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.
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All Stories by Susan Milius
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Animals
Shhh! Is that scrape a caterpillar scrap?
A series of staged conflicts reveals the first known acoustic duels in caterpillars.
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Animals
Gimme, Gimme, Gimme!
Hungry chicks cheeping in their nest have inspired a whole branch of scientific inquiry.
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Earth
Bt Corn Risk to Monarchs Is ‘Negligible’
A much-anticipated report states that the most commonly planted forms of genetically engineered Bt corn pose only a "negligible" risk to monarch butterfly populations.
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Animals
Social Cats
Who says cats aren't social? And other musings from scientists who study cats in groups.
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Health & Medicine
Walking and eating for better health
A low-fat diet and regular exercise can ward off diabetes in people at high risk of developing the disease.
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Animals
Even deep down, the right whales don’t sink
A right whale may weigh some 70 tons, but unlike other marine mammals studied so far, it tends to float rather than sink at great depths.
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Seabird makes citrusy bug repellant
Auklet feathers carry a cocktail of citrus-smelling chemicals, including compounds that squashbugs secrete to repel predators.
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Geneticists define new elephant species
A new study of the genetics of African elephants shows that forest dwellers differ so much from those roaming the savannas that the two may be separate species.
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Animals
It’s a snake! No, a fish. An octopus?
An as-yet-unnamed species of octopus seems to be protecting itself by impersonating venomous animals from sea snakes to flatfish.
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Animals
Big woodpeckers trash others’ homes
Pileated woodpeckers destroy in an afternoon the nesting cavities that take endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers 6 years to excavate.
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Animals
When rare species eat endangered ones
To cut down on their salmon smolt catch, Caspian terns were encouraged to move from one island to another in the Columbia River.
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Animals
Oops. New feathers turn out lousy
Going to the trouble of molting doesn't really get rid of a bird's lice after all.