Emma Young


Emma Young is an award-winning science and health journalist and the author of Sane: How I shaped up my mind, improved my mental strength, and found calm. A former reporter and editor for New Scientist, working in London and Sydney, she now freelances from an attic in Sheffield. As E L Young (in the UK, Emma in the USA), she is also the author of the STORM series of science-based thrillers for kids.

From this contributor

Explore more from The Transmitter

Researcher examining butterfly in lab.

Finally, a new route for the magnetic-sense field

Researchers have dueled for years over how the magnetic sense works. New data from monarch butterflies could finally help settle the debate.

By Calli McMurray
11 September 2026 | 16 min read
Child sitting on confetti-covered ground, wearing noise-cancelling headphones.

Sensory over-responsivity tied to autism, anxiety but not other conditions

Negative reactions to sensations track with certain neurodevelopmental traits in more than 15,000 children—pointing to shared neurobiological roots.

By Diana Kwon
10 September 2026 | 5 min read

Neuromechanical models deepen our understanding of animal motor control

Thanks to recent progress in physics-based simulators and robotics, it has never been easier for neuroscientists to use neuromechanical modeling to test hypotheses about animal movement.

By Auke Ijspeert
9 September 2026 | 0 min watch