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.
Latest articles by Joanna Thompson

By Joanna Thompson Published
The Madison Square Park Conservancy unveiled its moon tree at a smoky birthday party.

By Joanna Thompson Published
What the devil does the fashion industry in The Devil Wears Prada 2 have to do with NASA?

By Joanna Thompson Published
Wildfire-derived ozone appears responsible for 2,045 excess deaths, on average, per year across the U.S., 20 years of satellite data reveal.

By Joanna Thompson Published
A new atlas of 45 potentially habitable planets makes us think of the new film "Project Hail Mary," based on the book by Andy Weir.

By Joanna Thompson Published
The new film probes the possibility of alien life – here's how the science of Project Hail Mary stacks up.

By Joanna Thompson Published
"It sounds like science fiction or the stuff of Hollywood movies."

By Joanna Thompson Published
National Science Foundation employees were told they'll be removed from the agency's headquarters on Tuesday (June 24) with no direction yet for where to go.

By Joanna Thompson Published
Researchers used an AI model to create a new image of the black hole at the center of the Milky Way, with some concern from experts.

By Joanna Thompson Published
Climate scientists are gathering on YouTube for 100 hours to talk about the importance of weather research amid White House funding cuts.

By Joanna Thompson Published
The Trump administration is closing a historic NASA science office in the name of efficiency, but critics point out that the move won't actually save much money.

By Joanna Thompson Published
Black holes that have been obscured by clouds of dust still emit infrared light, enabling astronomers to spot them for the very first time

By Joanna Thompson Published
Galaxies in the early universe tend to be clumpy, but the new JWST discovery of a "grand design" spiral galaxy just 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang has scientists stumped.

By Joanna Thompson Published
Headaches are a common and recurring problem in space, even for astronauts that don't experience them on Earth.

By Joanna Thompson Published
Last summer, Harvard professor Avi Loeb claimed tiny pellets of iron came from beyond our solar system. But new analyses suggest that they likely originated much closer to home.

By Joanna Thompson Published
Here's how your brain might adjust to see color on another world.

By Joanna Thompson Published
The star T CrB flares up every 80 years. A document from 1217 could help confirm its regularity.

By Joanna Thompson Published
Asteroids are left over from the early solar system. Here's how they get destroyed.

By Joanna Thompson Published
Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have discovered a clump of ancient galaxies that may be the oldest strand of the "cosmic web" ever detected.

By Joanna Thompson Published
The cold and mysterious Oort cloud at the edge of our solar system may be hiding a rogue exoplanet, new research suggests.

By Joanna Thompson Published
Scientists have discovered a weird celestial object that's blurring the line between planet and star.

By Joanna Thompson Published
On its face, the Apollo 11 quarantine protocol looked sensible. But the new research suggests that NASA's "planetary protection" efforts were largely for show.

By Joanna Thompson Published
Here's what we know (and don't know) about China's mysterious space plane, which just landed after nine months in orbit on a secret mission.

By Joanna Thompson Published
Students at Carnegie Mellon University are sending America's first robotic lunar rover to the moon this May, beating NASA to the punch by about a year.
Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!

