Cassandra Willyard

Cassandra Willyard is a freelance science journalist based in Madison, Wis.

All Stories by Cassandra Willyard

  1. Health & Medicine

    Is aging without illness possible?

    Researchers are harnessing basic biology to develop drugs that foster healthy aging. Just don’t call them antiaging pills.

  2. Health & Medicine

    How scientists are shifting their search for links between diet and dementia

    Studies of food’s impact on Alzheimer’s disease and dementia are hampered by complexity. Scientists hope new research approaches prove more fruitful.

  3. Science & Society

    All kinds of outbreaks, from COVID-19 to violence, share the same principles

    Adam Kucharski talks about his new book ‘The Rules of Contagion,’ a timely read during the coronavirus pandemic.

  4. Animals

    New books explore why dogs and humans have such a special bond

    ‘Dog Is Love’ and ‘Our Dogs, Ourselves’ delve into the complicated, sometimes contradictory relationship that we have with our canine companions.

  5. Planetary Science

    See how visualizations of the moon have changed over time

    To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the moon landing, here’s a collection of images that show how the moon has been visualized over the ages.

  6. Life

    ‘An Elegant Defense’ explores the immune system’s softer side

    The lives of four people helped or harmed by their body’s natural defenses illustrate why immunology has become one of the hottest fields in science.

  7. Health & Medicine

    Two new books explore the science and history of the 1918 flu pandemic

    One-hundred years after the Spanish flu, ‘Pandemic 1918’ and ‘Influenza’ provide a new look at the global outbreak.