McKenzie Prillaman

McKenzie Prillaman is a science and health journalist based in Washington, DC, who interned at Science News in spring 2023. She holds a degree in neuroscience from the University of Virginia and studied adolescent nicotine dependence at the National Institute on Drug Abuse. After figuring out she’d rather explain scientific research than conduct it, she worked at the American Association for the Advancement of Science and then earned a master’s degree in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her work has appeared in Nature, Scientific American, The Cancer Letter and The Mercury News, among other publications.

All Stories by McKenzie Prillaman

  1. Health & Medicine

    New patch might replace some finger-prick testing of blood sugar

    A finalist at Regeneron ISEF created a wearable patch that turns yellow when someone’s blood-sugar level gets high enough to need an insulin shot.

  2. Health & Medicine

    Hand dryers can infect clean hands with bathroom germs

    Hot-air hand dryers are a haven for microbes. A finalist at Regeneron ISEF found that these machines spray germs all over freshly washed hands.

  3. Animals

    How to tell if cats are having fun — or if fur is flying

    Quietly wrestling cats may be hard at play. But if they’re chasing and yowling, you might have a cat fight on your hands.

  4. Humans

    How fingerprints form is no longer a mystery

    A mathematical theory proposed in the 1950s helps explain how fingerprint patterns such as arches, loops and whorls arise.

  5. Tech

    Magnetic fields melt and re-form new shape-shifting devices

    Miniature machines made of gallium and magnetic particles can switch from solid to liquid and back.