07/13/2012

What Happens When Scientists Get It Wrong?

Reporting in Science, two teams of scientists say they were unable to replicate the results of a 2010 study claiming to have found ‘alien life’ on Earth — a bacterium that could build its DNA using arsenic. Science journalist Carl Zimmer talks about how the controversy played out online, and how science corrects itself.

Segment Guests

Carl Zimmer

Carl Zimmer is the author of Life’s Edge: The Search of What it Means to Be Alive. He’s also a science columnist for the New York Times. He’s based in New York, New York.