Nikk Ogasa

Staff Writer

Nikk Ogasa is a staff writer who focuses on the physical sciences for Science News, based in Brooklyn, New York. He has a master's degree in geology from McGill University, where he studied how ancient earthquakes helped form large gold deposits. He earned another master's degree in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz. His stories have been published in Science, Scientific American, Mongabay and the Mercury News, and he was the summer 2021 science writing intern at Science News.

All Stories by Nikk Ogasa

  1. Ecosystems

    The Amazon is in trouble. Here’s why — and why it matters

    Challenges from human-caused climate change, deforestation and degradation leave the fate of this vast forest uncertain.

  2. Tech

    Nanobots can now enter brain cells to spy on what they’re doing

    Fleets of advanced versions may one day be able to detect disease and then go about surgically treating it — without ever opening the skull.

  3. Climate

    Let’s learn about why summer 2023 was so hot

    Human-caused climate change has played a big role in this summer’s historic heat.

  4. Fossils

    This bizarre ancient predator snagged soft prey

    Scientists are rethinking how this extinct creature used the spiky limbs sticking out of its face to hunt.

  5. Space

    Lightning dances through Jupiter’s skies much like it does on Earth 

    Data from NASA’s Juno spacecraft hint that Jupiter’s lightning extends in jagged steps as it does on Earth.

  6. Earth

    One collision could have formed the moon and started plate tectonics

    A hypothetical planet slamming into Earth 4.5 billion years ago might have set subduction into motion.

  7. Fossils

    Ocean life may have bounced back after the ‘Great Dying’

    Marine ecosystems may have been back in action just a million years after the most severe extinction event known.

  8. Earth

    Rare earths’ hidden electrons make much of modern tech possible

    Because of their unique chemistry, rare-earth elements can generate powerful magnetic fields and fine-tune light for a wide range of applications.

  9. Climate

    Greenland’s inland ice is melting far faster than anyone thought

    Inland melting of the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream is accelerating — and may contribute far more to sea level rise than earlier estimates suggested.

  10. Environment

    Bacterial ‘living wires’ could help protect the seas and climate

    Long, thin bacteria that conduct electricity may be able to help clean up oil spills and reduce emissions of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.

  11. Chemistry

    Lego-like way to snap molecules together wins 2022 chemistry Nobel

    This so-called ‘click chemistry’ allows scientists to build complex molecules in the lab and in living cells.

  12. Earth

    Not one, but two asteroids might have ended the age of dinosaurs 

     A craterlike structure found off the coast of West Africa might have been formed by an asteroid that struck around the time dinosaurs went extinct.