Headshot of Jill Adams.

Jill Adams

Contributing writer

Jill U. Adams is a freelance science journalist based in Albany, New York. She covers health, mental health and biomedical research for such publications as The TransmitterThe Washington PostScientific AmericanUndark and The Scientist. She has a Ph.D. in pharmacology from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.

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How thirteen-lined ground squirrels illuminate retinal development

In most mammalian retinas, rods outnumber cones. But that ratio is flipped in ground squirrels, a quirk that helps Seth Blackshaw explore how retinal cells develop their identities.

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Research image of the association cortex.

Cortical territories compete in developmental space race

Sensory and association regions are established through a reciprocal process, according to a new model of cortical development.

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30 July 2026 | 5 min read