photo of Ashley Yeager

Ashley Yeager

Associate News Editor

Ashley Yeager is the associate news editor at Science News. Previously, she worked at The Scientist, where she was an associate editor for nearly three years. She has also worked as a freelance editor and writer, and as a writer at the Simons Foundation, Duke University and the W.M. Keck Observatory. She was the web producer for Science News from 2013 to 2015, and was an intern at the magazine in the summer of 2008. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and a master’s degree in science writing from MIT. Her book, Bright Galaxies, Dark Matter and Beyond, on the life of astronomer Vera Rubin, will be published by MIT Press in August.

All Stories by Ashley Yeager

  1. Paleontology

    Fossil whale skull hints at echolocation’s origins

    Ancestors of toothed whales used echolocation as early as 34 million years ago, analysis of a new fossil skull suggests.

  2. Tech

    Early advantages pay off in public opinion on Twitter

    Twitter data show that having a slight advantage early in the formation of public opinion can be beneficial even though the state of the opinions level off over time.

  3. Earth

    How the Chicxulub impact made acid rain

    Using lasers to accelerate materials to asteroid-like impact velocities, scientists have shown how the Chicxulub asteroid impact, which happened roughly 65 million years ago, could have created a mass extinction in the oceans.

  4. Climate

    Warm, wet weather may have helped Genghis Khan rule

    Mild, wet weather — not drought — may have helped Genghis Khan expand the Mongolian empire to the largest in human history.

  5. Planetary Science

    Mojave Crater may be source of many Martian meteorites

    Many of the roughly 150 Martian meteorites found on Earth probably came from the Mojave Crater on Mars.

  6. Paleontology

    New dino species named Europe’s top predator

    At up to 10 meters long and weighing in at four to five tons, this Tyrannosaurus rex-like beast could have been the biggest predator to ever roam Europe and among the largest dinosaurs to walk Earth during the late Jurassic period.

  7. Astronomy

    Cosmic lens exposes spin of supermassive black hole

    A chance alignment of a bright, distant galaxy behind a much closer one has given astronomers a rare opportunity to determine the spin of a supermassive black hole 6 billion light-years from Earth.

  8. Materials Science

    Silk bone screws may mend better than metal ones

    The silk-made screw and plates are less stiff than metal ones and dissolve in the body, making them a safer, less invasive alternative for setting broken bones.

  9. Physics

    Flying snakes get lift from surrounding air vortices

    When a paradise flying snake leaps into and glides through the air, it’s getting lift from small, swirling vortices in the air around it.

  10. Astronomy

    NASA releases 2015 budget with some mission cuts

    NASA $17.5 billion budget for fiscal year 2015 supports big missions, such as the James Webb Space Telescope. But there are plans to put the SOFIA telescope in storage.

  11. Health & Medicine

    Gaming-type setup relieves phantom limb pain

    The treatment reduced one patient’s pain entirely for periods of time and helped him sleep without being awoken by pain.

  12. Physics

    Metamaterials give sound a twist

    The design allows researchers rotate a wave at precise angles so that it originates from the opposite direction, which could have implications for improving ultrasound imaging.