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 an advanced certificate in science writing from NYU.

Articles by: Laura Geggel

A view of Darwin's Arch before its top on May 17, 2021.

Iconic 'Darwin's Arch' in the Galapagos has crashed into the sea

By Laura Geggel

Erosion has caused the top of Darwin's Arch to crumble away.

An illustration of protoplanetary disc formation

4.5 billion-year-old particles from the sun lurk in Earth's core and mantle

By Laura Geggel

Are there particles from ancient solar winds hanging out in Earth's core and mantle?

A microscopic view of a thin piece of polished rock from Jack hills. A gypsum plate on the microscope allowed scientists to see a rainbow spectrum of quartz. Rocks from Jack Hills are 99% quartz, and the remaining 1% includes precious zircons.

Plate tectonics are 3.6 billion years old, oldest minerals on Earth reveal

By Laura Geggel

The hidden chemistry of ancient zircon crystals has revealed the age of Earth's tectonic plates.

After the Greeks triumphed over the Carthaginians at the First Battle of Himera in 480 B.C., the Greeks had the Temple of Victory at Himera (shown here) built.

Herodotus lied about famous Greek battle against Carthage, new study finds

By Laura Geggel

The ancient Greeks used mercenaries in a key battle, contrary to what the famed historian Herodotus said.

This iron sword was folded in a ritual "killing" before it was buried with a soldier about 1,600 years ago.

'Folded' iron sword found in a Roman soldier's grave was part of a pagan ritual

By Laura Geggel

A "killed," or folded iron sword was discovered in the grave of a Roman mercenary who had been buried in an early Christian basilica.

Carved crosses on one of the walls of the staircase descending to the Chapel of St. Helena.

Church of the Holy Sepulchre's mysterious 'graffiti' crosses may not be what they seem

By Laura Geggel

Who carved the thousands of crosses into the walls of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem?

This illustration shows what might have happened 180 million years ago, with the shark (Hybodus hauffianus) biting the belemnite, which had been chomping on the crustacean (Proeryon). Notice that the belemnite (Passaloteuthis laevigata) holds the crustacean's molted exoskeleton in its arms.

Jurassic squid got murdered mid-meal, leaving this epic fossil behind

By Laura Geggel

About 180 million years ago, a shark likely attacked a squid-like creature eating a crustacean.

The hoard's contents included this large hook with spirals, as well as this neck ring.

Stunning hoard of Bronze Age jewelry discovered by local hiker in Sweden

By Laura Geggel

A hiker discovered one of the largest Bronze Age hoards in Sweden.

An illustration of a dwarf elephant, a resident on islands in the Mediterrnean Sea until modern humans arrived and it went extinct. For scale, the living male fallow deer is pictured next to the elephant, which is 40 inches tall (1 meter) at the shoulders.

Hobbits and other early humans not 'destructive agents' of extinction, scientists find

By Laura Geggel

Modern humans are largely responsible for countless extinctions, but early humans weren't as bad, new research shows.

A 3D digital image of Labna, an ancient Maya structure in the Puuc region.

Details of stunning Maya acropolises and sophisticated civilization revealed by laser scans

By Laura Geggel

The Maya managed their resources well for centuries before abandoning their cities.

The medieval sword and its accessories, including the metal remains of the belt and the two knives.

Medieval sword unearthed in Poland might be from Battle of Grunwald

By Laura Geggel

This sword may have belonged to one of the battle's 66,000 troops.

This gold ring, discovered by metal detectorist Lee Morgan, likely dates to the English Civil War.

370-year-old gold ring may have honored beheaded earl

By Laura Geggel

A metal detectorist has discovered a gold ring dating to the English Civil War.

pink moon above a temple in Thailand.

Pink supermoon will light up the night this Monday

By Laura Geggel

The Pink Moon, the second largest full moon of the year, will light up the sky from Sunday through Wednesday.

The Great Isaiah Scroll, one of the seven original Dead Sea Scrolls found in the late 1940s, on display at the Asia Society Hong Kong Center. In a new study, researchers determined that two scribes wrote this scroll.

Mysterious second writer of Dead Sea Scroll uncovered by AI

By Laura Geggel

Two scribes wrote the famous Great Isaiah Scroll, researchers found with the help of AI and statistics.

Some of the bent weapons that were found during the 1950s at the hillfort in western Germany.

Iron Age warriors bent the swords of their defeated enemies, ancient hoard reveals

By Laura Geggel

A metal detectorist uncovered more than 100 artifacts dating to the Iron Age at a hillfort in Germany.

The Roman-era estate's remains include a cylindrical building and a bathhouse.

Vandals sack Roman-era estate and bathhouse just discovered in UK

By Laura Geggel

Soon after archaeologists unearthed an estate from the Roman Empire in the U.K., vandals broke in and damaged it.

An aerial view shows the Roman-era arena poking out of a hilly area in Mastaura, Turkey.

Gladiator arena from Roman era unearthed in Turkey

By Laura Geggel

Up to 20,000 people likely cheered and jeered as they watched gladiator and wild animal fights in a newfound Roman-era arena in Turkey.

A cast of a T. rex skeleton that was found in the badlands of eastern Montana in 1990. The original is at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Montana, and the cast is at the University of California Museum of Paleontology at the University of California, Berkeley.

As many as 2.5 billion Tyrannosaurus rexes once stalked Earth

By Laura Geggel

Digging deep into T.rex's history helped researchers determine how many of these apex predators ever existed.

An illustration of the giant pterosaur, Alanqa saharica, whose remains were found in Morocco.

Bizarre neck bones helped pterosaurs support their giraffe-size necks and huge heads

By Laura Geggel

Pterosaur neck vertebrae had an incredible internal structure.

Smooth, pink quartzite "stomach stones" known as gastroliths that researchers found in the Morrison Formation in Wyoming.

Long-necked dinosaurs migrated hundreds of miles, 'stomach stones' reveal

By Laura Geggel

During the Jurassic period, long-necked dinosaurs gulped down pink stones and then migrated hundreds of miles across what is now the American Midwest.

The "Lost Golden City" has been buried under Luxor for the past 3,000 years.

3,000-year-old 'Lost Golden City' discovered in Egypt

By Laura Geggel

Archaeologists have found what may be the greatest Egyptian discovery since King Tut's tomb.

Virtual reconstructions of the five, well-preserved Homo erectus skulls from Dmanisi, Georgia, which are dated to between 1.85 million and 1.77 million years ago. These individuals had "primitive" brains, a new study finds.

First 'Homo' species left Africa with ape-like brains

By Laura Geggel

Early members of the genus Homo didn't have advanced brains.

This gold "Memento Mori" ring, dating to the Tudor period, sports an enamel skull.

Medieval gold coin hoards and skull ring discovered in Wales

By Laura Geggel

Metal detectorists have uncovered a handful of medieval and post-medieval treasures in Wales.

Up to 70 orcas attacked and killed a lone blue whale Down Under.

'Chaos of clicks and sounds from below' as 70 orcas kill blue whale

By Laura Geggel

A whale tour Down Under witnessed as many as 70 orcas hunt and kill a blue whale.

A Xavánte man in Brazil, just after the traditional logs race that was part of the Native Peoples Meeting in September 2012. The Xavánte people were included in a new study about the genetic connection between people in South America and Oceana.

1st Americans had Indigenous Australian genes

By Laura Geggel

A new genetic study finds connections between Indigenous South Americans and Indigenous people in Oceana.