Jonathan Lambert

Staff Writer, Biological Sciences, 2019-2021

Jonathan Lambert was a staff writer covering biological sciences at Science News from 2019 to 2021. He earned a master’s degree from Cornell University studying how a bizarre day-long mating ritual helped accelerate speciation in a group of Hawaiian crickets. A summer at the Dallas Morning News as a AAAS Mass Media fellow sparked a pivot from biologist to science journalist. He previously wrote for Quanta Magazine, NPR, and Nature News.

All Stories by Jonathan Lambert

  1. Animals

    Glowing blue helps shield this tardigrade from harmful ultraviolet light

    Tardigrades have a newly discovered trick up their sleeve: fluorescence.

  2. Ecosystems

    Trapped under ice, light-loving algae grow in the dark Arctic winter

    Blocked off from nearly all light beneath a thick layer of ice and snow in the winter, marine phytoplankton in the Arctic still find a way to thrive.

  3. Health & Medicine

    A Brazilian city devastated by COVID-19 may have reached herd immunity

    Up to half of Manaus was infected at the epidemic’s peak, which slowed further spread of the virus but also led to many deaths, scientists say.

  4. Health & Medicine

    Blood donations show that the United States is still nowhere near herd immunity

    Testing donated blood for antibodies to the coronavirus highlights that the vast majority of the United States remains susceptible to infection.

  5. Health & Medicine

    Lung cell images show how intense a coronavirus infection can be

    Microscopic views reveal virus particles coating the hairlike cilia of an airway cell from the lungs.

  6. Health & Medicine

    Here’s what pausing the AstraZeneca-Oxford coronavirus vaccine trial really means

    A coronavirus vaccine trial was paused after a volunteer had a possible adverse reaction. Such routine measures help ensure new vaccines are safe.

  7. Animals

    This hummingbird survives cold nights by nearly freezing itself solid

    To survive cold Andean nights, the black metaltail saves energy by cooling itself to record-low temperatures, entering a state of suspended animation.

  8. Ecosystems

    Protecting half the planet could help solve climate change and save species

    An analysis lays out where new land protections could complement existing protected areas to achieve various conservation and climate goals.

  9. Life

    This parasitic plant eavesdrops on its host to know when to flower

    Dodder plants have no leaves to sense when to bloom, so the parasites rely on a chemical cue from their hosts instead.

  10. Microbes

    If bacteria band together, they can survive for years in space

    Tiny clumps of bacteria can survive at least three years in outer space, raising the prospect of interplanetary travel by microbial life.

  11. Health & Medicine

    COVID-19 plasma treatments may be safe, but we don’t know if they work

    Blood plasma from COVID-19 survivors can be used to treat hospitalized patients, FDA says, but researchers question how well it works.

  12. Health & Medicine

    4 reasons you shouldn’t trash your neck gaiter based on the new mask study

    Despite news coverage to the contrary, the study was meant to figure out how to evaluate masks, not actually do the comparison.