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. Chimp Champ: Ape aces memory test, outscores people

    A young chimp outperforms college students on a test of recalling numbers glimpsed for less than a quarter of a second. With video.

  2. Plants

    Botanists refine family tree for flowering plants

    Two research teams have used the biggest array of flowering-plant genes yet to try to reconstruct the elusive evolutionary history of today's flowers.

  3. Plants

    So Sproutish: Anti-aging gene for plants gives drought protection

    A gene that can hold off the decrepitude of old age in plants offers an unusual approach to protecting crops from drought.

  4. Earth

    Hey, What about Us?

    The plight of polar bears may get most of the attention as climate change disrupts the Arctic ice, but plenty of other species, from walrus and seals to one-celled specks, are also going to see their world change radically.

  5. Plants

    It Takes a Village: Tweaking neighbors reroutes evolution

    The other residents of a plant's neighborhood can make a big difference in whether evolutionary forces favor or punish a plant's trait.

  6. Eastern farms have native-bee insurance

    If honeybees somehow vanished, the pockets of wild land in the Delaware Valley still harbor enough native bees to fill in and do the tough job of pollinating watermelon farms.

  7. Plants

    Tough Frills: Ferns’ wimp stage aces survival test

    A supposedly fragile stage in the life of ferns shows surprising toughness.

  8. Agriculture

    Insects laughing at Bt toxin? Try this

    A new countermeasure restores the toxicity of Bt pesticides to insects that have evolved resistance.

  9. Animals

    Mr. Not Wrong: Not my species? Not a problem

    Female toads that accept mates of another species in tough times may be looking after their own interest.

  10. Animals

    Cousin Who? Gliding mammals may be primates’ nearest kin

    Two species of small, little-known rain forest mammals may be primates' closest living relatives.

  11. Animals

    Smells Funny: Fish schools break up over body odor

    Just an hour's swim in slightly contaminated water can give a fish such bad body odor that its schoolmates shun it.

  12. Earth

    Bad Acid: Ocean’s pH drop threatens snail defense

    As ocean waters trend toward acidity, a result of atmospheric greenhouse gas buildup, a shoreline snail's defense against predatory crabs may weaken.