Laurel Hamers

Laurel Hamers was the general assignment reporter at Science News.

All Stories by Laurel Hamers

  1. Animals

    Bacterial compounds may be as good as DEET at repelling mosquitoes

    A bacterium’s metabolic by-products are as effective as DEET in deterring Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.

  2. Science & Society

    Here’s how the record-breaking government shutdown is disrupting science

    The partial government shutdown is taking many U.S. scientists out of commission and putting up hurdles to their research.

  3. Health & Medicine

    Studies can be in vitro, in vivo and now ‘in fimo’ — in poop

    Scientists have coined a new term — “in fimo” — to describe studies focused on feces.

  4. Environment

    4 ways to tackle ocean trash besides Ocean Cleanup’s broken system

    Here are three approaches to reducing ocean pollution that might be more effective than a controversial plan to fish trash out of the Pacific.

  5. Environment

    Satellites make mapping hot spots of ammonia pollution easier

    There’s a more accurate way to estimate ammonia emissions.

  6. Health & Medicine

    DNA tests of Lassa virus mid-outbreak helped Nigeria target its response

    New technology for analyzing genetic data quickly in the field guided how Nigeria dealt with an outbreak of Lassa fever in 2018.

  7. Anthropology

    This scientist watches meat rot to decipher the Neandertal diet

    This scientist is studying how meat changes as it rots to figure out what Neandertals might have eaten.

  8. Paleontology

    More plants survived the world’s greatest mass extinction than thought

    Fossil plants from Jordan reveal more plant lineages that made it through the Great Dying roughly 252 million years ago.

  9. Neuroscience

    Zapping the spinal cord helped paralyzed people learn to move again

    A handful of people paralyzed from spinal cord injuries have learned to walk again.

  10. Animals

    Endangered northern bettongs aren’t picky truffle eaters

    Without the northern bettong, the variety of Australia’s truffle-producing fungi could take a hit, a new study finds.

  11. Climate

    Global carbon dioxide emissions will hit a record high in 2018

    Carbon dioxide emissions from China, the United States and India all rose this year, a new report finds.

  12. Animals

    Here’s how geckos (almost) walk on water

    New high-speed video reveals how geckos use a hybrid walking-swimming gait in water to reach speeds similar to those on land.