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Ed Yong

Award-winning science writer who reports for the Atlantic. His first book, I Contain Multitudes, about the amazing partnerships between microbes and animals, was published in August 2016. His writing has also appeared in National Geographic, the New YorkerWired, the New York TimesNatureNew ScientistScientific American, and more.

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"One of the best sites for in-depth analysis of interesting scientific papers" - The Times

"A consistently illuminating home for long, thoughtful, and thorough explorations of science news" - National Association of Science Writers

Posts by this author

August 12, 2009
In a French laboratory, a team of ants is attempting a daring rescue. One of their colony-mates is trapped in a snare - a nylon thread that dastardly researchers have looped around its waist and half-buried in some sand. Thankfully, help is at hand. A crack squad of rescuers work together to dig…
August 10, 2009
People infected with the bird flu virus - influenza A subtype H5N1 - go through the usual symptoms of fever, aching muscles and cough. The virus is so virulent that 60% of infected humans have died. But according to a study in mice, the infection could also take a more inconspicuous toll on the…
August 10, 2009
This article is reposted from the old Wordpress incarnation of Not Exactly Rocket Science. In the Alien movies, the eponymous monster killed shipmates and marines with a fearsome set of double jaws. That may have been science fiction but science fact isn't too far off. In our planet's tropical…
August 7, 2009
Itching is an unpleasant sensation that drives us to scratch reflexively in an effort to remove harmful substances from our body. It's also how I get most of my physical activity for the day. Not being able to scratch an itch is intensely frustrating and many scientists have long described itch as…
August 6, 2009
Aesop's fable "The Crow and the Pitcher" has been confirmed in a wonderful experiment. In the classic tale, a thirsty crow uses stones to raise the level of water in a pitcher until it rises within reach of its beak. This is no mere fiction - rooks, close relatives of crows, have the brains to…
August 5, 2009
You wouldn't think it to look at our skyrocketing global population, but many parts of the world are experiencing serious falls in fertility. A country's fertility rate is the average number of children  born to a woman over her lifetime. In most developed countries, it needs to be 2.1 or higher if…
August 4, 2009
You'll sometimes hear people lowering their voices to make themselves sound tougher or more commanding. We're not the only ones - it seems that our close relatives, the orang-utans, pull the same trick, and they use tools to do it. Madeleine Hardus from the University of Utrecht has found…
August 3, 2009
Swine flu has made the world all too aware of the possibility of diseases making the leap from animal hosts to human ones. Now, we know that another disease made a similar transition from chimpanzees to humans, several thousand years ago. This particular infection is caused by a parasite, and a…
August 3, 2009
Right, back from holiday and back to blogging. Something new about malaria coming up in a few hours but for now, I thought you might enjoy a couple of snaps taken at Oxford's Botanical Gardens.
August 2, 2009
This article is reposted from the old Wordpress incarnation of Not Exactly Rocket Science. "Congratulations, it's a stunted, malformed, necrotic hybrid!" Those aren't really the words that new parents want to hear but thankfully, plants aren't in a position to be that upset. In several species…
July 31, 2009
This article is reposted from the old Wordpress incarnation of Not Exactly Rocket Science. An ant nest is sheltered, well defended and stocked with food, but one that takes time to build and protect. That's why some species of ants don't bother to do it themselves - they just squat in the nests of…
July 30, 2009
This article is reposted from the old Wordpress incarnation of Not Exactly Rocket Science. A humble species of fruit fly is the genetic equivalent of a Russian doll - peer inside its DNA and you will see the entire genome of a species of bacteria hidden within. The bacteria in question is…
July 29, 2009
This article is reposted from the old Wordpress incarnation of Not Exactly Rocket Science. Fizzy drinks like Perrier and Coca-Cola are targeted at a huge range of social groups, but if fruit flies had any capital to spend, they'd be at the top of the list. Unlike posh diners or hyperactive kids,…
July 28, 2009
Folks, I'm taking a bit of a breather from blogging for a week. My wife and I are celebrating our second-year anniversary and I'm lavishing her with attention for a week. It's also a busy time at my day job, and it's a slow news week - a fortuitous confluence of events which mean that I get to put…
