Laura Clark

Laura Clark

 

Laura Clark is a writer and editor based in Pittsburgh. She's a blogger with Smart News and a senior editor at Pitt magazine.

Resin, similar to the kind shown here, is used by the newly discovered caterpillar to build its cocoon.

A Newly Discovered Caterpillar Makes a Deadly Fortress of Its Cocoon

Scientists have found a caterpillar in a Borneo forest that uses toxic tree resin to build an extra-safe home for its metamorphosis

How Halitosis Became a Medical Condition With a "Cure"

Bad breath wasn’t perceived as a medical condition until one company realized that it could help them sell mouthwash

Early Homo sapiens, a skull of which is shown here, may have coexisted with the primitive human whose jawbone was recently discovered by a fisherman off the coast of Taiwan

Did Fishermen Find Evidence of an Unknown Group of Primitive Humans?

A fossilized jawbone pulled from the seafloor near Taiwan may be from an ancient type of hominin new to science

The naturally mummified body of Ötzi is seen in a cooling chamber at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano.

The 61 Tattoos of Ötzi, the 5,300-Year-Old “Iceman”

Scientists have mapped the body art of one of archeology’s biggest super stars in hopes to better understand the role tattoos played in early civilization

Pollutants Are Making Polar Bears' Penis Bones More Likely to Break

An industrial chemical contaminating the Arctic is further threatening a species already facing dire challenges

The Mystery of the Continuously Functioning Battery From 1840

A battery at the University of Oxford has been incessantly ringing two bells for 175 years—but no one knows exactly why it’s lasted so long

Evidence of a Seating Plan Discovered at the Colosseum

Restoration efforts reveal the red-painted numbers that would help ancient Romans find their status-dictated seats

A stone relief carving of soldiers made in Assyria and now in the British Museum.

Ancient Assyrian Soldiers Were Haunted by War, Too

A new study finds evidence of trauma experienced by soldiers returning home from combat over 3,000 years ago

How One 138-Page Book Inspired the Creation of the Boy Scouts

How a little military textbook evolved into a movement that would captivate generations of young men

Two Christie's employees look at paintings set to be auctioned off in the Art of the Surreal sale.

To Appreciate Surrealistic Art, Think About Death

Two new studies indicate that thoughts about death can influence how we perceive art

Surprise! Cats may be able to pick up on the moods of their owners.

It Isn’t Only Dogs; Cats May Pick Up on Emotional Cues, Too

New research shows that, like babies and dogs, our feline friends look to us for clues on how to react to new situations

Neuroscientists Found Eight Genes That Govern Human Brain Size

A consortium of neuroscientists compared medical data from over 30,000 people and found genetic mutations that may cause parts of the brain to be smaller

Michelin's X-Tweel SSL, pictured in 2012.

Finally! A Tire That Will Never Go Flat

The Tweel went into commercial production in November, recently got picked up by John Deere and may soon be rolling towards you

What Hibernation Teaches Us About Treating Alzheimer’s Disease

Scientists find that a brain-protecting protein produced when the body cools may have major implications for the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders

Elizabeth Blackwell was a pioneer of women in medicine.

The First Woman in America to Receive an M.D. Was Admitted to Med School as a Joke

When the students at Geneva Medical College voted in jest to admit a woman, they unwittingly paved the way for Elizabeth Blackwell’s trailblazing career

A fragment from a copy of the Gospel of John, circa 200AD, is displayed at Sotheby's auctioneers in London. Researchers now claim to have found a gospel text that is over 100 years older.

Papyrus Found in a Mummy Mask May Be the Oldest Known Copy of a Gospel

Questions surround the reported discovery of an ancient scrap of the Gospel of Mark

George Washington by Charles Willson Peale

The First State of the Union Address: Way Shorter, Way Less Clapping

In his First Annual Message to Congress, George Washington outlined the country’s most pressing issues and kicked off a flexible annual tradition

In an illustration unrelated to the study from the University of California, one kind of nano-bot is depicted in the bloodstream.

Scientists Test Out Tiny Robots Meant to Travel Inside a Human Body

The first test of micro-machines on a living mouse marks a breakthrough in the field of nano-robotics

Commercial Hives Might Be Saving Crops, But They're Killing Wild Bees

Diseases known to affect commercial bees are having a troubling impact on the wild population

Le Grand Baigneur (The Large Bather) by Paul Cezanne illustrates the kind of bathing suit that inspired the creation of the modern brief.

Tighty-Whities First Hit the Market More Than 80 Years Ago

Even a blizzard couldn’t dampen the excitement from the release of the first pair of men’s briefs in 1935

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