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An obituary for editor Dianne Timblin is presented. Timblin expanded the American Scientist's scope of reviews to include movies, poetry, graphic novels, and other forms of science and creative media, both in print and on their blog, which demonstrated the wide breadth of her interests. She was a thoughtful, conscientious editor, intent on retaining an author's voice while helping them more clearly convey their intended meaning. She was also a fierce grammarian and a quick and accurate judge of character. She was always willing to jump in and help with any new project, whatever her own workload. Timblin was personable and amiable, but she was also sharp, bright, and tech-savvy. She dove into new technology and encouraged the magazine's staff--politely, but persuasively--to adopt new systems that would improve their workflow.

An interview with Simon A. Levin, the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Director of the Center for BioComplexity at Princeton University, is presented. Among other things, he discusses how he started out in mathematics and ended up in ecology, the works he did on modeling epidemics as larger systems and if there are unified methods of modeling systems across many disciplines.

An interview with Alessandro Sette, Head of the Division of Vaccine Discovery and the Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research at La Jolla Institute for Immunology in California, is presented. Among other things, he discusses how he got interested in studying immunology, how the study of immunology advanced since the start of his career and how can he develop therapies inspired by immune responses.

Buffeted by strong currents, trying to hide from predators, a diminutive seahorse grasps onto a blade of seagrass in the shallow ocean. It uses its prehensile tail to hold on tightly as it blends in with its environment, staying anchored as it waves back and forth like the grass it's attached to. Biologist Dominique Adriaens of Ghent University in Belgium and his colleagues study the morphology and biomechanics of seahorses, from how they feed to the shapes of their tails. The team took numerous computed tomography (CT) scans to look at the creature's armored structure, made up of bony plates surrounding their muscles and central vertebrae. To figure out why seahorses had evolved this specific muscle structure in their grasping tails, the team turned to computer modeling, so they could see how the tails would be affected by different muscle lengths.

The glint of the mineral known as fool's gold used to be a blow for miners searching for the real thing. But for fossil hunters, this glimmering mineral, iron pyrite, is a priceless treasure. Under the right conditions, an organism's remains can be mineralized in pyrite, creating a fossil that is remarkably detailed and durable, providing nuances of extinct animal anatomy that are rarely seen. A new pyrite fossil discovery, combined with advanced imaging techniques, has identified a previously undiscovered species that could help elucidate the evolution of arthropods, particularly of the antennae and mouthparts of insects, crustaceans, and spiders. The set of five shimmering fossils was found in New York State at a famous site called Beecher's Trilobite Bed. The ocean floor there at the time these creatures died was low-oxygen and iron-rich, allowing for fast mineralization of the delicate tissues of these organisms. Sulfate-reducing bacteria break down organic material in these low-oxygen environments, producing hydrogen sulfide.