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.

A pickup truck collided with a moai statue and platform on Eastern Island.

After Truck Topples Easter Island Statue, Mayor Calls for Traffic Restrictions

The incident, which happened over the weekend, remains under investigation but may have involved faulty brakes

The trajectory of asteroid 52768 (1998 OR2), which approaches the orbits of both Earth and Mars.

The Biggest Asteroid to Fly by This Year Will Zoom Past Earth Next Month

During its visit, the asteroid, called (52768) 1998 OR2, will remain almost 4 million miles away from Earth

A gyotaku fish print

Traditional Japanese Fish Art Could Be a Boon for Conservation

"Gyotaku," or the art of pressing ink-dipped fish onto paper, represents a wealth of scientifically accurate data on Japan's marine life

An artist’s depiction of Gunakadeit joseeae

215-Million-Year-Old, Sharp-Nosed Sea Creature Was Among the Last of Its Kind

Researchers gave the marine reptile the genus name <u>G</u>unakadeit in honor of a sea monster from Tlingit oral history

Henneguya salminicola, a parasite that doesn't need to breathe oxygen to survive

This Animal Doesn’t Need Oxygen to Survive

A discovery in a jellyfish-like parasite bucks the typical trends of complex life

You can now a book a stay in Lucy the Elephant.

Spend a Night in This 65-Foot-Tall, Elephant-Shaped Airbnb

Keen travelers can pay $138 to spend a night inside Lucy the Elephant, a 138-year-old six-story structure on the Jersey Shore

NASA's newest class of astronaut candidates at their graduation ceremony at Johnson Space Center.during their graduation ceremony at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in January of 2020. The class includes 11 NASA candidates, as well as two Canadian Space Agency (CSA) candidates.

So You Want to Be an Astronaut? NASA Is Hiring

For the first time in four years, eligible candidates will have a shot at joining missions headed for the moon, Mars or the International Space Station

A digital reconstruction of a 2,000-year-old sarcophagus fragment adorned with the face of a leopard

2,000-Year-Old Leopard Face Painting Reconstructed From Egyptian Sarcophagus

To the ancient Egyptians, the big cat symbolized strength and power, demarcating a tomb of high status

Swamp wallabies can nourish three separate offspring at once: an older joey that's left the pouch, a young one nursing inside of it, and an embryo that has yet to be born.

Swamp Wallabies Can Get Pregnant While Pregnant

These marsupials can conceive during the final days of an ongoing pregnancy, creating a “backup” embryo ready to take its predecessor’s place

The restored dagger and sheath, following nine months of sandblasting and grinding

Archaeology Intern Unearths Spectacular, 2,000-Year-Old Roman Dagger

After a nine-month restoration, the elaborately decorated blade and its sheath gleam as if brand new

Ducks can apparently eat up to 200 locusts a day, one Chinese researcher says.

Is a Duck Army Coming for Pakistan's Locusts? Not So Fast

In the wake of a social media storm, experts question a popular plan to dispatch insect-eating birds from China

Parliament at sunset

Secret 17th-Century Passageway Discovered in British House of Commons

Parliament has posted photos of its members and collaborators delighting in the discovery

A scanned page from The Lytille Childrenes Lytil Boke, a 15th-century courtesy book of table manners and etiquette for kids

Don't Pick Your Nose, 15th-Century Manners Book Warns

The taboo on booger hunting stretches back centuries, reveals a book recently digitized by the British Library

Mulleriblattina bowangi, a cockroach that lived in caves during the Cretaceous

Oldest Known Cave-Dwellers Are 99-Million-Year-Old Cockroaches

The pale-bodied pests belong to a family that’s still around today

A half-submerged stone inscribed with Luwian hieroglyphs detailing the fall of Phrygia

Ancient Inscription Unveils the King Who May Have Toppled Midas

A newly discovered stone hints that a lost civilization defeated the ancient Turkish kingdom of Phrygia around the eighth century B.C.

NASA's InSight lander, with its dome-shaped seismometer

InSight Lander’s First Big Batch of Data Reveals Mars’ Seismic Activity and Surprising Magnetism

The robot’s new data has answered plenty of questions, but raises new ones as well

Author-illustrator duo Jon Scieszka and Steven Weinberg debut How to Make a Collagasaurus, a how-to booklet inviting kids to transform the Smithsonian collections into zany new art forms.

Smithsonian Releases 2.8 Million Images Into Public Domain

The launch of a new open access platform ushers in a new era of accessibility for the Institution

Greg Lecoeur won the title of Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020 for his Frozen Mobile Home, a playful snapshot of seals circling an iceberg.

Dazzling Display of Seals Wins Underwater Photographer of the Year Award

French photographer Greg Lecoeur triumphed over more than 5,500 submissions from hundreds of artists around the world

Graphic illustrating the MAVEN spacecraft encountering plasma layers at Mars.

Ten Trends That Will Shape Science in the Decade Ahead

Medicine gets trippy, solar takes over, and humanity—finally, maybe—goes back to the moon

Posed in Hampton, Virginia, Katherine Johnson stands before a backdrop of gathering clouds, "symbolic of the obstacles ... that she had to face in her career," says curator William Pretzer.

Smithsonian Curators Remember Katherine Johnson, NASA Mathematician Highlighted in 'Hidden Figures,' Who Died at 101

An African American woman who battled workplace discrimination, Johnson performed crucial calculations to send astronauts into space

Page 6 of 17