Laura Geggel

Laura Geggel

Laura is an editor at Live Science. She edits Life's Little Mysteries and reports on general science, including archaeology and animals. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Scholastic, Popular Science and Spectrum, a site on autism research. She has won multiple awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association for her reporting at a weekly newspaper near Seattle. Laura holds a bachelor's degree in English literature and psychology from Washington University in St. Louis and a master's degree in science writing from NYU.

Articles by: Laura Geggel

An archaeologist excavates the head of Aphrodite from the muck.

Roman-era statues of Aphrodite and Dionysus unearthed in Turkey

By Laura Geggel published

A dig at an ancient city in Turkey revealed the heads of two deities: Aphrodite and Dionysus.

A photo (top) and digital brain reconstruction (bottom) of the Cretaceous bird Ichthyornis.

How did birds survive the dinosaur-killing asteroid?

By Laura Geggel published

A new analysis of a well-preserved ancient bird skull reveals secrets about its brain.

An illustration of a shark chomping down on the baleen whale's flipper.

Giant shark, possibly a megalodon, feasted on this whale 15 million years ago

By Laura Geggel published

An ancient whale's flipper bone has bite marks on it, revealing that a shark tore into it about 15 million years ago.

Dinosaurs attempt to flee a wildfire on Antarctica during the late Cretaceous.

Wildfires burned Antarctica 75 million years ago, charcoal remnants reveal

By Laura Geggel published

Antarctica was warmer during the late Cretaceous period, a time when wildfire blazed through the region.

The purpleback flying squid (Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis) that swam past the ROV investigating the shipwreck in the Gulf of Aqaba.

Giant purpleblack flying squid photobombs crew investigating shipwreck

By Laura Geggel published

A team mapping the seafloor in the northern Red Sea unexpectedly spotted a purpleback flying squid near a previously unknown shipwreck.

Artistic reconstruction of a nest of Mussaurus patagonicus with hatchlings and an adult parent.

Jurassic graveyard reveals oldest evidence that dinosaurs traveled in herds

By Laura Geggel published

The earliest evidence that dinosaurs lived in herds dates to a 192 million-year-old Jurassic graveyard in Argentina.

Digital rendition showing the topography and plume of the newborn volcano near Mayotte.

World's biggest underwater eruption birthed skyscraper-size volcano

By Laura Geggel published

Thousands of earthquakes tipped off geologists that there might be a new submarine volcano.

Bats fly under a full moon in Belarus.

How to see October's full Hunter's Moon (and the Orionids) tonight

By Laura Geggel published

October's full moon and the peak of the Orionid meteor shower are happening on the same day this week.

Restorative work reveals the designs painted on the stone-cut tombs' ceilings.

400 stone-cut chamber tombs, filled with wall paintings and treasures, discovered in Turkey

By Laura Geggel published

Archaeologists have found 400 newfound tombs dating to Roman times in a giant necropolis in Turkey.

Archaeologists Espen Finstad (left) of Secrets of the Ice, and Julian Post-Melbye, of the Museum of Cultural History inOslo, admire the ski.

Iron Age skis buried under ice reunited after 1,300 years apart

By Laura Geggel published

Glacier archaeologists in Norway have found the second of a pair of 1,300-year-old skis dating to the Iron Age.

A beluga whale (not the Seattle visitor) photographed by Somerset Island in the Canadian High Arctic.

Lone beluga whale spotted 1,500 miles from home, and nobody knows why

By Laura Geggel published

It's a mystery why a beluga, normally an Arctic and subarctic whale, is swimming near Seattle.

An illustration of the newly described Pendraig milnerae, the oldest meat-eating dinosaur known from the United Kingdom. Next to it are three lizard-like reptiles known scientifically as Clevosaurus cambrica.

Newfound 'chief dragon' dinosaur species was actually the size of a chicken

By Laura Geggel published

A newly described dinosaur species hailed as "chief dragon" was actually the size of a chicken, and may have been a dwarf.

One of the triops — a small, three-eyed crustacean — from the ball court pond at Wupatki National Monument in Arizona.

Hundreds of three-eyed 'dinosaur shrimp' emerge after Arizona monsoon

By Laura Geggel published

Following a monsoon, hundreds of 'dinosaur shrimp' emerged for a few weeks in the Arizona desert.

Elite individuals like likely sat in "box seats" at the amphitheater in Pergamon during the Roman Empire era.

'Box seats' found at Roman Empire-era arena in Turkey

By Laura Geggel published

An excavation at a Roman Empire-era amphitheater in Pergamon Turkey reveals that elites sat in 'box seats.'

The Kilauea eruption, as seen at dawn local time on Sept. 30. Lava fountains are spurting out at multiple fissure locations at the base and west wall of the crater, and a lava lake is growing within Halema'uma'u.

Lava eruption at Kilauea spews 'Pele's hair' volcanic glass into Hawaii's skies

By Laura Geggel published

Kilauea volcano on Hawaii's Big Island is erupting, spewing lava and sending Pele's hair into the sky.

An illustration of the decapitated Byzantine warrior's head.

Byzantine warrior with gold-threaded jaw unearthed in Greece

By Laura Geggel published

Archaeologists have found the head of a warrior decapitated by the Ottomans in the 14th century.

Freedivers in Spain notified the authorities after finding a handful of gold coins dating to the fall of the Western Roman Empire

Amateur freedivers find gold treasure dating to the fall of the Roman Empire

By Laura Geggel published

Amateur freedivers found a giant stash of gold coins dating to the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

The sixth-century hoard contained many gold artifacts with elaborate designs.

Treasure hunter finds gold hoard buried by Iron Age chieftain

By Laura Geggel published

A Danish man with a metal detector found a sixth-century hoard buried by a chieftain.

The almost-full Harvest Moon sets behind the Statue of Liberty before sunrise on Sept. 20, 2021

Don't miss tonight's full Harvest Moon

By Laura Geggel published

Here's how to see September's full Harvest Moon.

A park ranger talks with Mammoth Cave visitors in Broadway, one of the cave's canyon passages.

Explorers add 8 miles to world's longest known cave system

By Laura Geggel published

Hours of survey work have added an additional 8 miles to the passageways at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky

The original fossil of Yuanchuavis, which was found in the Jehol Biota in northeastern China.

Bizarre tail on little dinosaur-age bird was literally a drag

By Laura Geggel published

An extraordinary 120-million-year-old fossil bird from China reveals that the animal had a sexy but vaguely impractical tail.

Ian Panter, head of conservation at York Archaeological Trust, examines the Bronze Age coffin.

Rare Bronze Age coffin uncovered on UK golf course

By Laura Geggel published

A Bronze Age burial was accidentally discovered in an English golf club.

A female of the now-extinct Lagonomegopidae spider family guards her egg sac.

99 million-year-old spider mummies reveal moms cared for teeny spiderlings

By Laura Geggel published

Four chunks of amber containing Cretaceous-age spiders reveal that mothers cared for spiderlings.

A 3D facial reconstruction of the Neanderthal dubbed Krijn, who had a tumor above his right eyebrow.

Lumpy tumor shown on facial reconstruction of Neanderthal who lived on 'drowned land'

By Laura Geggel published

A new facial reconstruction depicts a Neanderthal with a tumor above his right eyebrow.

Tyrannosaurs may have fought each other for mates, territory or higher status, a new study finds.

Tyrannosaurs bit each other's faces in dino fight clubs

By Laura Geggel published

Tyrannosaurs around the age of sexual maturity often bit each other's faces, likely to win prizes.