http://www.atavist.net The home of Evan Ratliff Fri, 18 Jul 2008 20:16:58 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en My latest feature for Wired, "Law of the Jungle," is out in the June issue. Seven months in the making, it's the story of how an internationally renowned primatologist named Marc van Roosmalen went from being hailed as an environmental hero to being labeled Brazil's foremost environmental criminal -- ... http://www.atavist.net/2008/05/20/monkey-business/ In the latest May issue of Outside, I have a feature-length profile of Garrett Lisi, a physicist who came up with a potential unifying theory of physics while living in a van on Maui. (The piece is out on newsstands but not yet online.) The very bare bones of his ... http://www.atavist.net/2008/04/14/the-life-of-a-surf-bum-physicist-phd/ In what's becoming a yearly tradition, and roughly as safe a bet as UNC making the NCAA Tournament, Wired picked up it's fifth straight nod as a finalist for the National Magazine Award for General Excellence." A win would make it three out of the last four. One of the ... http://www.atavist.net/2008/03/20/wired-makes-it-four-straight/ It's official: no more excuses for cellulosic ethanol. President Bush signed the new energy bill today, which contains the incredibly overdue provision raising CAFE (federal fuel) standards to 35mpg. That was probably the single most important action the federal government could have taken to push along new energy technologies. But ... http://www.atavist.net/2007/12/19/cellulosic-ethanol-makes-the-energy-bill/ Your world of ideas and products back cover of Cavalier magazine, August 1964 http://www.atavist.net/2007/12/18/94/ My latest piece for Discover, for their January issue highlighting the top science stories of 2007, explores the environmental challenges created by the blistering pace of development in China. It clocks in as the number one science story of the year, mainly because 2007 was likely the year when China ... http://www.atavist.net/2007/12/12/chinas-syndrome/ I made a rare foray into daily news over the weekend, with a story posted at Wired online about the discovery of a dinosaur "mummy." (In quotes as it's a naturally preserved dino, not mummified in the sense of ancient Egypt; so don't get excited you old-earth creationist folks.) The ... http://www.atavist.net/2007/12/03/saga-of-a-dinosaur-cat-scan/ A little late posting this, but I made a pair of appearances on National Public Radio recently, both times discussing the ins and outs of cellulosic ethanol based on my Wired piece. Both shows are archived for your listening pleasure: First off, "Talk of the Nation Science Friday," on October 5. Followed ... http://www.atavist.net/2007/11/27/the-npr-double/ UPDATE 11/18: The site has changed over to www.atavist.net, along with the emails. The old links and emails will continue to work, but please update to atavist.net from here on. As previous visitors will note, I've made some changes to the site in the past week. Please let me know if ... http://www.atavist.net/2007/11/06/site-changes/ My latest feature for Wired, about the science of cellulosic ethanol, begins its run on newsstands this week. The full story is also online, here. That's a stalk of switchgrass adorning the cover, but the cellulosic ethanol described in the story actually involves making fuel from a wide variety of ... http://www.atavist.net/2007/09/25/pipe-dream-to-tailpipe/