Snakes, Universes, and the Rest

The Loom gathered a bit of dust over the past couple weeks as I grappled with another round of deadlines for work that actually pays the mortgage. Life should now get relaxed enough for more blogging, I hope--starting this evening. And as the articles I've been working on come out in the next few weeks, I'll point you to the links--starting with my recent (brief but free) take on the new fossil of snakes with legs for the New York Times. And speaking of evolutionary transitions, I'm also happy to bring news of a cool new project, called Kosmos: You Are Here. It's an e-book on the history of life and the universe. I got to know one of the co-authors, Steven Darksyde, when he contacted me for an interview with me he posted on DailyKos. Steven and his co-authors have put together a fast-paced, engaging look at what we know about the past, from the Big Bang to the Descent of Man. It's graced with pictures by Carl Buell, who illustrated my first book, At the Water's Edge and has continued to bring fossils to life (be sure to visit his blog). I provided an introduction in which I muse both about recent advances in science and in the way we communicate about it--including blogs and e-books.