![Laura Sanders](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/l_Sanders.jpg?resize=214%2C214&ssl=1)
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.
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All Stories by Laura Sanders
- Life
H1N1 racks up frequent flier miles
Analyzing global flight paths may help researchers track pandemics, as a new study on H1N1 shows.
- Animals
Bat face shapes sound
An oversized appendage in Bourret’s horseshoe bats may aid in long-distance signals.
- Tech
Molecule gears up
Researchers have made one of the most basic components of a machine out of a snowflake-shaped molecule.
- Physics
Microswimmers make a splash
Researchers study secrets of microbes' locomotion and how to mimic that movement.
- Tech
Proposed quantum motor runs with a kick
Scientists suggest a way to put ultracold atoms to work.
- Life
Estrogen may reprogram prostate cancer gene in black men
Study finds a lack of chemical tags near a prostate cancer gene in African American males.
- Health & Medicine
Origins of the swine flu virus
Researchers use evolutionary history to trace the early days of the pandemic.
- Health & Medicine
Stressed-out DNA turns mousy brown hair gray
Scientists show how change happens when cells responsible for colorful hair lose their self-renewing abilities.
- Chemistry
Protein caught in the act
Researchers have developed a new way to see where the molecules are active.
- Physics
Mechanical systems all tangled up
Researchers link the motion of two ion pairs through “spooky action at a distance.”
- Health & Medicine
Nicotine’s role in SIDS
New study in rats explains how smoke exposure may increase risk of sudden infant death syndrome.
- Life
Engineered DNA counts it out
Scientists create a biological system that uses the genetic code to tally up molecular events.