Jessica Shugart

Science Writing Intern, Summer 2013

All Stories by Jessica Shugart

  1. Humans

    Mother lode

    Certain sugar molecules in human breast milk do more to foster beneficial microbes, and banish harmful ones, than they do to nourish newborns.

  2. Environment

    Mercury contamination in California to last 10,000 years

    Toxic remnants of gold rush will seep into San Francisco area waterways for millennia.

  3. Anthropology

    Hunting boosts lizard numbers in Australian desert

    Reptiles prefer to live in places aboriginal people have burned.

  4. Neuroscience

    3-D effects may require one eye only

    Peering through a peephole can bring flat images to life.

  5. Life

    Broccoli compound protects rats from lethal radiation

    Treatment shields healthy cells from gamma ray attack but lets tumors die.

  6. Climate

    Tropics to launch into uncharted climate territory by 2038

    Global temperatures will take a permanent leap above historical bounds by 2047 if greenhouse gas emissions continue unabated, a simulation suggests.

  7. Animals

    Alpine swifts fly nonstop for more than six months

    During a journey of 200 days, the birds eat, rest and migrate without touching the ground.

  8. Earth

    Deep network

    The NEPTUNE observatory — a ring of six underwater research stations connected to the Internet with fiber optic cables — is the first online observatory to brave the depths of the abyss.

  9. Life

    Blocking a hormone helps mice beat lengthy jet lag

    A timekeeping brain molecule steadies the beat of the circadian clock, while stopping it allows for a quick reset.

  10. Life

    Engineered salivary glands keep juices flowing

    Organs grown in a lab dish do their job when transplanted into mice.

  11. Earth

    Oxygen wafted into Earth’s atmosphere earlier than thought

    Date pushed back to 3 billion years ago, suggesting photosynthesis had evolved by then.

  12. Earth

    Biggest volcano hulks deep

    Tamu Massif forms a broad, rounded dome rising about 4 kilometers from the seafloor and stretching 450 by 650 kilometers across.