Rob Verger
Technology Editor
Rob Verger is the Technology Editor at Popular Science, where he leads a team of journalists who cover everything from artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency, and cybersecurity to privacy, security, and the military. He has special passion for covering both commercial and military aviation, as well as transportation topics such as autonomous cars and electric vehicles. He lives in Manhattan with his wife, a video producer with Reuters.
Highlights
- Deep experience writing about aviation and the military, with time spent on board an F-16, a KC-10 tanker, and a Coast Guard helicopter.
- Driven by a deep curiosity for a multitude of tech and transportation topics, as well as an appreciation for the reporting process.
- Enjoys everything from getting into the field to see old cars get shredded to getting on the phone with experts or people with extreme and stressful careers.
- Past bylines in The Boston Globe, Columbia Journalism Review, Newsweek, The Daily Beast, VICE News, and other publications.
Experience
Rob has more than a decade of experience in journalism, a career that has had him strapping into the back seat of an F-16 to climbing aboard an Air Force tanker aircraft to watch F-22 fighter jets get refueled. Before joining Popular Science, he spent several years on staff at Newsweek and The Daily Beast, where he focused on international topics; he has also freelanced for publications such as The Boston Globe.
He arrived at PopSci in 2017, and has been making loud reporting phone calls ever since. His articles frequently touch on aviation, the military, and transportation, and his curiosity and reporting skills have taken him down many rich paths: investigating the materials and tech in artificial hips, learning about engine block manufacturing in Michigan, exploring the inside of a B-52 bomber at an Air Force base in Louisiana, and driving a supercar in New York.
He has extensive experience on camera and with other forms of multimedia. Rob appeared on the Today Show, and since then has been a guest on Cheddar, Neil Cavuto’s show on Fox Business, and other outlets. He’s also been a guest on The Daily Dive podcast, PopSci’s Ask Us Anything podcast, and the Kelly Cutrara radio news show out of Toronto, Canada, to discuss aviation security post-9/11. In 2021, he moderated a discussion on aerospace careers for Purdue University’s Amelia Earhart Summit. In addition to running PopSci’s tech section, he is the project manager for its annual Best of What’s New awards.
Education
Rob attended Middlebury College, where he majored in English. He later earned an MFA in nonfiction writing at Columbia, receiving a fellowship to teach at the university’s Undergraduate Writing Program for two years. He holds an MA in science reporting from Columbia Journalism School, where he received a Robert Wood Johnson Fellowship.
Favorite weird science fact
Time slows down as an object moves super fast, if you compare the way time passed for the quickly-moving object to the way it did for a slower object. Think: A clock on a satellite versus a clock on Earth. Thanks for figuring that one out, Einstein!
Notable Work
- I flew in an F-16 and oh boy did it go poorly Popular Science
- I got my hip replaced at 39. Here’s why that might get more common. Popular Science
- What it’s like to rescue someone at sea from a Coast Guard helicopter Popular Science
- Inside a training mission with a B-52 bomber, the aircraft that will not die Popular Science
- The Air Force wants to modernize air refueling, but it’s been a bumpy ride Popular Science
- Pete Buttigieg on how to improve the deadly track record of US drivers Popular Science
- Portfolio Rob Verger