East Rock Record reporters recently held a press conference with Carl Zimmer, science columnist for The New York Times and author of 15 books about science, most recently Air-Borne: The Hidden History of The Life We Breathe. Mr. Zimmer’s visit was courtesy of the annual Abram Katz Visiting Science Journalist Press Conference. The program honors the late Mr. Katz, a long-time Science Editor at the New Haven Register. His Sunday column was called Gray Matters and was the favorite of many readers. He interviewed well-known scholars, doctors, and scientists regarding advancements in science and technology. He held a special ability to explain the complex inner workings of our world to the ordinary person. Mr. Zimmer is a New Haven native and a renowned science writer. His press conference with students covered a wide range of topics from DNA to dinosaurs and black holes. Here are the reflections by student journalists.
Carl Zimmer said there was an extinct species of wolves called the dire wolf from the ice age. He said that some people brought it back to life by using fossil DNA. He also described how scientists figured out that Covid spread through the air and then he and he wrote a book about it. His newest book is called “Air-Borne.” In 2021 he published a book about what life is because there were arguments about what life is. That book is called “Life’s Edge: The Search For What It Means to Be Alive.” He said that he enjoys writing about science and is working on a new book about dire wolfs [see sentence 1]. —By Nayala Conroe, Marlin Rodriguez, Charlie Pellegrino, Eliseo Plasencia
In his scientific writing career, Carl Zimmer most enjoys “chang[ing] how we think about the world.” We were very interested when Mr. Zimmer talked about the dire wolf. Specifically, we are interested in how scientists grabbed the cells of the dire wolf, studied it and then fused it with the grey wolf. This is a very new phenomenon. Additionally, were were interested in his book “Airborne: Life and Death in the Skies.” His new book, “Air-Borne: The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe” is about how the air was infecting us with COVID-19. Mr. Zimmer said his favorite part of his job is publication. “Seeing something being published — whether it’s on the paper, website, or with me in my hands,” he said. “The feeling of it being published and out in the world for everyone to see.” Additionally, when speaking with scientists, Mr. Zimmer said that, “I always get new sides of stories, I really appreciate it.”—By Nayala Conroe, Marlin Rodriguez, Charlie Pellegrino, Eliseo Plasencia
Mr. Zimmer said that in doing his work that he learns stuff that he “didn’t appreciate before” from scientists. He said that it “changes how we think about he world.” He told is that billions of bacteria come from the clouds when it rains. His favorite part of publishing is when one of his books is “out in the world.” ——By Nayala Conroe, Marlin Rodriguez, Charlie Pellegrino, Eliseo Plasencia
What I thought was cool about Carl Zimmer was his book “Air-Borne.” It was about how the air was infecting us with Covid. Also, I was really interested in the dire wolf, and how scientists grabbed its cells, studied it and fused it with the grey wolf. ——By Nayala Conroe, Marlin Rodriguez, Charlie Pellegrino, Eliseo Plasencia
We asked Carl Zimmer a lot of questions including, Q: What area of science do you write about? A: Biology. But mainly about any new science about life in general. Q: What is the most exciting part of your job? A: Seeing something being published whether it’s on the paper, website, or with me in my hands. The feeling of it being published and out in the world for everyone to see. Q: Ever get another perspective? A: Yes. I get to talk to other scientists, being able to learn new discoveries…. I always get new sides of stories, I really appreciate it. —Author???
Carl Zimmer mostly writes about biology, the science of things that are alive. He has written 15 books. His second book was “Parasite Rex: Inside the Bizarre World of Nature’s Most Dangerous Creatures.” His favorite book that he has read is “Moby Dick.” He liked to write from a young age. After college he got a job in a magazine that was focused on science. It took two to three years to write his book on the Covid-19 pandemic.—Author???
Carl Zimmer came to visit the East Rock Record to talk about his book. He really engaged the students while talking about science through delving into topics about dinosaurs, germs, and blackholes. Van was really engaged with the talk, he thought it was “weird but interesting,” especially since his dad is a writer. Jason really loved the talk because he learned about germs. Ouji is cool because he is smart and he writes science books. —Author??
