Microcosm Day! Ask A Question and Win a Signed Copy

I'm in a celebratory mood. Microcosm is published today. In my mind, I can see the books moving out of warehouses onto trucks, off to book stores and front door steps. This morning I read a great review from Mykola Bilokonsky at Newsvine. ("What are you waiting for?" he asks.) And tonight I'll be having a little get-together, with the weather cooperating in splendid fashion. To spread the cheer, let me invite you to participate in a contest to win a copy of Microcosm that I will personally sign. To enter, you just need to ask a Microcosm-related question in the comment thread. My book is specifically about E. coli, and generally about life. By illuminating how this microbe works, I end up exploring everything from synthetic biology to the possibility of extraterrestrial life to the evolutionary history recorded in E. coli's genome--a history that we share. For more information, you can check out the Newsvine review, or my previous Microcosm-related posts here, or my Microcosm page on my web site. Or you can just ask a question about E. coli that's been on your mind for years. I know you have at least one... You can post a question between now and Thursday, 5 pm EST. I will then choose five questions to answer in a post on Friday, and I'll get in touch with the five winners for their addresses. In the meantime, question away, and spread the word to anyone else who might be interesting in entering. Update: Let's keep it to one question per entry, so that the question space isn't all gobbled up! Update: The contest is closed. Come back Friday for winning questions and their answers.