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Staff Writer

Science writer
The secret world of animal sleep

Thanks to miniaturized sleep labs, scientists are able to track the extreme ways animals snooze in risky environments.
 
Volunteer Brent Cohen carries plates of food to guests during the annual Thanksgiving banquet at the Denver Rescue Mission on Nov. 22, 2023, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
Why doing good also makes us feel good, during the holidays and beyond
The holiday season is a popular time for volunteering, but experts say giving back is beneficial year-round.
 
This photo provided by Adam Pažout shows a fragment of a Roman milestone that was erected along the road Via Nova Traiana in Jordan. (Adam Pažout/Itiner-e via AP)
All roads in ancient Rome stretched far longer than previously known, study shows
As the saying went, all roads once led to Rome — and scientists now say those roads stretched 50% longer than previously known.
 
A golden snub-nosed monkey is seen in the Shennongjia National Park in Shennongjia in central China's Hubei province on Wednesday, June 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
China’s rare golden monkeys debut at European zoos, a possible successor to ‘panda diplomacy’
China’s endangered golden snub-nosed monkeys have joined pandas as diplomatic envoys to Europe. These rare monkeys, native to central China, are now on a 10-year loan to zoos in France and Belgium.
 
This illustration provided by researchers in October 2025 depicts an Alamosaurus sanjuanensis in southern North America as an asteroid hits the Earth 66 million years ago, causing mass extinction. (Natalia Jagielska/New Mexico State University via AP)
Dinosaurs were thriving in North America before the mass-extinction asteroid strike, study suggests
New research suggests that dinosaur populations were thriving in North America before the asteroid impact 66 million years ago that caused mass extinction.
 
Nurse Rod Salaysay plays guitar for patient Richard Hoang in the recovery unit of UC San Diego Health in San Diego, Calif., on Sept. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Javier Arciga)
Music could help ease pain from surgery or illness. Scientists are listening
Hospitals and doctors’ offices are inviting singers and musicians to help patients manage their pain, as music’s ability to reduce pain is gaining attention.
 
This photo provided by NASA shows a meteor from the Orionid shower on Oct. 13, 2015. (Jet Propulsion Laboratory/NASA via AP, File)
How to watch the Orionid meteor shower, debris of Halley’s comet
The Orionid meteor shower peaks this year with the arrival of a new moon, offering a rare chance to see shooting stars without moonlight interference.
 
Chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry Heiner Linke makes a demonstration, next to Secretary General of the Swedish Academy of Sciences Hans Ellegren, and Member of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry Olof Ramstrom, right, after they announce Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar Yaghi, on screen behind, as the recipients the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, at the Nobel Assembly of the Karolinska Institutet, in Stockholm, Sweden, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025. (Fredrik Sandberg/TT News Agency via AP)
Nobel Prize in chemistry goes to discovery that could trap C02 and bring water to deserts
Three scientists have won the Nobel Prize in chemistry for their development of new molecular structures that can trap vast quantities of gas inside.
 
British primatologist, ethologist, and anthropologist Jane Goodall poses for a portrait in New York to promote the Disneynature film, "Born in China", April 7, 2017. Goodall, the conservationist renowned for her groundbreaking chimpanzee field research and globe-spanning environmental advocacy, died Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. She was 91. (Photo by Victoria Will/Invision/AP File)
Goodall’s influence spread far and wide. Those who felt it are pledging to continue her work
In the wake of Jane Goodall’s death, the many scientists and others influenced by her are promising to do their best to carry on her legacy.
 
This photo provided by researchers in September 2025 shows a Diptera Nematocera fly of the family Chironomidae (non-biting midges) trapped in a Cretaceous-era amber sample discovered in Ecuador. (Mónica Solórzano-Kraemer via AP)
Discovery of insects trapped in amber sheds light on ancient Amazon rainforest
Scientists have discovered prehistoric insects preserved in amber in South America for the first time.
 
