Theresa Machemer

Theresa Machemer is a freelance writer based in Washington DC. Her work has also appeared in National Geographic and SciShow. Website: tkmach.com

Each finger is made of two layers of hydrogel that react to temperature by contracting and leaking water.

This Robotic Hand Stays Cool by Sweating

The robot is three times more efficient at sweating than the animal kingdom's best, humans and horses

Kryptos, displayed in a courtyard of the CIA’s Langley, Virginia, headquarters, has long puzzled codebreakers.

New Clue May Be the Key to Cracking CIA Sculpture's Final Puzzling Passage

"Northeast" joins "Berlin" and "clock" as hints for deciphering a 97-character section of Kryptos' code

The red-breasted nuthatch eavesdrops on chickadee conversations to get advanced notice of predators like pygmy owls.

Nuthatches Heed Chickadees' Warning Calls—but They're Wary of False Alarms

Nuthatches prefer to check the facts before they 'retweet' chickadees' alerts

Susan B. Anthony's childhood home in Battenville, New York, as seen in 2018

Susan B. Anthony's Childhood Home Is Getting Renovated

The women's suffrage activist lived in the house from 1833 to 1839

The Cape coral snake is a venomous species that lives in arid regions of southern Africa.

The Future of Antivenom May Involve Mini Lab-Grown Snake Glands

The antiquated technique used to produce antivenom requires injecting venom into horses and this new method may someday remove that step from the process

This concretion, recovered from the Hoi An shipwreck, alludes to the fate of artifacts left underwater.

Who Owns the Art Recovered From Shipwrecks?

A thought-provoking exhibit at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco draws on artifacts from two centuries-old shipwrecks

People walk past closed entrance of the Forbidden City in Beijing.

Forbidden City and Parts of Great Wall Close Temporarily in China to Limit Spread of Coronavirus

Authorities are trying to reduce the number of big crowds as China celebrates the Lunar New Year

A researcher holds a platypus for a Melbourne Water study conducted in 2017.

Australia's Droughts and Fires Present New Dangers to the Platypus

Threats to the semi-aquatic, egg-laying mammals demand action, experts say

The cesspit under the Somerset House is nearly 15 feet deep and contained almost 100 artifacts.

Archaeologists Unearth Trove of Medieval Artifacts in London Cesspit

The precursor to the toilet was probably an easy place to throw away—or lose—small objects

Witch bottles, or talismans designed to ward off evil spirits, were more commonly employed across the pond in the United Kingdom.

Suspected 'Witch Bottle' Full of Nails Found in Virginia

Archaeologists unearthed the blue glass bottle near the hearth of a small fort used during the Civil War

"Tardigrades are definitely not the almost indestructible organism,” says Ricardo Neves.

High Temperatures Might Be Water Bears’ Achilles Heel

Tardigrades are known for their resilience, but a new study shows they can’t bear hours in the heat

A Louvre curator purchased the looted artwork during a 1942 auction.

Art Historian Identifies Ten Nazi-Looted Paintings in the Louvre's Collections

Emmanuelle Polack made the discovery less than one month after she was brought on board to study the museum's ill-gotten artwork

Scientists filmed a pair of rhenium atoms (simulated here in green) as they bonded over a carbon nanotube (grey)

Watch First-Ever Footage of Atoms Forming and Breaking Bonds

The team used transmission electron microscopy to film the atoms dancing down a carbon nanotube

Blazes at Budj Bim National Park in southeastern Australia unearthed a previously unknown channel.

Australian Bushfires Reveal Hidden Sections of Ancient Aquaculture System

The eel-farming system of the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape is older than both Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids

Kelsey Rose Juliana, one of 21 plaintiffs in Juliana v. United States, speaks at a rally in Portland, Oregon on Tuesday, June 4, 2019. That day, three federal judges heard arguments for the case.

Appeals Court Dismisses Kids’ Climate Case

The court conceded that the case was compelling but concluded that "such relief is beyond our constitutional power."

After months of careful negotiations, the mayor of Gotha was able to secure the return of the long-missing paintings.

Five Old Master Paintings Recovered 40 Years After German Heist

Authorities suspect the artworks were smuggled into West Germany during the 1980s

'Directional Velcro' on birds' feathers prevent gaps from forming between them when hit by a gust of wind.

‘PigeonBot’ Uses Real Feathers to Fly Like a Bird

The flying robot is better at following directions than its namesake

Christopher Tolkien at Keble College, Oxford, in 1992

Christopher Tolkien, Son of J.R.R. Tolkien and 'First Scholar' of Middle-Earth, Dies at 95

Following his father's death in 1973, Christopher began editing and publishing the "Lord of the Rings" author's unseen writings

Photosynthetic bacteria in the concrete make it bright green until it dries and turns brown.

Scientists Design Bacteria-Based Living Concrete

Its designers hope that it could help with construction in deserts or even on Mars

John Duke Kisch collected the Separate Cinema Archive over 40 years.

George Lucas' New Museum Acquires Major Archive of African American Film History

The Separate Cinema Archive contains more than 37,000 objects dating from 1904 to the present

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