All Stories by Allie Wilkinson
- Microbes
Meet some of the microbes that give cheeses flavor
Knowing which genus of bacteria is responsible for which flavor could open the door to new types of cheese.
- Microbes
Meet the fungal friends and foes that surround us
Keith Seifert’s book The Hidden Kingdom of Fungi explores how microfungi shape our world.
- Animals
Why you should care about ‘The Insect Crisis’
A new book explains why insect populations are dwindling and why that’s a problem.
- Environment
50 years ago, American waterways were getting more protections
A 1970 bill that became the Clean Water Act helped to double the number of U.S. waterbodies clean enough for swimming and fishing. In January, the U.S. administration changed how waters were defined, effectively removing those protections for half the country’s wetlands.
- Health & Medicine
In ‘The Perfect Predator,’ viruses vanquish a deadly superbug
In ‘The Perfect Predator,’ an epidemiologist recounts the battle to save her husband from an antibiotic-resistant infection.
- Health & Medicine
50 years ago, people thought MSG caused ‘Chinese restaurant syndrome’
In the 1960s, people blamed monosodium glutamate in Chinese food for making them sick, but the claim hasn't stood up to time or science.
- Animals
50 years ago, DDT pushed peregrine falcons to the edge of extinction
In 1969, peregrine falcons were at risk of extinction. But a ban on the pesticide DDT and new captive breeding programs allowed the raptors to recover.
- Climate
Bull sharks and bottlenose dolphins are moving north as the ocean warms
Rising temperatures are making ocean waters farther north more hospitable for a variety of marine species.
