Chris Simms

Chris Simms

Live Science Contributor

Chris Simms is a freelance journalist who previously worked at New Scientist for more than 10 years, in roles including chief subeditor and assistant news editor. He was also a senior subeditor at Nature and has a degree in zoology from Queen Mary University of London. In recent years, he has written numerous articles for New Scientist and in 2018 was shortlisted for Best Newcomer at the Association of British Science Writers awards. 

Latest articles by Chris Simms

Meet 'Dragon prince' — the newly discovered T. rex relative that roamed Mongolia 86 million years ago

By Chris Simms published

A new species of dinosaur that was probably a princely ancestor of T. rex, the king of the dinosaurs, has been identified from fossils excavated in Mongolia.

Dinosaurs
a capuchin monkey with a newborn howler monkey clinging to its back

Capuchins have started abducting newborn howler monkeys in bizarre, deadly fad

By Chris Simms published

Young male capuchins have developed a strange trend of acquiring baby howler monkeys. It doesn't end well for the babies.

Monkeys
A tree is silhouetted against the full completed Annular Solar Eclipse on October 14, 2023 in Capitol Reef National Park, Utah.

'This should not be published': Scientists cast doubt on study claiming trees 'talk' before solar eclipses

By Chris Simms published

Claims that spruce trees synchronize their responses to a solar eclipse were widely reported recently — but many researchers are sceptical of the results.

Plants

In rare evolutionary event, weird platypus cousin evolved from living in water to living on land

By Chris Simms published

We may have gotten the evolutionary origins of the echidna backward, as new research suggests its ancestors probably lived in the water, not on land.

Evolution