Natalie Wolchover

Natalie Wolchover

Former Live Science staff writer

Natalie Wolchover was a staff writer for Live Science and a contributor to Space.com from 2010 to 2012. She is now a senior writer and editor at Quanta Magazine, where she specializes in the physical sciences. Her writing has appeared in publications including Popular Science and Nature and has been included in The Best American Science and Nature Writing.  She holds a bachelor's degree in physics from Tufts University and has studied physics at the University of California, Berkeley.

Latest articles by Natalie Wolchover

In space, bubbles created by boiling water tend to be bigger than they are on Earth.

6 Everyday Things That Happen Strangely in Space

By Natalie Wolchover published

Weightlessness changes a lot of the physical conditions we take for granted on Earth.

Human Spaceflight
Biggest and Brightest Full Moon of 2010 Tonight

The 'Supermoon' Did Not Cause the Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami

By Natalie Wolchover published

An earthquake has struck Japan surprisingly near the date of the March 19 supermoon, but this is just a coincidence.

Climate Change
Tidal forces between the moon and the Earth have slowed the moon's rotation so that one side of the moon always faces toward our planet. Though several spacecraft have imaged the far side of the moon before, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is providin

Will March 19 'Supermoon' Trigger Natural Disasters?

By Natalie Wolchover published

A prominent astrologer says the March 19 'supermoon' will cause earthquakes and volcanoes. He's wrong, but the idea isn't so crazy.

Stargazing
A still from a video that purportedly shows a "two suns" setting in China. One scientists suspects the apparition could be an optical illusion at sunsets, rather than an all-out hoax.

China's 'Two Suns' Video Unexplained By Science

By Natalie Wolchover published

An optical effect resulting in the appearance of two suns was caught on camera in China.

The Universe
Giant Stealth Planet May Explain Rain of Comets from Solar System's Edge

Astronomers Doubt Giant Planet 'Tyche' Exists in Our Solar System

By Natalie Wolchover published

A claim by two astronomers of a planet four times the size of Jupiter in solar system is suspect, experts say.

Solar System
Big Fat Star Sheds Pounds Like Crazy

Will Betelgeuse Really Become a Second Sun in 2012?

By Natalie Wolchover published

Betelgeuse will definitely not produce a supernova bright enough to look like a second sun in 2012.

Constellations
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