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Colin Schultz

Colin Schultz

Colin Schultz is a freelance science writer and editor based in Toronto, Canada. He blogs for Smart News and contributes to the American Geophysical Union. He has a B.Sc. in physical science and philosophy, and a M.A. in journalism.

Stories from this author

Ernest Shackleton salutes from the Endurance on August 1, 1914, when the ship set sail from London on the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition.

Ernest Shackleton’s Famous Job Ad, ‘Men Wanted for Hazardous Journey,’ Is Probably a Myth

Citizen historians have spent decades searching for the original text of Shackleton’s advertisement. Now, some say it might never have existed

An illustration of Prototaxites in the early Devonian landscape, roughly 400 million years ago.

Giant, Mysterious Spires Ruled the Earth Long Before Trees Did. What Exactly Are These Odd-Looking Fossils?

For more than 150 years, scientists have debated whether Prototaxites—which stood roughly 24 feet tall and 3 feet wide—were an early lichen or fungus, like a “giant mushroom”

Teaching in Oxford, England, began no later than 1096. Tenochtitlán, the capital of the Aztec Empire, was founded in 1325.

The University of Oxford Is Older Than the Aztec Empire and Other Facts That Will Change Your Perspective on History

The historical timeline you keep in your head might not be as accurate as you think

Benjamin Franklin lived in London for much of the time between 1757 and 1775.

Why Were There So Many Skeletons Hidden in Benjamin Franklin’s Basement?

During restorations in the 1990s, more than 1,200 pieces of bone surfaced beneath the founding father’s London home

Poor sad blobfish, voted the world’s ugliest animal.

In Defense of the Blobfish: The ‘World’s Ugliest Animal’ Is Our Fault

The distinguished blobfish has been judged unfairly

Pedophiles Seem to Make Up a Huge Chunk of Anonymized Web Traffic

The bulk of Dark Web traffic seems to flow to child pornography sites

This false-color composite image shows meteors streaking through the skies over NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., on the night of Jan. 3-4, 2012.

Ring in 2015 With the Quadrantid Meteor Shower

The annual Quadrantid meteor shower peaks this weekend

Spores on the conidiophores of the fungus Penicillium notatum.

We Used to Recycle Drugs From Patients’ Urine

Penicillin extracted from a patient’s urine could be reused

Scientists crouch with mock-ups of three generations of Mars rovers. Curiosity is the big one. Opportunity and Spirit were based on the medium-sized one on the left. The small one is front was the Sojourner rover.

NASA’s Opportunity Rover Has Developed Robot Dementia

A problem with Opportunity’s hardware means it only has short-term memory

Big News Stories of 2014 That Aren’t Going Away

We just have so much to look forward to

The Science of Why Champagne Pops

The American Chemical Society takes a look at the science of champagne

Health workers wearing protective clothing prepare to carry an abandoned dead body presenting with Ebola symptoms at Duwala market in Monrovia August 17, 2014.

More Than 3,000 People Have Died of Ebola in the Past Two Months

The viral outbreak doesn’t appear to be slowing

That's it. Next year, everyone's getting coal.

Americans ‘Returned’ Around $3.6 Billion Worth of Stolen Goods This Holiday Season

Billions of dollars worth of “gift returns” are actually stolen goods

An Indonesian Air Force troops looks for AirAsia flight QZ8501 in the Karimata Strait.

2014 Was Actually One of the Safer Years to Fly

The year saw a few prominent disasters, but 2014 was, unfortunately, nothing out of the ordinary

This New Year’s Eve, Don’t Drink and Walk

Staggering home is dangerous, too

These images show the planet on the last day of Martian spring in the northern hemisphere (just before summer solstice). The annual north polar carbon dioxide frost (dry ice) cap is rapidly sublimating, revealing the much smaller permanent water ice cap.

Examining Martian Meteorites, Scientists Think They’ve Found The Red Planet’s Missing Water

Mars may have an underground water reservoir

Repeat a Bit of Regular Speech, And It’ll Turn Into a Song

Throw it in a loop, and listen to the music

None

Scientifically Accurate ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ Is Still Charming

Stars aren’t diamonds at all—they’re giant balls of gas

Knott's Merry Farm Snoopy's Merriest Tree Lighting held at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, CA.

CBS Executives Thought ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ Would Fail

There wasn’t much CBS executives liked about the Christmas special

There’s More to Frankincense and Myrrh Than Meets the Eye

Frankincense and myrrh have interesting medicinal properties

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