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

    Adorable birds tap dance their way into the heart of a mate

    Blue-capped cordon-bleu songbirds not only sing, but also tap dance to woo mates, study reveals.

  2. Anthropology

    Synchronized dancing boosts pain tolerance

    Dancing in sync to high energy routines increase pain tolerance and helps people bond as a group, a study suggests.

  3. Animals

    Howler monkeys sacrifice sperm for deeper roars

    In howler monkeys, expanded vocal tracts make for deeper-voiced males with smaller testes, researchers find.

  4. Paleontology

    Furry, spiky mammal scampered among dinosaurs

    Early Cretaceous fur ball with spikes discovered in Spain.

  5. Genetics

    Asian tiger mosquito genome sequenced

    Researchers have sequenced the genome of the Asian tiger mosquito, a stealthy invasive species and carrier of tropical diseases.

  6. Climate

    Climate change could shift New England’s fall foliage

    Climate change could make for earlier or later fall color, depending on where you live in New England.

  7. Animals

    Bees get hooked on flowers’ caffeine buzz

    Flowers drug honey bees with caffeinated nectar to trick them into returning, causing the bees to shift their foraging and dancing behaviors.

  8. Animals

    Root fungi make or break monarchs’ chances against parasite

    Fungi that live amid the roots of milkweed plants change the chemicals produced in the plant’s leaves, which can either aid or hinder a monarch butterfly’s ability to fight off parasites.

  9. Animals

    This may be the world’s tiniest snail

    Tiny snail unearthed in China could be the world's smallest, researchers report.

  10. Animals

    Some bats chug nectar with conveyor belt tongues

    Grooved bat tongues work like escalators or conveyor belts, transporting nectar from tip to mouth.

  11. Animals

    Don’t judge a whale’s gut microbiome by diet alone

    Evolutionary history and diet may both determine the microbes that live in a baleen whale's stomach, researchers report.

  12. Psychology

    People find the skin of others’ softer than their own

    Humans perceive other peoples’ skin as softer and smoother than their own because touch is important in social bonding, researchers suggest.