Helen Thompson

Helen Thompson

Multimedia Editor

Helen Thompson is the multimedia editor at Science News. She makes videos, creates data visuals, helps manage the website, wrangles cats and occasionally writes about things like dandelion flight and whale evolution. She has undergraduate degrees in biology and English from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, a master’s degree in science writing from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and strong opinions about tacos. Before Science News, she wrote for Smithsonian, NPR.org, National Geographic, Nature and others.

All Stories by Helen Thompson

  1. Animals

    Baby birds’ brains selectively respond to dads’ songs

    The neurons of young male birds are more active when listening to songs sung by dad than by strangers, a new study finds.

  2. Animals

    City living shortens great tits’ telomeres

    Great tits raised in urban nests have shorter protective caps on their chromosomes than those raised in rural nests.

  3. Animals

    City living shortens great tits’ telomeres

    Great tits raised in urban nests have shorter protective caps on their chromosomes than those raised in rural nests.

  4. Animals

    Lemurs sing in sync — until one tries to go solo

    Indris, a lemur species in Madagascar, sing in synchrony and match rhythm, except for young males trying to stand out.

  5. Desert moss slurps water from its leaves, not roots

    To survive in arid deserts across the globe, one moss species replenishes its water stocks by catching dewdrops with its leaves.

  6. Paleontology

    Human route into Americas traced via trail of bison fossils

    Bread crumbs in the form of ancient bison may mark one potential path that humans took to colonize the Americas.

  7. Environment

    Tiny plastics cause big problems for perch

    Researchers have linked microplastics to feeding behavior changes and development issues in Baltic Sea perch.

  8. Animals

    Tiny plastics cause big problems for perch, lab study finds

    Researchers have linked microplastics to feeding behavior changes and development issues in Baltic Sea perch.

  9. Climate

    Climate probably stopped Mongols cold in Hungary

    Mongol cavalry was no match for cold, wet climate in medieval Hungary, researchers think.

  10. Animals

    Antibiotics in cattle leave their mark in dung

    Treating cattle with antibiotics may have side effects for dung beetles, microbes and greenhouse gases.

  11. Animals

    Snot could be crucial to dolphin echolocation

    An acoustic model reveals that echolocation relies on mucus lined tissue lumps in the animal’s nasal passage.

  12. Archaeology

    Evidence of 5,000-year-old beer recipe found in China

    Ancient brewer’s toolkits put barley on tap in China as early as 3400 B.C.