Elizabeth Fernandez

The drones in New Jersey have everyone panicking - what are they? No one has answers, but many people have theories. Almost 100 years ago, New Jersey was also the stage of another strange visitor in the skies during the Orson Welles broadcast War of the Worlds. While there was nothing actually in the sky during this broadcast, there are some parallels which may be thought-provoking for the current situation. I discuss in space.com.

In Physics Magazine, I discuss the amazing physical properties of something we see everywhere, especially this time of year - knitted fabrics.

What is the shape of our Universe? What does such a question even mean? In my first YouTube script I wrote for the channel Up and Atom, I explore these questions.

I covered breaking news of Hurricane Milton for space.com, where I reviewed satellite imagery, its pinhole eye, and why was such a dangerous storm.

As part of an effort to establish a lunar time standard, researchers have used relativity to calculate time differences between Earth and the Moon. I discuss in Physics Magazine.

For BioLogos, I discuss physician Julia Wattacheril, and how she found a way to be authentic in her work with patients, her life, and her faith.

In a series of articles for space.com, I describe some awesome experiments you can do with your kids to stave away boredom and learn about space at the same time - from making moon craters to learning the anatomy of a comet through art!

Can stars get arbitrarily large, or is there some sort of fundamental limit? Can they be a thousand times the size of our sun? A million? I explore this question in this article in Sky and Telescope Magazine.

We still don't understand all of physics. Namely, our two pillars of physics, the Standard Model in quantum physics and general relativity, don't play well. Quantum gravity may be the answer, but what is it? Another reference piece for space.com.

In this reference piece for space.com, I talk about these cosmic powerhouses, which are some of the most luminous and energetic objects in the universe. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/GSFC

Venus might have been a temperate oasis with oceans and seasonable temperatures. What changed? In Nautilus, I discuss some ideas on why Venus is the hell-house it currently is and how we can use this knowledge in our quest to find life elsewhere.

Scientists use the iconic colorful bricks to build everything from bioprinters to microscopes—increasing the accessibility of science in the process. I discuss how four teams around the world are using Legos in the lab.

Ripples in space-time, gravitational waves, may leave a permanent imprint of their passage. I discuss what we can learn about their signature in Physics Magazine.

In Physics Magazine, I discuss how moving water drops can become electrically charged, and the implications, from self-cleaning surfaces to semiconductor manufacturing.

White dwarfs were always assumed to be dead stars, slowly cooling by radiating away their remaining heat. But new research shows that an unusual process may heat up these stars once more. I discuss in Physics Magazine.

The sky will not always be the same. On space.com, I discuss what changes the constellations, and how long it will take our sky to look dramatically different.

25 years ago, the scientific community discovered that a mysterious force, dubbed dark energy, was pushing the Universe apart. In this article, which first appeared in the February 2024 issue of Sky & Telescope, I discuss the history of this dramatic finding.

On space.com, I talk about findings from asteroid Ryugu: PAHs may be able to form in cold regions of space, affecting what scientists think about the origins of planets and possibility of alien life.

On space.com, I discuss what we can learn about young, drama-loving stars from the Christmas Tree cluster (and also why it's oh so pretty).

It's been a long time since Earth has been hit by a truly massive magnetic storm. On space.com, I discuss how we can turn to historic storms to understand how these events can affect us, from the power grid to satellite communications.

If you are willing to step outside on a December evening, there's plenty in the sky to draw your wonder. On BioLogos, I discuss ways to meditate on four celestial events this month.

We are living in the age of information, and this sentiment also pertains to astronomy. How can astronomers know that they are looking at the same object, even from different surveys or wavelengths? I discuss on Space.com.

On space.com, I discuss how engineers and scientists are testing a lander to touch down on the surface of Europa, which uses a combination of sky crane and insect-like legs.

Iceland has seen a plethora of earthquakes in the past few weeks. Does this mean an eruption is imminent, or even that Iceland may be ushering in a new era of volcanic activity? I discuss on Big Think.

