Stephen Ornes

Freelance Writer

Stephen Ornes has been writing for Science News Explores since 2008, and his 2014 story "Where Will Lightning Strike?" won an AAAS/Kavli Gold Award. He lives in Nashville, Tenn., and he has three children, who are inventing their own language. His family has a cat, six chickens, and two rabbits, but he secretly thinks hagfish are the most fascinating animals. Stephen has written two books. One is a biography of mathematician Sophie Germain, who was born during the French Revolution. The other, which was published in 2019, features art inspired by math. Visit him online at stephenornes.com.

All Stories by Stephen Ornes

  1. Space

    The Earth-bound asteroid scientists saw coming

    History-making asteroid tracked from space to its fiery demise in an African desert.

  2. Animals

    A grim future for some killer whales

    An oil spill off the U.S. coast 20 years ago still threatens marine life.

  3. Health & Medicine

    Treating peanut allergy bit by bit

    New study offers a little hope in reducing an allergy to peanuts, but don't try this at home.

  4. Space

    The most popular stars

    Dwarf stars come in many colors, and aren't so small after all

  5. Fossils

    Meet the new dinos

    Fossil finds reveal a tiny, meat-eating species and another with featherlike features.

  6. Brain

    Reading a mind’s memories

    By looking at patterns on brain scans, scientists can "see" where a person has been.

  7. Animals

    Bringing fish back up to size

    Changing the way we fish may help rescue a population's shrinking fish.

  8. Animals

    Fish needs see-through head

    Barreleye peers out at the world like a fighter pilot does through a windshield.

  9. Space

    Deep-space dancers

    In a galaxy far, far away, black holes are spinning around each other.

  10. Health & Medicine

    The metal detector in your mouth

    The taste of metal is sweet, spicy, bitter, delicious and perhaps other, mystery tastes.

  11. Animals

    Newly named fish crawls and hops

    Crazy-colored, flat-faced fish does more than swim.

  12. Space

    Watching deep-space fireworks

    An orbiting telescope records the universe’s most powerful explosions.