Stories by Meghan Bartels

Scorching temperatures are further burdening an already-troubled infrastructure system across much of the U.S. in ways people are still learning to recognize

Inside giant, iridescent clams are algal farms that could inspire highly efficient bioreactors

NASA’s NEOWISE telescope has searched for asteroids, brown dwarfs and luminous galaxies. The spacecraft will soon burn up in Earth’s atmosphere

Reptile teeth have long been considered simple and cheap because the animals replace them regularly. That isn't so, Komodo dragons show

SpaceX will supercharge its Dragon capsule to send the International Space Station to a watery retirement

ESA’s Ramses spacecraft will scout out Apophis before and after the asteroid’s super-close flyby of Earth in 2029

Scientific American sat down with Nicola Fox, head of NASA science, to talk about her LEGO-building hobby, the agency’s massive Space Launch System rocket and the NASA science she’s most excited about

A low-tech immune boost may help some species of frogs survive a brutal fungal disease that’s already ended 90 amphibian species

The world will be watching—literally—as SpaceX tackles possibly what might be its highest-stakes endeavor to date: safely destroying the beloved International Space Station

The Supreme Court overturned Chevron deference, a 40-year legal principle that has shaped the role of government agencies. The outcome could affect medication approval, pollution regulation, and more

Gray whales in a small group that sticks close to the shores of the Pacific Northwest appear to be shrinking—and shockingly quickly

NASA’s venerable Voyager 1 spacecraft has resumed normal science operations with all four functioning instruments for the first time in more than six months

The massive sunspot region that gave Earthlings stunning auroral displays earlier in May is back from its trip around the far side of the sun

The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season could be disastrous. Experts warn that a storm’s Saffir-Simpson category misses many storm dangers

You don't have to venture far to make a difference for wildlife.

Cosmic Microwave Background Stage 4, a top-priority project for U.S. astrophysics, was designed to make breakthrough observations of the universe’s very earliest moments. Now the U.S. government says it can’t currently support the project’s construction at the South Pole

People may someday have a surprisingly familiar tool to prevent viral infections: one of the antibiotics found in a common ointment

A common species of cockroach hails from Asia, according to new research that tracks its spread around the globe

The same massive sunspot cluster that gave Earth multiple nights of stunning aurora displays has now produced the largest flare of the current solar cycle

Understanding how avian influenza jumped into cows can help shape the path to stopping the virus’s spread

“We should not make it harder for people to access abortion,” says a researcher who has studied the impacts on people who seek the procedure and are denied

Researchers say this may be the first observation of a nonhuman animal purposefully treating a wound with a medicinal plant

As climate change warms the poles, precious Antarctic meteorites will melt their way down out of scientists’ reach

Four years after a mysterious respiratory virus jumped from animals into humans and launched the COVID pandemic, wary epidemiologists are keeping a close eye on a strain of avian influenza that is spreading among U.S. dairy cows