Maria Temming

Maria Temming

Assistant Managing Editor, Science News Explores

Previously the staff writer for physical sciences at Science News, Maria Temming is the assistant managing editor at Science News Explores. She has undergraduate degrees in physics and English from Elon University and a master's degree in science writing from MIT. She has written for Scientific AmericanSky & Telescope and NOVA Next. She’s also a former Science News intern.

All Stories by Maria Temming

  1. Archaeology

    An ancient Egyptian mummy was wrapped in an unusual mud shell

    Commoners in ancient Egypt may have used mud in place of expensive resin to imitate royal mummification techniques.

  2. Chemistry

    Chemists are reimagining recycling to keep plastics out of landfills

    Recycling plastics is really hard, and usually creates low-quality materials that aren’t good for much. Chemists are trying to change that.

  3. Earth

    Space station detectors found the source of weird ‘blue jet’ lightning

    The origins of an enigmatic type of lightning in the upper atmosphere has been traced to a 10-microsecond flash of bright blue light.

  4. Space

    The most ancient supermassive black hole is bafflingly big

    The farthest known quasar challenges ideas about how the first supermassive black holes in the universe formed.

  5. Earth

    Earth’s oceans are storing record-breaking amounts of heat

    2020 was just the latest in a series of record-breaking years for ocean heat.

  6. Animals

    Brown tree snakes use their tails as lassos to climb wide trees

    A never-before-seen climbing technique could inspire the creation of new serpentine robots to navigate difficult terrains.

  7. Chemistry

    Zinc-air batteries are typically single-use. A new design could change that

    Swapping out the electrolyte in zinc-air batteries helps these next-gen power sources last longer.

  8. Chemistry

    A new iron-based catalyst converts carbon dioxide into jet fuel

    Jet fuel made from carbon dioxide could one day reduce pollution from air travel.

  9. Archaeology

    Ivory from a 16th century shipwreck reveals new details about African elephants

    Ivory from the sunken Portuguese trading ship Bom Jesus contains clues about elephant herds that once roamed Africa, and the people who hunted them.

  10. Space

    Here are 10 of Arecibo’s coolest achievements

    The now-defunct Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico made myriad discoveries over its 57-year run, including of pulsar planets and ice on Mercury.

  11. Space

    Why losing Arecibo is a big deal for astronomy

    The radio telescope at the Arecibo Observatory has collapsed, robbing scientists of a special tool for studying everything from asteroids to galaxies.

  12. Planetary Science

    50 years ago, scientists caught their first glimpse of amino acids from outer space

    In 1970, scientists detected amino acids in a meteorite. Fifty years later, a variety of chemical ingredients for life have been found in other space rocks.