We've landed on, crashed into, or descended into the atmosphere of all the planets in our solar system minus two, Uranus and Neptune. These scientists test what it would be like to land on these icy giants. On space.com.

An amazing new NASA mission is under construction - SPHEREx - which will map hundreds of millions of stars and galaxies in unprecedented detail. I discuss on Space.com.

Did you know that when some cultures celebrate Halloween, people around the world celebrate something even more mysterious - dark matter! This article in Symmetry Magazine is all about Dark Matter Day from Mexico to Brazil to Argentina.

Discussing science and religion is difficult - especially with children. But it can be enriching and beneficial to engage in these conversations from a young age. I discuss some my thoughts on BioLogos.

Rocks and minerals don’t simply reflect light. In fact, understanding why rocks are the colors they are gives us a fantastic demonstration in physics. I discuss on Big Think.

On the Big Think, I discuss one of sciences' newest fields - quantum biology - and how entanglement, tunneling, and other feats of quantum physics occur everyday within living things.

On the Big Think, I answer a question posed to me by kids - can you stand on the surface of Jupiter? I talk about this and other weird properties the outer planets hide within.

How does photosynthesis really work? It turns out that plants operate a lot like Bose-Einstein condensates - something scientists can only create at near-zero temperatures. I explain how on Big Think.

Things like earthquakes and volcanoes may seem destructive, but we owe them our existence. More on Big Think.

About six million years ago, the Mediterranean was sealed off from the Atlantic, and over centuries it ran dry. One megaflood reversed that. More on Big Think.

The Earth was once a frozen snowball. How did life survive? I explore on Big Think.

Like the moon to the Earth, there are planets that always have one side facing their parent star. These tidally locked planets could have a scorching hot day and frigid night. Could life exist on these planets? I explore the possibility on Big Think.

Many impact craters on Earth have been erased thanks to wind, water, and plate tectonics. But scientists have clever ways to find them. I come up with the top 8 list on Big Think.

Most asteroids are not a single rock, but a loose grouping of rocks. And they are tough. Some of them have survived the wilds of space for billions of years. More on Big Think.

Catastrophes are difficult to predict because they are so rare. But AI using active learning can make predictions from very small data sets. I talk about this problem on Big Think.

What do you call it when the Earth shakes for three decades? More on Big Think.

We are traveling in a realm that once exclusively belonged to the gods. Space travel will force humanity to rethink everything. I explore this idea on Big Think.

A conversation with an advanced alien species is likely to be simple and to take 1,000 years. It might also be dangerous. I discuss why on Big Think.

I round up the top 10 stories of 2022 on Big Think.

I talk to ten prominent scientists who share how research has changed them on Big Think.

When battles raged in ancient cities, their rocks blazed so brightly that they could be reoriented according to Earth's magnetic field. More on Big Think.

Maybe the brain isn't "classical" after all. I discuss on Big Think.

Quantum mechanics starts getting really weird when you add in a conscious observer. Maybe our understanding of quantum entanglement is incomplete, or maybe there is something fundamentally unique about consciousness. More on Big Think.

Quantum entanglement may remain spooky, but it has a very practical side. I discuss quantum sensing in Big Think.

We are not yet at the point where quantum communications can be deployed to secure the internet, but we might not be far off. I discuss why in Big Think.

Einstein and Bohr thought very different things about the nature of reality. In Big Think, I discuss if God really does play dice with the Universe.

Quantum communication offers a surer path to sending an interstellar message, as well as receiving one. But can we do it? I discuss in Big Think.

The length of a day oscillates slightly every six years. This was a surprising discovery made last decade. We might now know why. I discuss why in Big Think.

Hundreds of millions of years ago, a brave fish took that first step onto land. I discuss how the finding of the Tiktaalik fossil changed culture and how we thought about evolution in BioLogos.

Scientists recently discovered evidence of the largest earthquake in history. How it affected the local population can help us survive similar disasters in the future. I discuss in Big Think.

