I write about science to make the world easier to understand. I’m not a brilliant scientist, but I can be an interpreter and a storyteller for those who are. I’ve written for PNAS, NASA, and ScienceNOW. I currently write for the University of Utah.
About 15 years ago when I was a geology student, we took a field trip to the Black Rock Desert in Central Utah. It wasn’t my favorite place. Geologically, it’s fascinating – recent lava flows, underground tunnels – but the scenery is a bit bleak. Fast forward to 2021 when seismologists at the University of … Continue reading
How do you tell the story of a set of bones, discovered under the foundation of an 80-year-old building when the first questions you have – who are they and how did they get there – can’t be answered? How do you tell a sensitive story of real people’s lives and real people’s remains without … Continue reading
I bet it wouldn’t take you long to find a piece of concrete that’s crumbling to pieces. I only have to go out onto my front porch, and my house is only 60 years old. So how could ancient Roman concrete still be standing, especially concrete breakwaters that have been pummeled by corrosive salty waves … Continue reading
In March 2017 I introduced the world to a little badger. Out in Utah’s west desert, this little guy has the tenacity and engineering chops to bury an entire calf, all by himself. Over the next two weeks, this contented badger ate off the carcass, all the while caught on camera by a motion-activated camera … Continue reading
In January 2016, I started as a science writer at the University of Utah, covering several physical and social science departments. Here’s how to keep up on my work: UNews: My press releases are posted at unews.utah.edu. Here’s a few recent ones I’m proud of: Spring snow a no-go? Why vultures matter – and what … Continue reading
Updates to my list of PNAS work. You can find all these links, as well as my past work, at the Multimedia Clips and Profiles & Q&As pages. Podcasts: Jef Boeke on safeguarding engineered or pathogenic microorganisms. Kyle Siler on editorial gatekeeping at scientific journals Keith Joung and Feng Zhang on genome editing Robin Ali … Continue reading
Check out some of my latest work at PNAS: Podcasts: Geoffrey Marcy on exoplanet hunting: http://www.pnas.org/site/podcasts/podcasts.xhtml#PetiguraMarcy Tad Patzek on natural gas forecasting: http://www.pnas.org/site/podcasts/podcasts.xhtml#Patzek Alvin Roth on kidney exchange : http://www.pnas.org/site/podcasts/podcasts.xhtml#Roth Profiles: Marine microbiologist Edward DeLong: http://www.pnas.org/content/111/27/9666.full Ecohydrologist Andrea Rinaldo: http://www.pnas.org/content/111/11/3900.full QnAs: Ecologist Simon Levin: http://www.pnas.org/content/111/18/6532.full And all this in addition to a half-dozen or more … Continue reading
Last month I returned to my Earth Science roots as a temporary blogger for Discovery News. In ten posts during April (eight of which I found and pitched from earth science journals) I covered a lot of ground – weather, earthquakes, volcanoes, and of course killer shrimp. Check out my Discovery News ouevre: Forecast Tool … Continue reading
Most of my day-to-day work at Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences is writing short summaries of upcoming research papers. But I also have the opportunity to take on longer projects as well, including profiles and podcasts . My first podcast, discussing whole-genome screening in adults, posted this morning. Check it out! http://www.pnas.org/site/podcasts/podcasts.xhtml#CaskeyMcGuire You … Continue reading
Today, a tale of two stories that had to wait for just the right time to publish. One, published this week as a NASA Goddard news feature, describes what the MAVEN spacecraft might have seen during a Halloween solar flare. I wrote the story back in August, just after another large flare. I pocketed the … Continue reading
Paul Gabrielsen 