Bethany Brookshire

Bethany Brookshire

Bethany Brookshire was a longtime staff writer at Science News Explores and is the author of the book Pests: How Humans Create Animal Villains. She has a B.S. in biology and a B.A. in philosophy from The College of William and Mary, and a Ph.D. in physiology and pharmacology from Wake Forest University School of Medicine. She was a 2019-2020 Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT, the winner of the Society for Neuroscience Next Generation Award and the Three Quarks Daily Science Writing Award, among others.

All Stories by Bethany Brookshire

  1. Plants

    Scientists Say: Pollen

    Pollen is a mass of tiny reproductive cells. These grains combine with egg cells to form seeds — but on the way, they can make some people miserable.

  2. Computing

    Will this smartphone app become your exercise coach?

    When one teen couldn’t go to the gym, she invented an app to bring her gymnastics coach to her home. She succeeded and won a major award for it.

  3. Chemistry

    Scientists Say: Metal

    Metals are substances that can be elements, alloys or compounds. They all conduct heat and electricity and can be formed into different shapes.

  4. Animals

    Scientists Say: Genus

    A genus is a group of closely related species. It’s the first part of the two-part system called binomial nomenclature, used to name living things.

  5. Animals

    Let’s learn about dogs

    From learning the names of their toys to sniffing out viruses in human sweat, dogs are far more than household pets.

  6. Physics

    Staying grounded in space requires artificial gravity

    On TV, people in space walk around like they’re on Earth. How can science give real astronauts artificial gravity? Spin right round, baby.

  7. Chemistry

    Scientists Say: Alkaline

    Alkaline chemicals are basic — substances that produce hydroxide ions in solution.

  8. Chemistry

    Level up your demonstration: Make it an experiment

    What’s the difference between a demonstration and an experiment? Questions, measurements and many, many replications.

  9. Math

    Scientists Say: Pi

    Pi is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. But some mathematicians say life would be easier if we used a different ratio instead.

  10. Brain

    Let’s learn about exercise

    Our bodies — from our muscles to our brains — love a good workout. Scientists are always learning new things about exercise.

  11. Animals

    Scientists Say: Dinosaur

    Dinosaurs emerged between 243 and 233 million years ago. While some died out 66 million years ago, others are still with us — birds.

  12. Physics

    Getting cozy with a science experiment

    Items you use in your home can inspire a scientific experiment.