Sofia Caetano Avritzer

AAAS Mass Media Fellow

Sofia Caetano Avritzer is the 2025 AAAS Mass Media Fellow with Science News. She has a Ph.D. in neuroscience from The Rockefeller University, where she studied how fruit flies move their eyes and navigate the world.

All Stories by Sofia Caetano Avritzer

  1. Animals

    Flamingos hunt by creating their own underwater tornadoes

    Chilean flamingos use their beaks and feet to create underwater whirlpools that suck in prey.

  2. Fossils

    New clues about dino speed come from birds strutting through mud

    Fossilized footprints can help calculate how fast dinosaurs moved. But tests with guinea fowl show that past estimates might not be right.

  3. Life

    Fungi have been ‘zombifying’ insects for 99 million years

    Two bits of ancient amber sitting in a lab basement hold evidence of a fungus that’s become famous for controlling the minds of its victims.