Helen Thompson is the multimedia editor at Science News. She makes videos, creates data visuals, helps manage the website, wrangles cats and occasionally writes about things like dandelion flight and whale evolution. She has undergraduate degrees in biology and English from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, a master’s degree in science writing from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and strong opinions about tacos. Before Science News, she wrote for Smithsonian, NPR.org, National Geographic, Nature and others.

All Stories by Helen Thompson

  1. Animals

    Torrent frog flirting is complicated

    The courtship displays of Brazilian torrent frogs entail a subtle but sophisticated slew of songs and movements.

  2. Paleontology

    Fossils provide link in dino crest evolution

    Fossils from a newly identified duck-billed dinosaur in Montana could explain how their descendants developed flamboyant nose crests.

  3. Animals

    Littlest chameleons pack powerful tongues

    A tiny chameleon from South Africa sets an acceleration and power record for amniotes.

  4. Animals

    Small lizard packs powerful tongue

    A tiny chameleon from South Africa sets an acceleration and power record for amniotes.

  5. Archaeology

    Roman toilets didn’t flush parasites

    Roman sanitation measures did little to dent parasite numbers, a study finds.

  6. Archaeology

    Roman toilets didn’t flush parasites

    Roman sanitation measures did little to dent parasite numbers, study finds.

  7. Animals

    Sharks follow their noses home

    Leopard sharks draw on scents to navigate back to shore, study suggests.

  8. Tech

    Stretchy silicon sticker monitors your heartbeat

    A new stretchy memory device looks like a temporary tattoo and works like a heart rate monitor.

  9. Animals

    Male monkeys go rouge for mating season

    Bright red lip color separates players from bachelors during monkey mating season.

  10. Animals

    Inside the roaring sex lives of howler monkeys

    Listening to the intense roars of howler monkeys in Mexico inspired scientists to decipher how and why calls differ among species.

  11. Tech

    Roses rigged with electrical circuits

    Bioelectric molecules can form wires and conduct electricity in cut roses, researchers find.

  12. Plants

    Roses rigged with electrical circuitry

    Bioelectric molecules can form wires and conduct electricity in cut roses, researchers find.