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Carlyn Zwarenstein

Carlyn Zwarenstein is the author of “On Opium: Pain, Pleasure, and Other Matters of Substance.” As a journalist, she writes about science, literature, social movements and health, and is at work on her third book. Find her at carlynzwarenstein.com and on Bluesky.

Jane Goodall with chimpanzee Nana at the zoo in Magdeburg, Germany, June 2004. (Jens Schlueter/DDP/AFP via Getty Images)

Jane Goodall’s work with chimps changed how we see humanity

Carlyn Zwarenstein
(Grace Cary/Getty Images)

Vaccines: Why they’re even more important than you think

Carlyn Zwarenstein
A black widow spider, a venomous species now common in the American West, wrapping up its prey. (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

Who’s the real invasive species: us or them? Ecologists are rethinking urban biodiversity

Carlyn Zwarenstein
Virus (Getty Images / Yuichiro Chino)

It’s time to make friends with your viruses

Carlyn Zwarenstein
(H. Armstrong Roberts/ClassicStock via Getty Images)

Does extraterrestrial life smell like the sea?

Carlyn Zwarenstein
Three-months old baby bonobo Nakarla (L) plays with its mother Ukela on March 19, 2008 at the zoo in Frankfurt/M. (THOMAS LOHNES/DDP/AFP via Getty Images)

Animals are talking — will the legal system listen?

Carlyn Zwarenstein
A view of the famous 'Morant's Curve' offering a beautiful view of the frozen Bow River and the Canadian Pacific Railway at Banff National park near Lake Louise, Canada, late on December 06, 2013. (Photo by JOE KLAMAR/AFP via Getty Images)

We treat corporations like living things with rights. Why not rivers?

Carlyn Zwarenstein
(Photo Illustration by Salon / Getty Images / SCIEPRO / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Shutter2U)

Woolly mice and “dire wolves” are a distraction from attacks on endangered species, experts caution

Carlyn Zwarenstein
Insect design integrated with microchip. (Getty Images / Chayanan)

We can turn bugs into flying, crawling RoboCops. Does that mean we should?

Carlyn Zwarenstein
A framed vulture surrounded by beautiful flowers (Photo Illustration by Salon / Getty Images / milanosss / 500px / Eduardo R / Tomekbudujedomek / Sergey Ryumin)

Your mom’s so ugly

Carlyn Zwarenstein
Marble Roman bust with a surgical mask over its face. (Getty Images / OsakaWayne Studios)

More than a plague: How colonialism, class and incarceration feed disease outbreaks

Carlyn Zwarenstein
Bird Flu (Getty Images/Peter Garrard Beck)

Bird flu isn’t as silent as we think — experts caution the pandemic threat is still growing

Carlyn Zwarenstein
Cochliomyia hominivorax, the New World screwworm fly, or screwworm for short, is a species of parasitic fly that is well known for the way in which its larvae (maggots) eat the living tissue. (Getty Images / Ramdan Fatoni)

We once rid the US of this nasty parasite. Now it could be coming back

Carlyn Zwarenstein
A >5mm member of section Longisetae of the genus Mycena, so named for the long, hyaline spines (setae) which emanate from the pileus and stipe. Some members of this group are bioluminescent. (Danny Newman)

Weird, rare mushrooms in Ecuador reveal secrets about life and loss of biodiversity

Carlyn Zwarenstein
Scheme of parts of human brain with circuit board as brain anatomy. (Getty Images / Grafissimo)

Humans think — AI, not so much. Science explains why our brains aren’t just fancy computers

Carlyn Zwarenstein
Virus spore in an ice cube (Getty Images/Yingko)

A torrent of infectious diseases is erupting from melting ice. We shouldn’t freak out just yet

Carlyn Zwarenstein
White blood cells, a stack of platelets and red blood cells revealed in the photomicrograph of a thick film Giemsa-stained blood smear sample, 1971. (Getty Images/Smith Collection/Gado)

Our cells carry their own sexual identity. That’s science, not ideology

Carlyn Zwarenstein
Wood frog (Getty Images/Auscape/Universal Images Group)

The ultimate comeback: the science of resurrection

Carlyn Zwarenstein
A small town glows beneath a starry sky. (harpazo_hope / Getty Images)

Take back the night: Establishing a “right to darkness” could save our night skies

Carlyn Zwarenstein
Seine et Marne on march the 6th 2021 at night. Taurus constellation. On this image we can see the effect of the movements of artificial satellites through the sky. On the left we can see the planet Mars, on the right the famous stars cluster the Pleiades (M45). From the bottom right the luminous trail of the satellite STARLINK-1269, and from the top the luminous trail of the satellite STARLINK-1577. (Christophe Lehenaff / Getty Images)

Erasing the stars: Satellite megaconstellations are a mega problem for Earth and sky

Carlyn Zwarenstein
Displaced Palestinians walk outside the destroyed Islamic University in Gaza City, on March 25, 2025. Israel vows to destroy the Palestinian militant group Hamas and resumes intense bombardment of Gaza on March 18, redeploying ground troops and shattering a truce that has largely held since January 19. (Photo by Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

War zone innovation: For Palestinians, survival has meant creativity

Carlyn Zwarenstein
Neuronal network, conceptual illustration. (CHRISTOPH BURGSTEDT/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Getty Images)

What makes humans intelligent? These unique neurons might hold the key

Carlyn Zwarenstein
Stony Brook, N.Y.: A digital sign directs people to the drive-through coronavirus testing area which began on the main campus of Stony Brook University on March 18, 2020. Those wishing to be tested must first make an appointment. (Photo by John Paraskevas/Newsday RM vis Getty Images)

Masks off: The lessons we didn’t learn from COVID

Carlyn Zwarenstein
Girl with measles on their body (Getty Images/StockPlanets)

You don’t want to throw a measles party

Carlyn Zwarenstein
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