Dinos, Ticks, and Rhinos, Oh My!
It’s that time again. I’ve been buried under a mountain of work (welcome to my homeostatic state), but in case any of you are still reading this, here is November’s Zaleski Minute. As always, if it takes you longer than 60 seconds, complain to management.
What I Was Writing:
For Bloomberg Businessweek: You might know Montana rancher Clayton Phipps from the popular Discovery Channel show “Dino Hunters.” In 2006, he found what’s arguably the best dinosaur fossil ever: a 22-foot-long T. rex and a 28-foot-long triceratops locked in combat. Last year, he sold the specimen for $6 million — and re-opened a long-standing controversy between academic paleontologists and the commercial hunters who sell bones for big bucks. (Here’s the magazine layout.)
For Outside: Lyme-carrying ticks are a bigger threat than ever, and are now found in all 50 states. But an enterprising Massachusetts scientist has developed a shot to finally prevent Lyme disease, even after a tick bite. (Here’s the unpaywalled article.) You can also listen to The New Republic podcast from August where I talk about the article and Lyme PrEP, the new antibody shot that might stop infection.
For Popular Mechanics: My piece on the $20 million bioengineering quest to resurrect the northern white rhinoceros is the cover story of the Nov./Dec. issue of Popular Mechanics. Sold in fine bookstores everywhere (if there are still bookstores out there). Here’s the piece unpaywalled.
For Popular Mechanics (also): This is the story of the fatal engineering flaw behind the deadliest (accidental) structural collapse in U.S. history. Unpaywalled version is here.
Wanna See a T. rex Tooth?
I traveled to Montana in June to spend a few days with Clayton Phipps. We went to his ranch and looked for dinosaur fossils. He found a Rex tooth.