Maria Temming

Assistant Editor, Science News Explores

Maria Temming is the assistant 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

  1. Chemistry

    Scientists Say: Fluorescence

    This property causes materials — including some animals’ skin, fur or feathers — to glow under light.

  2. Agriculture

    Let’s learn about eating bugs

    Eating more insects, rather than pork, beef or other kinds of meat, may be better for the planet.

  3. Brain

    Scientists Say: Glymphatic System

    The glymphatic system bathes the brain in cleansing fluids during sleep and clears away harmful cellular waste.

  4. Math

    Scientists Say: Mean, median and mode

    Mean, median and mode are all different ways to describe the middle value in a dataset.

  5. Materials Science

    Let’s learn about microplastics

    Microplastics have turned up everywhere from the highest mountains to the bottom of the ocean — and even inside animals and people.

  6. Space

    Scientists Say: Astronaut

    Astronauts have been going to space for over 60 years.

  7. Psychology

    Why fandom feels good — and may be good for you

    Psychologists and media scholars are looking into the who, why and how of becoming a fan.

  8. Physics

    Scientists Say: Neutron

    Neutrons are one of the main building blocks of atoms and have no electric charge.

  9. Tech

    How to turn your hobby into a seriously cool science project

    This year’s Broadcom MASTERS finalists were inspired by their love of painting, horseback riding and other pastimes.

  10. Animals

    Let’s learn about parasites that create zombies

    Some parasites turn their victims into mindless puppets that do the parasites’ bidding, even at the cost of their own lives.

  11. Earth

    Scientists Say: Pole

    A pole is either of two opposite ends of a molecule, magnet, battery, planet or other object.

  12. Science & Society

    What’s the fun in fear? Science explores the appeal of scary movies

    On its face, the appeal of horror doesn’t make much sense. But scientists are starting to uncover who’s most likely to enjoy scary films and why.