If I wasn’t so swamped this week by deadlines and hosting birthday parties, I’d be rambling on and on about a great new study that suggests parasites make up a huge chunk of ecosystems, simply by sheer weight. I’ll have more to say in the not too distant future, but in the meantime, check out this post at Not Exactly Rocket Science or listen to a good segment on National Public Radio that also includes some important caveats from outside researchers. If you want some back story, you can read this piece I published about the ecological impacts of parasites in Discover some years ago, adapted from my ode to the monsters within, Parasite Rex.