Senior physics writer Emily Conover has a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Chicago. She is a two-time winner of the D.C. Science Writers’ Association Newsbrief award and a winner of the Acoustical Society of America’s Science Communication Award.
Larger, More Dangerous Hail Is Becoming More Common—Here’s Why The largest hail tends to form in “supercell” thunderstorms and seems to be becoming more common as climate change continues By Brian Tang & The Conversation US The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research. Hail the…
Ħaġar Qim, a megalithic temple complex in southern Malta Felix Choo / Alamy Stock Photo Several 5000-year-old temples in Malta seem to have been oriented towards specific stars, suggesting the temples could have been schools for celestial navigation. Ancient people constructed seven temples across the Maltese archipelago from 3800 to 2300 BC. Fashioned from large,…
With greater control over the quantum realm, physicists are poised to make major leaps in quantum computing, quantum gravity and more.
Murderbot, the titular character of a new television show on Apple TV+, doesn’t do much murdering. Instead it enjoys the freedom of having hacked its governor module, the internal control system that punished it for disobeying orders from its corporate owners. Now you could say it’s “quiet quitting”: slacking off by watching its favorite soap…
A male white-faced capuchin monkey carrying a baby howler monkey Brendan Barrett/Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior Capuchin monkeys on a remote Panamanian island are abducting babies from howler monkey families, in a first-of-its-kind trend. The wild population of white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus imitator) living on Jicarón Island has been monitored with 86 motion cameras…
For Fruit Seeds, Humans Are Modern-Day Dinosaurs By physically engineering their environments, megafauna such as dinosaurs curbed fruit seed sizes—a role that now may be filled by humans By Gayoung Lee edited by Sarah Lewin Frasier What do humans have in common with the dinosaurs that trampled through ancient forests? It turns out that both…
The AI Con by Emily Bender and Alex Hanna wants to expose the hype generated by large artificial intelligence companies, but it is a frustrating read
Is it ever okay—or at least, understandable—for one child to bully another? I spend a lot of time speaking to parent groups and students about bullying, and it’s common for parents to approach me after a talk with questions about their personal situation. A mother once asked for my thoughts about a situation in which…
Are teenagers at risk of harm from smartphones? Experts disagree Drazen Zigic/Getty Images An attempt to reach a scientific consensus on the potential harms posed by smartphones and social media use in young people has descended into an argument among researchers. This failed consensus suggests it will be difficult for policy-makers to lean on existing…
