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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Life
Wasp has built-in Facebook
An insect species with a tricky social life has a special facility for telling one bug's mug from another.
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Life
A tryst, then the power to resist
House mice in Europe got some of their tolerance for rodenticides from hybridizing with a completely different species
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Life
DNA hints at polar bears’ Irish ancestry
Mitochondrial genetic analysis suggests a bit o’ hybridizing long ago with brown bears on the Emerald Isle.
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Life
Multicellular life arises in a test tube
A yeast experiment recapitulates a major early milestone in the history of life.
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Life
Female infidelity may violate goose-gander parity principle
Female birds stray from their mates in part because of cheating genes from their philandering fathers, a zebra finch study suggests.
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Life
Marine microbes fritter away jelly bonus
Bacterial feasts during jellyfish blooms drain valuable carbon out of the food web.
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Life
Fish ignore alarming noises in acidifying seawater
Something about changing ocean chemistry could make young clownfish behave oddly around normally alarming sounds.
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Life
Hey kitty, dogs drink like cats
High-speed video shows that canines don’t simply scoop up water, they toss it into their mouths just like their feline frenemies.
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Life
Tarantulas shoot silk from their feet
The unique ability may give the heavy spiders a better grip and prevent deadly falls.
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Life
Numbers flap has minor implications for global extinctions
A statistical technique used to estimate rates of species disappearance is flawed, two ecologists charge — but not enough to invalidate recent dire assessments.