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. Physics

    The pressure is on to make metallic hydrogen

    Scientists are getting close to turning hydrogen into a metal — both in liquid form and maybe even solid form. The rewards, if they pull it off, are worth the effort.

  2. Particle Physics

    Cooling stars hint at dark matter particles

    Stars that cool faster than expected can be explained by hypothetical particles called axions.

  3. Particle Physics

    Bottom quarks misbehave in LHC experiment

    Bottom quarks fly off at an angle more often than expected in new data from the LHC.

  4. Physics

    LIGO’s black holes may be dark matter

    Two analyses indicate that LIGO could have detected black holes that formed just after the Big Bang.

  5. Particle Physics

    Upon further review, suspected new particle vanishes

    Hints of a new particle at the LHC have disappeared.

  6. Life

    Human eye spots single photons

    Human eyes are sensitive enough to detect individual particles of light.

  7. Planetary Science

    Rosetta spacecraft has stopped listening for Philae lander

    Rosetta is no longer listening for communications from the comet lander Philae.

  8. Math

    Website tests predictive powers of the hive mind

    Metaculus.com asks people to make predictions about the likelihood of future events.

  9. Cosmology

    Debate accelerates on universe’s expansion speed

    A puzzling mismatch is plaguing two methods for measuring how fast the universe is expanding.

  10. Particle Physics

    Latest search for dark matter comes up empty

    Scientists continue to come up empty-handed in the search for dark matter. The latest effort from the LUX experiment found no evidence for dark matter.

  11. Physics

    Electrons have potential for mutual attraction

    Electrons usually repel each other, but new research shows pairs of electrons can be attracted due to their repulsion from other electrons.

  12. Physics

    Scientists throw a curve at knuckleball explanation

    Wildly swerving pitches may be the result of a phenomenon known as a “drag crisis”