Stephanie Pappas is a contributing writer for Live Science, covering topics ranging from geoscience to archaeology to the human brain and behavior. She was previously a senior writer for Live Science but is now a freelancer based in Denver, Colorado, and regularly contributes to Scientific American and The Monitor, the monthly magazine of the American Psychological Association. Stephanie received a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of South Carolina and a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
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'Vulva stone' and coin jewelry among remarkable treasures discovered at Viking burial site in NorwayAn excavation of three Viking graves in Norway reveals beads, coin jewelry and a stone carved to look like female genitalia.
By Stephanie Pappas Published
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Middle children are more agreeable, humble and honest than siblings, new study suggests. The baby of the family would like a word.A new study finds that middle kids and kids from larger families are more agreeable, honest and humble than younger and older kids or kids from smaller families, but the results contradict other research on the topic.
By Stephanie Pappas Published
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There's a massive fault hidden under America's highest mountain — and we finally know how it formedToday, the Denali Fault rips apart some of the North American plate, but it was once a place where tectonic plates came together.
By Stephanie Pappas Published
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Oldest sinew bowstrings ever found in Europe have been hiding in Spain's 'Bat Cave' for 7,000 yearsThe bowstrings were found with wood-and-reed arrows and were used by the first European farmers.
By Stephanie Pappas Published
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James Webb telescope solves 20-year-old Hubble conundrum — and it could finally explain why the universe's oldest planets existThe James Webb Space Telescope has confirmed 20-year-old Hubble observations that could finally explain how ancient stars can host massive planets.
By Stephanie Pappas Published
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What do you know about psychology's most infamous experiments? Test your knowledge in this science quiz.Quiz From shocking studies to ESP, what do you know about the most infamous and bizarre psychological experiments ever conducted?
By Stephanie Pappas Published
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Watch Greenland lose 563 cubic miles of ice in under 30 seconds in disturbing new time-lapse videoSatellite imagery from NASA and the European Space Agency reveal 13 years of melt on the Greenland Ice Sheet.
By Stephanie Pappas Published
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NASA astronauts' return to Earth delayed until at least 'late March' 2025Due to a delay with SpaceX's Dragon capsule, NASA's Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who were meant to spend 10 days in space in June 2024, will now not return to Earth until late March 2025 at the earliest, NASA announced.
By Stephanie Pappas Published
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China aims to be 1st to bring samples back from MarsChina's planned mission to bring rock samples to Earth from Mars would beat both NASA and the European Space Agency to the punch.
By Stephanie Pappas Published
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What are 'attachment styles,' and is there science to back them up?Attachment styles are real, but there are a lot of misconceptions about how they work.
By Stephanie Pappas Published
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Infamous 'sofa problem' that boggled mathematicians for decades may finally have a solutionA math problem delineating the largest-size sofa that can fit around a corner has finally been solved, though it may not help you move.
By Stephanie Pappas Published
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Ancient 'land bridge' that connected Siberia to US wasn't what it seems, scientists findThe boggy landscape of the Bering land bridge may have allowed some ice age animals to cross easily, while others stayed in Asia.
By Stephanie Pappas Published
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Most expensive dinosaur skeleton ever now on display in New York City'Apex,' one of the most complete stegosaurus fossils ever found, is on display at the American Museum of Natural History.
By Stephanie Pappas Published
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How to avoid bird fluThe vast majority of human cases of H5N1 bird flu in the U.S. have resulted from direct contact with animals, so a few simple precautions can keep most people's risk very low.
By Stephanie Pappas Published
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China reveals secrets of 1st sample taken from the far side of the moon — and it contains a volcanic surpriseActive volcanoes were erupting on the far side of the moon 2.8 billion years ago, the first lunar samples returned from the far side reveal.
By Stephanie Pappas Published
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Mathematicians devised novel problems to challenge advanced AIs' reasoning skills — and they failed almost every testCurrent AI models struggle to solve research-level math problems.
By Stephanie Pappas Published
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1 gene may explain 30 mysterious medical conditionsWhile investigating a rare developmental disorder, researchers ended up discovering a spectrum of conditions that are all linked to one gene.
By Stephanie Pappas Published
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West Coast bracing for 'bomb' cycloneA low-pressure system headed for Northern California and Oregon is likely to bring extreme rain and strong winds.
By Stephanie Pappas Published
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Meteorite found in a drawer at university contains 700-million-year-old evidence of water on MarsThe Lafayette meteorite was discovered in a drawer at Purdue University in 1931, with no clear indication of how it got there. A new analysis of the rock reveals evidence of liquid water on Mars 742 million years ago.
By Stephanie Pappas Published
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Teen sickened with Canada's first human case of bird flu is in critical condition — and the source remains a mysteryA teenager in Canada is critically ill with the country's first human case of H5N1 bird flu. Health officials aren't sure how the youth was exposed.
By Stephanie Pappas Published
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Pando, the world's largest organism, may have been growing nonstop since the 1st humans left Africa, study suggestsThe clonal quaking aspen known as Pando is between 16,000 and 80,000 years old.
By Stephanie Pappas Published
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'Gravity waves' from Hurricane Helene seen rippling through the sky in new NASA imagesHurricane Helene sent gravity waves rippling through the atmosphere far above the southeastern United States, new NASA images reveal.
By Stephanie Pappas Published
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We finally know why dogs shake when they're wetWe now know the nerve responsible for dogs shaking water all over your dry clothes.
By Stephanie Pappas Published
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Death of alien-hunting Arecibo Telescope traced to cable issues 3 years earlier, 'alarming' report findsA scathing new report points to unclear protocols and multiple failures to raise alarms at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico before the collapse of the site's radio telescope in 2020.
By Stephanie Pappas Published

