• About
  • Special Reports
  • Topics
    • Climate
    • Earth Science
    • Oceans
    • Space & Planets
    • Health & Ecosystems
    • Culture & Policy
    • Education & Careers
    • Opinions
  • Projects
    • Postcards From the Field
    • ENGAGE
    • Editors’ Highlights
    • Editors’ Vox
    • Eos en Español
    • Eos 简体中文版
    • Print Archive: 2015–2025
  • Policy Tracker
  • Blogs
    • Research & Developments
    • The Landslide Blog
  • Newsletter
  • Submit to Eos
  • AGU.org
  • Career Center
  • Join AGU
  • Give to AGU
  • About
  • Special Reports
  • Topics
    • Climate
    • Earth Science
    • Oceans
    • Space & Planets
    • Health & Ecosystems
    • Culture & Policy
    • Education & Careers
    • Opinions
  • Projects
    • Postcards From the Field
    • ENGAGE
    • Editors’ Highlights
    • Editors’ Vox
    • Eos en Español
    • Eos 简体中文版
    • Print Archive: 2015–2025
  • Policy Tracker
  • Blogs
    • Research & Developments
    • The Landslide Blog
  • Newsletter
  • Submit to Eos
Skip to content
  • AGU.org
  • Career Center
  • Join AGU
  • Give to AGU
Eos

Eos

Science News by AGU

Support Eos
Sign Up for Newsletter
  • About
  • Special Reports
  • Topics
    • Climate
    • Earth Science
    • Oceans
    • Space & Planets
    • Health & Ecosystems
    • Culture & Policy
    • Education & Careers
    • Opinions
  • Projects
    • Postcards From the Field
    • ENGAGE
    • Editors’ Highlights
    • Editors’ Vox
    • Eos en Español
    • Eos 简体中文版
    • Print Archive: 2015–2025
  • Policy Tracker
  • Blogs
    • Research & Developments
    • The Landslide Blog
  • Newsletter
  • Submit to Eos
Katherine Kornei, Science Writer

Katherine Kornei

Katherine Kornei is a freelance science journalist covering Earth and space science. Her bylines frequently appear in Eos, Science, and The New York Times. Katherine holds a Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Photo of an ash-covered, densely populated tropical neighborhood and canal
Posted inNews

Explosive Volcanic Eruption Powered by Water-Saturated Magma

Katherine Kornei, Science Writer by Katherine Kornei 26 September 201913 January 2023

Little seismic unrest preceded the 2014 eruption of a stratovolcano in Indonesia, which suggests that the eruption was kick-started internally by volatile-triggered overpressure.

Muscovite in polarized light
Posted inNews

Ancient Precipitation Reveals Clues About Mountains and Climate

Katherine Kornei, Science Writer by Katherine Kornei 17 September 20192 March 2023

By studying the chemical signatures of 300-million-year-old precipitation, researchers find evidence that the supercontinent Pangea contained peaks as tall as the European Alps.

Aerial photo of subsidence craters in the desert
Posted inNews

Nuclear Bomb or Earthquake? Explosions Reveal the Differences

Katherine Kornei, Science Writer by Katherine Kornei 9 September 201910 March 2023

A series of controlled chemical detonations in the Nevada desert is helping researchers discern between ground shaking caused by nuclear explosions and earthquakes.

Satellite image of a pumice raft floating in the ocean
Posted inNews

Volcanic Eruption Creates Temporary Islands of Pumice

Katherine Kornei, Science Writer by Katherine Kornei 6 September 201918 January 2022

Rafts of pumice, spewed from an undersea volcano, recently appeared in the South Pacific. These transient, movable islands are important toeholds for marine life like barnacles, coral, and macroalgae.

A research vessel next to Arctic ice
Posted inNews

Light Permeates Seasonally Through Arctic Sea Ice

Katherine Kornei, Science Writer by Katherine Kornei 6 September 201925 January 2023

The transmission of sunlight through Arctic sea ice depends on the presence of ice, snow, and melt ponds, data collected over 6 years reveal.

Black-and-white satellite image of the rocky surface of the asteroid Ryugu
Posted inNews

Nearby Asteroid Is Mysteriously Devoid of Dust, Lander Reveals

Katherine Kornei, Science Writer by Katherine Kornei 5 September 201915 February 2022

Close-up images of Ryugu, a near-Earth asteroid and the target of the Hayabusa2 sample return mission, reveal a rocky, dustless world that may have formed from a giant collision.

Buckled asphalt caused by a slow-moving landslide
Posted inNews

Rainfall Kick-Starts Slow-Moving Landslides

Katherine Kornei, Science Writer by Katherine Kornei 22 August 20195 October 2021

A census of hundreds of slow-moving landslides in Northern California reveals an uptick in the number and speed of landslides in 2017, the second-wettest year on record.

Ranch near Anza, Calif.
Posted inNews

Wind-Triggered Ground Shaking Masks Microseismicity

Katherine Kornei, Science Writer by Katherine Kornei 20 August 201913 January 2022

Ground motion caused by gusts of wind can drown out signals from the smallest earthquakes, potentially confusing earthquake detection algorithms.

A field of penitentes
Posted inNews

Microbes Spotted on Blades of Ice High in the Andes

Katherine Kornei, Science Writer by Katherine Kornei 15 August 201912 April 2022

Researchers discover microbial life on ice spires known as penitentes on the arid, sunlight-blasted upper reaches of Llullaillaco, one of the best earthly analogues for Mars.

Homes built at sea level on Palm Jumeirah island, Dubai
Posted inNews

Meteotsunami Spotted for the First Time in the Persian Gulf

Katherine Kornei, Science Writer by Katherine Kornei 31 July 201917 May 2022

The Persian Gulf, a region with high-end resorts and oil-related infrastructure dotting its shorelines, was hit in 2017 by weather-induced waves that rolled roughly a kilometer inland.

Posts pagination

Newer posts 1 … 19 20 21 22 23 … 29 Older posts
Over a dark blue-green square appear the words Special Report: The State of the Science 1 Year On.

Features from AGU Publications

Research Spotlights

Carbon-Rich Rocks May Have Cooled the Ancient Martian Atmosphere

28 May 202628 May 2026
Editors' Highlights

From Grains to Bands: Modeling Deformation in Porous Rocks

26 May 202621 May 2026
Editors' Vox

From Volcanic Vents to Safer Skies

27 May 202627 May 2026
Eos logo at left; AGU logo at right

About Eos
ENGAGE
Awards
Contact

Advertise
Submit
Career Center
Sitemap

© 2026 American Geophysical Union. All rights reserved Powered by Newspack