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

    Rock ants favor left turns in unfamiliar crevices

    Rock ants’ bias for turning left in mazes, a bit like handedness in people, may reflect different specializations in the halves of their nervous system.

  2. Animals

    It’s bat vs. bat in aerial jamming wars

    In nighttime flying duels, Mexican free-tailed bats make short, wavering sirenlike sounds that jam each other’s sonar.

  3. Animals

    Lucky break documents warbler tornado warning

    Warblers fitted with data collecting devices for other reasons reveal early and extreme measures when dodging April’s tornado outbreak.

  4. Animals

    Crows may be able to make analogies

    Crows with little training pass a lab test for analogical reasoning that requires matching similar or different icons.

  5. Animals

    Year in review: Insect, bird evolution revisited

    Insects got an entirely new family tree after an extensive genetic analysis rearranged the creatures' relations.

  6. Animals

    Year in review: The post-pigeon century

    Birds' troubles received an eerie emphasis in the news when biologists marked the 100th anniversary of the death of the last known passenger pigeon.

  7. Life

    New tree of life confirms strange history of birds

    A genetic analysis supports some odd groupings in the bird tree of life, showing a lot of convergent evolution in avian history.

  8. Life

    Electric eels remote-control nervous systems of prey

    Electric eels’ high-voltage zaps turn a prey fish against itself, making it freeze in place or betray a hiding place.

  9. Life

    Springs bring gecko stickiness to human scale

    Springs of a stretchy alloy let gecko-inspired adhesives work at human scales to climb glass walls or grab space junk.

  10. Life

    Iguanas’ one-way airflow undermines usual view of lung evolution

    Simple-looking structures create sophisticated one-way air flow in iguana lungs, undermining old scenarios of lung evolution.

  11. Animals

    When sweet little bees go to war

    Tiny Tetragonula bees don’t sting but have strong jaws. The bees fight by biting a combatant and not letting go.

  12. Life

    Study finds lack of evidence for infanticide link to monogamy

    A new study contradicts idea that the rise of infanticide among mammals drove the evolution of monogamy.