Will Sullivan

Will Sullivan

 

Will Sullivan is a science writer based in Washington, D.C. His work has appeared in Inside Science and NOVA Next.

An image from an electron microscope of Treponema pallidum, the bacteria that causes syphilis. In 2022, the number of reported cases of syphilis in the United States was the highest it has been since 1950.

Syphilis Cases in the U.S. Are the Highest Since 1950

Diagnoses of the sexually transmitted infection rose by nearly 80 percent between 2018 and 2022, according to a new report from the CDC

Spiral galaxy NGC 628, located 32 million light-years away in the constellation Pisces, as captured by the James Webb Space Telescope in near- and mid-infrared light. The red and orange spirals represent gas, while the small blue dots represent stars.

See Dazzling New Images of 19 Spiral Galaxies Captured by the James Webb Space Telescope

These detailed infrared views, which contain millions of stars, will help astronomers better understand star formation and the evolution of spiral galaxies

The shark, which researchers suggest is a newborn great white, seen off California's coast in July 2023.

'Extremely Rare' Sighting of Newborn Great White Shark Reported Off California Coast

If confirmed, the discovery could shed light on where the sharks give birth and mate, which has remained mysterious to scientists

A photo of Ingenuity taken by the Perseverance rover in April 2023. The helicopter arrived on Mars attached to Perseverance in February 2021.

NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Has Taken Its Final Flight

Originally designed for up to five flights on Mars, Ingenuity performed 72 over three years, until one of its rotor blades was damaged during landing on January 18

Casts of the ancient chewing gum pieces, which were found in Sweden and date to between 9,540 and 9,890 years ago.

Prehistoric Chewing Gum Reveals Diet, Oral Health of Stone Age Teenagers

From preserved DNA, researchers identified which plants and animals the young people would have eaten or used for making clothing—and they found one case of a severe gum infection

The 2023 Doomsday Clock on display before a Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists event on January 24, 2023. The Bulletin has been setting the clock since 1947 based on analysis of threats facing humans from technologies people have made. 

Doomsday Clock Stays at 90 Seconds to Midnight Amid Climate Change, War and A.I.

For the second year in a row, the clock is the nearest it has ever been to signaling our total annihilation

The open canister with the sample collected from the asteroid Bennu inside. Scientists hope the sample can help them better understand planet formation and the origin of life on Earth.

NASA Finally Opens Canister Holding Asteroid Sample—See What They Found

It took several months for the researchers to remove two stuck fasteners, which required them to design new tools

People with long Covid sit in the audience at a U.S. Senate hearing about the condition on January 18.

Scientists Find Indicators in Blood Linked to Long Covid, Hinting at Future Treatments

One part of the immune system appeared to be overly active in long Covid patients in a small study, a finding researchers hope could help diagnose or treat the condition

An image of an odd radio circle called ORC 1. ORCs can be much wider across than the Milky Way galaxy and are large enough to surround entire galaxies.

Giant, 'Odd' Circles of Radio Waves in Space May Finally Have an Explanation

The mystifying orbs could be caused by galactic winds, propelled by a period of rapid star formation and death

Japan's X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) launched from Earth on September 7. SLIM took a fuel efficient route to the moon, touching down on the surface over four months later.

Japan Lands Spacecraft on the Moon

After a successful soft landing, the craft's solar cells weren't charging and it was running out of power

A picture taken by the Hubble Space Telescope that contains GN-z11, the galaxy with the newly discovered black hole at its center. When GN-z11 was first imaged, it was the farthest galaxy ever seen in the universe.

Astronomers Discover the Oldest Known Black Hole, Breaking a Record Set Last Year

The supermassive structure dates to about 400 million years after the Big Bang, and it’s particularly large for its age

A photo from a camera on one of Peregrine's payload decks shows some of the spacecraft's payloads, as well as a sliver of Earth in the upper right.

Doomed Lunar Lander Will Burn Up in Earth's Atmosphere on Thursday

Astrobotic, the company in charge of the mission, says its Peregrine spacecraft will not reach the moon, and burning it will ensure the lander doesn't end up as space debris

An artist's impression of the planet orbiting its star with the trail of gas behind it. The planet, called WASP-69b, completes one orbit in less than four days.

This Distant Exoplanet Has a 350,000-Mile-Long Tail, Like a Comet

A stream of particles flung from the planet's star is causing its atmosphere to boil away and lose 200,000 tons of mass per second

An artist's rendering of the newly identified species, called Tyrannosaurus mcraeensis. The species may be the closest known relative of T. rex.

Fossils Reveal a Possible New Tyrannosaur Species, the Closest Relative of T. Rex

The remains, dug up in the 1980s, might shed light on T. rex's mysterious origins, according to a new paper

Genes that significantly increase risk of developing multiple sclerosis were introduced to northwestern Europe by herders who migrated from the east around 5,000 years ago.

Ancient DNA From Eurasian Herders Sheds Light on the Origins of Multiple Sclerosis

Genetic variants linked to the risk of MS were brought to Europe during a migration around 5,000 years ago, a new study finds—and they might have helped herders survive

From left to right: Artemis 2 astronauts Christina Hammock Koch, Victor Glover, Jeremy Hansen and Reid Wiseman.

NASA Delays Artemis 2, Artemis 3 Moon Missions for Safety Reasons

Artemis 2 has been pushed from later this year to no earlier than September 2025, and the Artemis 3 moon landing will not occur before September 2026

The silk dress, which dates to the mid-1880s, in which the pieces of paper containing the code were found. They were tucked in a hidden pocket, the opening of which was hidden by an overskirt.

'Unsolvable' Code Hidden in Antique Dress Pocket Is Finally Cracked

Short, handwritten lines of unrelated words contained coded weather reports to send via telegraph in the late 19th century

An image of the moon taken by NASA's Galileo spacecraft on December 7, 1992. Payloads on next week's commercial mission to the surface include NASA scientific instruments, as well as human remains and DNA launched by private companies. 

Navajo Nation President Asks for Delay of Moon Mission Carrying Human Remains

The commercial launch, scheduled for January 8, is slated to carry human remains to the lunar surface, which the Navajo Nation president calls a "desecration of this sacred space"

Cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, on the surface of a lake. Bacteria were the first organisms to photosynthesize, creating the oxygen essential for the evolution of life on Earth.

Scientists Uncover the Earliest Fossil Evidence of Photosynthesis

Ancient cyanobacteria contained structures for producing oxygen around 1.75 billion years ago, according to a new study

A view of Jupiter's moon Io captured by NASA's Juno spacecraft on December 30, 2023.

NASA Captures Stunning Images of Jupiter's Moon Io on Closest Flyby in 20 Years

The Juno spacecraft's instruments will help scientists better understand volcanic activity on the volatile moon's surface

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