Just because Mars only has a single plate doesn't mean that it doesn't have earthquakes. It turns out there are a lot more marsquakes than we previously thought. I discuss why in Big Think.

In Big Think, I discuss giant lakes and rivers that lie under the ice of Antarctica, and how studying them reveals information about our planet's past and future.

On the surface, Titan has a lot of similarities between Earth. And this puzzles scientists, because the composition is so different. I discuss some ideas that may indicate why these two bodies are so similar in Big Think.

The high pitches from the flute and the harp would reach your ears before the notes from the tuba and the cello. In Big Think, I discuss how music and other noises would sound on Mars.

Some of the largest and strangest cryovolcanoes, or ice volcanoes, were recently found on Pluto. I talk about them in my latest in Big Think.

General relativity has been measured on large scales, but recently, scientists were able to measure how time changes in the gravitational field of the Earth over only a height difference of one millimeter. This may be a step to understanding how gravity and quantum physics might unite. I discuss more on Big Think.

Massive volcanic eruptions have been responsible for many of the Earth's mass extinctions. But how exactly this works has been contested. In Big Think, I discuss how exactly the extinction that ushered in the age of the dinosaurs caused the climate to change enough to kill off three-fourths of Earth's life.

An isotope of helium is leaking from the Earth. Where exactly it is originating from may tell us about the formation of the Earth. I discuss on Big Think.

On Freethink, I talk about how gravitational waves distort all of space around us when they pass, and how we may be able to detect waves from the beginning of time using our moon.

Due to a crust of carbon, the absence of oxygen, and constant bombardment from meteorites, the planet Mercury may be littered with diamonds. I discuss how on Big Think.

In some of the worst mass extinction events in history, some species die while others survive. In Big Think, I discuss reasons why, that range from the season to genetic variation within the species.

Gigantic ranges called "supermountains" formed twice in Earth's history, and they may have had a profound influence on evolutionary history. I discuss how on Big Think.

In Freethink, I discuss surprising ways that self-driving cars may transform the world, from equity, increased surveillance, real estate prices, to city planning.

Chemical changes inside Mars' core caused it to lose its magnetic field. This, in turn, caused it to lose its oceans. But how? I discuss in the Big Think

In the Big Think, I discuss how we can probe the interior of the Earth's mantle and find previously undiscovered structures using Earthquakes.

On January 15th, the largest volcanic eruption in the past 30 years disrupted communications from Tonga and devastated island communities. In Big Think, I discuss the physics behind the eruption.

In the Big Think, I discuss how astronomers figure out what the surface of rocky alien worlds are like, even when we can't see them directly.

On Forbes.com, I discuss how by simulating thought, people with disabilities can benefit from "deepfakes" of the mind.

On Forbes.com, I explore the connection of prehistoric mothers and their children.

Finding evidence of life on another planet may be the biggest scientific discovery ever. So it's important to get it right.

On Forbes.com, I discuss indigenous knowledge of how crops respond to weather, and how that knowledge can be key in forming climate change policies.

On Forbes.com: Taking into account the effects of climate change on low-income populations isn't just ethical - it also makes economic sense.

Climate change is not just a scientific and political issue - it is also a religious, spiritual, and moral one. On Forbes.com, I discuss the dialoging between the world's religions that is necessary to aid our environment and the poor and marginalized, who suffer the most from climate change.

If we do little to mitigate greenhouse emissions, wheat would no longer grow in the American Mid-West, India would be uninhabitable, and the Amazon would be barren, scientists say.  I discuss on Forbes.com

On Forbes.com: Figuring out how - and why - space affects the body is key for future long-term space flight. Now, scientists have to understand why space is so hard on the brain.

A group of scientists suggests that an unexplained signal from the XENON1T experiment could originate from dark energy particles formed within the sun.  I discuss on Forbes.com.

By making neural nets imperfect, just like our brains, researchers show that AI can learn faster and more robustly.  I discuss on Forbes.com

On Forbes.com, I discuss recent research that indicates that Mars may have never been very wet, and was just too small to hold onto a significant amount of water.

