Last of his kind

Last week's articles reminded us, in many ways, of the fragility of life.

Extinction Looms for Rare Frog Species, Now Down to One Individual

(You can read all of my articles on the amphibian-killing chytrid fungus here.)

Killer Fungus Targeting Endangered Rattlesnakes

Mild winter brings double-whammy: Late flu season and early allergies

Bill Gates calls for 'digital revolution' and 'scorecards' to fight hunger

E. coli outbreak linked to Jimmy John's sandwich shops in 5 states

Project WILD Offers Conservation and Environmental Education Programs

Annual Litter Blitz Keeps Oklahoma City Clean

Promote Conservation with Free Endangered Species Ringtones

Killer whales, dangerous toothbrushes, dead pangolins and...Michael J. Fox?

How did I get Michael J. Fox, flying military pyramids and North Korea into the same story? This story for Mother Nature Network has the answer:

'Back to the Future' hover board to hit stores

Meanwhile, here are my other stories fro MNN this week:

Heart Attack Grill customer has heart attack

FDA: Spinbrush electric toothbrushes may chip teeth, lead to choking

Marine biologist Nancy Black pleads not guilty to illegally feeding killer whales

I'll follow that will this week's two Extinction Countdown articles for Scientific American:

Meet the Pangolin, Another Animal Threatened by Traditional Asian Medicine

U.S. Army Protects Critically Endangered Hawaiian Snails from Invasive Predators


Next up, a few blog posts for Green Hands USA:

Olivia Munn Challenges Kids and Schools to Go Green

Center for Snake Conservation Planning Annual Snake Count

Kids, Enter the 2012 Endangered Species Art Contest


And finally this week, a new feature for the IEEE newspaper, The Institute:

Everyday Miracles: The Work of IEEE Societies

Encyclopedia of Science Fiction entries

I've mentioned this before, but not lately: I'm writing the comics-related entries for the new online version of the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. It's a great assignment and a huge amount of fun. I started off with editing and rewriting all of the old entries from the print edition, and now I'm starting to write new entries. Here are links to some of my favorites so far:

First, the main Comics and Graphic Novel entries.

Next, entries for several creators:

Neal Adams

Brian Bolland

Charles Burns

Howard Chaykin

Richard Corben

Dave Gibbons

Jack Kirby

Stan Lee

Frank Miller

Alan Moore

Stan Sakai

Dave Sim

Steranko

And finally, entries for some publishers, titles or characters:

2000 AD

Batman

Captain Marvel

DC Comics

EC Comics

Flash Gordon

Heavy Metal

Judge Dredd

Legion of Super-Heroes

Marvel Comics

Marvelman

Planetary

Superman

Swamp Thing

V for Vendetta

Weird Science

X-Men

More to come!

Robotics careers, dog stories, a milestone and more

What a week. I published my 350th Extinction Countdown article over at Scientific American (and I'm fast approaching my 1,000th article about endangered species). Several long-in-the-works features appeared. I wrote about dogs. A lot. And I started several new assignments that will keep me busy for the next month or so.

Oh, and I found out that a short comic-book script that I sold way back in 2006 is actually moving forward and could be out this summer.

More on that when I'm allowed to release the details. For now, here are this week's articles, starting with my two Extinction articles for SciAm:

Artificial Beaks Helping to Save Hornbills from Extinction in India [In addition to being my 350th article for SciAm, this was also reprinted by the Huffington Post.]

Critically Endangered Cross River Gorillas May Have More Room to Grow


On a completely different topic, here's my latest technology careers feature for Today's Engineer:

Career Focus: The Real Steel -- Robotics Careers Ready to Boom


Sticking with technology for a moment, I'm writing for IEEE's The Institute again. Here's my first of two new features that will appear this month:

IEEE Fellows Made Their Mark on Industry


Back to the enviro/animal side. Mother Nature Network kept me busy this week, mostly writing about the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. These were some of the most popular stories on the site all week long:

Canines from around the country heading to Westminster dog show

Four breeds that have never won the Westminster dog show

Meet the six new breeds in the 2012 Westminster dog show

Lawsuit takes aim at artist Christo's 'Over the River' project


And finally, here are two new blog posts for Green Hands USA:

Which Magazines Use the Greenest Paper?

Free App Turns Empty Cars into Rideshares


I'm already deep into writing this week's articles. Stay tuned for details!

Flightless parrots, Alaskan weirdness, and lots of turtles

Here they are, last week's 10 new articles.

First up, two new pieces for my Extinction Countdown blog for Scientific American:

Accidental Kakapo Death Lowers Population of Rare, Flightless Parrots to 127 Birds

Satellites to Track Rare Royal Turtle in Cambodia [Video]


Next up, the usual collection of news items (at least one of them rather odd) for Mother Nature Network:

Alaska proposes federal takeover of NYC's Central Park

CDC issues new warning about salmonella from pet turtles

Causes founder Joe Green doesn't regret not helping Mark Zuckerberg launch Facebook

Brazilian Blowout hair treatment ruled carcinogenic


And finally, several short blog posts for Green Hands USA:

Which Global Companies Are Greenest?

Black Warrior Riverkeepers Talk About Alabama Coal Ash

Journey North: Free Program Teaches Kids About Migration

Newark Delaware Seeks Sustainability


This coming week should see three new tech-oriented feature articles that have been pending for a while. Meanwhile, I'll be diving into seven new features and a boatload of other articles. It's going to be a busy month!