Lauren Leffer

Contributor

About

Lauren Leffer is a science, tech, and environmental reporter based in Brooklyn, NY. She writes on many subjects including artificial intelligence, climate, and weird biology because she’s curious to a fault. When she’s not writing, she’s hopefully hiking.

More from Lauren Leffer

the forest
Environment

Tree bark demonstrates an unexpected climate superpower

By Lauren Leffer

view from airplane
Climate Change

Climate change is making turbulence worse

By Lauren Leffer

This rotifer has just survived a life-threatening infection. When a fungal disease attacked, she switched on hundreds of genes that her ancestors copied from microbes, including antibiotic recipes stolen from bacteria.
Animals

No sex? No problem. These tiny, asexual animals steal genes to make their own medicine 

By Lauren Leffer

Millions Of Red Crabs Make Their Way To Ocean As Part Of Annual Migration On Christmas Island
Animals

Millions of crabs scuttle across this island every year

By Lauren Leffer

lanternfly
Animals

What’s going on with spotted lanternflies?

By Lauren Leffer

The newly described Guianan long-nosed armadillo.
Animals

A new armadillo species was hiding in plain sight

By Lauren Leffer

Green and gold bell frogs in artificial hotspot shelter.
Animals

Frog saunas could help the amphibians cope with a deadly fungus

By Lauren Leffer

Dna Strand
Biology

Yes, humans are still evolving 

By Lauren Leffer

cows crowded indoors at a farm
Diseases

Can we prevent a bird flu pandemic in humans?

By Lauren Leffer

An orange tree stays next to a damaged buildings in Antakya, Hatay province, on February 5, 2024, after one year the February 2023 earthquake. The disaster, which killed more than 53,500 people in Turkey and nearly 6,000 in Syria, was the region's deadliest in many centuries. (Photo by Ozan KOSE / AFP) (Photo by OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images)
Science

New data on ‘the Big One’ offers a clearer view of inevitable earthquake catastrophe

By Lauren Leffer

A huge thermokarst crater showing the damage to the permafrost and our climate, Batagay, Russia.
Climate Change

Earth’s ‘Gateway to Hell’ is growing

By Lauren Leffer

Carrion crow (Corvus corone) perched on wooden fence post and calling. (Photo by: Sven-Erik Arndt/Arterra/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Animals

Crows can ‘count’ similarly to toddlers, according to new study

By Lauren Leffer

little baby
Animals

Making babies may take 10 times more energy than we thought

By Lauren Leffer

Six layers of excitatory neurons colored by depth - the human brain
Science

See the most detailed map of human brain matter ever created

By Lauren Leffer

mice in a cave
Animals

Lab mice might be doing their own experiments

By Lauren Leffer

Anterior trunk vertebrae of Vasuki indicus.
Animals

Enormous snake in ancient India was longer than a school bus

By Lauren Leffer

brown rat
Animals

How big rats took over North America

By Lauren Leffer

Hyenas’ social status shines through in their poop
Animals

Hyenas’ social status shines through in their poop

By Lauren Leffer

a photograph of a dog EEG experimental setup
Animals

New evidence suggests dogs may ‘picture’ objects in their minds, similarly to people

By Lauren Leffer

A pair of mountain goats camera trapped walking along a hiking trail near Lake Louise, Banff National Park, Canada.
Animals

Nature wasn’t healing: What really happened with wildlife during pandemic lockdowns

By Lauren Leffer