The ruins of the city of Tall el-Hammam leave clues that the city was destroyed in an Earth-shattering event. Recent research points to a likely culprit - a meteor.  I tell the story in Forbes.com.

On Forbes.com, I talk about how scientists may have seen a four-quark particle in the Compass data at CERN - or they may have seen something more bizarre - where particles switch identities and the laws of math break down. The results may help us understand the strong force more clearly.

Be careful what you ask for next time you pick up a magic lamp - the genie inside might grant your wish - even if it leads to unintended consequences.  Find out why on Forbes.com.

The leaders of the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican churches speak out for sustainability and action on climate change on the eve of the COP26 Climate Change Conference this fall. By Elizabeth Fernandez on Forbes.com.

What would it take for aliens to find us? If the Earth passes in front of the Sun from their point of view, they may be able to tell the Earth is there - and that it hosts life.  On Forbes.com.

Many agree that editing the human embryo is unethical. But could this ethical minefield be sidestepped by editing sperm and eggs instead? More on Forbes.com.

Becoming engaged with the narrative of climate change helps people to care - and to do something - independent of political leaning. More on Forbes.com.

What would happen if a time traveler killed her own grandfather? A physics undergraduate student may have come up with a way to avoid such a time-traveling paradox. My article on Forbes.com.

Putting large objects in entanglement has been achieved - and will open up new avenues in applied physics. More on Forbes.com.

A new study shows that birds may have consciousness - arising from a completely different part of their brain than primates. Find out more on Forbes.com.

Earlier this week, scientists announced the discovery of a biomarker in the clouds of Venus. If there is a second Genesis of life, how will it change our understanding of the origin of life, our place in the cosmos, religion, and philosophy? I discuss on Forbes.com.

Our world faces a biodiversity crisis. But by reworking the food system and with bold plans of conservation, our world can become green again. I discuss on Forbes.com.

On Forbes.com, I discuss that we may not be conscious every moment, and this may help us deal with the vast amount of information in the world around us.

If a tree falls in the forest and someone is there to hear it, does it make a sound? Perhaps not. Things get weird on Forbes.com.

These strange forms of matter have never been seen together before, and could have implications for everything from atomic clocks to quantum information processing. I talk about the experiment on Forbes.com.

We set a record for high temperature this week. But this is just the latest of a string of records worldwide. What is to blame? More on Forbes.com.

Our current models of physics aren't consistent with what we observe. So what are we missing? Loop Quantum Cosmology may be the answer - and could suggest that our Universe rose from the ashes of a previous universe. More on Forbes.com.

A recent study shows a difference in the brains of people who are strongly partisan and those who do not have a political affiliation. I discuss on Forbes.com.

Facial discrimination has been called discriminatory. People fear it will strip our privacy. The latest court ruling from the UK goes as far to say it violates human rights. I discuss on Forbes.com.

Can researchers from MIT and Caltech use quantum entanglement to take down the house? Find out on Forbes.com.

Are you waiting for Mr. or Mrs. Right? I discuss on Forbes.com what science says makes a relationship really special.

For 50 years, it was predicted that you could gain energy by dropping objects into a black hole. On June 22nd, scientists found a way to test this in the lab - and were able to extract energy. More on Forbes.com.

There are specific marks on a planet that intelligent life may leave. To find technological civilizations among the stars, we just need to know what to look for. I discuss on Forbes.com.

The Permian Extinction, which killed off almost all life on Earth, dramatically changed which parts of the world were filled with life, and which weren't. We may see the same pattern if climate change continues. I discuss on Forbes.com.

In the continued battle to fight misinformation, Twitter is asking users to think about what they are posting. Some say the measure goes too far - other say it doesn't do enough. More on Forbes.com.

Scientists don't know how that spark of life first started on our planet, but two studies this week show how RNA and DNA - the building blocks of life - could have first formed on Earth. More on Forbes.com.

The Dalai Lama has been interested in science all of his life. The documentary The Dalai Lama - Scientist allows you to see just how much science influenced him - and he influenced science. On Forbes.com.

