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I'm thrilled to reveal the cover of my new book, coming Feb. 2025! ENDS OF THE EARTH: Journeys to Polar Regions in Search of Life, the Cosmos, and our Future. Preorder here: penguinrandomhouse.com/books/692649/e… 1/4
Neil Shubin
5,398 posts
Neil Shubin
@NeilShubin
Evolutionary Biologist, Polar Wanderer, Astronomer Wannabe. Telling people they are fish, rocks and stars since 2008.
- An incredible Jurassic salamander--- you can see the gill filaments, eye, stomach contents, notochord, even the folds of its tail.
- Your reminder that muscles, nerves and bones you use to hear, talk, and chew with correspond to gill structures in fish. An idea derived from fossils, comparative anatomy, embryology and DNA. Art by @eyeforscience #yourinnerfish
- Gene editing technology began by people studying salt marshes. Ozempic began by folks studying the venom of Gila monsters. Support for basic science has empowered us to understand our world. Tethering it to applications health has transformed and saved countless lives.
- Fish thought of the day: many of the bones you use to talk, chew and hear with are modified gill bones of sharks and fish. This is a fact of development, genetics, and the fossil record. art by @eyeforscience
- In celebration of @SharkWeek. The muscles, nerves and bones we use to talk and hear correspond to gill structures in sharks. Art via @eyeforscience
- Here's what's what at the University of Chicago this morning. A society that loses science, loses the future.
- RIP Richard Lewontin. One of evolutionary biology greats. Inspired and mentored so many.
- What kind of omen is it when a juvenile perigrine falcon lands on the windowsill behind you and stares at you for 10 mins. No zoom on this photo.
- Tiktaalik is walking in the lab! Tyler Kellior dropped by with a draft of the latest reconstruction of the beast.
- Some personal news...The NAS Council has approved the nomination of Neil H. Shubin to be the next president of the National Academy of Sciences. An evolutionary biologist & science communicator, Shubin would succeed Marcia McNutt when her term ends on June 30, 2026. Read more: nasonline.org/news/neil-h-sh…
- Thinking of our mom this Mothers’ Day. A segmented worm with a notochord, gill slits and dorsal nerve cord. She’s Cambrian, of course.
- Remember: many of us are alive today because Alexander Fleming found mold growing in a petrie dish after returning from a holiday in 1928. Curiosity sparked, he analyzed it, and lives were changed by the discovery of antibiotics. Curiosity is a beautiful and powerful thing.
- Nov 9. Carl Sagan's Birthday. Let's fight for a world that respects evidence and optimism over superstition and fear.
