
Physics writer Emily Conover joined Science News in 2016. She has a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Chicago, where she studied the weird ways of neutrinos, tiny elementary particles that can zip straight through the Earth. She got her first taste of science writing as a AAAS Mass Media Fellow for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She has previously written for Science Magazine and the American Physical Society. She is a two-time winner of the D.C. Science Writers’ Association Newsbrief award.

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All Stories by Emily Conover
- Physics
Here’s why icicles made from pure water don’t form ripples
A new study explains why icicles made from pure water have irregular shapes rather than the ripples typical of the salty icicles found in nature.
- Physics
Water is weird. A new type of ice could help us understand why
A newfound type of amorphous ice with a density close to liquid water could help scientists make sense of water’s quirks.
- Particle Physics
How ghostly neutrinos could explain the universe’s matter mystery
If neutrinos behave differently from their antimatter counterparts, it could help explain why our cosmos is full of stuff.
- Physics
Zapping plastic with a laser forged tiny diamonds
The technique could be used to manufacture nanodiamonds for use in quantum devices and other applications.
- Space
Physicists dispute a claim of detecting a black hole’s ‘photon ring’
A thin ring of light around a black hole, which would probe gravity in a new way, has been found, one team claims. Skeptics aren’t convinced.
- Physics
‘Chameleon’ forces remain elusive in a new dark energy experiment
A hypothetical fifth force associated with “chameleon” dark energy and that morphs based on its environment didn’t turn up in a sensitive experiment.
- Particle Physics
Protons contain intrinsic charm quarks, a new study suggests
The massive quarks — counterintuitively heavier than the proton itself — might carry about 0.6 percent of a proton’s momentum.
- Particle Physics
Physicists spotted rare W boson trios at the Large Hadron Collider
By measuring how often triplets of particles called W bosons appear, scientists can check physics’ standard model for any cracks.
- Cosmology
Scientists mapped dark matter around galaxies in the early universe
A technique used to reveal dark matter could also shed light on a disagreement about the clumpiness of matter in the cosmos.
- Quantum Physics
Quantum entanglement makes quantum communication even more secure
Bell tests proved that quantum mechanics really is “spooky.” Now they’ve made quantum communication even more hacker-proof.
- Physics
A new dark matter experiment quashed earlier hints of new particles
Unlike its earlier incarnation, the XENONnT detector found no evidence of extra blips that scientists had hoped indicated new physics.
- Astronomy
A fast radio burst’s rapid, steady beat offers a clue to its cosmic origin
Amped-up neutron stars, pairs of magnetically entangled neutron stars or magnetar quakes could explain a three-second-long train of radio blips.