Carolyn Wilke

Contributing Editor, Science News Explores

Carolyn Wilke earned her Ph.D. in environmental engineering at Northwestern University, where her research drew on the fields of environmental chemistry, materials science and toxicology. She got her start in science writing by blogging for HELIX, Northwestern’s science magazine and wrote as a AAAS Mass Media Fellow at The Sacramento Bee. Now a freelance science writer. Carolyn worked as a staff writer at Science News Explores and interned at Science News and The Scientist. When not delving into a new scientific discovery, you might find Carolyn behind her sewing machine or trying to amuse her cat. 

All Stories by Carolyn Wilke

  1. Fossils

    Analyze This: How big was the biggest T. rex?

    Only around 80 fossil Tyrannosaurus rex skeletons have been found. They probably don’t include the biggest T. rex that ever lived.

  2. Earth

    Explainer: How volcanoes erupt

    Magma can sit underground for tens, hundreds or even thousands of years before an influx of new magma or gush of gas triggers a volcano to erupt.

  3. Earth

    Analyze This: Why do atmospheric ‘ghosts’ glow green after red sprites?

    Green ghosts — blurs of light that sometimes follow lightning — get their color from oxygen and metals in space dust.

  4. Planets

    Analyze This: Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is shrinking

    If the windstorm keeps dwindling, the Great Red Spot could someday disappear — like an earlier spot observed in the 1600s.

  5. Archaeology

    Analyze This: Human brains can last thousands of years

    Ancient brains may not be rare finds. An analysis of over 4,000 preserved human brains reveals five processes that protect against decay.

  6. Earth

    Analyze This: Where are U.S. earthquakes most likely?

    A model used data on historical quakes and measurements from active faults to forecast risks of damaging earthquakes in the next 100 years.

  7. Space

    Analyze This: A recently spotted space object is puzzling scientists

    A pulsar’s invisible partner could be an oddly heavy neutron star or a very light black hole.

  8. Animals

    Analyze This: Marsupial gliders may avoid the ground to dodge predators

    It has been unclear why gliding evolved in marsupials. To search for clues, researchers strapped activity trackers to some of these cryptic creatures.

  9. Oceans

    Analyze This: Climate change may worsen the spread of ocean noise

    Some parts of the ocean may become five times as loud in the future.

  10. Archaeology

    Analyze This: Stonehenge’s ‘Altar Stone’ has mysterious origins

    After a century of searching for the source of the Altar Stone, scientists have yet to figure out where ancient people got the rock.

  11. Planets

    Jupiter has a never-before-seen jet stream — and it’s speedy

    Spotted in images from the James Webb telescope, the high-altitude current may help untangle the workings of the giant planet’s atmosphere.

  12. Planets

    Analyze This: Neptune’s cloud cover syncs up with the solar cycle

    Telescope observations hint how sunlight-driven chemistry may boost cloud cover on our solar system’s farthest planet.