Cells, brains, bodies, buildings, cities: my journalism covers a wide range of topics, always looking for new insights into the everyday and extraordinary people uncovering them.
Scaling up sustainability from buildings to cities
A new era of programs aims to apply high-performance design practices beyond one-off projects to entire communities.
Architect, April 7, 2017
Cancer biology reproducibility project sees mixed results
A controversial project to retrace the steps of major cancer papers releases its first results.
NOVA Next, January 18, 2017
Infant brains reveal how the mind gets built
An ambitious new study put infants into an MRI machine to reveal a neural organization similar to that of adults.
Featured in Alice and Bob Meet the Wall of Fire, a collection of science writing from Quanta Magazine.
Quanta/The Atlantic, January 13, 2017
In Boston, climate change could take the food off your plate
A site at risk of future flooding poses a regional challenge for the Boston area food system.
Next City, December 21, 2016
Where forests work harder
A new study shows that trees in the Boston region grow faster and store more carbon as biomass the closer they are to developed areas.
Winner of the 2017 David Perlman Award from the American Geophysical Union
CityLab, December 19, 2016
RetrofitNY aims to turn New York State’s affordable housing stock deep green
A government-led initiative based on an ambitious Dutch program will help cut the Empire State’s carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050.
Architect, December 5, 2016
Brain control of paralyzed limb lets monkey walk again
A step toward repairing spinal cord injury with electronics.
Technology Review, November 9, 2016
Building a better bitter
I travel to Colorado to try a bitter blocker concocted from mushrooms, sniff hops, sip IPAs, and chat with Avery Gilbert about the painful pleasure of a controversial taste.
Cook's Science, October 17, 2016
How affordable housing is driving passive house design
A grassroots effort started in Philadelphia to incentivize building performance is catching on nationwide.
Architect, September 1, 2016
Living the dream of a net-zero house
The growing number of firms offering energy-efficient modular designs has made a high-performance residence accessible to more people.
Architect, August 29, 2016
Alison Gopnik urges it’s better to cultivate than control children
My review of Gopnik's latest book, “The Gardener and the Carpenter,’’ which calls into question modern notions of parenting.
The Boston Globe, August 11, 2016
We weren't designed to appreciate good perfume
Perfume is a window into the limits and capabilities of our sense of smell.
Nautilus, July 7, 2016
Cities are not as big a deal as you think
By making "urban" synonymous with "city," we miss the realities of where we live and how our sprawling ways are changing the world.
Undark, June 6, 2016
The molecular me, tracing the history of the gene
A review of Siddhartha Mukherjee's new sprawling history of the science of genetics and its societal implications.
The Boston Globe, May 15, 2016
Defining parks for the social good
Frederick Law Olmsted's Yosemite Report reveals the social and political arguments behind both urban and rural parks.
Boston Globe, August 9, 2015
Have we hit peak whiteness?
Our obsession with cleanliness is running afoul of scientific reality.
Nautilus, July 30, 2015
Could pavement get smarter?
Critter crossings, sensitive bridges, and other ways to re-imagine good old asphalt.
Politico, July 23, 2015
The making of MIT's Collier Memorial
J. Meejin Yoon, head of MIT's architecture department, commemorates fallen campus police officer Sean Collier with vaults of solid granite.
Winner of the 2016 Folio Eddie Award, B-to-B Single Article, Construction / Manufacturing.
Architect, May 22, 2015
Why we should let the Pantheon crack
John Ochsendorf is trying to prove that historical buildings are more stable than we give them credit for.
Nautilus, May 21, 2015
New Harvard Law School program aims for ‘systemic justice’
Inside an initiative to teach future lawyers to tackle society’s big problems.
Boston Globe, February 8, 2015