Visit the Microzoo

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Tristan Ursell (below, left), an assistant professor who recently joined the Department of Physics, explores the relationship between proteins, bacteria and other microscopic life forms. As a rising star in the field of biophysics, he’s engaged in a relatively new way of looking at the natural world—he wants to find out how molecules “know” what their job is. (Please read the full feature on Ursell.)

Ursell is also a fan of Burning Man, the weeklong music and art festival in the Nevada desert. During the 2010 event, he operated a “microzoo”—a hands-on science tent in which festivalgoers viewed single-cell photosynthetic organisms, “water fleas” and other exotic attractions through a microscope. Here’s an interview with Ursell about his miniature main event.