Emily Conover

Emily Conover

Senior Writer, Physics

Physics writer Emily Conover joined Science News in 2016. She has a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Chicago, where she studied the weird ways of neutrinos, tiny elementary particles that can zip straight through the Earth. She got her first taste of science writing as a AAAS Mass Media Fellow for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She has previously written for Science Magazine and the American Physical Society. She is a two-time winner of the D.C. Science Writers’ Association Newsbrief award.

All Stories by Emily Conover

  1. An image of several dark blue, gray, white, and light blue, 13-sided tiles interconnected.
    Math

    Mathematicians have finally discovered an elusive ‘einstein’ tile

    After half a century, mathematicians succeed in finding an ‘einstein,’ a shape that forms a tiled pattern that never repeats.

  2. A collection of lens set up in front of a drawn portrait of Christiaan Huygens.
    Astronomy

    The mystery of Christiaan Huygens’ flawed telescopes may have been solved

    The discovery of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, may have come despite its discoverer, Christiaan Huygens, needing eyeglasses.

  3. An up close image of two diamond anvils.
    Physics

    Is this the superconductor of scientists’ dreams? A new claim faces scrutiny

    It’s big, if true: transmitting electricity with no resistance at room temperature and moderate pressure. But controversy dogs the team making the claim.

  4. The Great Pyramid of Giza against partly cloudy skies
    Particle Physics

    Muons unveiled new details about a void in Egypt’s Great Pyramid

    The subatomic particles revealed the dimensions of the void, discovered in 2016, and helped researchers know where to stick a camera inside.

  5. A red and blue magnet bar on a background of metal shavings with the nearby shavings attracted to the ends of the magnet.
    Physics

    The standard model of particle physics passed one of its strictest tests yet

    An experiment with a single electron, trapped for months on end, produced one of the most precise tests yet of the standard model of particle physics.

  6. Two different versions of Google's quantum computer chip, Sycamore, shown on a light gray backdrop
    Quantum Physics

    Google’s quantum computer reached an error-correcting milestone

    A larger array of quantum bits outperformed a smaller one in tests performed by Google researchers, suggesting quantum computers could be scaled up.

  7. A closeup photo of a large icicle with others hanging out of focus in the background.
    Physics

    Here’s why icicles made from pure water don’t form ripples

    A new study explains why icicles made from pure water have irregular shapes rather than the ripples typical of the salty icicles found in nature.

  8. A metal vessel filled with ice and stainless steel balls
    Physics

    Water is weird. A new type of ice could help us understand why

    A newfound type of amorphous ice with a density close to liquid water could help scientists make sense of water’s quirks.

  9. a black and white animation in which ghosts representing neutrinos pass through the earth
    Particle Physics

    How ghostly neutrinos could explain the universe’s matter mystery

    If neutrinos behave differently from their antimatter counterparts, it could help explain why our cosmos is full of stuff.

  10. illustration of a laser passing through a plastic bottle with an inset showing tiny nanodiamonds that also connects to the interior of a planet
    Physics

    Zapping plastic with a laser forged tiny diamonds

    The technique could be used to manufacture nanodiamonds for use in quantum devices and other applications.

  11. Two side-by-side images of the supermassive black hole in the galaxy M87, both taken by the Event Horizon Telescope EHT. The left image looks like a luminous blurry donut. On the right is a more recent image that isolates a circular feature of the black hole’s emission and resembles a thin ring.
    Space

    Physicists dispute a claim of detecting a black hole’s ‘photon ring’

    A thin ring of light around a black hole, which would probe gravity in a new way, has been found, one team claims. Skeptics aren’t convinced.

  12. photo of a levitating force sensor in gold amid red-hued light
    Physics

    ‘Chameleon’ forces remain elusive in a new dark energy experiment

    A hypothetical fifth force associated with “chameleon” dark energy and that morphs based on its environment didn’t turn up in a sensitive experiment.