Articles
Featured Stories
Meet The New York Times’s Super-Commenters, The New York Times, November 25, 2017
The Charming English Fishing Village that Inspired Dracula, Mental Floss, October 18, 2017
Keeping The Times Civil, 16 Million Comments and Counting, The New York Times, July 1, 2017
Hummingbirds March North, Fueled by Sugar Water, Sierra Magazine, May 31, 2017
Stories for Mental Floss
How a Medieval Tree Helped Debunk a Famous Instrument’s Identity (December 27, 2017)
Mythical Yetis are Actually Bears, According to DNA Analysis (November 29, 2017)
Archaeologists Unearth the Victims of a Mysterious Massacre 400 Years Ago on an Australian Island (November 14, 2017)
Eye Doctors Still Use this 100-Year-Old Test for Color Blindness (November 13, 2017)
The Charming English Fishing Village that Inspired Dracula (October 18, 2017)
9 Secrets of Antarctic Scientists (October 6, 2017)
Read One of the First Eyewitness Accounts of Antarctica (September 1, 2017)
10 Fascinating Facts about Herman Melville (August 1, 2017)
5 Takeaways from the Study that Found Second-Born Boys Get into More Trouble (July 19, 2017)
How Samuel F.B. Morse Brought Photography to America (July 7, 2017)
Stories for National Geographic Adventure
This Extreme Swimmer Fights for Antarctica’s Oceans–in a Speedo (December 19, 2016)
Wingwalker: “Once You’ve Tasted Freedom, There’s No Giving It Back” (November 18, 2016)
Battling Ice and Injury, These Polar Explorers Traversed Unknown Lands (November 3, 2016)
This Diver Found the World’s Deepest Underwater Cave (November 3, 2016)
Famous Sailor Presumed Lost at Sea (October 27, 2016)
Hikers Finish Epic Grand Canyon Thru-Hike (October 21, 2016)
Exclusive: Deepest Underwater Cave Discovered (September 29, 2016)
Kilian Jornet Cancels Everest Attempt (September 15, 2016)
Exploring Ties Between Nature, History, and Race (September 9, 2016)
Two More of the World’s Top BASE Jumpers Have Died (August 24, 2016)
In Adorable Skunk Family Video, Cyclist Did Everything Right (August 23, 2016)
Decoding the Landscape in Africa’s Biodiversity Hotspot (August 17, 2016)
How to Survive a Lightning Strike? Stay Out of Its Way (July 12, 2016)
This Man is Hooked on Freeing Western Rivers from Deadbeat Dams (June 22, 2016)
Wind, Cold, and Altitude Sickness: Winter at the South Pole (June 20, 2016)
Daring South Pole Rescue Takes Flight in Darkest Winter (June 17, 2016)
Tourists Behaving Badly: What Not to Do in National Parks (June 10, 2016)
How to Hike the Backcountry with Your Furry Best Friend (June 3, 2016)
Veterans Walk 2,700 Miles to Help Their Own (May 26, 2016)
What Went Wrong on Everest this Season (May 24, 2016)
Science and Health Stories
Blasts from the Past: Old Nuke Films Offer New Insights, scientificamerican.com
Home Sweet Dome: Bird Nests Used to Look More Like Fortresses, Scientific American
Tension in Taxonomy: Beetles Spark Heated Debate Between Traditional Taxonomists and DNA Bar Coders, Scientific American
NASA is Getting the “Before” Picture of the World’s Threatened Reefs, Hakai Magazine
Is That Buzz a Beyonce Fly or a Lady Gaga Wasp?, The Wall Street Journal (my second front-page a-hed feature) (view a PDF here)
A Painter Memorializes the Planet’s Icy Grandeur, the Wall Street Journal (view a PDF here)
CDC Confirms Sexual Transmission of Zika Virus Involved Two Men, The Wall Street Journal
Scientists Discover Massive Swarm of Crabs, The Wall Street Journal (with the accompanying video, this story earned more than 100,000 views! See a PDF here.)
