Stephanie Pappas
Stephanie Pappas is a contributing writer for Space.com sister site 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.
Latest articles by Stephanie Pappas
![Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and Space X, has just launched Neuralink, a company aimed at connecting the human brain to electronic devices.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/odcWpuDLWpetRAf4ScFPsG-320-80.jpg)
Elon Musk Wants to Computerize Your Brain
By Stephanie Pappas published
Neuralink will aim to link the human brain to digital devices.
![a roll cloud over Poland](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/M2Vgm4VmbeRhhokkBZRasD-320-80.jpg)
Cloud Atlas Now Online: See All the Bizarre Formations Around the World
By Stephanie Pappas published
The bizarre roll cloud and the beautiful asperitas cloud are among the additions to the latest International Cloud Atlas.
![Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos piloted a giant "mech" robot at the 2017 Machine Learning, Home Automation, Robotics and Space Exploration (MARS) conference.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/mtqQFsKnZkNjmoHBzjdvFU-320-80.jpeg)
Watch Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos Control a Giant Mech Robot
By Stephanie Pappas published
A mysterious mech robot makes its debut for Amazon.
![The eastern shore of Canada's Hudson Bay. The rocks visible here are 2.7 billion years old, but their precursors may have formed some of the earliest crust on Earth.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/SYAPK6mbAKYYJm7cTDRPkU-320-80.jpeg)
Parts of Earth's Original Crust Exist Today in Canada
By Stephanie Pappas published
Rocks from the eastern shore of the Hudson Bay in Canada contain elements of some of Earth's earliest crust, new research finds.
![An imager on the Landsat 8 satellite captured this image, on March 5, 2017, of Antarctica's Granite Harbor, a cove near the Ross Sea, where the sea ice has a green hue due to a bloom of phytoplankton.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/yhWarrVrRgYsVsTFsFZZMT-320-80.jpg)
Strange Green Ice Seen Floating in Antarctica's Ross Sea
By Stephanie Pappas published
No, Antarctica isn't busting out the green beer for St. Patrick's Day. But a new satellite image of the continent shows strange green ice floating in the Ross Sea.
![A map showing the subsidence of the San Joaquin Valley in California. The more yellow the color, the larger the sinking of the land. Some areas around Corcoran have subsided by nearly 2 feet (60 centimeters) in little more than a year.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/3SbaLsrHf97EyFRnkUeA8U-320-80.jpg)
Sinking of California's San Joaquin Valley Seen from Space
By Stephanie Pappas published
A new map made with satellite radar data shows the sinking of California's San Joaquin Valley in deceptively tranquil colors.
![MAMMOTH-1, an enormous Lyman-alpha nebula (ELAN) found in a protocluster 10 billion light-years away. The colors and contours indicate surface brightness, and the red arrows show its estimated size.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/TBst3B6g3tjLxWuHQxVz5a-320-80.jpg)
Strange New Nebula Is Missing Its Light Source
By Stephanie Pappas published
A new enormous blob, called a Lyman-alpha nebula, is lit by a mysterious source.
![Thin patties of ice called nilas churn around a thicker diamond-shaped chunk of ice in the northern Caspian Sea, as seen in this Landsat 8 image captured on Feb. 4, 2017.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/q8CAB4KFJNUShLFgChGEZA-320-80.jpg)
Floating Ice Diamond Dazzles from Space
By Stephanie Pappas published
The northern Caspian Sea sparkles in an icy new satellite image.
![The magnetic field surrounding Earth is constantly fluctuating in strength.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/R8mHtttqeZSnoF3JRVvEi5-320-80.jpg)
Ceramic Pottery Reveals an Ancient Geomagnetic Field Spike
By Stephanie Pappas published
The Earth's geomagnetic field increased in intensity around the Levant during the late eighth century B.C. before rapidly weakening.
![Scientists will hunt for iron meteorites just below the surface of the ice in Antarctica. Here, a view of West Antarctica, as captured from above on Oct. 29, 2014.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/sT3C6Hf2t5vdkXcNxvTaLa-320-80.jpg)
Antarctic Expedition Will Hunt for 'Missing' Meteorites
By Stephanie Pappas published
A hypothesis about meteorites gets put to the test in a new mission to the icy continent.
![This Landsat satellite image, acquired in January 2016, shows Antarctica's Larsen Ice Shelf.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/UCmRvLh6gweguNxzxNXFQH-320-80.jpg)
Collapsing Beauty: Image of Antarctica's Larsen Ice Shelf
By Stephanie Pappas published
A new satellite image shows the disappearing Larsen Ice Shelf of Antarctica.
![A French satellite captured this shot of a resupply convoy headed to Earth's remotest research station, Concordia in Antarctica.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/tikRuuDcgsUWmHAMcDHzjE-320-80.jpg)
Antarctic Lifeline Visible from Space (Photo)
By Stephanie Pappas published
A convoy of massive tractors delivers supplies to Concordia research station in Antarctica, as seen in a satellite image captured from hundreds of miles above Earth.
![DIY Tractor Beam](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/GueDVgPoRTYBgT8RWE9UFS-320-80.jpeg)
Build Your Own Death Star: How to 3D Print a Real-Life 'Tractor Beam'
By Stephanie Pappas published
You'll need a 3D printer, but you can have your own mini Death Star.
![composite images using a number of swaths of the Earth's surface taken on January 4, 2012, by NASA's Suomi-NPP satellite.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/wDPPMqWDNqx6yExqrJTzdZ-320-80.jpg)
Slowing of Earth's Spin Revealed in Ancient Astronomers' Tablets
By Stephanie Pappas published
Records dating back to clay tablets from 720 B.C. reveal that the slowing of the Earth's rotation isn't as large as expected.
![Stephen Hawking, of the University of Cambridge, delivers a speech about why humanity should go into space on April 21, 2008, at George Washington University.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/qh6E9VoaxEVANVQSQxabpA-320-80.jpg)
How to Avoid Stephen Hawking's Dark Prediction for Humanity
By Stephanie Pappas published
Humanity's future is uncertain, and physicist Stephen Hawking wants to reach for the stars.
![Saturn's rings part ways for the planet's moon Pan in this image taken July 2, 2016 by the Cassini spacecraft. The moon holds open the Encke Gap in Saturn's A ring, a 200-mile (325 kilometer) wide opening.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/N259KhzYJCm3yTxUNJ5bcU-320-80.jpg)
Moon Speck Captured in Stunning View of Saturn's Rings
By Stephanie Pappas published
A crisp view of Saturn's rings and one of its tiny moons makes big waves.
![NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory witnesses the moon and the Earth passing across the face of the sun simultaneously on Sept. 1, 2016.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Zh2gGGeAnC6vwpKgi4ZCrM-320-80.jpg)
Double Eclipse! Earth and Moon Cross in Front of Sun (Photo)
By Stephanie Pappas published
The Earth and moon pass simultaneously in front of the sun, making for a spectacular satellite image.
![Winter Storm Photo - NOAA GOES-West](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/FHvmSmZ9puSPcuhbhfmmxf-320-80.jpeg)
NASA Sees Massive Winter Storm Moving East
By Stephanie Pappas published
A satellite image shows a developing winter storm moving east toward the mid-Atlantic states.
![SETI's Allen Telescope Array](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Ymt8bYWsUuQmARrdEJgdme-320-80.jpg)
Eavesdropping on Aliens: Why Edward Snowden Got E.T. Wrong
By Stephanie Pappas published
Encryption isn't the reason we're missing alien signals, as Edward Snowden has suggested. Scientists searching for alien life are looking for other hallmarks of communication.