July 28, 2009
This article is reposted from the old Wordpress incarnation of Not Exactly Rocket Science.  The idea of an out-of-body experiences seems strange and hokey - certainly not one that would grace one of the world's top scientific journals. So it may seem surprising that two years ago, Science…
July 27, 2009
Cities are noisy places. If you ever get annoyed by the constant din of traffic, machinery and increasingly belligerent inhabitants, think about what songbirds must think. Many birds rely on songs to demarcate their territories and make their advances known to mates. They listen out not just for…
July 24, 2009
In Lake Alexandrina, New Zealand, a population of snails is under threat from a parasitic flatworm, a fluke aptly known as Microphallus. The fluke chemically castrates its snail host and uses its body as a living incubator for its larvae. But the snails have a weapon against these body-snatching…
July 23, 2009
Relative to its body size, the huge beak of the toco toucan is the largest of any bird. It allows the toucan to eat both fruit and small animals, and display to both mates and rivals. Darwin himself speculated that it acts as a billboard, shaped by sexual selection to display bright colours that…
July 23, 2009
From the scientists who brought you the infamous 'Halle Berry neuron' and the 'Jennifer Aniston neuron' come the 'Oprah Winfrey neuron' and the 'Saddam Hussein neuron'. Four years ago, Rodrigo Quian Quiroga from Leicester University showed that single neurons in the brain react selectively to the…
July 22, 2009
This is a repost from the old Wordpress incarnation of Not Exactly Rocket Science You are being hunted, chased through a labyrinth by a relentless predator. Do you consider your options and plan the best possible escape, or do you switch off and rely solely on instinct? A new study provides the…
July 21, 2009
A short announcement. Last Tuesday, this blog received its millionth page view (according to Sitemeter). Today, I've also recruited my thousandth follower on Twitter (despite mercilessly pruning for spammers). I am celebrating by having a day where I don't write anything. Except this. CURSES!
July 20, 2009
As you read this, you are glowing - weakly, faintly, but glowing nonetheless. Chemical reactions within your body, besides liberating energy and producing heat, are also emitting small numbers of photons, elementary particles of light. The glow is strongest in the late afternoon, and around the…
July 19, 2009
It seems like an uneven match. In one corner, the unassuming California ground squirrel (Spermophilus beechyi), 30cm in length. In the other, the northern Pacific rattlesnake (Crotalus oreganos), more than twice the length of the squirrel, and armed with hinged fangs that pack a lethal venom. But…
July 18, 2009
We think of spiders as fearsome hunters, spinners of webs and treacherous mates, but construction workers? Yes, that too. Some groups of spiders - trapdoor and wolf spiders - dig tunnels that they use to ambush passing insects. But these tunnels can also provide shelter and accommodation for other…
July 17, 2009
Bats view the world in echoes, timing the reflections of their own ultrasonic calls to navigate and hunt. This biological sonar, or echolocation, has made them masters of the night sky; it's so sensitive that some species take moths and other insects on the wing, while others pluck spiders from…
July 16, 2009
In the world of horse-racing, the horses understandably get all the attention but much of the thrill of today's races depends on the jockeys. Their modern riding posture - the so-called Martini glass - has led to a dramatic improvement in race times, by making things much easier on their horses.…
July 16, 2009
Compare the elegant grace of a running wolf with the comical shuffle of a waddling dachshund, and you begin to understand what millennia of domestication and artificial selection can do to an animal. As dachshunds develop, the growing tips of their limb bones harden early, stunting their growth and…
July 15, 2009
To me, and I suspect many readers, the quest for information can be an intensely rewarding experience. Discovering a previously elusive fact or soaking up a finely crafted argument can be as pleasurable as eating a fine meal when hungry or dousing a thirst with drink. This isn't just a fanciful…
July 14, 2009
In a world where the temptation to lie, deceive and cheat is both strong and profitable, what compels some people to choose the straight and narrow path? According to a new brain-scanning study, honest moral decisions depend more on the absence of temptation in the first place than on people…
July 13, 2009
While dogs can often be taught new tricks, cat-owners will be all too aware that it can be very difficult to persuade them to do something they don't want to do. Eddie Izzard summed it up best in his legendary Pavlov's cat sketch, where felines are quite capable of outfoxing (outcatting?) eminent…