Maria Temming

Assistant Editor, Science News for Students

Maria Temming is the assistant editor at Science News for Students. 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. Brain

    Scientists Say: Haptic

    Haptic is an adjective used to describe things related to our sense of touch.

  2. Space

    Let’s learn about dark matter

    Dark matter is only detectable by the gravitational pull it exerts on visible objects, like stars and galaxies.

  3. Physics

    Scientists Say: Plasma

    In physics, plasma refers to one of the four states of matter. In medicine, plasma describes the part of blood that ferries cells, nutrients and more throughout the body.

  4. Tech

    Let’s learn about artificial intelligence

    Computers are getting smarter all the time. At some tasks, they can even outsmart people.

  5. Space

    This image may be the first look at exomoons in the making

    These observations offer some of the best evidence yet that planets around other stars have moons, or exomoons.

  6. Earth

    Greece’s Santorini volcano erupts more when the sea level drops

    Data showing this association go back at least 360,000 years.

  7. Environment

    Let’s learn about plastic pollution

    The world is cluttered with plastic waste. All that junk kills animals far and wide.

  8. Chemistry

    Lots of makeup may contain potentially harmful ‘forever chemicals’

    Hints of PFAS compounds have turned up in about half of tested makeup products. Waterproof mascaras and lipsticks were very likely to contain them.

  9. Animals

    Uncovering secrets of the glasswing butterfly’s see-through wings

    The tricks of its transparency include sparse, spindly scales and a waxy coated membrane.

  10. Earth

    ‘Tree farts’ make up about a fifth of greenhouse gases from ghost forests

    Heat-trapping gases from dead trees play an important role in the environmental impact of “ghost” forests.

  11. Space

    Stars made of antimatter could lurk in our galaxy

    Fourteen sources of gamma rays in our galaxy look like they could be antistars — celestial bodies made of antimatter.

  12. Earth

    Here’s how lightning may help clean the air

    Airplane observations show that storm clouds can generate huge quantities of air-cleansing chemicals known as oxidants.