
Jess Thomson
Jess Thomson is a freelance journalist. She previously worked as a science reporter for Newsweek, and has also written for publications including VICE, The Guardian, The Cut, and Inverse. Jess holds a Biological Sciences degree from the University of Oxford, where she specialised in animal behavior and ecology.
Latest articles by Jess Thomson

30,000-year-old fossilized vulture feathers 'nothing like what we usually see' preserved in volcanic ash
By Jess Thomson published
Fossilized vulture feathers that were stunningly preserved in volcanic ash were a mystery until now.

Octopus spotted riding on top of world's fastest shark
By Jess Thomson published
A shortfin mako shark, the fastest-swimming shark in the world, was caught on camera with an octopus catching a ride on its back off the coast of New Zealand.

European hunter-gatherers boated to North Africa during Stone Age, ancient DNA suggests
By Jess Thomson published
DNA recovered from archaeological remains of ancient humans who lived in what is now Tunisia and northeastern Algeria reveals that European hunter-gatherers may have visited North Africa by boat around 8,500 years ago.

Venomous snake with 3 fangs may be the 'most dangerous death adder in the world'
By Jess Thomson published
A death adder at an Australian wildlife park found to have three fangs that all produce deadly neurotoxic venom.

Mice administer 'first-aid' to friends — even trying to bring the dead back to life
By Jess Thomson published
Mice will lick the faces and pull at the tongues of other mice if they're found unconscious, with more vigorous grooming resulting in faster recovery.

Dolphins: Facts about the intelligent marine mammals that use tools to hunt
By Jess Thomson published
Discover interesting facts about how dolphins sleep, if they're dangerous, and what they eat.

Whales: Facts about the largest animals on Earth
By Jess Thomson published
Discover interesting facts about whales, how big they can get, and how they track down their prey.

Dinosaurs: Facts about the reptiles that roamed Earth more than 66 million years ago
By Jess Thomson published
Discover interesting facts about when dinosaurs lived, why they died and how big they got

'Find of a lifetime': 15th-century gold and silver coins discovered by amateur metal detectorists in Scotland
By Jess Thomson published
A collection of over 30 gold and silver English and Scottish coins from throughout the 1400s were discovered near the Scotland border by hobbyist metal detectorists.

166 million-year-old fossil found on Isle of Skye belongs to pony-size dinosaur from Jurassic
By Jess Thomson published
A fossil that was first discovered over 50 years ago has finally been identified as a dinosaur that lived around 166 million years ago, during the Jurassic Period.

Megalodon may have grown up to 80 feet long — far larger than previous estimates
By Jess Thomson published
New study suggests megalodons may have grown 15 feet longer than some previous estimates, had enormous babies, and didn't look like supersized great white sharks.

Scientists invent 3D-printed penis implant to restore erections — and it works in rabbits and pigs
By Jess Thomson published
Researchers 3D-printed a model penis that could successfully become erect just like the natural version, parts of which were then implanted into pigs and rabbits with erectile issues.

Ancient Egyptian city of Alexandria — the birthplace of Cleopatra — is crumbling into the sea at an unprecedented rate
By Jess Thomson published
Coastal erosion from rising sea levels has led to the collapse of 280 buildings across Alexandria, Egypt, over the past two decades.

150,000-year-old stone tools reveal humans lived in tropical rainforests much earlier than thought
By Jess Thomson published
Researchers have discovered that humans lived in tropical rainforests 150,000 years ago, around 100,000 years earlier than previous evidence suggested.

Sneaky bamboo can control the genes of the pandas eating it, scientists discover
By Jess Thomson published
Tiny scraps of genetic material from bamboo might influence the genes of pandas, helping them adapt to a mostly bamboo diet.

Deadly motor-neuron disease treated in the womb in world 1st
By Jess Thomson published
An infant with a fatal genetic disease has survived past the age of 2 with no signs of the condition, thanks to treatment started in the womb.
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