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.
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All Stories by Ashley Yeager
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Animals
Boas kill by cutting off blood flow, not airflow
Boas actually kill by constricting blood flow of their prey, not suffocating them, as scientists previously suspected.
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Paleontology
How dinos like Triceratops got their horns
A new dino named Wendiceratops pinhornensis gives hints about how Triceratops and other relatives got their horns.
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Health & Medicine
Clot-snatching stroke treatment gets the green light
Snatching blood clots from the brain with a wire mesh stent is a new stroke treatment that is now supported in the United States.
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Paleontology
Fossil worm adds head to its spiny appearance
Hallucigenia sparsa gives hints to how some animals ended up with teeth in their guts and platelike pieces around their mouths.
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Animals
Unpredictable egg scramble throws off parasitic parents
Eggs of some species of warbler and weaver birds appear to have individual signatures, which can help distinguish them from the eggs of parasitic cuckoos.
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Animals
Unpredictable egg scramble throws off parasitic parents
Eggs of some species of warbler and weaver birds appear to have individual signatures, which can help distinguish them from the eggs of parasitic cuckoos.
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Planetary Science
Comet lander Philae phones home
The European Space Agency has received signals for its comet lander Philae, which touched down on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in November and has been in hibernation since.
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Paleontology
Traces of dino blood, soft tissue found even in junk bones
Hints of blood and collagen found in poorly preserved dinosaur bones suggest that soft tissue from the creatures may be easier to come by.
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Paleontology
Horned dino aside, here are some other fun fossil finds
Here's a roundup of some fossil finds reported this week.
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Health & Medicine
Fly spit protein holds back parasite infection in monkeys
A protein called PdS15 found in the saliva of the sand fly that spreads leishmaniasis may be used in a vaccine to combat the parasitic scourge causing the illness.
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Animals
Parakeets can catch yawns from their neighbors
Humans and dogs aren't the only ones that can pass along a yawn. They appear to be contagious among parakeets, too.
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Animals
Crows safeguard sticks to speed future food-finding forays
New Caledonian crows safeguard the sticks they use to find food. As the risk of losing the tool increases, the more protective the birds become.