Katherine J. Wu

Katherine J. Wu

 

Katherine J. Wu is a Boston-based science journalist and Story Collider senior producer whose work has appeared in National Geographic, Undark magazine, Popular Science and more. She holds a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunobiology from Harvard University, and was Smithsonian magazine's 2018 AAAS Mass Media Fellow.

Giant pandas put it all out there when calling out for love.

Giant Panda Mating Calls Say a Lot About Them

Panda love grunts are packed with information, like size of the potential mate and more, but long distance calls are less reliable

Halema‘uma‘u aerial view on June 12, 2018

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to Reopen Without Molten Lava or Lava Glow

The lava lake in the Halema‘uma‘u crater is gone and lava flows from Puʻu ʻŌʻō crater have stopped

Researchers fed microplastics to mosquito larvae in the lab.

Mosquitoes Are Passing Microplastics Up the Food Chain

These reviled insects are adding another charge to their rap sheet: ferrying harmful microplastics ingested from contaminated water

Real Planet Discovered Where Vulcan Home World in "Star Trek" Is Set

"Fascinating, Captain"

New genetic evidence confirms that ivory poaching in Africa involves only a few powerful players who consolidate the goods for illegal trade abroad.

How DNA Testing Could Bring Down Ivory Trade’s Biggest Criminals

Genetic testing exposes three major cartels illegally trafficking ivory out of several African countries

Aizanoi photographed in 2017

What Was “Eye Cream” Doing in a 2,200-Year-Old Tomb in West Turkey?

The find was discovered in a cemetery located in the ancient city of Aizanoi

New Species of Translucent, Gelatinous Fish Discovered in the Deep Sea

Sadly, after evolving to survive at such extreme depths, these snailfish “melt rapidly” when brought to the surface

Wind and Solar Farms Could Bring the Rains Down in Africa

Scientists believe solar panels and windmills will both bolster renewable energy sources and change the landscape of the immense Sahara desert

Jocelyn Bell Burnell photographed in 2011

Decades After Being Passed Over for a Nobel, Jocelyn Bell Burnell Gets Her Due

Honored with a Special Breakthrough Prize, the astrophysicist says she'll use the winnings to fund scholarships to support today's outsiders in the field

An artistic rendering of Edward Jenner vaccinating eight-year-old James Phipps in 1796.

The Mysterious Origins of the Smallpox Vaccine

Though the disease was declared eradicated in 1980, the era of smallpox is far from over

This pipefish couple may seem the picture of romance, but the male may have something bigger and better in mind.

Pregnant Male Pipefish Are the Sea's Swaggery Swingers

Male pipefish, which take on the burden of carrying eggs to term, can compromise their own pregnancies if they see a “huge, sexy female” swimming by

Sometimes, it's okay to skip leg day.

For Men, Gains in the Gym May Come at a Cost to Sperm

There might be a tradeoff between how strong men look and sperm count

Blue-and-yellow macaws are capable of blushing (left).

Like Humans, Some Birds Blush to Communicate

Blue-and-yellow macaws are capable of the feathered equivalents of facial expressions, new research shows

A photograph of the fossil turtle Eorhynchochelys sinensis, which lived about 228 million years ago and sported a beak but no shell.

Newly Discovered Turtle Ancestors Chomped With Beaks But Bore No Shells

A 228-million-year-old fossil fills gaps in the tale of turtle evolution—and raises a few questions

Donated blood must be matched carefully with donors to prevent a negative immune reaction--but new research may make it possible to create more universal blood.

In the Quest for Universal Blood, Go With Your Gut

Scientists enlisted enzymes produced by gut bacteria to turn blood into type O

A pair of Aedes albopticus mosquitoes mating. These mosquitoes are very closely related to the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes used in the WeRobotics/IAEA trials, and both can carry Zika, yellow fever and dengue. The female is much larger.

Do Not Fear the Drones Air-Dropping 50,000 Mosquitoes From Above

These horny buggers are actually here to help us fight the spread of disease

The world's oldest cheese has been found in an ancient Egyptian tomb, but after 3200 years of entombment, it probably looked way worse off than this moldy modern sample.

Oldest Cheese Ever Found in Egyptian Tomb

Italian researchers also found traces of disease-causing bacteria in what they believe is probably extremely aged cheese.

At the National Portrait Gallery's inaugural American Portrait Gala, Franklin was honored in 2015 with a Portrait of the Nation Prize.

Museum Curators Reflect on the Legacy of the Queen of Soul

Aretha Franklin dies at 76; her memory lives on at the Smithsonian in artwork, photographs and other ephemera

Stormy weather may have rained on these sea urchins' parade—and sealed their fate

See Shells of Sea Spuds on the Seashore

Hundreds of "sea potatoes"—actually the empty shells of a species of sea urchin—mysteriously washed up on Cornish beach last weekend

Elephants, which can weigh up to 100 times as much as humans, should be riddled with cancer—but they aren't.

Cancer Is One Worry Elephants Can Feel Free to Forget

The gentle giants' cells contain a tumor-fighting self-destruct button.

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