Stories by Megan Gannon

Hidden Monuments and “Suburbs” Discovered in Ancient Izapa Kingdom

Remote-sensing studies have revealed the ancient settlements in southern Mexico

Shock Waves from World War II Bombs Felt at Edge of Space

Ripple effects from massive aerial raids include disturbances in Earth’s ionosphere

Greenland's Biggest Fire Is a "Warning" for Its Future

A wildfire in summer 2017 deposited heat-absorbing black carbon on the imperiled ice sheet  

Space Stations: Archaeological Sites in Low Earth Orbit

Fresh insights are emerging from studying the "microsociety" onboard the International Space Station

A New Antarctic-Proof Greenhouse Heads South to Polar Scientists

New Details Emerge about Missing Mars Lander

The premature deployment or jettisoning of its heat shield and parachute may have doomed the Schiaparelli lander

80 Years Later, Polar Explorer’s Sunken Ship Floats Again

The sturdy oak ship was originally built for the Norwegian polar explorer Roald Amundsen, the first human to arrive at the South Pole

Rosetta Concludes Mission with a Crash

A deliberate collision with a comet brought the historic space mission to an end

"Space Archaeologists" Show Spike in Looting at Egypt's Ancient Sites

Scientists used satellite images to monitor pyramids, tombs and buried cities from 2002 to 2013

Race Is a Social Construct, Scientists Argue

Racial categories are weak proxies for genetic diversity and need to be phased out 

Babylonians Tracked Jupiter with Fancy Math, Tablet Reveals

A clay tablet with cuneiform characters may contain a mathematical technique that was believed to be invented 1,400 years later

Odd Jobs: Meet Ned the Nose

An odor scientist and engineer knows how to snuff out bad aromas

Meet the Dentist to the Dead

Christina Warinner scrapes the plaque off ancient teeth to learn more about our ancestors’ health

Star Trek Actress Grace Lee Whitney Dies at 85

"She was a constant shining smile over the years every time our paths crossed," tweeted her co-star William Shatner (Captain Kirk)...

Your Eyelashes Should be This Long, Science Says

The optimal length to keep eyes wet is a third of the width of the eye 

2 Jurassic Mini Mammals Discovered in China

The fossils, more than 160 million years old, preserve a tree-climber and a tunnel-digger that lived alongside the dinosaurs

Doomsday Clock Set at 3 Minutes to Midnight

Humanity's failure to reduce global nuclear arsenals as well as climate change prompted the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists to advance their warning about our proximity to a potentially civilization-ending catastrophe ...

Solar Plane's Route for Around-the-World Flight Revealed

Two Swiss pilots will attempt a record-setting flight around the world without using any fuel. Stops will include Oman, India, Myanmar, 2 cities in China and 4 U.S. sites

Wreck of 17th-Century Dutch Warship Discovered

"Everybody dies, and every ship sinks" is the abbreviated story of the battle in which the Huis de Kreuningen was lost. Archaeologists believe they've now found it

Private Rocket to Make 2nd Launch Try Tonight

Orbital Sciences' unmanned Cygnus spacecraft is set to blast off atop an Antares rocket at 6:22 pm EDT from a NASA facility in Virginia