Nicholas Gerbis is a freelance writer and editor specializing in science reporting and pop culture. He has written over 100 articles for HowStuffWorks on topics ranging from maggot therapy to the most destructive storms to the history of golf. He also writes for LiveScience and is the senior science correspondent with the KJZZ science and innovation desk.
Recent Contributions
We've all probably looked up and wondered why the sky is blue instead of, say, brown. The sky is blue because of the way Earth's atmosphere scatters light from the sun.
The labels on your clothes have all types of laundry symbols on them. Here's what all those symbols mean.
Ask a card-carrying member of the NRA and you'll get one answer. Ask a member of Everytown for Gun Safety and you'll get another. We look at the research that underlies this controversial topic.
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If you step on a crack, you'll break your mother's back. Surely you know this jingle from childhood. It's a silly example of a correlation with no causation. But there are some real-world instances that we often hear, or maybe even tell?
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope will look back in time to see the earliest stars in creation, and serve as the premier deep space observatory for the next decade. Ready to meet the mighty Webb?
He built President Eisenhower an indoor golf-training machine, analyzed the Zapruder film and searched for an Egyptian pyramid's treasure chamber using cosmic rays. Aren't you dying to meet this wide-ranging scientist?
Pheromones are a powerful means of controlling behavior among members of a social group or species. They can indicate danger, territory or even readiness to mate. But what exactly are pheromones, anyway?
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There's little we can imagine that Mother Nature hasn't already dreamed up in one of her fouler moods. Care to meet some creatures with frightful features?
Identity errors have led to a range of awfulness, from lengthy prison sentences to the wrong person being declared dead.
Is 4D printing much different from 3-D printing? What if we told you some tech insiders are betting it has the potential to change industries from fashion to health care to defense?
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Sure, novelty foods can seem gimmicky sometimes, but color-changing ice cream is a treat that's fun for your taste buds and your eyes. Learn the chemistry behind the confection — it's sweeter than you think.
As the Zika virus spreads, there's still much health experts don't know. So just how bad is the outbreak, and is it really connected with the rising cases of microcephaly?
Catastrophe takes many forms and could occur at any moment, so sometimes dread gets the best of us. But some of our fears are justified. What disasters may really be in our future?
If people had exoskeletons and wings maybe they'd be around forever, too. Insects are born survivors because they have certain traits that other animals don't.
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As technologically advanced as we are, could we have been even farther ahead if we hadn't forgotten so much of what we'd learned centuries ago?
From the beginning, NASA has sought emblematic names for the objects it blasts into space.
There's no question that people are interested in solar energy. The problem has been how to store it. Could the much-hyped Powerwall home battery change that scenario?
Marine biologists have discovered a lot about the ocean's residents while you were busy dozing on the beach. We've dug up 10 of their coolest discoveries.
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You might not be whipping knives at the wheel of death by the time you finish reading this article, but you'll be on your way. Ready to learn about this awesome pastime?
Only a few natural events pack the power to knock global civilization on its heels. One is a planet-killing meteor. Care to guess the other?
Modern medicine may be here, but there are still plenty of infectious diseases to combat, and the CDC is really busy doing that. Get to know 10 of these public (health) enemies.
Sudden cardiac death is a huge global killer. Even if you survive such an incident, your neurological outcome isn't so hot. A serious chill could change that.
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Hop in your time machine, set the clock back a few thousand years and meet some woolly wonders. They even have a few things to teach us about the fate of modern elephants.
Hemlines up or hemlines down? Platforms in and stilettos out? Fashion has plenty of people who predict trends, but every industry needs them. Is this the job for you?