Freda Kreier

Science News writing intern, Fall 2021

All Stories by Freda Kreier

  1. Animals

    These beetles ‘drink’ water using their butts

    Red flour beetles can survive in very dry environments. New research shows how the beetles can suck water from the air using their rear ends.

  2. Agriculture

    Native Amazonians make rich soils — and ancient people may have too

    Modern Amazonians make nutrient-rich soil from ash, food scraps and burns. The soil strongly resembles ancient “dark earth” found in the region.

  3. Archaeology

    Carvings on Australia’s boab trees reveal a people’s lost history

    Archaeologists and an Aboriginal family are working together to find and document a First Nations group’s lost ties to the land.

  4. Brain

    The pandemic prematurely aged teens’ brains

    A small study showed certain structural changes that appeared three to four years early. Normally, premature aging of the brain is not a good sign.

  5. Humans

    This ancient ivory comb reveals a wish to be free of lice

    The comb bears the earliest known complete sentence written in a phonetic alphabet, researchers say.

  6. Animals

    Some seabirds survive typhoons by flying into them

    Some birds take massive detours to avoid cyclones. But shearwaters caught between land and the storm’s eye sometimes fly toward the storm’s center.

  7. Animals

    This acrobatic spider flips for its food — literally

    An acrobatic hunting trick lets the Australian ant-slayer spider catch prey twice its size, a new study shows.

  8. Animals

    Watch: This red fox is the first spotted fishing for its food

    Big fish in shallow water were easy pickings for this red fox. It’s the first of its species known to fish.

  9. Animals

    Whale sharks may be the world’s largest omnivores

    Chemical clues in the sharks’ skin show that the animals eat and digest algae.

  10. Earth

    Climate change is upping the height of Earth’s lower atmosphere

    The upper edge of the troposphere, the slice of sky closest to the ground, rose 50 to 60 meters (165 to 200 feet) a decade from 1980 to 2020.

  11. Climate

    Can scientists develop an icy sanctuary for Arctic life?

    The final refuge for summer sea ice may also protect the creatures that depend on it. Saving it is an ambitious goal with many hurdles.

  12. Health & Medicine

    A 2021 Nobel goes for discovering how our body reads touch sensations

    David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian found nerve-cell sensors for temperature, pain and pressure.