Geoff Brumfiel Geoff Brumfiel works as a senior editor and correspondent on NPR's science desk.
Geoff Brumfiel, photographed for NPR, 17 January 2019, in Washington DC.
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Geoff Brumfiel

Mike Morgan/NPR
Geoff Brumfiel, photographed for NPR, 17 January 2019, in Washington DC.
Mike Morgan/NPR

Geoff Brumfiel

Senior Editor and Correspondent

Geoff Brumfiel works as a senior editor and correspondent on NPR's science desk. His editing duties include science and space, while his reporting focuses on the intersection of science and national security.

From April of 2016 to September of 2018, Brumfiel served as an editor overseeing basic research and climate science. Prior to that, he worked for three years as a reporter covering physics and space for the network. Brumfiel has carried his microphone into ghost villages created by the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan. He's tracked the journey of highly enriched uranium as it was shipped out of Poland. For a story on how animals drink, he crouched for over an hour and tried to convince his neighbor's cat to lap a bowl of milk.

Before NPR, Brumfiel was based in London as a senior reporter for Nature Magazine from 2007-2013. There, he covered energy, space, climate, and the physical sciences. From 2002 – 2007, Brumfiel was Nature Magazine's Washington Correspondent.

Brumfiel is the 2013 winner of the Association of British Science Writers award for news reporting on the Fukushima nuclear accident.

Story Archive

Sunday

SpaceX's Starship launch a success

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Friday

Starship is the largest rocket ever built. Elon Musk hopes it will one day fly humans and other species to Mars, but environmentalists say it's doing damage to the local habitat around the Texas launch site. Verónica Gabriel Cárdenas for NPR hide caption

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Verónica Gabriel Cárdenas for NPR

ENVIRONMENTALISTS SAY SPACEX IS TRASHING TEXAS

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Tuesday

Researchers who helped lay the groundwork for AI win Nobel Prize in Physics

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Friday

Researchers counted about 32 points where missiles landed around Nevatim Airbase in southern Israel. Israel says no fighter jets were destroyed and the base continues to operate. Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey/Planet Labs PBC hide caption

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Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey/Planet Labs PBC

Wednesday

Projectiles above Jerusalem, on Tuesday. Israel says Iran launched more than 180 missiles but that the assault did little damage. Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images

Iran's missile strike explained

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Monday

Hurricane Helene dropped more than 2 feet of rain on Spruce Pine, N.C. The town is home to one of the world's only sources of high-purity quartz, which is used to manufacture silicon chips and solar panels. Spencer Bost hide caption

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Spencer Bost

Spruce Pine Flooding

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Saturday

SpaceX conducts the first civilian spacewalk

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Thursday

Private Spacewalk

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Astronauts conduct the first private spacewalk

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Wednesday

4 astronauts aim to conduct the world’s first commercial spacewalk

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Tuesday

Four private astronauts are on their way to conduct the first commercial spacewalk

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Polaris Dawn lifts off from Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida early Tuesday morning. The crew is set to conduct the first private spacewalk ever in a matter of days. Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images

Wednesday

The Federal Aviation Administration has grounded SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets - like this one set to take the Polaris Dawn crew to orbit. The move by the FAA comes after a Falcon 9 booster rocket fell into the sea as it tried to land on an uncrewed drone ship on Wednesday. Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption

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Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Monday

The first commercial spacewalk will be conducted later this week

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Friday

Researchers found that AI could increase the creativity of individual writers, but it also led to many similar stories. Moor Studio/Getty Images hide caption

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Moor Studio/Getty Images

Research shows AI can boost creativity for some, but at a cost

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Wednesday

The Starliner spacecraft docked with the International Space Station and orbiting 262 miles above Egypt's Mediterranean coast on June 13. NASA says additional testing is needed before Starliner can return to Earth. NASA/AP hide caption

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NASA/AP

Friday

Boeing's new spacecraft is forced to extend its stay at the International Space Station

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Thursday

Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system (left) intercepts rockets (right) fired by Palestinian militants from Gaza on May 14, 2021. Over the years, Iron Dome has stopped thousands of rockets headed for Israeli cities, but experts warn that in a war with Hezbollah, new tactics and sheer numbers could cause it to fail. Anas Baba/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Anas Baba/AFP via Getty Images

Could Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system hold up in a war with Hezbollah?

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Tuesday

The Chang'e 6 capsule landed in the Chinese province of Inner Mongolia on Tuesday. CCTV Screenshot by NPR hide caption

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CCTV Screenshot by NPR

Chang'e 6 Sample Return

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Friday

Could Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system hold up in a war with Hezbollah?

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Wednesday

Palestinians are walking along Salah al-Din Road in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, on Feb. 11, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images hide caption

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Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images

How is Israel Using Facial Recognition in Gaza?

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Saturday

The week in space: Two lessons for NASA and their private space partners

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Thursday

SpaceX's mega rocket Starship launched from SpaceX's Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas on Thursday, June 6, 2024. Screenshot by NPR/SpaceX hide caption

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Screenshot by NPR/SpaceX

SPACEX'S STARSHIP SUCCESS

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  翻译: