Bethany Brookshire

Bethany Brookshire was a longtime staff writer at Science News Explores and is the author of the book Pests: How Humans Create Animal Villains. She has a B.S. in biology and a B.A. in philosophy from The College of William and Mary, and a Ph.D. in physiology and pharmacology from Wake Forest University School of Medicine. She was a 2019-2020 Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT, the winner of the Society for Neuroscience Next Generation Award and the Three Quarks Daily Science Writing Award, among others.

All Stories by Bethany Brookshire

  1. Brain

    Expecting pain? That could really make it hurt worse

    How much someone expects something to hurt affects how their brain processes the pain, and how well they learn from it.

  2. Planets

    Scientists Say: Exomoon

    A moon that orbits a planet in our solar system in a moon. But a moon that orbits a planet outside our solar system? That’s an exomoon.

  3. Ecosystems

    Mosquito repellent could pose risks to baby salamanders

    Two ingredients in bug repellant — DEET and picaridin — can end up in streams. There, they may hurt salamanders but leave mosquitoes alone, a study finds.

  4. Brain

    Scientists Say: Opioid

    Opioid drugs work in the brain to stop pain. But the drugs also produce pleasure, which can make people want to take them over and over again.

  5. Physics

    Soggy cereal gives clues to how rock dams collapse

    To find out how ice sheets move and rock dams collapse, two researchers turned the attention to breakfast cereal.

  6. Ecosystems

    Welcome to the Arctic’s all-night undersea party

    Life teems in the frozen darkness of the Arctic night. But as the ice recedes and people move in, their light pollution may disturb the animals living there.

  7. Science & Society

    Here’s the science you loved in 2018

    When our readers read about science, they want to read about research that hits close to home, like smartphones, chocolate, vaping and more.

  8. Oceans

    What makes Aquaman special? He can take a lot of pressure

    The new Aquaman movie makes life under the sea look pretty glamorous. In fact, we puny humans probably couldn’t take the pressure.

  9. Climate

    Scientists Say: Rime ice

    Rime ice is ice that forms when water freezes in a snap onto a surface.

  10. Ecosystems

    Scientists Say: Symbiosis

    Two species can live together and support each other in a relationship called symbiosis.

  11. Animals

    How do elephants eat cereal? With a pinch

    Elephant trunks can grab everything from whole trees to cereal bits. To pick up fine grains, they press, then pinch.

  12. Math

    Scientists Say: Statistical significance

    Statistical significance is a phrase that describes how often a scientific difference might occur by accident.

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