Stories by Meghan Bartels

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

Amid Earth’s fourth global coral bleaching event, a leading expert says tackling climate change is the key to fighting back.

Here’s what a chef, a vet and two anthropologists have to say about eating periodical cicadas

Ancestors of so-called soft corals may have developed bioluminescence in the earliest days of deep-ocean living

NASA scientists spent months coaxing the 46-year-old Voyager 1 spacecraft back into healthy communication

Plants are just trying to reproduce; immune systems are just trying to keep us safe

“A mass bleaching event is, by definition, a mass mortality event,” a leading coral reef expert says

However much outdoor space you have, here’s how to use it for conservation

In just one year of observations, a program that is creating the largest 3D map of the universe to date has sniffed out hints that dark energy may be stranger than scientists supposed

During the total solar eclipse, skywatchers saw ruby-colored prominences sticking out of the moon's shadow. Here's the science of those red dots

Scientific American staffers headed to locations ranging from Texas to Vermont to try to catch a glimpse of the total solar eclipse