
Mindy Weisberger
Mindy Weisberger is an editor at Scholastic and a former Live Science channel editor and senior writer. She has reported on general science, covering climate change, paleontology, biology and space. Mindy studied film at Columbia University; prior to Live Science she produced, wrote and directed media for the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Her videos about dinosaurs, astrophysics, biodiversity and evolution appear in museums and science centers worldwide, earning awards such as the CINE Golden Eagle and the Communicator Award of Excellence. Her writing has also appeared in Scientific American, The Washington Post and How It Works Magazine. She is the author of the book "Rise of the Zombie Bugs: The Surprising Science of Parasitic Mind Control," published by Hopkins Press.
Latest articles by Mindy Weisberger

Vikings' 'blood eagle' torture was horrific — and may have actually happened
By Mindy Weisberger published
It literally turned victims inside out.

Webb Telescope is now orbiting 1 million miles from Earth
By Mindy Weisberger published
After a month in space, the Webb Telescope — the most powerful space telescope ever launched — has reached its permanent cosmic address, 930,000 miles (1.5 million kilometers) from Earth.

On the 'doorstep of doom': Doomsday Clock stands at 100 seconds to midnight
By Mindy Weisberger published
The hypothetical clock's hands mark our nearness to annihilation.

Will the Doomsday Clock move forward or back? Watch live to find out
By Mindy Weisberger published
The Doomsday Clock debuted 75 years ago to highlight the threat of nuclear weapons to our survival as a species, a risk now accompanied by escalating climate change and global pandemics.

Look up! A 'potentially hazardous' asteroid will safely zip by Earth on Jan. 18
By Mindy Weisberger published
An enormous asteroid more massive than two Empire State Buildings will zoom harmlessly past Earth next week. Look up!

Rare and fragile fossils found at a secret site in Australia's 'dead heart'
By Mindy Weisberger published
A site in Australia that holds thousands of astonishingly well-preserved fossils has been kept a closely guarded secret among paleontologists for the past three years.

Ancient dog-headed statue found during Roman road excavation
By Mindy Weisberger published
During an archaeological inspection of a waterway project site in Rome, archaeologists found ancient funerary relics, including a terracotta statue with a dog's head.

'Cosmic monster' star spits energy with the force of a billion suns
By Mindy Weisberger published
Scientists just collected the first measurements of violent eruptions in extremely dense magnetic stars called magnetars.

8 ominous climate milestones reached in 2021
By Mindy Weisberger published
Signs of accelerating global warming abounded this year, but we could still prevent the worst-case scenarios — if we act soon.

Live Science's best of 2021: Writers' choice
By Mindy Weisberger published
In a year of unusual and surprising news at Live Science, these stories stood out.

Social vomit and hairy eyeballs: 10 times animals grossed us out in 2021
By Mindy Weisberger published
Here are some of our favorite gross-outs in science news this year.

In a historic launch, the Webb Telescope blasts off into space
By Mindy Weisberger published
An international partnership of space agencies just launched JWST, the biggest, most powerful space telescope ever made, in an achievement that was decades in the making.

Darkness caused by dino-killing asteroid snuffed out life on Earth in 9 months
By Mindy Weisberger published
After an asteroid struck at the end of the Cretaceous period, debris from wildfires filled the atmosphere and blocked sunlight across Earth, causing ecosystem collapse and extinctions.

How to watch the James Webb telescope launch into space
By Mindy Weisberger published
The James Webb Space Telescope, an upgrade to Hubble, is scheduled to launch on Dec. 25.

41,000 years ago, auroras blazed near the equator
By Mindy Weisberger published
A geomagnetic event around 41,000 years ago sent the aurora wandering for centuries, as far south as the equator.

'Humanity has touched the sun' in a pioneering achievement for space exploration
By Mindy Weisberger published
NASA's Parker Solar Probe dipped into the sun's atmosphere to sample particles from the corona — a scientific first.

Antarctica's 'Doomsday Glacier' could meet its doom within 3 years
By Mindy Weisberger published
Thwaites Glacier is roughly the size of Florida, and holds enough ice to raise sea levels over two feet. New research shows that the collapse of its ice shelf may be just a few years away.

Meat-eating dinosaurs were terrifyingly fast, footprints reveal
By Mindy Weisberger published
Preserved trackways from the Cretaceous period provide a rare snapshot of fast running speeds in theropod dinosaurs.

Here's the secret to how 'immortal' hydras regrow severed heads
By Mindy Weisberger published
For the first time, scientists have created a genetic map showing how hydras regenerate their own heads.

Jurassic crocodile relative could breathe easily while drowning its prey
By Mindy Weisberger published
The modern crocodile can breathe while most of its head is submerged because of specialized airway adaptations, which scientists can now trace to the Jurassic period.

Black widow spiders: Facts about this infamous group of arachnids
By Mindy Weisberger, Jessie Szalay published
Black widow spiders are several species of arachnids in the genus Latrodectus that are known for the females' striking appearance and rumored tendency to eat their mates.

More than 300 smuggled tarantulas, scorpions and giant cockroaches seized from luggage in Colombia
By Mindy Weisberger published
Authorities at Colombia's airport in Bogotá found and confiscated hundreds of arthropods that German travelers had illegally collected and stashed in a suitcase.

Was Stonehenge constructed by builders fueled on 'energy bars'?
By Mindy Weisberger published
Historians have found tasty new evidence that the people who built Stonehenge supplemented their meat and dairy diets with nut and fruit "energy bars" made with animal fat.
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