Marcus Woo

Marcus Woo

Marcus Woo is a freelance science writer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He's written for WIRED, the BBC, National Geographic, New Scientist, Smithsonian, Discover, and Slate, among others.

Articles by: Marcus Woo

swirling sun

What Is Solar Mass?

By Marcus Woo published

How would you measure the masses of objects as big as stars, galaxies and black holes? With solar mass. And you can thank Sir Isaac Newton for that.

axion stars black holes

Cold, Dark Stars Lurking in the Universe Could Act Like Single Giant Atoms

By Marcus Woo published

Mysterious quantum stars that act like single, monster atoms could form surprisingly quickly.

earth

Why Does the Earth Rotate?

By Marcus Woo published

You can thank the solar system's head-spinning early years for Earth's rotation.

wormhole

Black Holes Could Actually Be Colliding Wormholes

By Marcus Woo published

The echoes of colliding wormholes would look different than the signal from merging black holes.

tokamak fusion energy

Ghostly 'Lightning' Waves Discovered Inside a Nuclear Reactor

By Marcus Woo published

Whistler waves are normally produced in the atmosphere by lightning. They could help protect nuclear fusion reactors from runaway electrons.

universe abstract

Where Is the Center of the Universe?

By Marcus Woo published

It's a trick question.

Scientists analyzed the Crab Nebula, which is expanding debris from the explosion of a massive star.

Why Extraterrestrial Life May Be More Unlikely Than Scientists Thought

By Marcus Woo published

Phosphorus is an essential element for life — but that there was enough of it for life to start on Earth might just have been a matter of luck, new findings suggest.

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