Rebecca Boyle is an award-winning science writer covering astronomy, zoonoses and everything in between. She writes for Popular Science, Wired and New Scientist, among other publications for adults and children.
Rebecca Boyle
From this contributor
The brain’s secret gardeners
Once thought merely to be specialized immune system cells, microglia now appear to be master landscapers of the developing brain.
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Fruit flies use memory to track odors
When flies encounter a tasty smell, they stroll in and out of the odor plume—a process that depends on encoding a memory of the angle needed to travel back to the plume, according to a new study.
Fruit flies use memory to track odors
When flies encounter a tasty smell, they stroll in and out of the odor plume—a process that depends on encoding a memory of the angle needed to travel back to the plume, according to a new study.
By
Calli McMurray
8 September 2026 | 2 min watch
New methods to contextualize autism-linked genes, and more
Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 7 September.
New methods to contextualize autism-linked genes, and more
Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 7 September.
By
Jill Adams
8 September 2026 | 2 min read
Dimensionality—neuroscience’s red herring?
Placing too much emphasis on a specific interpretation of dimensionality, or treating it as an end-all quantification of some aspect of neural computation, may hinder progress in understanding the brain.
Dimensionality—neuroscience’s red herring?
Placing too much emphasis on a specific interpretation of dimensionality, or treating it as an end-all quantification of some aspect of neural computation, may hinder progress in understanding the brain.
By
Matthew Perich
7 September 2026 | 8 min read