This photo provided by researchers in September 2024 shows a mating pair of wild Octopus americanus, one displaying the arm action "raise." (Chelsea Bennice via AP)
How to use 8 arms? Octopuses tend to explore with their front limbs
Scientists have discovered that octopuses don’t have a dominant arm, but they more often use their front arms for tasks.
 
SpaceX's mega rocket Starship makes a test flight from Starbase, Texas, Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Latest launch of SpaceX’s Starship deploys 8 dummy satellites, then splashes down into Indian Ocean
SpaceX has launched its latest test of the mega rocket Starship. It included the first-ever deployment of a test payload into space.
 
This photo provided by Michael Brown with the International Union for Conservation of Nature in August 2025 shows a herd of northern giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis) in Uganda's Kidepo Valley National Park. (Michael Brown/IUCN via AP)
How many giraffe species are in Africa? New scientific analysis quadruples the count
Giraffes are now classified into four distinct species in Africa. Researchers previously thought all giraffes belonged to a single species.
 
This photo provided by the Homa Peninsula Paleoanthropology Project in August 2025, shows Oldowan stone tools made from a variety of raw materials sourced more than 6 miles away from where they were found at the Nyayanga excavation site in Kenya. (E.M Finestone, J.S. Oliver/Homa Peninsula Paleoanthropology Project via AP)
Stone Age humans were picky about which rocks they used for making tools, study finds
New research finds early human ancestors during the Stone Age were more picky about the rocks they used for making tools than previously thought.
 
In this long-exposure photo, a meteor streaks across the sky, seen above palm trees, in Bal Harbour, Fla., early Monday, Aug. 13, 2018, during the Perseid meteor shower. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
Venus and Jupiter appear close in the sky as summer’s best meteor shower peaks soon
The Perseid meteor shower is peaking soon. This year, a bright moon will hinder viewing during peak viewing early Wednesday, so experts suggest waiting a week for darker skies.
 
In this photo provided by the Hakai Institute, researcher Alyssa Gehman from the Hakai Institute counts and measures sunflower sea stars in the Burke Channel on the Central Coast of British Columbia, Canada, in 2023. (Bennett Whitnell/Hakai Institute via AP)
Scientists say they have solved the mystery of what killed more than 5 billion sea stars
Scientists have solved the mystery of what killed over 5 billion sea stars — also known as starfish — off the Pacific coast of North America.
 
This image provided by NASA shows comet 96P Machholz which orbits the Sun about every 6 years, and is suspected to cause the Southern Delta Aquariids meteor showers. (NASA/ESA/SOHO via AP)
How to watch two meteor showers peak together in late July
It’s almost time to catch summer’s double meteor showers. The Southern Delta Aquariid and Alpha Capricornid meteor showers peak in the early morning of July 30.
 
In this photo provided by the Shark Bay Dolphin Research Project, a bottlenose dolphin wearing a marine sponge on its nose to forage swims in Shark Bay, Australia, 2023. This photo was taken under DBCA fauna license F025000102-8. (Meredith MacQueeney/Shark Bay Dolphin Research Project via AP)
Some Australian dolphins use sponges to hunt fish, but it’s harder than it looks
Some dolphins in Australia use sponges on their noses to hunt fish, a skill passed down through generations.
 
A depiction is represented of the largest species of moa, the South Island giant moa, which once could stand 12 feet (3.6 meters) tall. (Courtesy of Colossal Biosciences via AP)
‘Lord of the Rings’ director’s new project stars an extinct bird
Filmmaker Peter Jackson’s fascination with a large extinct New Zealand bird has led to an unusual partnership with a biotech company known for its grand and controversial plans to bring back lost species.
 
This photo provided by researchers shows rock-cut tombs in Nuwayrat, Egypt where a pottery vessel in which the remains of a man, radiocarbon dated to around 2855–2570 cal BCE, was discovered. (John Garstang, Mahmoud Abd El Gelel/Garstang Museum of Archaeology/University of Liverpool via AP)
Ancient DNA shows genetic link between Egypt and Mesopotamia
Ancient DNA has revealed links between the cultures of Egypt and Mesopotamia. Researchers sequenced whole genomes from the teeth of a well-preserved skeleton found in a sealed funeral pot in an Egyptian tomb site dating to between 4,495 and 4,880 years ago.
 
