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. 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.

  2. Animals

    Sparrows Cheat on Sleep: Migratory birds are up at night but still stay sharp

    During their fall migration season, white-crowned sparrows sleep only about a third as much as they do at other times of the year without becoming slow-witted.

  3. Agriculture

    Plastic vs. Plants: Mulch method changes tomato’s gene activity

    A suite of at least 10 genes in a tomato plant behaves differently depending on the farmer's mulch-and-fertilizer routine.

  4. Plants

    Rewriting the Nitrogen Story: Plant cycles nutrient forward and backward

    For the first time, a green plant has been found to break down nitrogen-containing compounds into the readily usable form of nitrates, a job usually done by microbes.

  5. Animals

    Ultrasound alarms by ground squirrels

    Richardson's ground squirrels may occasionally use ultrasound when calling out in response to a disturbance.

  6. Animals

    Why does a buddy help another male flirt?

    The sidekick male in the two-bird courtship display of lance-tailed manakins has to leave when the mating starts but may reap delayed benefits in real estate and performance practice.

  7. Animals

    Farmer ant species may have lost all its males

    A fungus-growing ant may be the first ant species known to have no power of sexual reproduction.

  8. Animals

    Jumping spiders buzz, thump when dancing

    Some jumping spiders, long considered visually oriented animals, turn out to utilize seismic communication for a successful courtship.

  9. Animals

    Hot Bother: Ground squirrels taunt in infrared

    California ground squirrels broadcast an infrared signal when confronting a rattlesnake.

  10. Animals

    Thoroughly Modern Migrants

    Butterflies and moths are causing scientists to devise a broader definition of migration and this has raised some old questions in new ways.

  11. Psst. This fly’s ears can rival a cat’s

    The unusual eardrums of a tiny parasitic fly turn out to rival cats', owls', and people's abilities to pinpoint the origin of a sound.

  12. Animals

    Well-Tuned Bats: These animals are what they hear

    Two studies of bats find that neighbors can live in virtually different worlds because their echolocation calls are tuned to detect different prey.