Maria Temming
Assistant Managing Editor, Science News Explores
Maria Temming is the Assistant Managing Editor at Science News Explores. Maria has undergraduate degrees in physics and English from Elon University and a master's degree in science writing from MIT. She has written for Scientific American, Sky & Telescope and NOVA Next. She’s also a former staff writer at Science News.
All Stories by Maria Temming
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Health & Medicine
Let’s learn about snot
For humans, snot plays a key role in fighting off diseases. Other animals have found different uses for the slimy stuff.
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Space
Scientists Say: Solar wind
This is a powerful gust of charged particles that flows out from the sun through the solar system.
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Animals
Let’s learn about chimpanzees and bonobos
Humankind’s closest cousins in the animal kingdom may look similar, but in terms of behavior, they’re polar opposites.
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Materials Science
This glitter gets its color from plants, not a synthetic plastic
In the new material, tiny arrangements of cellulose reflect light in specific ways to create vibrant hues in an environmentally friendly glitter.
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Life
Scientists Say: Adaptation
This word refers to a feature of a living thing that helps it better survive in its environment — or the process of that feature evolving in a population.
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Earth
Scientists Say: Savanna
Savannas exist where there is more rainfall than in a desert, but less than in a forest.
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Space
Let’s learn about the hunt for alien life
Finding any extraterrestrials, from advanced alien civilizations to simple microbes, would be an unmatched discovery.
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Life
Scientists Say: Experiment
An experiment is a set of procedures to learn about the world — and an important part of the scientific process.
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Earth
Scientists Say: Avalanche
The word avalanche usually refers to a huge snowslide down a mountain, but it can also be used to describe any large mass of material tumbling downhill.
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Plants
Let’s learn about meat-eating plants
Carnivorous plants use a variety of strategies to lure in and capture their prey, from sticky traps to jawlike leaves.
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Climate
Scientists Say: El Niño and La Niña
El Niño and La Niña are part of a climate cycle that results in major weather changes every few years.