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.

All Stories by Emily Conover

  1. Particle Physics

    A high-energy neutrino has been traced to its galactic birthplace

    The high-energy particle was born in a blazar 4 billion light-years away, scientists report.

  2. Quantum Physics

    Mini machines can evade friction by taking quantum shortcuts

    Special maneuvers allow researchers to create tiny machines that are as efficient as possible.

  3. Quantum Physics

    A tiny version of this physics toy is revealing quantum secrets

    Scientists created a quantum Newton’s cradle to study thermal equilibrium.

  4. Astronomy

    ‘Oumuamua may be a comet, not an asteroid

    The solar system’s first known interstellar visitor doesn’t appear to be the asteroid that scientists thought it was.

  5. Physics

    Einstein’s general relativity reigns supreme, even on a galactic scale

    Scientists have made the most precise test of Einstein’s theory of gravity at great distances.

  6. Physics

    To combat an expanding universe, aliens could hoard stars

    An advanced alien civilization might combat the impact of dark energy by harvesting stars.

  7. Physics

    The Large Hadron Collider is getting an upgrade

    Revamping the accelerator’s equipment will increase the rate of proton collisions.

  8. Astronomy

    Magnetic fields may be propping up the Pillars of Creation

    Scientists made a map of the magnetic field within the Pillars of Creation, a star-forming area depicted in an iconic Hubble Space Telescope image.

  9. Physics

    This heavy element has a football-shaped atomic nucleus

    Three nobelium isotopes have oblong nuclei, and some sport a ‘bubble’ center.

  10. Physics

    In her short life, mathematician Emmy Noether changed the face of physics

    A century after she published a groundbreaking mathematical theory, Emmy Noether gets her due.

  11. Astronomy

    The sun shrinks a teensy bit when it’s feeling active

    The radius of the sun gets slightly smaller during periods of high solar activity, researchers say.

  12. Particle Physics

    If real, dark fusion could help demystify this physics puzzle

    Fusing dark matter particles might explain why galaxy cores have evenly distributed dark matter.