The fall crocus (Colchicum autumnale) is visible all over Denmark now, making a strange sight – a plant with large flowers and no leaves, blooming just a few days before the first frost is likely to occur. The timing of flowering in plants is very important to their evolutionary fitness – the wrong choice can…

Some invitations are sufficiently singular to merit an initial look of disbelief. Such was the one I recently received from the Zoologisk Museum (part of the Københavns Universitet). It was an invitation for a zebra barbecue. Let me say, simply, that it was the first party I have ever attended in a dissection room.