photo of Ashley Yeager

Ashley Yeager

Associate News Editor

Ashley Yeager is the associate news editor at Science News. Previously, she worked at The Scientist, where she was an associate editor for nearly three years. She has also worked as a freelance editor and writer, and as a writer at the Simons Foundation, Duke University and the W.M. Keck Observatory. She was the web producer for Science News from 2013 to 2015, and was an intern at the magazine in the summer of 2008. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and a master’s degree in science writing from MIT. Her book, Bright Galaxies, Dark Matter and Beyond, on the life of astronomer Vera Rubin, will be published by MIT Press in August.

All Stories by Ashley Yeager

  1. Life

    Superslow sloths may have once evolved superfast

    Sloths may evolved some of the fastest rates of body growth reported to date for mammals.

  2. Animals

    Strong social bonds help lady baboons live longer

    Wild, female baboons with stronger social connections with both female and male baboons live longer than females with weaker ties, a new study shows.

  3. Ecosystems

    Artifacts, fossils tell story of changes to Egypt’s animals

    Ancient Egyptian artifacts and fossils from the Nile Valley show a correlation between species extinctions and a growing human population in a drying climate.

  4. Animals

    Coral trout know when it’s time for team hunting

    In certain situations, coral trout appear to be as good as chimpanzees at knowing when to collaborate, a new study suggests.

  5. Astronomy

    Rosetta’s comet shows few signs of surface ice

    The first data sent back from one instrument aboard the Rosetta spacecraft suggests that comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko has little surface ice.

  6. Animals

    Numbers of California blue whales rebound

    Blue whales, the largest animals on Earth, were hunted nearly to extinction. Now the population that feeds off the coast of California appears to have rebounded to close to prewhaling numbers.

  7. Physics

    Unusual turbulence seen along North Carolina coast

    Storm winds in Currituck Sound, North Carolina, may have created just the right conditions for scientists to see a rare type of turbulence in ocean waves for the first time.

  8. Quantum Physics

    Molecules stop tumbling with hit of laser light

    Stopping molecules' rotation with a custom laser could help scientists harness them for quantum computing.

  9. Health & Medicine

    Removing both breasts may not boost cancer survival

    Women diagnosed with cancer in one breast who choose to have both breasts removed may not have better survival rates than women who opt for breast-conserving surgery and radiation.

  10. Materials Science

    Silkworms spin spider-strong threads

    Silkworms with a spider protein make silk tough enough to be woven into clothing.

  11. Psychology

    Walking in sync makes enemies seem less scary

    Men who walk in sync may begin to think of their enemies as weaker and smaller, a new study suggests.

  12. Materials Science

    Magnetic levitation shows promise for manufacturing

    Suspending soft, sticky and fragile objects between magnets may be a way to manipulate the materials in 3-D space without needing to touch them.