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

    Notre Dame is reopening. What does that mean for its acoustics? 

    Researcher Brian Katz is studying the acoustics of the Paris cathedral and how it’s been altered throughout the centuries.

  2. Science & Society

    A new biography of Benjamin Franklin puts science at the forefront

    Richard Munson’s new book, Ingenious, shows how scientific research inspired the founding father’s diplomacy.

  3. Cosmology

    Einstein’s gravity endures despite a dark energy puzzle 

    The DESI project previously reported that dark energy — long thought to be constant — changes over time. A new analysis reaffirms that claim.

  4. Particle Physics

    Accelerated muons bring next-gen particle colliders closer to reality

    Muon colliders could slam the subatomic particles together in hopes of unlocking physics secrets. Giving muons a speed boost is a crucial step.

  5. Particle Physics

    Antimatter could travel by truck, a test with protons shows

    A special particle trap designed to fit in a truck let researchers haul 70 protons across the CERN campus. Antiprotons may be next.

  6. Astronomy

    A star winked out of sight. Could it be a ‘failed supernova’? 

    The dramatic dimming of a star in the nearby Andromeda galaxy could mark the birth of a black hole.

  7. Planetary Science

    50 years ago, scientists found a new moon orbiting Jupiter

    In 1974, astronomers discovered Jupiter’s 13th moon. They now know of at least 95 moons and have launched missions to study some up close.

  8. Space

    A near-Earth asteroid offers clues to one dark matter theory 

    Data from the OSIRIS-REx mission to Bennu place a ceiling on the strength of a hypothetical fifth force that could explain dark matter’s origins.

  9. Tech

    Tech companies want small nuclear reactors. Here’s how they’d work 

    To fuel AI’s insatiable energy appetite, tech companies are going big on small nuclear reactors.

  10. Physics

    Radioactive beams give a real-time view of cancer treatment in mice

    This first successful treatment of tumors with radioactive ion beams could one day lead to treating human patients’ tumors with millimeter precision.

  11. Artificial Intelligence

    The discovery of tools key to machine learning wins the 2024 physics Nobel

    John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton used tools from physics to develop data analysis methods that underlie machine learning.

  12. Physics

    Thunderstorms churn up a ‘boiling pot’ of gamma rays 

    A thunderstorm seen in gamma-ray vision is a complex, frenetic lightshow when viewed from above the clouds.