Theresa Machemer

Theresa Machemer is a freelance writer based in Washington DC. Her work has also appeared in National Geographic and SciShow. Website: tkmach.com

Winter Storm Uri brought below-freezing temperatures and snow to 26 states this week, causing millions of people to lose electricity

How Winter Storm Uri Impacted the United States

The Arctic blast has swept across the Lower 48, bringing record cold temperatures and interruptions to electricity and water services

Blickling Hall is listed in Britain’s earliest public record, the Domesday Book, which was written in the 11th century. The house was at one point the home of Geoffrey Boleyn, grandfather of Anne Boleyn, who may have been born there around 1507.

Historic British Mansion Fights Moths With Tiny Parasitic Wasps

The moths eat wool and silk, putting historic artifacts—like a tapestry gifted to the house by Catherine the Great—at risk

“There’s all sorts of reasons they shouldn’t be there,” says British Antarctic Survey biologist Huw Griffiths

Mysterious Sponges Live on a Boulder Under 3,000 Feet of Antarctic Ice

When scientists aiming to collect a sediment sample were stopped by a boulder, they found unexpected life instead

When the two microflyers twirled around eachother midair, the researchers dubbed the maneuver "The Tango."

New Microflyers Could Soar in the Atmosphere's Most Mysterious Layer

The mesosphere is too dense for satellites to orbit there, but too thin for planes and balloons to fly

A new study analyzes the downy feathers of 249 Himalayan songbird species, including this brown-throated fulvetta, using specimens from the National Museum of Natural History's vast collections.

Himalayan Songbirds Adapted to the Cold by Sporting Thicker Down 'Jackets'

High-elevation birds might use their downy feathers to keep from wasting energy shivering to stay warm

The Yorkshire pigs in the study, named Omelet and Hamlet, outgrew their pen after 12 weeks.

Pigs Can Learn to Play Video Games When Tempted by Treats

The four swine in the study always wanted to be the first at the computer each day

Dementia is "the impaired ability to remember, think or make decisions that interferes with doing everyday activities," per the CDC.

Large Study Shows People With Dementia Are at Higher Covid-19 Risk

The condition may present both physical and social risk factors that make transmission more likely

The protein RAC1 can cause some sperm to spin in circles until they die

Mice Sperm Sabotage Other Swimmers With Poison

A study in mice found that poison-spewing sperm make others swim in circles, but carry the antidote for themselves

New high-speed footage settles a controversy over how electric charges make the connection that leads to bolts of lightning.

Super High-Speed Footage Captures the Moment a Lightning Bolt Forms

The video shows the electricity reaching from the sky and up from a lightning rod until a thin connection appears

If approved, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine could become available as soon as March.

Johnson & Johnson Applies for FDA's Emergency Use Authorization for Covid-19 Vaccine—Here's Why That Takes Time

Independent experts will review data from over 40,000 trial participants and meet on February 26 to make a recommendation

Tangle-web spiders can catch prey up to 50 times their size thanks to their pulley system-like hunting strategy.

Small Spiders With Big Appetites Use a Pulley System to Catch Large Prey

New research and videos show how spiders in the Theridiidae family hoist up prey 50 times their size

Einsteinium was first created in 1952 in the aftermath of the first hydrogen bomb test on the island of Elugelab, which is now a part of the Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands, located in the Pacific Ocean.

Scientists Take Fundamental Measurements of Einsteinium for the First Time

The highly radioactive element was first created in a 1952 hydrogen bomb test

Titan's largest lake, Kraken Mare, is larger than the five Great Lakes combined.

Titan's Largest Methane Lake May Be One Thousand Feet Deep

NASA's Cassini probe flew just 600 miles above Saturn's largest moon to gather the data

The four-inch-long footprint happened to be in a rock at about the height of a four-year-old child's shoulder.

Four-Year-Old Lives Every Child's Dream and Discovers a Dinosaur Footprint

Found on a beach in Wales, the fossil is 220 million years old and shows the details of the muscles and joints in the reptile's foot

The study analyzes thousands of records to understand how many species of bees are spotted by scientists each year.

Thousands of Wild Bee Species Haven't Been Seen Since 1990

Between 2006 and 2015, researchers worldwide observed 25 percent fewer bee species than they had before 1990

Onlookers identified the snowy owl as a young female because of its thick black stripes.

Snowy Owl Stops in Central Park for the First Time Since 1890

The bird attracted a crowd of about 100 birdwatchers, a territorial hawk and several crows

The Bloodhound supersonic car reached 628 miles per hour in 2019, but the team hopes to pass 1,000 miles per hour with the addition of a rocket

Supersonic Car Designed to Break Land Speed Record Is for Sale Again

A businessman bought it in 2018 to keep the project alive but the pandemic has thrown off the schedule

Passengers need to eat and drink on a long-haul flight, which means they remove their masks and risk spreading or catching Covid-19.

What One Covid-19 Cluster on an Airplane Tells Experts About Risk Factors While Flying

When one person with Covid-19 took an 18-hour flight from Dubai to New Zealand, several people got sick

Currently accessible Covid-19 vaccines seem to protect people against the emerging variants so far.

What Experts Know About the Current Coronavirus Variants

The appearance of highly transmissible versions of the pandemic coronavirus has the world's medical community on high alert

Common murres live on rocky cliffs like those at Stora Karlsö, an island in the Baltic Sea.

Pandemic Reveals Ecological Benefits of Tourists in One Seaside Town

When people stayed home, white-tailed eagles converged on the island of Stora Karlsö in Sweden

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