I found the most interesting thing that Carl Zimmer talked about what that scientists were able to bring back the dire wolf. I found it interesting that they could take down a mammoth. It surprised me that they can bring back extinct animals with just their DNA. I wish I could have asked more about how he became Carl Zimmer. We also talked about the excitement of publishing books, and his talk made me more excited to learn more about science. — By Quinn Pellegrino
I found it interesting that there are 1024 suns. I wish I could have asked about tardigrades, which are tiny animals. Carl Zimmer also talked about dire wolves and how scientists would can bring them back by putting dire wolf DNA in a grey wolf cell, then placing that embryo into a dog which gave birth to a dire wolf. It was surprising how they were able to bring back an extinct animal with DNA.—By Fatima Riaz
Carl Zimmer was an English major in college and now writes for The New York Times. And his new book is “Air-Borne.” He is a fantastic writer. His favorite book is Moby Dick. He also talked about science and our solar system. He said that when the sun explodes in about 4 billion years it will turn into a supernova.— By Emmanuel Plascentia
Carl Zimmer talked about his favorite books and what happened if there was a hole and how the virus probably happened. He that if you are sick, every time you talk you let little bubbles of virus out your mouth and that how people get sick. That is why you wear masks. If you are sick and then you talk to a person then the virus can spread. He wrote about that in his new book, “Air-Borne.” His favorite book was “Moby Dick.” He likes to write. He enjoys looking for stuff that is happening right now. —By Dima Ali
The thing I found most interesting about Carl Zimmer’s press conference is how in around 5 billion years the sun will be a white dwarf. Before that happens, earth is not going to be here because first the sun is going to expand and when it is at its biggest, life on Earth is going to be a lot harder. I also thought it was interesting that scientists were able to bring back dire wolves by putting their DNA into a female dog.— By Sam Pellegrino
Carl Zimmer is a sciences writer, and he majored in English but he never thought he would be a science writer. He only really did that because he got a job after he was in college. I think that his job is really cool. He gets a front row seat to a lot of cool things like dire wolves. That is amazing to me. He also knows so much like how Covid is spread. Most of these things, people do not know. I would say I know a lot, but I did not know a thing about dire wolves. That is pretty cool. —By Summer Phelps
Carl Zimmer is a science writer who has written 15 books. He majored in English at Yale University. I think he is really cool, and I like how he explains stuff and writes about science. It was interesting how he talked about the dire wolves. It’s cool that the dire wolves are back and how the experiment actually worked. Also, I think that his book about how Covid spread is really interesting . It’s cool that it actually spreads through the air. —By Aarav Lemar
Carl Zimmer is a scientist and author, writing his own books and writing the science column for The New York Times. He grew up in New Haven and went to Yale University and majored in English. He is very passionate about his craft in science and writing which shows through his many books, his most recent being “Air-Borne” about the Covid-19 virus and how it spread through the air. He said his favorite author is James Gleick.—By Cadi Ali
The press conference with Carl Zimmer, a scientific journalist, was very interesting. I was able to learn a lot about biology, space, dire wolves, different life forms, diseases like COVID-19, and much more. —By Serelle Barsalou
It is fascinating how Carl Zimmer was able to teach us so much about science in such a short time period. It made me realize how big and vast the galaxy is and how much I have yet to learn about what inhabits it. It is extremely impressive that Mr. Zimmer was an English major but still knows so much about science. For instance, Mr. Zimmer has written about dire wolves, which went extinct thousands of years ago, but scientists have used their species as an experiment to figure out whether or not it is possible to bring a species back to life by extracting their DNA from fossils and forming a cell with it. Overall, this was a very educational press conference. Mr. Zimmer seems to be very knowledgeable, especially since he has written fifteen books, which I would love to read some day. —By AUTHOR???
I thought it was interesting because my Dad is a writer.—By Van Smith
I learned a lot about germs and how if one thing dies, sometimes another thing dies.—By Jason Lin
Carl Zimmer is cool because he is smart and he writes books science —By Ouji Dubee
Carl Zimmer had some very cool and interesting ideas. We talked about a multitude of topics including but not limited to blackholes, dinosaurs, dire wolves, and his favorite authors. Carl also wrote many books including “Airborne” and “Life’s Edge.” I found blackholes to be captivating, including how if you were sucked into a blackhole the gravity would stretch you out until you died. —By Haven Pickett
On April 10, 2025 the East Rock Record interviewed Carl Zimmer. He is a science journalist for The New York Times. He mostly writes about biology. He has written 15 books, about topics from Neanderthals to aliens. The most interesting article he wrote in my opinion is his article on dire wolfs. When he’s not writing, he enjoys reading Moby Dick and books by James Gleick, especially “Chaos.” He was an English major in college and has been writing since he was a kid. After he answered questions about his books and articles, we launched into science questions. He told us about dire wolves and the world ending.—By GG King
I thought that the way Mr. Zimmer was able to combine his passion for writing and his love for science was incredible, but I was even more impressed with everything he told us! I mean, first of all: HUMAN KIND LITERALLY BROUGHT BACK AN EXTINCT WOLF-LIKE ANIMAL AND MADE A DNA COMBO WITH A GREY WOLF. We’re bringing back dinosaurs without me knowing!?
Second: He talked about many things that I have interest in, such as BLACK HOLES, LIFE IN SPACE, and SUPERNOVAE. Apparently, sometimes when a supernova collapses, it goes into a small point where the density levels get sent through the roof. And more density means more gravity, and so much gravity that nothing can escape the point, otherwise known as a BLACK HOLE. And although I only recently learned what a supernova is, Mr. Zimmer talked about it a lot, from how you can see one on Earth if you look at the right time. He shared how supernovae send out harmful chemicals that some believe caused past mass extinctions.
All in all, I loved Mr. Zimmer’s talk with us and I will always remember it (until I’m old and my memory is failing!) If you read this, Mr. Zimmer, thank you so much for taking your time to teach us! —By Alya Kachru Mikkelson
