
Emma Bryce
Emma Bryce is a London-based freelance journalist who writes primarily about the environment, conservation and climate change. She has written for The Guardian, Wired Magazine, TED Ed, Anthropocene, China Dialogue, and Yale e360 among others, and has masters degree in science, health, and environmental reporting from New York University. Emma has been awarded reporting grants from the European Journalism Centre, and in 2016 received an International Reporting Project fellowship to attend the COP22 climate conference in Morocco.
Latest articles by Emma Bryce

Do animals grieve?
By Emma Bryce last updated
Elephants gather round their dead, dogs go into decline and chimpanzees stop eating when their companions die. Is this grief, as humans know it?

What's the biggest group of animals ever recorded on Earth?
By Emma Bryce published
For these gregarious animals, 'alone time' is a fantasy.

What's the longest lightning bolt ever recorded?
By Emma Bryce published
Lightning is one of the greatest natural forces on our planet. New mapping tools are revealing just how big it is.

How did doctors perform surgery before modern anesthesia?
By Emma Bryce published
The history of anesthesia in surgery was grisly, painful and occasionally very dubious.

Which animals sing?
By Emma Bryce published
It's often assumed that birds are the only animals that sing. But these other divas of the animal kingdom prove otherwise.

What's the chattiest animal?
By Emma Bryce published
Some animals lead quiet lives, while others prefer constant chatter. Why do some animals vocalize more than others, and what are they saying?

Do animals hug each other?
By Emma Bryce published
Comfort, consolation and conflict avoidance are just some of the reasons animals embrace.

Was Manhattan really sold for $24 worth of beads and trinkets?
By Emma Bryce published
In 1626, native people purportedly sold Manhattan to the Dutch for a pittance. But there are problems with this story that we shouldn't overlook.

How do we turn oil into plastic?
By Emma Bryce published
Here's how crude oil becomes plastic.

What's the first species humans drove to extinction?
By Emma Bryce published
Which species died out first because of humans?

What would happen to Earth if humans went extinct?
By Emma Bryce published
Lacking human oversight, glitches in oil refineries and nuclear plants could lead to fires, nuclear explosions and fallout.

What could drive humans to extinction?
By Emma Bryce published
Pandemics, climate change, artificial intelligence: these are just some of the wide-ranging threats to humanity's survival. But they all have one factor in common...

Why was whaling so big in the 19th century?
By Emma Bryce published
For centuries, we plundered the ocean's depths, hauling up whales by the thousands. But what was the purpose of this dangerous and destructive industry?

How Many Calories Can the Brain Burn by Thinking?
By Emma Bryce published
Our brains are ravenous, guzzling up to a quarter of the body's energy. So thinking really hard should be an easy way to burn more calories — right?

Why do pigeons bob their heads?
By Emma Bryce published
Head-bobbing might make pigeons look ridiculous, but there's a practical purpose behind this very strange display.

Who Owns the Arctic?
By Emma Bryce published
Several countries are launching claims to vast swathes of the Arctic seabed. But what does that mean for political and environmental stability in the region?

How Many Humans Could the Moon Support?
By Emma Bryce published
How many people could fit on the moon? Answering that may require asking other questions — about lunar survival.

What Was It Like to Be an Executioner in the Middle Ages?
By Emma Bryce published
The image of the hooded executioner is iconic, but it tells us only a small part of the story.

Why Is There So Much Oil in the Arctic?
By Emma Bryce published
Beneath the Arctic lie billions of barrels of oil. But as the international energy race intensifies, we wonder, how did all that oil get there in the first place?

What Are the Alternatives to Animal Testing?
By Emma Bryce published
We're making great strides in developing alternatives, but here's why it's still necessary to test on animals.

Why Do Our Fingernails Keep Growing Until the Day We Die?
By Emma Bryce published
You may give them little thought beyond when to trim them or which nail color to apply. But the humble nail laid the groundwork for our evolution into the humans we are today.
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