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Science AMA Series: We are writers for Science News, which just published a special issue about Aging, Ask us anything!
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Abstract

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. *