It seems that primates who mate with as many females as possible would dominate the gene pool. So what made fatherhood, or being a male who cared for his young, emerge in humankind? More on Forbes.com.

The direction of your gaze and the dilation of your pupils can give away what decision you are about to make - and this knowledge can be used to manipulate you. I discuss on Forbes.com.

Challenge testing may speed up the development of a vaccine - but is deliberately infecting healthy people with COVID-19 ethical? I discuss the sides on Forbes.com.

Local measurements of the Hubble Constant and measurements from the Cosmic Microwave Background don't agree. Adding a new type of dark matter might solve the problem, scientists say. I talk about it on Forbes.com.

Other stars vary a lot more than our Sun. Is our Sun just going through a period of quiet, and will it become more active in the future? On Forbes.com.

From alien visitors that decided to stay, to Pluto's siblings, to a potential ninth planet, our family portrait saw a lot of changes this month. I discuss on Forbes.com.

Apps can help you tell if you've been in contact with someone with COVID-19. But it's a fine line between tracking the virus and surveillance. I discuss the ethics at Forbes.com.

It's International Dark Sky Week, and these fun ways to participate will connect us to the sky, to our ancestors, and to each other. #LookUpTogether On Forbes.com.

If particles collided with their antiparticles in the early Universe, we wouldn't exist. So why did matter win out? The answer has a lot to do with particles that act like Neapolitan ice cream. On Forbes.com.

In this era of social distancing, we need to resort to video calls. But on video, we lose the ability to look someone in the eye - and it changes everything from how we connect to our self-esteem. On Forbes.com.

>We all want to get out of the house. But we need to do it the right way in order to prevent a catastrophic amount of deaths. More on Forbes.com.

Science can't fix your broken guitar. But there are times that physics can reverse itself. On Forbes.com.

A near 200-page report outlines steps that the US should take. But is fusion the answer to the energy crisis? More on Forbes.com.

Our brains are lying to us all the time, and the things we see might not actually be there at all. I talk about this more on Forbes.com.

Yes, we may by physically isolated right now. But in times like this, we can still come together to share something amazing: compassion. On Forbes.com.

Done wrongly, it can take our rights and freedoms away. But done correctly, it can dramatically reduce the spread and mortality rate of this disease. More on Forbes.com.

Recently, a team of researchers designed a clever experiment to watch how quantum systems become classical systems - and in the process, found that time is not as precise as we thought it was. On Forbes.com.

Not any park will do. Two studies show that the type of green area affects everything from well-being to crime rate. On Forbes.com.

They will scan almost the entire sky, and may answer once and for all - are we alone? I discuss it on Forbes.com.

Scientists try to understand where empathy comes from, and if it changes how the brain works. More on Forbes.com.

On Forbes.com, I talk about how this year, religious communities focus on the climate crisis and other pro-science themes.

As these neutron stars merged to form a black hole, they show scientists on Earth that the physics might be different than we thought. More on Forbes.com.

Without regulation, we may lose trust in AI applications, and without trust, we'll stop using technologies that use them. I discuss on Forbes.com.

Researchers have found a way to extend the lifetime of the C. elegans worm by 500%. But thinking the result means that humans will live to 400 years old is missing the point. On Forbes.com.

It's not just the car manufacturers. It turns out that people take advantage of conservative self-driving cars to act more reckless. On Forbes.com.

The board named a triple threat of nuclear proliferation, climate change, and cyber-based disinformation. But what good is the clock if no one listens? On Forbes.com.

When you throw something into a black hole, its information seems to disappear. This may be a hint that black holes, as well as our entire universe, is 2-dimensional. On Forbes.com.

How can one design an experiment that shows what neurons fire when we make complex decisions? These scientists may have figured out a way. On Forbes.com.

Buddhist and Hindu philosophy have given us ideas about the multiverse, the nature of time, and the beginning (and end) of the universe that seem to be remarkably consistent with modern physics. I discuss on Forbes.com.

