Katherine J. Wu

Katherine J. Wu

 

Katherine J. Wu is a Boston-based science journalist and Story Collider senior producer whose work has appeared in National Geographic, Undark magazine, Popular Science and more. She holds a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunobiology from Harvard University, and was Smithsonian magazine's 2018 AAAS Mass Media Fellow.

Researchers now have video evidence that Atlantic puffins can use sticks as tools to scratch their backs.

In a First, Scientists Film a Puffin Scratching Itself With a Stick

Behold the first evidence of tool use in seabirds

The floor of one of the coffins of Gua, a physician of the governor Djehutyhotep. The paintings, dated to 1795 B.C., show the “two ways”—land and sea—that the dead could use to navigate the afterlife. An even older “Book of Two Ways” has now been unearthed.

4,000-Year-Old Guide to the Ancient Egyptian Underworld May Be Oldest Illustrated 'Book'

Archaeologists recovered the remnants of an ancient "Book of Two Ways" from a sarcophagus

The Quadrantids meteor shower, though fleeting, is famous for its especially bright, colorful "fireballs"

How to Catch the Quadrantids, the First Major Meteor Shower of the 2020s

This cosmic light show will peak in the predawn hours of January 4

Some of the Callanish stones, which sit atop the Isle of Lewis in Scotland

Massive Lightning Strike May Have Inspired This Scottish Stone Circle

New geophysical evidence points to ancient burn marks that could have coincided with the building of Scotland’s Callanish standing stones

On December 24, 2019, the Potter Park Zoo in Michigan welcomed a healthy male black rhino calf.

Baby Black Rhino Born at Michigan Zoo on Christmas Eve

The birth of the yet-to-be-named male calf marks a milestone for conservationists trying to save the critically endangered species

The headlining image for the upcoming exhibition, "Mushrooms: The Art, Design and Future of Fungi"

Get a Taste for Mushroom Art at This New, Fungus-Forward Exhibition

"Mushrooms: The Art, Design and Future of Fungi" celebrates shrooms like you’ve never seen them before

The star Betelgeuse, as seen by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array.

A Giant Star Is Dimming, Which Could Be a Sign It Is About to Explode

Most astronomers, however, say it's unlikely that the star Betelgeuse will go supernova anytime soon

Carbonized bread with Bay of Naples butter from the "Last Supper in Pompeii" menu at Dinner by Heston

Dine Like a Doomed Pompeiian at This Upscale Eatery

Starting early next year, Dinner by Heston in London will serve a menu inspired by ancient Roman fare

Urquhart Castle, which sits beside Loch Ness in the Highlands of Scotland

Job Hunting? How About Working at a Stunning Scottish Castle?

Even after centuries in ruins, castles still need some TLC—and, perhaps, you?

Archaeologists Daniel Matsenius and Philip Tonemar recovering the probable remnants of Samson, a ship build in the 16th century

16th-Century Shipwreck Discovered Beneath Stockholm City Center

Just a few centuries ago, much of the Swedish capital was under water, clearing the way for magnificent ships to dock on the shore

An image of the center of the Milky Way galaxy, where a red and yellow "candy cane" feature was recently observed by astronomers

A Cosmic ‘Candy Cane’ Was Spotted at the Heart of the Milky Way

The festive feature is made up of a long stream of high-energy particles where stars may be forming

An artist's illustration of Dendromaia unamakiensis, a 310-million-year old land-dwelling vertebrate that looked a like a modern monitor lizard, pictured here with its offspring

Lizard-Like Fossil May Represent 306-Million-Year-Old Evidence of Animal Parenting

Shortly after transitioning from sea to land, our egg-laying ancestors may have started parenting their young

Laboratory experiments suggest the tooth-like scales of the puffadder shyshark can be degraded by acidifying oceans

Acidifying Oceans Could Corrode the Tooth-Like Scales on Shark Skin

A laboratory experiment hints at another sobering consequence of acid-heavy ocean waters on marine life

It's hard enough to talk about our feelings. Now, try doing it across languages.

The Meanings Behind Words for Emotions Aren't Universal, Study Finds

Certain emotions may be universal. But the way humans describe their feelings, it seems, is not

How many sheep?

Dogs’ Brains Naturally Process Numbers, Just Like Ours

Scientists stuck 11 dogs in fMRI scanners to see if their brains had a knack for quantity

An aerial view of a fossil of Archaeopteris, a 385-million-year-old tree with surprisingly modern-looking roots.

The World’s Oldest Forest Has 385-Million-Year-Old Tree Roots

A trove of arboreal fossils pushes back the origin of modern forests and sophisticated tree roots

On Christmas Eve 1869, a bird-related incident ruffled Charles Dickens' feathers.

Charles Dickens Lost His Last Christmas Turkey to a Freak Fire

A rediscovered letter reveals the famed author forgave the railway company that botched his holiday delivery

Microneedle patches, like this one that measures about a centimeter across, could be used to deliver nanoparticles when pressed to the skin for two minutes.

This Spiky Patch Could Invisibly Record Vaccination History Under Skin

But the technology raise several ethical concerns that could stymie its progress

An artist impression of Cheops, the CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite, with an exoplanet system in the background

Three Things to Know About Europe's New Exoplanet Space Telescope

CHEOPS is the first exoplanet satellite devoted specifically to learning more about the thousands of planets we have already found

The shores of Mount Athos, a monastic sanctuary where women have been banned for more than 1,000 years

Possible Female Remains Discovered on Greece's All-Male Monastic Peninsula

The identity and sex of the individual have yet to be confirmed, but could mark a first for the sacred Mount Athos

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