Articles by Joanna Thompson, Live Science Contributor

Joanna Thompson is a science journalist and runner based in New York. She holds a B.S. in Zoology and a B.A. in Creative Writing from North Carolina State University, as well as a Master's in Science Journalism from NYU's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program. Find more of her work in Scientific American, The Daily Beast, Atlas Obscura or Audubon Magazine.

Articles by: Joanna Thompson

Couple holding hands and walking barefoot on the beach as the sun sets in the background.

Why is it so hard to walk on sand?

By Joanna Thompson published 13 March 23

Sand is difficult to walk or run across. But why?

An artist's illustration of an ancient platypus-like creature

Ancient platypus-like fossil could rewrite the history of egg-laying mammals

By Joanna Thompson published 10 March 23

Fossils of a 70 million-year-old platypus relative called Patagorhynchus pascuali found in South America show that egg-laying mammals evolved on more than one continent.

Permafrost melts into the Kolyma River outside of Zyryanka, Russia in Siberia on July 4, 2019. In a new study, researchers looked for ancient viruses in several places in Siberia, including two rivers.

'Zombie' viruses have been revived from Siberian permafrost. Could they infect people?

By Joanna Thompson last updated 10 March 23

Researchers have isolated viable microbes from melting permafrost after tens of thousands of years. But don't worry; they infect only amoebas.

Field of asteroids with space background and glowing orange shiny star.

What's the smallest known asteroid? What about the largest?

By Joanna Thompson published 6 March 23

Not all asteroids are planet-killers — most are tiny and others are huge. So what are the largest and smallest asteroids in the solar system?

A weedy sea dragon father carries a strand of ruby-red eggs.

Sea dragon dad glues his brood to his tail for safekeeping, stunning image shows

By Joanna Thompson published 21 February 23

Sea dragon dads and octopus moms are the extreme marine parents we need, winning photos show.

Fluffy yellow chick hatching out of brown egg on a black background.jpg

Which came first: The chicken or the egg?

By Joanna Thompson published 6 February 23

Most biologists will answer confidently when asked "which came first, the chicken or the egg?" but the answer may depend on what type of egg you're talking about.

A man holding a roll of toilet paper as he heads toward a toilet.

Who invented the toilet?

By Joanna Thompson published 28 January 23

Did Thomas Crapper actually create your commode?

Brain, concept idea art of thinking, surreal portrait painting, conceptual artwork, 3d illustration

What is brain fog?

By Joanna Thompson published 16 January 23

Mental fuzziness can be frustrating and can be caused by lack of sleep or even an underlying illness.

What is a runner's high?

By Joanna Thompson published 6 January 23

Here's what the strange euphoria that sets in after aerobic exercise really is.

An illustration of Olympus Mons, the largest known volcano in the solar system.

'Mars' interior is not behaving,' active mantle plume reveals

By Joanna Thompson published 16 December 22

In a first, planetary geologists describe an active mantle plume on the surface of Mars.

Rough-scaled bush viper preparing to strike. It is coiled around some green foliage.

Scientists finally discovered the snake clitoris, and they're 'very excited'

By Joanna Thompson published 16 December 22

For the first time, clitorises have been documented in nine different species of snakes from four families.

Cumulonimbus near Loy Island, an offshore island of Si Racha City, Chonburi, Thailand

How much does a cloud weigh?

By Joanna Thompson published 10 December 22

Clouds look light and fluffy, but they're surprisingly heavy.

Who owns the moon?

By Joanna Thompson published 3 December 22

Does anyone have sovereignty over the moon? And can anyone buy it?

The "exceptional" fossil of Daurlong wangi from the Upper Cretaceous period of Inner Mongolia, China.

Ravenous meat-eating dinosaur's guts preserved in exceptionally rare fossil

By Joanna Thompson published 25 November 22

Paleontologists in China have examined the remarkable gut remnants of a birdlike dinosaur that lived more than 100 million years ago.

Roman marble sarcophagus with togate men, known as the Sarcophagus of the Brothers, from the middle of the third century A.D., on display in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples, Italy.

Who really wore togas?

By Joanna Thompson published 24 November 22

Who actually wore togas, and what were they for?

A team of scientists and conservationists has rediscovered the elusive black-naped pheasant-pigeon, a large, ground-dwelling pigeon that only lives on Fergusson Island, a rugged island in the D'Entrecasteaux Archipelago off of eastern Papua New Guinea.

Long-lost bird species, thought to be extinct, captured in images for 1st time in 140 years

By Joanna Thompson published 23 November 22

Images and footage of the black-naped pheasant-pigeon were recently captured by scientists. This is the first documented sighting of the elusive bird since 1882.

Artist's reconstruction of Gangtoucunia aspera as it would have appeared in life on the Cambrian seafloor, around 514 million years ago. The individual in the foreground has part of the skeleton removed to show the soft polyp inside.

Scientists solved a 500 million-year-old mystery about strange Cambrian structures found in China

By Joanna Thompson published 17 November 22

Extremely detailed Cambrian fossils show that enigmatic skeleton tubes belonged to ancient ancestors of modern jellyfish.

A Devils Hole pupfish looks directly into the camera, against a black background.

The Devils Hole pupfish is so inbred that it shouldn’t be alive

By Joanna Thompson published 9 November 22

New research reveals exactly how inbred the Devils Hole pupfish is.

A reticulated python (Python reticulatus), like the one pictured here, is likely the python species that killed and swallowed a woman in Indonesia.

Missing woman’s body discovered in the stomach of 22-foot-long python in Indonesia

By Joanna Thompson last updated 2 November 22

A 54-year-old woman in Indonesia was killed and eaten by a massive python

What if humans had tails?

By Joanna Thompson published 24 October 22

If humans had tails, what would they be like, and how would we use them?

The Evil Queen, the evil stepmother in "Snow White," disguises herself as a hag when she offers her stepdaughter a poison apple.

Where did the idea of the 'wicked stepmother' come from?

By Joanna Thompson published 23 October 22

Many fairytales have an evil stepmother who is determined to ruin the lives of her stepchildren. But what are the roots of this age-old trope?

A snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) pictured underwater in Canada

What made billions of snow crabs disappear from the Bering Sea?

By Joanna Thompson published 20 October 22

The Bering Sea's snow crab population has been in decline over the last five years, but this season the population has collapsed.

Full-body specimens of Acipenser praeparatorum, a newly described species from the Hell Creek Formation in Wyoming.

'Hell fish' likely killed by dinosaur-ending asteroid is preserved in stunning detail

By Joanna Thompson published 12 October 22

Scientists recently unearthed stunning fossils of sturgeon from Hell's Creek that might have died on the day that the dinosaur-killing asteroid struck.