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.
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All Stories by Helen Thompson
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Animals
Torrent frog flirting is complicated
The courtship displays of Brazilian torrent frogs entail a subtle but sophisticated slew of songs and movements.
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Paleontology
Fossils provide link in dino crest evolution
Fossils from a newly identified duck-billed dinosaur in Montana could explain how their descendants developed flamboyant nose crests.
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Animals
Littlest chameleons pack powerful tongues
A tiny chameleon from South Africa sets an acceleration and power record for amniotes.
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Animals
Small lizard packs powerful tongue
A tiny chameleon from South Africa sets an acceleration and power record for amniotes.
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Archaeology
Roman toilets didn’t flush parasites
Roman sanitation measures did little to dent parasite numbers, a study finds.
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Archaeology
Roman toilets didn’t flush parasites
Roman sanitation measures did little to dent parasite numbers, study finds.
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Animals
Sharks follow their noses home
Leopard sharks draw on scents to navigate back to shore, study suggests.
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Tech
Stretchy silicon sticker monitors your heartbeat
A new stretchy memory device looks like a temporary tattoo and works like a heart rate monitor.
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Animals
Male monkeys go rouge for mating season
Bright red lip color separates players from bachelors during monkey mating season.
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Animals
Inside the roaring sex lives of howler monkeys
Listening to the intense roars of howler monkeys in Mexico inspired scientists to decipher how and why calls differ among species.
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Tech
Roses rigged with electrical circuits
Bioelectric molecules can form wires and conduct electricity in cut roses, researchers find.
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Plants
Roses rigged with electrical circuitry
Bioelectric molecules can form wires and conduct electricity in cut roses, researchers find.