a photo of Lily Burton

Lily Burton

Spring 2026 Science Writing Intern, Science News

Lily Burton was the Spring 2026 science writing intern at Science News. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Molecular and Cell Biology and Anthropology from UC Berkeley. She also has a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics from the University of Chicago where she researched circadian rhythms in photosynthetic bacteria and the role they play in metabolism. She was a 2024 AAAS Mass Media Fellow where she reported on local science at WUNC – North Carolina Public Radio.

All Stories by Lily Burton

  1. Artificial Intelligence

    AI may be giving teens bad diet advice

    The meal plans that AI made for fictional teens cut an entire meal’s worth of calories per day.

  2. Physics

    Thunderstorms can make trees twinkle with an electric glow

    The tiny, storm-driven electric zaps dance and jump around pine needles and other leaves. Videos have just captured that subtle flickering in forests.

  3. Brain

    Brain scans offer clues to why math is harder for some kids

    Kids with math learning disabilities process number symbols differently than numbers shown as dots.