Jonathan Lambert

Staff Writer, Biological Sciences, 2019-2021

Jonathan Lambert was a staff writer covering biological sciences at Science News from 2019 to 2021. He earned a master’s degree from Cornell University studying how a bizarre day-long mating ritual helped accelerate speciation in a group of Hawaiian crickets. A summer at the Dallas Morning News as a AAAS Mass Media fellow sparked a pivot from biologist to science journalist. He previously wrote for Quanta Magazine, NPR, and Nature News.

All Stories by Jonathan Lambert

  1. a long, skinny millipede curled around a few times
    Animals

    A 1,306-legged millipede is the first to live up to its name

    Scientists have discovered the first true millipede, an elongated, threadlike creature with a whopping 1,306 legs.

  2. a robotic fish with gray and white 'skin' and red eyes swimming alongside small mosquito fish
    Life

    A terrifying robot can thwart invasive mosquito fish

    A robot designed to mimic a natural predator of mosquito fish can impair the survival and reproduction of this costly invasive species.

  3. a young tropical forest growing on abandoned pastureland, with the sun rising or setting in the background
    Life

    Cleared tropical forests can regain ground surprisingly fast

    Tropical forests can re-establish themselves on abandoned agricultural lands faster than expected, scientists say.

  4. image of a flock of white and black sanderling birds
    Life

    Light-colored feathers may help migrating birds stay cool on long flights

    Analysis of over 20,000 illustrations of birds reveals that migrating birds generally tend to have lighter-colored feathers than birds that stay put.

  5. image of a forest looking up at the canopy
    Climate

    A new map shows where carbon needs to stay in nature to avoid climate disaster

    Scientists have mapped the location of key natural carbon stores. Keeping these areas intact is crucial to fighting climate change.

  6. a collared puffbird perched on a human hand
    Animals

    Climate change may be shrinking tropical birds

    Scientists had previously found that migratory birds are getting smaller as temperatures rise. Dozens of tropical, nonmigratory species are too.

  7. two humpback whales emerging from the ocean to feed
    Animals

    Baleen whales eat (and poop) a lot more than we realized

    The sheer volume of food that some whales eat and then excrete suggests the animals shape ecosystems to a much larger degree than previously thought.

  8. several doctors in scrubs and masks look at a patient on an operating table
    Health & Medicine

    What does the first successful test of a pig-to-human kidney transplant mean?

    For the first time, a pig organ was successfully attached to a human patient. It’s a step toward vastly increasing the supply of organs.

  9. a herd of horses running across grassland in Mongolia
    Animals

    Scientists found modern domestic horses’ homeland in southwestern Russia

    Two genes tied to endurance and docility may help explain the horses’ success in spreading across Eurasia.

  10. illustration of the molecular structures of two mirror versions of limonene
    Chemistry

    An easier, greener way to build molecules wins the chemistry Nobel Prize

    Chemists Benjamin List and David MacMillan have sparked a whole new field that’s aided drug discovery and made chemistry more environmentally friendly.

  11. twin girls stand side by side
    Genetics

    All identical twins may share a common set of chemical markers on their DNA

    Identical twins may share a set of unique chemical tags on their DNA that could be used to identify individuals who were conceived as identical twins.

  12. three common vampire bats roosting in a cave
    Animals

    Bloodthirsty vampire bats like to drink with friends over strangers

    Cooperation among vampire bats extends beyond the roost. New research suggests that bonded bats often drink blood from animals together.