »