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. Friend or Foe? Old Elephants Know

    Older female elephants are far better at telling friends from strangers than are younger matriarchs.

  2. Isn’t It a Bloomin’ Crime?

    Darwin called them felons, those creatures that take nectar without pollinating anything, but some modern scientists are reopening the case.

  3. Lifestyles of the bright and toxic overlap

    The first study of home life for Madagascar's poison frogs in the wild finds a striking resemblance to a group that's not closely related, the poison-dart frogs in the Americas.

  4. Tapeworms tell tales of deeper human past

    A new analysis of tapeworm history suggests that people have been wrong about where we picked up pests: It was not domestication of cattle and pigs but increased meat eating in Africa.

  5. Do eggs go cuckoo under UV light?

    People don't see ultraviolet light but birds do, so studies of egg mimickry may need to stop relying so much on human vision.

  6. Gender-bending flowers spice forests

    In a newly discovered trick for avoiding self-pollination, ginger flowers take turns at gender roles, switching from female to male or vice versa in unison around lunchtime.

  7. Touching legs turns shy locusts gregarious

    Researchers have discovered that sensing repeated touch on the hind leg triggers a shy, green locust to flip into swarming mode.

  8. Did males get bigger or females smaller?

    It's time to stop assuming that standard gender differences in birds come from males getting bigger rather than from females getting smaller.

  9. Things That Go Thump

    There's a whole world of animal communication by vibration that researchers are now exploring.

  10. Chemical SOS not just for farm, lab plants

    The chemical screams for help that scientists have detected from agricultural plants under attack by pests in lab settings have now been heard in the wild.

  11. Phew! Orchid perfume turns revolting

    Orchids that can smell so alluring that bees try to mate with them can also smell repulsive to the insects.

  12. Consumer survey: Caged mink value water

    Even after 70 generations in captivity, caged American mink still seem to miss the swimming they would do in the wild.