Erin Garcia de Jesús

Staff Writer

Erin Garcia de Jesús is a staff writer at Science News. She holds a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Washington, where she studied virus/host co-evolution. After deciding science as a whole was too fascinating to spend a career studying one topic, she went on to earn a master’s in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her writing has appeared in Nature News, Science, Eos, Smithsonian Voices and more, and she was the winter 2019 science writing intern at Science News.

All Stories by Erin Garcia de Jesús

  1. Animals

    Why male giraffes drink potential mates’ pee

    In giraffes, an organ that detects pheromones has a stronger connection to the mouth than the nose. That’s different from many other mammals.

  2. Animals

    Cockatoos can tell when they need more than one tool to swipe a snack

    Cockatoos know when it will take a stick and a straw to nab a nut in a puzzle box. The birds join chimps as the only known nonhumans to use a tool kit.

  3. Animals

    Some young sea spiders can regrow their rear ends

    Juvenile sea spiders can regenerate nearly all of their bottom halves — including muscles and the anus — or make do without them.

  4. Microbes

    Scientists have found the first known microbes that can eat only viruses

    Lab experiments show that Halteria ciliates can chow down solely on viruses. Whether these “virovores” do the same in the wild is unclear.

  5. Health & Medicine

    Here’s what you need to know about COVID’s XBB.1.5 ‘Kraken’ variant

    XBB.1.5, an offshoot of the coronavirus’s omicron variant, can hide from parts of the immune system, but vaccines and some treatments still work.

  6. Paleontology

    Katydids had the earliest known insect ears 160 million years ago

    Fossils from the Jurassic Period show katydid ears looked identical to those of modern katydids and could pick up short-range calls.

  7. Health & Medicine

    Viruses other than the coronavirus made headlines in 2022

    Here’s the latest on monkeypox, Ebola, bird flu and other outbreaks that hit this year.

  8. Health & Medicine

    50 years ago, a ‘cure’ for intoxication showed promise

    In 1972, vitamin and chemical injections reduced the amount of time that rats fed alcohol spent drunk. The science has yet to pan out for people.

  9. Health & Medicine

    This child was treated for a rare genetic disease while still in the womb

    Babies born with infantile-onset Pompe disease typically have enlarged hearts and weak muscles. But 1-year-old Ayla has a normal heart and walks.

  10. Health & Medicine

    A swarm of sneaky omicron variants could cause a COVID-19 surge this fall

    Scientists are tracking similar mutations showing up in many variants that help the coronavirus evade some of our immune defenses and treatments.

  11. Life

    A glimpse inside a gecko’s hand won the 2022 Nikon Small World photo contest

    The annual competition highlights microscopic images that bring the smallest details from science and nature to life.

  12. Health & Medicine

    ‘Breathless’ explores COVID-19’s origins and other pandemic science

    In his new book, David Quammen examines what we’ve learned about SARS-CoV-2 and puts the pandemic in the context of previous coronavirus scares.