Hi Reddit! We are writers for Science News (https://www.sciencenews.org/), a publication of the Society for Science and the Public (https://www.societyforscience.org/). With the recent spread of Zika, there have been concerns about the spread of mosquito-borne diseases. What can be done? What answers can science provide us? Together, we have written extensively on Zika, gene drives, genetically engineered mosquitoes, and general mosquito biology. Ask us anything! I’m Meghan Rosen, and I’m the general assignment reporter at Science News. It’s a grab bag beat that I love because I’m always learning about something new (from disaster robots to lead poisoning to a new form of carbon that glows in the dark). This year I’ve been covering the Zika virus outbreak that emerged in Brazil in 2015, and may be to blame for the country’s recent surge in microcephaly cases. I have a Ph.D. in molecular biology and biochemistry (with an emphasis in biotechnology) from UC Davis, and graduated from UC Santa Cruz’s Science Communication program in 2012. (https://www.sciencenews.org/article/rapid-spread-zika-virus-americas-raises-alarm?mode=pick&context=169&tgt=nr) I’m Tina Saey, the molecular biology writer at Science News. I cover a broad range of topics from viruses to human evolutionary history, with occasional forays into penguin tongues and water bear survival tactics. Basically, if it has DNA I will write about it. But don’t worry, red blood cells and non-DNA-based extraterrestrial life, I’ve got you covered, too. One of the hottest topics on my beat has been the gene-editing tool called CRISPR/Cas9 and its scientific, medical and ethical implications. Pertinent to this discussion is an application of CRISPR called gene drives. Scientists hope to eliminate mosquito-borne diseases and invasive species, but worry about unforeseen consequences (such as causing the extinction of entire species) of the technology. (https://www.sciencenews.org/article/gene-drives-spread-their-wings) I’m Susan Milius, and I write about creatures great and small, and even photosynthetic, for Science News. I’m aghast at the number of years I just slapped mosquitoes without even wondering which of several thousand species, quite diverse in their tastes, I had just smeared on the wall. (Some are blue. Some hate the outdoors as much as any human couch potato. Some don’t even drink blood.) Now those distinctions explain why some major disease-carrying mosquitoes just laugh at our attempts to control them. It took me a bit of exploring other kinds of journalism to realize that after double-majoring in biology and English, I could get a job writing in English about biology. It’s a wonderful life, even with mosquitoes in it. We’ll be back at 2 pm EST (11 am PST, 7 pm UTC) to answer your questions, ask us anything!* EDIT: What great questions! It’s our time to leave, but we’ll be checking in throughout the day to see if there are any more questions. Thanks for having us!

I’m Tina Saey, the molecular biology reporter at Science News magazine. I’m a former scientist turned journalist. I write about things microscopic and molecular like cells and DNA and how they affect human health. I recently discovered my first gray hair. My story addresses what aging is, what can done about it, and whether slowing aging will make people live longer. (https://www.sciencenews.org/node/192081) I’m Laura Sanders. I am an award-winning science journalist who reports on the latest mysteries of the mind and blogs about the science of raising kids. I earned my Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles in 2008. Convinced that I was missing some exciting science development somewhere, I moved to Science News and began writing about brains in all shapes and forms. My story explores how the brain ages. That’s a huge question, and one that’s still mysterious in lots of ways, but it turns out that there are some interesting parallels between how the brain grows and how it ultimately declines. And some scientists hope that that relationship could ultimately point out ways to slow the mental decline that comes with age. (https://www.sciencenews.org/node/192082) I’m Susan Milius and it took a ridiculously long time to realize what kind of journalist I wanted to be. So after working as a freelance book editor trying to sneak active verbs into a book on the semantics of air passenger transportation, a food writer and some other improbable tasks, I finally realized that there were real careers writing about biology. Best beat in the galaxy! Just in the last few days I have had people tell me that certain lizards have green blood and bones, that the sort of cat-raccoon-looking creatures called binturongs smell like movie popcorn, and that there are bacteria basically fighting with spears. My feature on how the rest of the planet ages (meaning not humans) presents scientists who went to extremes testing whether some animals have found the secret of perpetual youth or whether there’s such a thing as a creaky, frail, elderly roadside weed. (https://www.sciencenews.org/node/192083) We’ll be back at 3 pm ET to answer your questions, ask us anything! *EDIT: Thank you for having us and for the awesome questions. We’ll be checking in throughout the day to see if there are any other questions. *

Hi reddit! We are the astronomy and physics writers for Science News (https://www.sciencenews.org/), a publication of the Society for Science and the Public (https://www.societyforscience.org/). This November marks the 100-year anniversary of Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. To celebrate, we published a special issue of Science News focusing on how researchers are using Einstein’s theory today–from using it to magnify the cosmos to exploring quantum entanglement. About Andrew Grant: I am an award-winning physics writer for Science News. I have a bachelor’s degree in physics from The College of New Jersey and a master’s in journalism from New York University’s Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program. My story (“Entanglement: Gravity’s long-distance connection”: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/entanglement-gravitys-long-distance-connection) examines a big idea to expand the scope of general relativity that involves black holes, wormholes, holograms and a mysterious phenomenon called quantum entanglement. Physicists are exploring whether long-distance quantum connections are responsible for the geometry of space and time in the universe. About Christopher Crockett: I am the astronomy writer for Science News. I received by Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of California, Los Angeles. After eight years of searching for exoplanets, probing distant galaxies and exploring comets, I realized I enjoyed talking about astronomy a lot more than actually doing it. After being awarded a 2013 AAAS Mass Media Fellowship to write for Scientific American, I left a research career at the U.S. Naval Observatory to pursue a new life writing about anything and everything within the local cosmological horizon. I joined Science News in early 2014. My story (“Using general relativity to magnify the cosmos”: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/using-general-relativity-magnify-cosmos?mode=pick&context=163) explores how scientists exploit phenomena predicted by the general theory of relativity to study the universe. We here to answer your questions about Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity and how scientists are using it today! We’ll be back at 2pm ET (11am PT) to answer your questions! Ask us anything! EDIT: Thanks for the awesome questions! We had a blast. We’ll be checking in throughout the day to answer more questions. Until next time!