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. Earth

    50 years ago, scientists named Earth’s magnetic field as a suspect in extinctions

    In 1970, researchers saw a link between magnetic pole reversals and extinctions. Fifty years later, scientists have uncovered more suggestive examples but no strong evidence of a direct link.lamb

  2. Health & Medicine

    Coronavirus cases are skyrocketing. Here’s what it will take to gain control

    Basic public health measures can still curb COVID-19, if everyone does their part.

  3. Animals

    How octopuses ‘taste’ things by touching

    Octopus arms are dotted with cells that can "taste" by touch, which might enable arms to explore the seafloor without input from the brain.

  4. Health & Medicine

    The FDA has approved the first treatment for Ebola

    Lab-made antibodies developed by Regeneron marshal an immune response and curb the Ebola virus’s ability to infect cells.

  5. Animals

    Glowing blue helps shield this tardigrade from harmful ultraviolet light

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

  6. 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.

  7. 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.

  8. 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.

  9. 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.

  10. 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.

  11. 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.

  12. 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.