Alex Riley

Science writer, Bristol

Alex Riley is a science writer whose work has been published by the BBC, New Scientist and Nautilus, among others. In 2019, he received a best feature award from the Association of British Science Writers for his reporting on global mental healthcare in Mosaic. He is the author of A Cure for Darkness: The Story of Depression and How We Treat It (2021). He lives in Bristol, UK.

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Written by Alex Riley

Silhouette of a person feeding a flock of birds in foggy blue surroundings.

essayMental health

The seed of suffering

The p-factor is the dark matter of psychiatry: an invisible, unifying force that might lie behind a multitude of mental disorders

Alex Riley

Painting of a colourful dinosaur with a textured, scaly skin pattern and vibrant hues of red, yellow, and blue against a green background.

essayPalaeontology

What say you, dinosaur?

Did Neanderthals speak? Did dinosaurs roar? And when did birds begin to sing? The soundscape of deep time is coming back

Alex Riley

essayEvolution

Sexy beasts

Male flamboyance does more than ruffle a few feathers – it helps the female choose a mate in top metabolic health

Alex Riley

Microscopic image showing various tiny aquatic organisms and green filamentous algae strands against a black background.

essayBiology

Suspended animation

How a 500-year experiment to revive dormant microbes could reveal the secrets to cheating time

Alex Riley