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Jef Akst

Jef Akst

Jef (an unusual nickname for Jennifer) got her master’s degree from Indiana University in April 2009 studying the mating behavior of seahorses. After four years of diving off the Gulf Coast of Tampa and performing behavioral experiments at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, she left research to pursue a career in science writing. As The Scientist's managing editor, Jef edited features and oversaw the production of the TS Digest and quarterly print magazine. In 2022, her feature on uterus transplantation earned first place in the trade category of the Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism. She is a member of the National Association of Science Writers.

Articles by Jef Akst

Ancient bivalve had huge sperm

Jef Akst | | 3 min read

Sexually reproducing ancient crustaceans had sperm that were literally larger than life, according to a new study to be published in next week's issue of Science. The finding suggests that despite the extreme energetic costs of producing such sperm, the trait might be quite evolutionarily stable, the researchers say. Electron micrograph imageof ostracode spermImage: Renate Matzke-Karasz"This study fills a real gap by, for the first time, actually going back into the fossil record and examining

Can monkeys mislead?

Jef Akst | | 3 min read

Capuchin monkeys cry "predator" to trick more senior members of their troop into fleeing the dinner table, leaving more food for themselves, according to a linkurl:study published online this week;http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2009/06/02/rspb.2009.0544.abstract?sid=004f43ad-84b7-461e-a605-d647c5c15086 in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Image: Brandon Wheeler"This is one of the only studies which has actually [used] an experimental paradigm to look at tactical deceptio

Geckos invade Philly museum

Jef Akst | | 3 min read

Geckos get around. They're among the most diverse and widely distributed lizards, populating every continent except Antarctica and inhabiting everything from tropical beaches and humid rainforests to chilly mountain ranges and arid deserts. This Saturday (May 30), geckos are making an appearance at The Academy of Natural Sciences (ANS) in Philadelphia. The traveling exhibit, "Geckos -- Tails to Toepads" will be open for public viewing until Labor Day (September 7). The exhibit, operated by link

Is tenure worth saving?

Jef Akst | | 3 min read

The economy is depressed, money is tight, and universities are feeling the pinch. One radical proposal for trimming budgets is to eliminate tenure-track positions, shifting faculty to part-time and full-time non-tenure-track positions. The move away from tenure has been slowly brewing for decades. While core tenure-system positions comprised approximately 55% of all faculty in 1970s, by 2003 that number had dropped to 41% and further still to 31% in 2007. Dan Clawson Image: University of Massa

Immunity can be lymph-less

Jef Akst | | 2 min read

Researchers have overturned the long-standing notion that lymph nodes are always necessary for launching the mammalian immune response. Fluorescently-labeled mouse liver Image: Burkhard Becher According to a linkurl:study;http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.1000109 published in this month's issue of PLoS Biology, in the absence of lymph nodes, cell-mediated immunity can be activated in the liver. The findings undercut immunology "dogma," which says the immun

To wake or not to wake?

Jef Akst | | 2 min read

New evidence provides clues about the role of a key sleep-related brain activity pattern in the brain: this waveform may help keep the mind asleep through nonthreatening disturbances, rather than wake it up as previous studies have suggested, a paper in this week's Science reports. Image: Wikipedia The brain pattern in question, called the K-complex (KC), is the largest characterized neurological event in the healthy human brain. Common throughout certain sleep stages, the KC is defined by a br

Tumors spur depression

Jef Akst | | 2 min read

Tumors can cause classic symptoms of depression in rats, according to linkurl:a new study published online in PNAS;http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/05/15/0811949106.abstract this week. Image: linkurl:Understanding Animal Research;http://www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk/ "What's really cool about this paper is that it shows without a doubt that there are depressive-like behaviors induced in these rats before these rats become [sick]," said linkurl:Keith Kelley,;http://www.iib.uiuc.e

Q&A: Frog saver

Jef Akst | | 3 min read

A fungal epidemic blamed for the extinction of dozens of amphibian species has drawn the attention of researchers and conservationist alike. Microbial ecologist linkurl:Reid Harris;http://www.jmu.edu/biology/faculty/harris/harris.shtml and his colleagues at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA, say they have an idea for how to stop the spread of the chytrid fungus. The team recently identified several species of bacteria that occur naturally on the skin of many amphibians, and that inhib

Nonslip role for petal cells

Jef Akst | | 2 min read

Conical cells on the petals of most flowering plants appear to play a much more grounding role for pollinating bees than scientists have previously assumed. Bee landing on snapdragonImage: Don Manning and Beverley GloverUniversity of CambridgeAccording to a study to be published in the June 9 issue of Current Biology, these cone-shaped cells on the surface of petals appear to provide insect pollinators with secure footing while perched on the plant. "Most people assumed that [conical cells] p

Blood grows when it flows

Jef Akst | | 3 min read

The physical forces exerted by a heart beat and the blood flow it produces trigger the formation of new blood cells, according to two studies published today (May 13) in Nature and Cell. Cluster of blood cells developing afterexposure to shear stressImage: Luigi Adamo, Ph.D. student inthe García-Cardeña lab at Harvard"It's very exciting work," said embryologist linkurl:Mary Dickinson;http://www.bcm.edu/db/db_fac-dickinson.html at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, who was not in

New protein offers inside view

Jef Akst | | 2 min read

New labeling proteins that fluoresce in the infrared spectrum allow scientists to see deep inside the body of living mammals without lifting a scalpel.

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Jef Akst

Articles by Jef Akst

Ancient bivalve had huge sperm

Can monkeys mislead?

Geckos invade Philly museum

Is tenure worth saving?

Immunity can be lymph-less

To wake or not to wake?

Tumors spur depression

Q&A: Frog saver

Nonslip role for petal cells

Blood grows when it flows

New protein offers inside view

What Is the Amniotic Fluid Composed of?

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