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. Climate

    Student scientists work to help all of us survive a warmer world

    From glaciers in the refrigerator to a rover in the field, here’s how young scientists are looking to help us adapt to climate change.

  2. Space

    Scientists Say: Gravity

    Gravity is a fundamental force that attracts objects with mass to other objects with mass. It decreases with distance.

  3. Health & Medicine

    Let’s learn about bones

    Bones hold us up and help us fight gravity with every step. They also make blood cells, hormones and more.

  4. Ecosystems

    Scientists Say: Desert

    Deserts are ecosystems that get less than 250 millimeters (10 inches) of precipitation per year.

  5. Chemistry

    Study acid-base chemistry with at-home volcanoes

    Baking soda volcanoes are a fun demonstration, and with a few tweaks they can be an experiment, too

  6. Science & Society

    Scientists Say: Theory

    A theory is an explanation of how part of the world works. It’s one that’s been tested many times and in many ways.

  7. Brain

    Confidence can make you miss important information

    Being confident can feed a confirmation bias in us, new studies show. This bias can make your brain ignore other people’s ideas and any conflicting information.

  8. Life

    Let’s learn about alligators and crocodiles

    Alligators and crocodiles seem similar — but they live in different places and look different, too.

  9. Chemistry

    Scientists Say: Plastic

    Plastics are made of long polymer chains and can take on many shapes. Unfortunately, they stick around for a long time.

  10. Life

    Scientists Say: Amphibian

    Amphibians are ectotherms that live dual lives — they start off in water, breathing with gills, and end up breathing air with lungs.

  11. Chemistry

    Build ice towers with bottled water and ice

    Pour out liquid water into a solid ice tower. We outline the conditions you’ll need to turn this demonstration into a super-cool experiment.

  12. Archaeology

    Let’s learn about ancient technology

    Ancient people didn’t have the internet. Instead, they performed surgeries, made weapons and built monuments with wood, stones, rope and fire.