Scientists Identify the Structure of Zika Virus, The Wall Street Journal
Zika Virus Mosquitoes May Spread Further North Than Thought, The Wall Street Journal
Couples Should Delay Pregnancy Plans in Event of Zika Symptoms, The Wall Street Journal
How Technology Has Helped Trace the Evolution of Birds from Dinosaurs, The Wall Street Journal (accompanied by this video)
Big Tree Hunters Battle to Topple Records of Forest Giants, The Wall Street Journal (front page a-hed story, highlighted on NYI’s morning news segment “In the Papers”). View a PDF of it here. The story was also included in the Wall Street Journal’s roundup of Earth Day articles.
New Species of Bacteria Eats Plastic, The Wall Street Journal
Stem Cells Show Promise as Cataract and Blindness Treatments, The Wall Street Journal
Singing Duets May Keep Fairy-Wrens from Cheating on Their Partners, The Wall Street Journal (view a PDF here)
Neanderthal DNA in Modern Humans Linked to Risk for Certain Diseases, Study Says, The Wall Street Journal (view a clip here)
Scientists Pinpoint Brain Chemical Linked to Sighing, The Wall Street Journal (view a PDF here)
CDC Suggests Protected Sex in New Zika Virus Guidelines, The Wall Street Journal
Brazil Health Researchers Say Zika Virus is Active in Saliva, Urine, The Wall Street Journal
Brazil Identifies Two Cases of Zika Transmitted by Blood Transfusions, The Wall Street Journal
Texas Patient Gets Zika Virus through Sexual Contact, Officials Say, The Wall Street Journal
Researchers Design Wearable Sweat Sensor to Track Biochemical Data, The Wall Street Journal
Astronomers Report Brightest Supernova Ever Discovered, The Wall Street Journal
Mass Shootings are Contagious, Scientific American Mind
Trashing the Capitol’s Christmas Tree, Hakai Magazine (mentioned in this Smithsonian.com article)
Life Bustles in the Long Arctic Night, Hakai Magazine
How Green Cities Make for More Bats–and Why That’s Actually a Good Thing, Washington Post
Back to the Future II Predicted Techno-Marvels of October 21, 2015, ScientificAmerican.com
The Ups and Downs of Sex, Scientific American
This Bridge Opens and Closes like a Japanese Folding Fan, Scientific American
D.C. Set to Sink 6 Inches by 2100, Scientific American
The Race to Save the Bonneville Salt Flats from a Slushy Demise [Slide Show], ScientificAmerican.com
Groups of People Spot Lies More Often than Individuals Do, Scientific American
250-Year-Old Eyewitness Accounts of Icier Arctic Attest to Loss of Sea Ice, ScientificAmerican.com
People Who Wear Contacts have Different Eye Microbiomes, Scientific American
How Scientific Inventions Sparked Population Explosion, ScientificAmerican.com
How to Set Fire to Frozen Oil, AAAS/Science (online)
Helping the Gowanus Canal Come Clean, Boating Times Long Island
Long Island Lobsters Reveal Clues to Climate Change, Boating Times Long Island
Koch Brother Gives $100M to Sandy-Stressed Hospital, Grist
History and Pop Culture Stories
The Monster Ships That Changed Travel, BBC Future
Why Elizabeth Hamilton is Deserving of a Musical of Her Own, Smithsonian.com
Why the Man Who Popularized Birthstones in America Came to Loathe his Creation, Atlas Obscura
Wheatena: The New Jersey Cereal So Popular it Had its Own Radio Serial, Atlas Obscura
How New Year’s Eve Came to Times Square, Atlas Obscura (mentioned in this Smithsonian.com article)
How Samuel Mudd Went from Lincoln Conspirator to Medical Savior (part of the special report, The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln), Smithsonian.com
Crokinole Gains a Following in Brooklyn, Thanks to a Canadian Expat, Toronto Star
The Rise and Suspiciously Rapid Fall of Freedomland U.S.A., Atlas Obscura
The 100-Year History of Women Going Topless in Times Square, Atlas Obscura
Ruby-Red Cranberries are Thanksgiving’s Iconic Fruit, Cape Cod Times
Elevating the Latke, The Spirit/Straus News