For the latest issue of Science, I wrote a short item about giraffes. People have said for a long time that giraffes are the only mammals that can’t swim, but nobody had actually tested this. Zoos aren’t interested in having their prized African mammals tossed in the water, just to see what happens. So the researchers I wrote about used computers to build a virtual giraffe, then flood it. It wasn’t graceful, but it ought to be able to float and therefore to swim, they concluded.

In a year and a half as a full-time freelancer, writing articles all the time, this is the third piece I’ve had come out in print. I mean, actual paper that you can hold in your hands. (The others were in AAA Living magazine and The Chronicle of Higher Education.) Everything else has been online only. That says a lot about the changing media world, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, that means it’s a little inconvenient to read this one – you need to find a paper copy of the June 25 issue of Science, or, if you’re a subscriber, you can read it here.

Photo: Patrick Giraud