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. Plants

    Tiny pool protects flower buds

    A rare structure on flowers, tiny cups that keep buds underwater until they bloom, can protect the buds from marauding moths.

  2. Humans

    Extreme Encyclopedia: Every living thing will get its own page

    A consortium of museums and laboratories has unveiled plans to create a free, Web-based Encyclopedia of Life with an entry for every living species.

  3. Animals

    Sex—perhaps a good idea after all

    A family of mites may be the first animal lineage shown to have abandoned sexual reproduction and then reevolved it millions of years later.

  4. Animals

    Egg Shell Game

    Birds apparently cheat chance when it comes to laying eggs that contain sons or daughters.

  5. Animals

    Spider blood fluoresces

    Among spiders, fluorescence under ultraviolet light seems to be a widespread trait.

  6. Animals

    Living Fossil: DNA puts rodent in family that’s not extinct after all

    The Laotian rock rat, which is very much alive, belongs to a rodent family that supposedly vanished 11 million years ago.

  7. Animals

    Killer mice hit seabird chicks

    A surveillance video shows a worrisome sight: house mice nibbling to death rare seabird chicks on a remote island breeding colony.

  8. Primate’s Progress: Macaque genome is usefully different

    A group of 35 labs has unveiled a draft of the genome of the rhesus macaque, the most widely used laboratory primate and a cousin to people.

  9. Mushroom Boom: Hobby records show climate-change boost

    Mushrooms in England are starting to pop up earlier and staying around later than they used to, according to 55 years of amateur naturalists' records.

  10. Kill-save gene combo might fight malaria

    A technique that might someday enlist mosquitoes in the fight against malaria has passed an early test.

  11. Rare flower needs prickly neighbors

    A flowering plant found only in Mauritius makes more fruit if dense stands of pandanus trees grow nearby.

  12. Animals

    Too Few Jaws: Shark declines let rays overgraze scallops

    A shortage of big sharks on the U.S. East Coast is letting their prey flourish, and that prey is going hog wild, demolishing bay scallop populations.