Susan Milius

Susan Milius

Life Sciences Writer

Life sciences writer Susan Milius has been writing about botany, zoology and ecology for Science News since the last millennium. She worked at diverse publications before breaking into science writing and editing. After stints on the staffs of The Scientist, Science, International Wildlife and United Press International, she joined Science News. Three of Susan's articles have been selected to appear in editions of The Best American Science Writing.

All Stories by Susan Milius

  1. Plants

    Smokey the Gardener

    Wildfire smoke by itself, without help from heat, can trigger germination in certain seeds, but just what the vital compound in that smoke might be has kept biologists busy for years.

  2. Glowing Trio under the Sea: Nitrogen fixer joins algae inside coral

    A coral that fluoresces orange appears to be the first ever found to contain a symbiotic microbe that converts nitrogen into a biologically useful form.

  3. Plants

    Lowering lilies on the tree of life

    Water lilies may belong on the lowest branch of the family tree of flowering plants, along with a shrub called Amborella.

  4. Animals

    Really big guys restrain youth violence

    Importing six full-grown bull elephants into a park of youngsters stopped killing sprees by young males.

  5. Mechanism suggested for Guam illness

    A research team has invoked protein chemistry to propose a solution to a long-standing neuroscience mystery in Guam.

  6. Worm to elephant: New genome targets

    The National Human Genome Research Institute has released a list of 18 wildly different creatures as targets for genome sequencing.

  7. Animals

    Anybody know this fish?

    A 2-month marine-biodiversity survey of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge concluded this week, bringing home much data and some novel specimens.

  8. Ecosystems

    Corals without Boarders

    The last decade has been a great era for discovering corals in the deep ocean, but a United Nations report warns that these cold, dark reefs urgently need protection.

  9. Gutless Wonder: New symbiosis lets worm feed on whale bones

    A newly discovered genus of marine worm can take nourishment from sunken whale skeletons, thanks to a previously unknown form of symbiosis.

  10. Animals

    Trail Mix: Espionage among the bees

    Tests with two kinds of stingless bees suggest that the more aggressive species uses scent-based espionage to target raids on the milder species' food.

  11. Ecosystems

    Deep-Sea Cukes Can’t Avoid the Weather: El Niño changes life 2.5 miles down

    A 14-year study of a spot 2.5 miles underwater off the California coast shows short-term links between surface events and an abundance of deep-water creatures.

  12. Animals

    A first for mammals: Tropical hibernating

    The fat-tailed lemur, the first tropical mammal documented to hibernate, exploits local heat spikes to save energy during the long snooze.