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

    Exercise helps brains bounce back

    Study of rhesus monkeys shows running protects dopamine neurons from death.

  2. Computing

    Quantum computers could tackle enormous linear equations

    New work suggests that the envisioned systems would be powerful enough to quickly process even trillions of variables.

  3. Chemistry

    New view reveals how DNA fits into cell

    A new technique allows scientists to map the 3-D structure of the entire human genome.

  4. Life

    Mitochondria behind life span extension

    Study in flies suggests low-protein diet works through power-producing organelles.

  5. Paleontology

    Parasite may have felled a mighty T. rex

    An infection known to afflict modern birds may have led to starvation in several dinosaurs.

  6. Life

    Better sensing through empty receptors

    A new model suggests cells may be more sensitive to their environment than previously thought.

  7. Space

    Entanglement in the macroworld

    A team finds “spooky action at a distance” in superconductors big enough to be seen with the naked eye.

  8. Math

    Math mimics hard-to-heal wounds

    New model may lead to better treatments for chronic, blood-deprived sores

  9. Space

    New moon view

    Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter releases detailed images

  10. Life

    Locust wings built for the long haul

    Flexible wings help locusts maximize efficiency in flight, new research shows.

  11. Physics

    A very special snowball

    The long-predicted ice XV has been spotted in the lab.

  12. Space

    Metamaterials mock the heavens

    Proposed materials offer a way for physicists to study black holes and chaotic planetary orbits in the laboratory.