Laura Sanders

Laura Sanders

Senior Writer, Neuroscience

Laura Sanders reports on neuroscience for Science News. She wrote Growth Curve, a blog about the science of raising kids, from 2013 to 2019 and continues to write about child development and parenting from time to time. She earned her Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, where she studied the nerve cells that compel a fruit fly to perform a dazzling mating dance. Convinced that she was missing some exciting science somewhere, Laura turned her eye toward writing about brains in all shapes and forms. She holds undergraduate degrees in creative writing and biology from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, where she was a National Merit Scholar. Growth Curve, her 2012 series on consciousness and her 2013 article on the dearth of psychiatric drugs have received awards recognizing editorial excellence.

All Stories by Laura Sanders

  1. Health & Medicine

    Identical twins may not be so identical when it comes to gut bacteria

    A new study suggests that intestinal microbe populations vary widely from one person to another.

  2. Humans

    Homework makes the grade

    Class performance slipped for physics students who copied.

  3. Health & Medicine

    One of H1N1’s mysteries explained

    The current H1N1 influenza shares many similarities with the 1918 pandemic influenza.

  4. Physics

    You really can freeze hot water faster than cold*

    Experiments suggest that impurities in the warmer water may explain the “Mpemba effect” in which warm water freezes faster than cold water.

  5. Physics

    Superchilly chemistry

    New theory and experiments help reveal how molecules interact in an ultracold system.

  6. Physics

    Body heat may draw particles into breathing range

    Computer simulations suggest thermal plumes may trap microbes, pollen and dust near a person’s head.

  7. Math

    Big or small, financial bubbles burst alike

    New data from the Frankfurt stock exchange show that fleeting financial bubbles behave according to the same mathematical rules as history-making ones.

  8. Humans

    Young science scholars to be recognized

    Finalists in the Science Talent Search are in Washington, D.C., to present their research; winners are to be announced March 16.

  9. Science & Society

    Book Review: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

    In her new book, science writer Rebecca Skloot describes how Henrietta Lacks' cells changed the face of modern medical science.

  10. Health & Medicine

    First complete look at families’ genes

    Comparing the complete genetic material of family members pinpoints genes involved in three rare inherited diseases.

  11. Health & Medicine

    Cocktails ward off the bulge

    A large study has found that middle-aged women who drink moderately gain less weight over the years compared to their teetotaling peers.

  12. Health & Medicine

    Gene linked to pain perception

    A common genetic variant that appears to increase sensitivity could lead to the development of better medications.