Putting together SciShortform round-ups often feels like packing a time capsule. …

So…2020 has been a rough year so far. But it has also been a pivotal one for science and health journalism. COVID-19 has radically transformed our daily lives and dominated new cycles, even as the effects of climate change and centuries of racism and inequality have become more visible than…

Remember when we used to talk about things other than coronavirus? — Putting together this round-up of outstanding shortform science writing felt like packing a time capsule. The SciShortform volunteers read and re-read these pieces in the early months of 2020, as the devastatingly nimble SARS-CoV-2 spread. By the time we finalized our picks in late March, some of these stories started…

This year, SciShortform will launch two new series of posts about the craft of science writing, and we’re looking for two new volunteers to take point on them. Specifically, we’re looking for: someone to do a series of “Editor Interviews” featuring people who frequently edit shortform pieces about science a…

(A Highly Subjective Round-Up of Standout Science Writing) — Somehow, 2019 is already nearly over. For SciShortform, it’s been a year of growth. …

(A Highly Subjective Round-Up of Standout Science Writing) — At the 2018 Science Writers conference in Washington, DC, noted science journalist David Quammen shared an anecdote from his time as a columnist. His column’s beat was science, but it was science defined so broadly that “anything with a scientist, an animal, or a tree” counted as fair game. This…

One of my favorite parts of being a science writer is watching live-tweets of rocket launches and space probe landings. It should get old, but it never does. Major launches and landings are kind of like science writing’s Superbowls and World Cups. Even for those of us that cover other…

The fall of 2018 abounded with high profile science stories. NASA successfully landed the InSight Lander on Mars.The first known “CRISPR babies” were born in China. Scientists voted to redefine the kilogram.. California experienced the most deadly fire in its recorded history. And marine biologists were able to rescue a…

(A Highly Subjective Round-up of Standout Science News) — It happens every cycle. A piece comes in, and we love it. But when we move it from the “cattle call” spreadsheet to the “long list”, we’re not quite sure how to classify it. Over time, our categories for stories have become less about length and more about how the…