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. Physics

    This fundamental constant of nature remains the same even near a black hole

    A number that sets the strength of electromagnetic interactions isn’t altered by the extreme gravity around the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole.

  2. Particle Physics

    Antimatter hydrogen has the same quantum quirk as normal hydrogen

    Atoms of antihydrogen are affected by the Lamb shift, which results from transient particles appearing and disappearing.

  3. Physics

    The fastest way to heat certain materials may be to cool them first

    A theoretical study reveals that, in certain situations, some materials might heat up more quickly after first being cooled.

  4. Quantum Physics

    Scientists entangled quantum memories linked over long distances

    The entanglement of quantum ‘hard drives’ is a crucial step toward creating a quantum internet.

  5. Physics

    How to make the best fried rice, according to physics

    Researchers show exactly how rocking and sliding a wok can launch fried rice into the air, letting it cook at a high temperature without burning.

  6. Physics

    A barrier to colliding particles called muons has been smashed

    Future particle accelerators could slam muons together to reach higher energies than any before.

  7. Particle Physics

    Misbehaving kaons could hint at the existence of new particles

    Certain extremely rare decays seem to be happening more often than expected, and scientists don’t know why.

  8. Physics

    Scientists cooled a nanoparticle to the quantum limit

    Physicists decreased a nanoparticle’s motion to the lowest level allowed by quantum mechanics.

  9. Physics

    A quantum strategy could verify the solutions to unsolvable problems — in theory

    A quantum technique for verifying solutions to difficult problems could apply to an “unbelievably huge” class of puzzles.

  10. Chemistry

    A dance of two atoms reveals chemical bonds forming and breaking

    Two rhenium atoms approach and retreat from one another in an electron microscope video.

  11. Archaeology

    After the Notre Dame fire, scientists get a glimpse of the cathedral’s origins

    Researchers will tackle the scientific questions behind rebuilding Notre Dame, and learn more about its history.

  12. Physics

    The fastest-spinning object ever made could help spot quantum friction in a vacuum

    Scientists have developed a torque sensor made with a nanoparticle that can spin more than 300 billion times a minute.