This undated photo provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows a blacklegged tick, also known as a deer tick, a carrier of Lyme disease. (CDC via AP, File)
How to spot and remove ticks before infections spread
Ticks can be active in any season and experts say it’s important to check for and remove the bloodsuckers as quickly as possible.
 
This combination of 2007, 2018 and 2012 photos shows, from left, the Cederberg mountain range in South Africa, the Tenere desert in Niger and savanna in South Africa. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam, Jerome Delay, Matthew Craft)
Early humans survived in a range of extreme environments before global migration, study says
Humans are the only animal that lives in virtually every possible environment, from rainforests to deserts to tundra.
 
This photo provided by the Smithsonian in June 2024 shows a prairie dog at the American Prairie nature preserve in Montana. (Roshan Patel/Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute via AP)
A grassland bird eavesdrops on prairie dog calls to keep itself safe from predators
New research says long-billed curlews listen to alarm barks from prairie dog colonies to protect themselves from predators.
 
This undated photo provided by the British Antarctic Survey in January 2024 shows adult emperor penguins with a chick near Halley Research Station in Antarctica. (British Antarctic Survey via AP)
Emperor penguins show dramatic decline in one region of Antarctica, satellite photos show
Satellite photos show emperor penguins in one region of Antarctica declined 22% in the past 15 years.
 
Medical researchers from universities and the National Institutes of Health rally near the Health and Human Services headquarters to protest federal budget cuts Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell, File)
Scientists have lost their jobs or grants in US cuts. Foreign universities want to hire them
As the Trump administration cut billions of dollars in federal funding to scientific research, thousands of scientists in the U.S. lost their jobs or grants.
 
This photo provided by researchers shows a baby howler monkey clinging onto a young adult male capuchin monkey on Jicarón Island, Panama in September 2022. (Brendan Barrett/Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior via AP)
Caught on camera, capuchin monkeys kidnap howler monkey babies
Scientists have found evidence of monkey kidnappings in Panama. Video footage shows male capuchin monkeys carrying howler monkey babies between 2022 and 2023.
 
This artist rendering shows hands of early human ancestors, called Australopithecus sediba and Homo naledi, found in South Africa. The left images show photos of the bones, and the right images show how the fingers absorbed stress during daily activities. Red areas absorbed more stress than blue ones, which scientists can tell based on bone thickness. (Tracy Kivell via AP)
Early human ancestors used their hands to both climb trees and make tools, new study shows
A new study shows two species of early human ancestors used their hands for both climbing and tool-making.
 
This image provided by Prof. Per Erik Ahlberg shows an artist's illustration of the possible appearance of a reptile-like creature that lived around 350 million years ago in what's now Australia. The animal was around 2 ½ feet long (80 cm) and its feet has long fingers and claws, which are visible in newly discovered fossil footprints. (Marcin Ambrozik/Prof. Per Erik Ahlberg via AP)
How ancient reptile footprints are rewriting the history of when animals evolved to live on land
Scientists in Australia have identified the oldest known fossil footprints of a reptile-like animal on a slab of sandstone recovered near Melbourne.
 
This image provided by NASA shows new details of the auroras on Jupiter captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. (NASA via AP)
Bright auroras on Jupiter are captured by Webb Space Telescope
New images from the James Webb Space Telescope reveal that Jupiter’s dazzling auroras are hundreds of times brighter than those seen on Earth.
 
In this combination of photos provided by researchers, a wild male chimpanzee drums on a buttress tree while producing a pant-hoot call as he joins his groupmates in the Budongo Forest of Uganda in May 2017. (Adrian Soldati via AP)
Chimpanzees drum with regular rhythm when they beat on tree trunks, a form of ancient communication
A new study shows that chimpanzees drum with regular rhythm when they beat on tree trunks. Previous research has shown that chimps have their own signature drumming style.
 
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