Stephen Ornes

Freelance Writer

Stephen Ornes has been writing for Science News Explores since 2008, and his 2014 story "Where Will Lightning Strike?" won an AAAS/Kavli Gold Award. He lives in Nashville, Tenn., and he has three children, who are inventing their own language. His family has a cat, six chickens, and two rabbits, but he secretly thinks hagfish are the most fascinating animals. Stephen has written two books. One is a biography of mathematician Sophie Germain, who was born during the French Revolution. The other, which was published in 2019, features art inspired by math. Visit him online at stephenornes.com.

All Stories by Stephen Ornes

  1. Chemistry

    The memory of a material

    A popular polymer can remember what shape it was in.

  2. Animals

    Half rooster, half hen

    Study of special chickens suggests new thinking on hormones and gender.

  3. Environment

    When frog gender flips

    With weed killer in the water, some males acquire female traits.

  4. Earth

    Earthquake shortens the day

    The recent South American quake sent Earth spinning just a big faster.

  5. Chemistry

    Heaviest named element is official

    Superheavy copernicium takes its place in the Periodic Table.

  6. Humans

    Writing on eggshells

    Etchings on artifacts suggest that really ancient people used symbols.

  7. Animals

    Whales may round up squid for dinner

    Tracking sperm whale movements suggests groups herd to hunt.

  8. Tech

    Charged cars that would charge

    Electric vehicles could give power to the grid.

  9. Fossils

    Message in a dinosaur’s teeth

    Giant dino that was T. rex rival may have spent most of its time in the water.

  10. Physics

    The hottest soup in New York

    A quark-gluon plasma reaches the highest temperature ever measured in a lab.

  11. Chemistry

    Cold, colder and coldest ice

    Electric charge can change the temperature at which water freezes.

  12. Animals

    The case of the hairy eyeball

    Pet tarantulas don't need venom to express irritation.