Homo Oceanus

Water is fundamental for life: does the human brain have a special placeholder for it?

Mexico City quake: A few seconds’ warning can still save lives

for New Scientist
Last week’s magnitude 7.1 quake caught me, and everyone in Mexico City, by surprise. We are used to getting lots of warning before an earthquake – and this time, we didn’t.

The Big Splash

for San Francisco
Published: October 2009

A 2009 Q&A for San Francisco Magazine about the math behind rogue waves.

Photo Essay: Geopolitical pawns, the fishermen of Lý Sơn, Vietnam

for Mongabay
Published: April 17, 2015

Vietnamese fisherman caught between massive political and environmental forces.

An Homage to Teotihuacan

for Sapiens

Published: July 5, 2018

One modern Mexican artist is making souvenirs that shed light on the ancient peoples of this city and continue their aesthetic traditions.

Birth Of The World’s First Underwater Museum

for The Last Word on Nothing
Published: September 2013

A few months ago, I got my dream assignment. Well, okay, it wasn’t really an assignment – I cajoled an editor into letting me write about Cancun’s famous underwater museum, Museo Subacuatico de Arte, or MUSA.

Saving the survivor: China scrambles to keep the finless porpoise from extinction

(For the full story click here)
On the morning of July 14, 2002 Qi Qi ate breakfast as he always did. As the world’s only captive baiji – or Yangtze river dolphin (Lipotes vexillifer) – Qi Qi was something of a celebrity in China and his caretakers kept a close eye …

Conservation isn’t winning. Extinction is.

for The Washington Post

Published: July 13, 2018

An opinion editorial about how desperate small wild populations have become the norm in conservation.

First-Aid Snakebite Drug Could Save Thousands of Lives

for Discover Crux Blog
A decade ago, Joe Slowinski of the California Academy of Sciences went into the jungles of Myanmar in search of new species of snakes and other vertebrates. One morning, he groggily reached into a bag of vipers he thought to be harmless and when he pulled his hand ou

Donald Trump Is the World’s Greatest Performance Artist

for The Last Word on Nothing
Published: September 2014

My (relatively) serious theory that Donald Trump is not who he says he is.