Emily Conover

Physics, Senior Writer, Science News

Physics writer Emily Conover loves physics for its ability to reveal the secret rules about how stuff works, from tiny atoms to the vast cosmos. Before becoming a science journalist, she studied physics at the University of Chicago. There, she investigated the weird ways of tiny particles called neutrinos. She has previously written for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 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

    Dying stars can make gold as they collapse into black holes

    There are spinning stars in space. Some of them collapse into black holes. Along the way, they may generate a lot of heavy elements — including gold.

  2. Physics

    Here’s the first picture of a black hole

    The Event Horizon Telescope imaged the supermassive beast lying some 55 million light-years away in a galaxy called M87.

  3. Physics

    A short history of black holes

    From dreaming up black holes to snapping the first picture of one, the history of black holes has had many twists and turns.

  4. Animals

    This spider slingshots itself at extreme speeds to catch prey

    By winding up its web like a slingshot, this spider achieves an acceleration rate far faster than a cheetah’s.

  5. Physics

    Scientists now know why microwaved grapes make plasma fireballs

    Grapes trap microwave energy that bounces back and forth within the fruit. Until boom — a plasma!

  6. Physics

    Thunderstorms hold stunningly high voltage

    By studying particles called muons, scientists found that the electric potential inside a thunderstorm may be 10 times higher than previously thought.

  7. Physics

    High-speed video reveals the best way to shoot a rubber band

    What’s the best way to shoot a rubber band? High-speed video reveals how to avoid hitting your thumb.

  8. Animals

    How some insects fling their pee

    Insects called sharpshooters use a tiny barb on their rear ends to hurl their pee at 20 times the acceleration of Earth’s gravity.

  9. Physics

    Much of a proton’s mass comes from the energy of the particles inside it

    Thanks, Einstein! Your famous E=mc2 formula now explains much of a proton’s ‘mass.’ Its building-block quarks make up just a small part of its left, calculations now show.

  10. Physics

    Dazzling laser advances bring physicists a Nobel Prize

    The winners of 2018 Nobel Prize in physics helped usher in new laser feats, such as making optical “tweezers” and creating amazingly bright beams of light.

  11. Physics

    Scientists traced an incoming neutrino back to its galactic birthplace

    The high-energy particle was born in a blazar 4 billion light-years away, scientists now report.

  12. Space

    An active sun is a somewhat smaller sun

    The sun grows and contracts a little over cycles lasting around 11 years, new data show. Changes in the strength of its magnetic fields may help explain this.