In treating anxiety, doctors rarely prescribe more sleep. But that may be exactly what might help the most. On Forbes.com.

Preschoolers were able to create their own language in under 30 minutes. Their simple game may offer clues to how human language arose. I discuss on Forbes.com.

A recent study shows that at the brain-level, there is no difference between the genders in math ability. On Forbes.com.

Kids watch more and more TV. We know it's bad for them, yet we keep letting our TV babysit. On Forbes.com.

It may be un-geologic of us to say humans have started a new epoch in such a short time. Nonetheless, it may be true. On Forbes.com.

In a recent paper in Minds and Machines, David Watson summarizes three ways that supervised learning methods can make predictions in similar ways to the human mind. More on Forbes.com.

We might imagine advanced AI "learn” in ways similar to a toddler. But there are actually key differences - and understanding them help us to understand the machines that make our decisions. On Forbes.com.

BRAIN’s working group recently developed a set of ethical guidelines, some of which have not been widely considered before. More on Forbes.com.

If my now is different than your now, does "now" even exist? Physicist Carlo Rovelli asks us to think of time in a new way. On Forbes.com.

On Forbes.com, I discuss how guests at the Vatican ask how technology can be used to improve the well-being of all humanity.

Feeling stressed? If you're just treating your brain, you may be missing the source of the problem. More on Forbes.com.

Black carbon, the sooty particulate matter from the burning of fossil fuels, isn't taken into account in our carbon footprint. Let's fix that. More on Forbes.com.

An experiment seeks to understand if invertebrates have a point of view, or if they are simply automatons. I discuss on Forbes.com.

If you work up from first principles, much of what we understand about the Universe and how it works is through symmetries. This newly observed symmetry may lead to insights in quantum computing. On Forbes.com.

Winners of this contest, sponsored by the American Geographical Society, focused on how location data and geospatial technology can be used for social justice and to empower people to take control of their data and to improve their communities. On Forbes.com.

These small clusters of human brain cells grown in a Petri dish are showing brainwave patterns similar to a pre-term infant, and are causing some to worry. The ethics on Forbes.com.

Argue as much as you want on Facebook. Here's the science why people will still disagree. More on Forbes.com.

Anyone who wants to start biohacking in their garage can buy a DIY CRISPR kit for less than $200. Can we even hope for regulation when access is that easy? On Forbes.com.

Controlling the access to data, all that is needed to print your own weapon, may be impossible. More on Forbes.com.

An intuitive interface lets any user protect their content, prevent virtual vandalism, and could even reduce cyber bullying. More on Forbes.com.

Some of the leading theories of quantum gravity prohibit it, while in others, time travel happens all the time. More on Forbes.com.

On Forbes.com, I discuss how those who ingest these tiny sensors may not understand who sees their personal information, or even what information is being recorded.

Would people riot, would there be a surge of suicides, would society be rocked and world religions crumble if we discovered life on another world? More on Forbes.com.

People may have false "memories" associated with fake news, especially when the news is reporting something unfavorable about the other side. On Forbes.com.

It's important to teach engineering students ethics, because sometimes, the ethical choice is not so clear. More on Forbes.com.

This company does privacy differently, and may have figured out a way to earn your trust in storing your genetic data. More on Forbes.com.

In new program called EthicalGEO, sponsored by the American Geographical Society (AGS) and Omidyar Network, encourages people to start dialoging about the ethics of the geospatial technologies present in our lives. On Forbes.com.

CRISPR gene editing of embryos can have far-reaching consequences that last far beyond one individual child. We need to come together as society to decide what is ethical for gene editing. More on Forbes.com.

Would it be possible to interpret a message and a language not only from a different species, but from entities from another planet? On Forbes.com.

On the 50th anniversary of the moon landing, we should reconsider space law: from mining the moon to towing asteroids to the protection of microbial life on other worlds. On Forbes.com.

The "brand" we create for our children is influencing the identities they create later in life. More on Forbes.com.