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

In another executive order, President Biden canceled permits for construction on the Keystone XL pipeline. Alberta construction of the pipeline is pictured here, taken in October 2020.

The United States Will Rejoin Paris Climate Accord

The move is one of several climate-related actions taken by President Joe Biden on his first day in office

Each fish-inspired robot uses two wide-angle cameras to look for the LEDs on its companions.

These 3-D Printed Robot Fish Sync and Swim

The small water-bound robots use wide-angle cameras and three bright LEDs to move in synchronized swarms

Mask wearing and other behaviors developed during the Covid-19 pandemic are largely keeping flu cases low this year.

How Covid-19 Precautions Have Kept Flu Cases Low

By this time last year, the U.S. had recorded over 65,000 cases of influenza

Myotis nimbaenis was named for the Nimba Mountains where it was found.

Newly Discovered Bat Species Has Halloween Colors

The six-ounce bat lives in abandoned mine shafts in Guinea's Nimba Mountains

By storing data in bacteria like E. coli, the data is protected by the same machinery that the cell uses to protect its own DNA.

Scientists Write 'Hello World' in Bacterial DNA With Electricity and CRISPR

The new system shows that it's possible to encode information directly into bacteria

Toxoplasma gondii grows in tissue cysts which can stick around in the body after illness has passed

Parasite Found in Undercooked Meat and Cat Poop May Be Linked to Rare Brain Cancer

The U.S. sees about 24,000 brain cancer cases annually, compared to 30 million cases of Toxoplasma gondii, so an individual’s cancer risk is low

Three of eight gorillas at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park show mild symptoms of a coronavirus infection

Gorillas at California Zoo Test Positive for Covid-19

Three iconic primates at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park show mild symptoms, including lethargy and runny noses

Out of 381 pairs of identical twins involved in the new study, 39 had more than 100 differences in their DNA.

Many Identical Twins Actually Have Slightly Different DNA

In a new study of over 300 pairs of identical twins, only 38 had perfectly identical DNA

The basking shark's scientific name, Cetorhinus maximus, approximately translates to "big-nosed marine monster."

Twenty-Six-Foot-Long Basking Shark Washes Up on Maine Beach

Though often mistaken for great whites, these sea creatures are filter feeders and gentle giants of the sea

The brown tree snake slithers through vegetation.

Invasive Brown Tree Snakes Stun Scientists With Amazing New Climbing Tactic

The successful predator, which has decimated bird populations on Guam, lassoes its body around poles in order to propel itself upwards

Health workers in protective suits cull ducks in Karuvatta after the H5N8 bird flu strain was detected.

Avian Flu Outbreak in India Results in Mass Poultry Culls

No cases of avian flu have been detected in humans during the current outbreak

An Evening Grosbeak sits on a branch covered in rime ice in Minnesota.

The Wintertime Wonder of Unusual Ice

Rime ice in the Midwest and hair ice in the United Kingdom have people wondering: Why does ice do that?

Steamboat Geyser erupted 32 times in 2018 and 48 times each in 2019 and 2020, beating the previous record of 29 eruptions in 1964.

Reawakened Geyser Is Not a Precursor of Yellowstone Eruption, Study Finds

The researchers ruled out several theories on why the Steamboat Geyser began erupting in 2018 after three years of silence

This 3D version of Schröder's staircase was crowned the best illusion of 2020.

See the Most Mind-Bending Optical Illusions of 2020

You can create your own version of the winning design with a free, printable kit

Scientists at the National Black-footed Conservation Center in Colorado inoculated 120 black-footed ferrets against the coronavirus that causes Covid-19.

Experimental Covid-19 Vaccine Reaches America's Endangered Ferrets

Black-footed ferrets are close relatives of minks, which have seen coronavirus outbreaks on fur farms

Look out for the Atlas' "Twist" and Spot's bourre in the nearly three-minute-long video.

Dancing Boston Dynamics Robots Show Off Their Sweet Moves

These bots can’t resist a bop

America's eastern monarch population has fallen by about 80 percent, and the western population by 99 percent, but the Fish and Wildlife Service doesn't grant endangered status to specific populations of invertebrate species.

Why Monarch Butterflies Aren't Getting Endangered Species Status

Monarch butterflies qualify for protections, but 161 other species have higher priority

The researchers planted some peppers alone in pots, and others about four inches away from a second plant.

How Pepper Plants Pick the Perfect Path for Putting Down Roots

Two plants in the same pot must find a way to share the water and nutrients in the soil

The photograph shows an area about 10,000 miles wide, a small portion of the Sun which is 864,000 miles wide

Brilliant Sunspot Photo Captures the Beginning of a New Solar Cycle

The Inouye Solar Telescope captured the unprecedentedly detailed image of a 3,700-mile-wide sunspot on January 28

The survey did not conclude how the wild mink became infected with the virus, but it’s not unusual for captive minks to escape fur farms. (Infected mink not pictured.)

First Case of Covid-19 in a Wild Animal Found in a Utah Mink

The U.S. Department of Agriculture detected the infection while testing wild animals around a mink farm with a Covid-19 outbreak

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