Erin Garcia de Jesús
Staff writer, Science News
Erin I. Garcia de Jesús is a staff writer at Science News. She holds a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Washington, where she studied virus/host co-evolution. After deciding science as a whole was too fascinating to spend a career studying one topic, she went on to earn a master’s in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her writing has appeared in Nature News, Science, Eos, Smithsonian Voices and more, and she was the winter 2019 science writing intern at Science News.
All Stories by Erin Garcia de Jesús
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Animals
Parrots may offer clues to how our intelligence evolved
Studies of the brainy birds’ abilities to use tools, solve puzzles, speak words and more may teach us about how our species got our smarts.
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Animals
Metal gives the teeth of Komodo dragons their super strength
Investigating Komodo dragons' ironclad teeth in greater detail could also help solve a dental mystery in dinosaurs.
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Humans
How much more can Olympic speed records fall?
The human body can go faster than current world records on land and in water. But to reach full potential, our technique must be perfect.
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Animals
See how hummingbirds sneak through small spaces
Anna’s hummingbirds can use a couple of different techniques to get through gaps smaller than their wingspan.
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Genetics
A protein in sweat may protect people from Lyme disease
That protein stopped the disease-causing bacterium from growing in lab dishes or infecting mice.
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Animals
This frog is the world’s smallest known vertebrate
Neither fleas nor toads, Brazilian flea toads are almost flea-sized. These mini frogs are small enough to fit on a pinkie fingernail.
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Animals
At last: How poison dart frogs ship defense toxins to their skin
A liver protein appears to help the amphibians collect and move toxins from their food to their skin. Those toxins can defend the frogs from predators.
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Physics
Here’s why blueberries aren’t blue — but appear to be
Blueberries actually have dark red pigments — no blue ones — in their skin. Tiny structures in the fruits’ waxy coat are what make them seem blue.
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Animals
Which way is up? Insects may lose track near artificial lights
Flying insects may use light to figure out where the sky is. But artificial lights can send them veering off course, high-speed video suggests.
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Health & Medicine
RNA work that led to COVID-19 vaccines wins 2023 Nobel in medicine
Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman overcame hurdles to using mRNA for medicine. This led to COVID vaccines — and maybe, one day, some for other infections.
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Animals
A new technique creates glowing whole-body maps of mice
Removing cholesterol from mouse bodies lets fluorescent proteins seep into every tissue. That has helped researchers map entire body parts.
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Health & Medicine
Stem cells can help build lab-grown organs that mimic real life
Making such organoids with 3-D printing and other tech can help researchers learn more about many troubling and potentially deadly disorders.