Susan Milius

Susan Milius

Life Sciences Writer

Life sciences writer Susan Milius has been writing about botany, zoology and ecology for Science News since the last millennium. She worked at diverse publications before breaking into science writing and editing. After stints on the staffs of The Scientist, Science, International Wildlife and United Press International, she joined Science News. Three of Susan's articles have been selected to appear in editions of The Best American Science Writing.

All Stories by Susan Milius

  1. Agriculture

    Rethinking Refuges? Drifting pollen may bring earlier pest resistance to bioengineered crops

    Pollen wafting from bioengineered corn to traditional varieties may be undermining the fight to keep pests from evolving resistance to pesticides.

  2. Animals

    Toxin Takeout: Frogs borrow poison for skin from ants

    Scientists have identified formicine ants as a food source from which poison frogs acquire their chemical weapons.

  3. Animals

    Din among the Orcas: Are whale watchers making too much noise?

    Whale-watching boats may be making so much noise that killer whales off the coast of Washington have to change their calls to communicate over the racket.

  4. Animals

    Shielded cells help fish ignore noise

    Fish can sort out the interesting ripples from the background rush of water currents through sensors shielded in canals that run along their flanks.

  5. Animals

    Male spiders amputate organs, run faster

    Tiny male spiders of a species common to the southeastern United States routinely remove one of their two oversize external sex organs, enabling them to run faster and longer.

  6. Animals

    Dull birds and bright ones beat so-so guys

    The plumage of yearling male lazuli buntings shows signs of a rare form of evolutionary pressure called disruptive selection.

  7. Animals

    Flex That Bill: Hummingbirds’ surprising insect-catching style

    High-speed videos of hummingbirds catching insects reveal that their lower bills are unexpectedly flexible.

  8. Animals

    Long Horns Win: Selection in action—Attacks favor spike length for lizards

    A hunting bird's quirk—a tendency to impale prey on thorns—leaves a record that has allowed scientists to catch a glimpse of an evolutionary force in action.

  9. Animals

    Wolf vs. Raven? Thieving birds may drive canines to form big packs

    A previously underappreciated reason why wolf packs get so big could be the relentless food snitching of ravens.

  10. Plants

    Sudden oak death jumps quarantine

    The funguslike microbe that causes sudden oak death has turned up on nursery plants in southern California for the first time.

  11. Animals

    The Social Lives of Snakes

    A lot of pit vipers aren't the asocial loners that even snake fans had long assumed.

  12. Animals

    Road rage keeps ants moving smoothly

    Streams of ants manage to avoid traffic gridlock by a bit of strategic pushing and shoving.