About Scott LaFee

Scott LaFee

Scott LaFee

Scott LaFee is a viviparous, omnivorous, longitudinally symmetrical carbon-based male biped and staff member of The San Diego Union-Tribune. Since 1992, he has been the chief writer for Quest, the paper's award-winning weekly science section, where he covers all manner of scientific news and features, from the inner workings of the brain to the physical nature of "nothingness" -- the stuff between stuff.

LaFee has written two syndicated columns for Creators. Archives of Eureka! can be found here. Or read Wellnews  - new releases weekly.  

He is married with two young sons, whom he coaches in soccer and swimming when not explaining why dead spiders' legs curl up (failed hydraulics) or how 8 feet of DNA can be squeezed into every cell (very carefully).

LaFee lives in La Mesa, Calif., with his hominid family and their several nonhuman pets: two tortoises, three fire-bellied toads, a rat, a rabbit and a dog named Dave.

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Living Long Depends on Where You're Living Dec 17, 2025

Even with modern medicine, vaccines and artificial intelligence helping to diagnose diseases early, the risk of dying before age 70 — called probability of premature death, or PPD — still varies widely around the world. In 2019, 12% of pe... Read More

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California Sober Dec 10, 2025

The so-called "California sober" trend involves swapping alcohol in favor of cannabis consumption in the belief that it's less harmful to the body and reduces the danger of using more potent drugs like opioids, cocaine and methamphetamine. A small pu... Read More

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Life, Death and Axes Dec 03, 2025

Let's look at some converging lines of population numbers. The United States appears to be trending toward a new club of nations: those in which annual deaths routinely outnumber births. Some countries in Europe and Asia, such as Japan, Italy, South ... Read More

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GLP One Less for the Road Nov 26, 2025

Apart from their widely celebrated effect at weight loss and diabetes management, GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy might also reduce alcohol use. In a pilot study published in Scientific Reports, researchers found that GLP-1 agonists (which mimic ... Read More