kelseyk's User Profile - Atlas Obscura

kelseyk

Science journalist, former Atlas Obscura editorial fellow, Oregonian, road trip adventurer.

http://kelseyrkennedy.com

2017
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A Czech Brewery's Newest Employees Are 5 Crayfish

Changes in their behavior tell brewers whether their water is clean enough.

September 29, 2017

Why Did the Tasmanian Tiger Disappear From Mainland Australia 3,000 Years Ago?

Climate may have played a bigger role than previously thought.

September 28, 2017

Scientists Are Just Starting to Understand Earth's Eighth Continent, Zealandia

It wasn't always under all that water.

September 27, 2017

An Eel-Inspired Robot Is Scientists' Newest Pollution-Sniffer

It swims, it slithers, and it samples.

September 27, 2017

How Wildfire Smoke Affects the Flavor of Wine

It can make a Chardonnay taste like an ashtray, thanks to chemistry.

September 26, 2017

Scientists Have a New Tool for Improving Food Security in West Africa

The white Guinea yam's genome could help researchers make a staple crop hardier.

September 25, 2017

The Tsetse Fly Has Strange, Sucker-Tipped Fingers on Its Mouth

New images could help scientists better understand how the flies transmit deadly sleeping sickness.

September 22, 2017

Hubble Spotted a Strange New Object in Our Solar System

It's kind of a comet and kind of an asteroid that orbits itself, and it could tell us something about early Earth.

September 21, 2017

One Doctor's Quest to Reveal the Perils of Polyester Pants

A sexological tale of static electricity, male contraception, and dogs in pants.

September 21, 2017

Mexico's Monk Parakeet Population Has Exploded

Tracking the policy changes in Europe and Mexico that caused a charming green plague.

September 20, 2017

Hurricane Irma Has Left the Caribbean Brown and Barren

Winds up to 185 miles per hour stripped trees bare, but the vegetation will gradually return.

September 19, 2017

We're Not the Only Primate With Unsustainable Eating Habits

Monkeys using tools in Thailand might be driving their prey to extinction.

September 18, 2017

Smoke From North American Wildfires Made It All the Way to France

"It’s going to take a while for everything to dissipate."

September 15, 2017

A Short History of Epically Destroying Spacecraft in the Name of Science

Cassini isn't the first space probe to go out in a blaze of glory—and it won't be the last.

September 15, 2017

Snow Leopards Are Finally No Longer Listed as Endangered

Conservation efforts and correcting an estimation error mean the elusive cats are now considered vulnerable.

September 14, 2017

Squirrels Organize Their Nuts to Make Them Easier to Remember

Mixed nuts are for amateurs.

September 13, 2017

Behold a Flame's Mesmerizing Ionic Wind

Fire scientists can now create 3D images of the behavior of flames in certain conditions.

September 12, 2017

Watch Lightning Burst Around Hurricane Irma's Eye

NASA's lightning-mapping satellite might help predict the behavior of massive storms.

September 11, 2017

Scientists Have a New Way to Listen to the Songs of Mice

The little rodents make a lot of noise, mostly out of the range of human hearing.

September 8, 2017

The Ceiling for Unpowered Flight Just Went Up 2,000 Feet

The Perlan 2 glider team is aiming much, much higher, and doing science on the way.

September 7, 2017

The Quest to Rediscover New Zealand's Lost Pink and White Terraces

A German diary from 1859 might point the way to a geothermal wonder buried by a volcanic eruption.

September 6, 2017

A View of Saturn's Rings From the Inside, Courtesy of Cassini

The 20-year-old satellite is still sending back images during its swan dive into the planet's atmosphere.

September 5, 2017

A Rare Yellow Lobster Joins a Boston Aquarium's Lobster Rainbow

Many genetic mutations, together in one place.

September 1, 2017

Why Some Plants Have Huge Leaves and Others Have Tiny Ones

It comes down to the risk of overheating or freezing.

August 31, 2017