Jonathan Lambert

Staff Writer, Biological Sciences, Science News

Jonathan Lambert joined Science News in 2019 as a staff writer covering biological sciences. He earned a master’s degree from Cornell University studying how a bizarre day-long mating ritual helped accelerate speciation in a group of Hawaiian crickets. A summer at the Dallas Morning News as a AAAS Mass Media fellow sparked a pivot from biologist to science journalist. He has previously written for Quanta Magazine, NPR and Nature News.

All Stories by Jonathan Lambert

  1. Environment

    ‘Zombie’ wildfires can reemerge after wintering underground

    Climate change may make these not-quite-dead blazes more common. Scientists are learning to predict where a zombie might emerge.

  2. Earth

    Only 3 percent of Earth’s land is unchanged by people

    A sweeping survey of land-based ecosystems finds that very few still support all the animals they used to. Reintroducing lost species could help.

  3. Health & Medicine

    Bringing COVID-19 vaccines to much of world is hard

    The price of not vaccinating nearly everyone across the world could be a longer pandemic and more troubling variants of the new coronavirus.

  4. Animals

    More playtime and meatier meals might reduce kitty kills

    Keeping cats indoors is the best way to prevent them from killing wildlife. But small changes to diet and play can help, too.

  5. Health & Medicine

    Some young adults will volunteer to get COVID-19 for science

    Researchers will soon give some healthy people the new coronavirus. Their young volunteers have agreed to get sick to speed coronavirus research.

  6. Animals

    Unique dialects help naked mole-rats tell friends from foes

    Computer analysis reveals that these social rodents communicate with speech patterns distinct to each colony.

  7. Animals

    A new chameleon species may be the world’s tiniest reptile

    The newly described reptiles live in the northern forests of Madagascar. Deforestation there may also leave them on the brink of extinction.

  8. Animals

    Some electric eels coordinate their attacks to zap prey

    Electric eels were thought be to lone hunters — until researchers observed more than 100 eels hunting together. Their coordinated electric attacks corralled prey.

  9. Ecosystems

    Can people protect as much space as nature needs?

    To save biodiversity, nations are drafting a plan to protect 30 percent of Earth by 2030. Up for debate is how best to do that.

  10. Animals

    Touching allows octopuses to pre-taste their food

    Special sensory cells in their arms’ suckers sense chemicals. Those cells allow them to taste the difference between food and poison.

  11. Life

    One hummingbird survives cold nights by nearly freezing stiff

    To survive a freezing night, hummingbirds in the Andes mountains go very still, slow their heart rate and let their body temperature plummet.

  12. Life

    If bacteria stick together, they can survive for years in space

    Tiny clumps of bacteria can survive at least three years in outer space. This raises the prospect of interplanetary travel by microbial life.