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

    Most illegal ivory is less than three years old

    Most of the ivory seized by law enforcement in the last decade doesn’t come from elephants poached many years ago.

  2. Animals

    Most illegal ivory is less than three years old

    Most of the ivory seized by law enforcement in the last decade doesn’t come from elephants poached many years ago.

  3. Health & Medicine

    Nose cells fix knee cartilage

    A small clinical trial suggests that using nose cells to patch knee cartilage could be a viable treatment for injuries.

  4. Health & Medicine

    Nose cells fix knee cartilage in human trial

    A small clinical trial suggests that using nose cells to patch knee cartilage could be a viable treatment for injuries.

  5. Animals

    Berries may give yellow woodpeckers a red dye job

    A diet of invasive honeysuckle berries may be behind stray red feathers in woodpeckers called yellow-shafted flickers.

  6. Animals

    African elephants walk on their tippy-toes

    Pressure plates reveal how African elephants load their feet when they walk, providing clues to pachyderm podiatry problems.

  7. Animals

    African elephants walk on their tippy-toes

    Pressure plates reveal how African elephants load their feet when they walk, providing clues to pachyderm podiatry problems.

  8. Tech

    CT scans show first X-rayed mummy in new light

    An ancient Egyptian child became the first mummy to be X-rayed in 1896. Today, CT scans reveal new insights into the child’s life — and death.

  9. Animals

    Tiny structures give a peacock spider its radiant rump

    Peacock spiders use pigments and complex nanostructures to achieve bright dance costumes.

  10. Chemistry

    FDA bans chemicals in antibacterial soaps

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration ruled against 19 antibacterial soap ingredients, citing insufficient evidence of bacteria-killing and safety problems.

  11. Tech

    SpaceX rocket explodes on Florida launchpad

    SpaceX has lost a Falcon 9 rocket and its satellite payload in a standard prelaunch test.

  12. Animals

    Hoverflies (probably) can’t sense gravity

    Acrobatic insects called hoverflies may simply use visual and airflow cues and not gravity to orient their bodies midair.