Laurel Hamers

Laurel Hamers was the general assignment reporter at Science News.

All Stories by Laurel Hamers

  1. Health & Medicine

    Transplanted stem cells become eggs in sterile mice

    Sterile mice that received transplanted egg-making stem cells were able to have healthy babies.

  2. Paleontology

    Ancient whale tells tale of when baleen whales had teeth

    A 36 million-year-old whale fossil bridges the gap between ancient toothy predators and modern filter-feeding baleen whales.

  3. Environment

    Peace and quiet is becoming more elusive in U.S. wild areas

    Human noise stretches into the wilderness.

  4. Chemistry

    Chemistry controlled on tiniest scale can create hollow nanoparticles

    Oxidizing tiny iron particles from the inside out reveals how oxidation works and could offer new vehicles for drugs or energy.

  5. Health & Medicine

    Zika hides out in body’s hard-to-reach spots

    Zika virus sticks around in the central nervous system and lymph nodes of monkeys.

  6. Animals

    Beetles have been mooching off insect colonies for millions of years

    The behavior, called social parasitism, has been going on for about 100 million years.

  7. Animals

    Young eels use magnetic ‘sixth sense’ to navigate

    Migrating eels use Earth’s magnetic field.

  8. Paleontology

    Bedbugs bugged prehistoric humans, too

    Scientists have found the oldest known specimens of bedbug relatives in an Oregon cave system where ancient humans once lived.

  9. Materials Science

    Bone-inspired steel cracks less under pressure

    Steel that’s structured like bone resists cracks better that the traditional form of the heavy-duty building material.

  10. Neuroscience

    Food odors are more enticing to sleep-deprived brains

    Sleep deprivation makes the brain more sensitive to food smells.

  11. Neuroscience

    More brain differences seen between girls, boys with ADHD

    ADHD looks different in the cerebellums of girls and boys with the condition.

  12. Neuroscience

    Sarcasm looks the same in the brain whether it’s words or emoji

    Sarcasm via winking emoji affects the brain like verbal irony does.