Stories by Meghan Bartels

For six seconds tonight, the constellation Orion will appear to lose the vibrant red star at its shoulder—and scientists are thrilled

Veterinarians and researchers are investigating mysterious clusters of severe respiratory disease in dogs

A solar outburst shoots charged particles into space—and toward Earth

Microbes tear up plastic into teeny tiny pieces that are even more dangerous to ecosystems

The International Space Station—larger than a football field and weighing almost 450 tons—must eventually fall to Earth. It’s a delicate, dangerous process

An instrument mounted to the International Space Station was built to map dust in the atmosphere, but it’s also giving scientists a wealth of information about methane and carbon dioxide emissions

Researchers created a monkey that combines cells from two different individuals; a lab technique gave it a strange green glow

Two competing farmers’ almanacs say this winter will be cold and snowy, but NOAA, the top U.S. weather agency, disagrees

Standard English names for North American birds will now focus on the animals rather than people

NASA’s Lucy mission flew past an asteroid nicknamed Dinky, only to discover an even smaller space rock orbiting it

NASA’s Lucy mission is starting its science studies way ahead of schedule

Tropical Storm Otis rapidly intensified into a Category 5 hurricane overnight in a region that has never seen landfall by a storm of such power before

The overall picture of Earth’s health is grim, although there are bright spots: solar and wind power are on the rise, and deforestation has slowed

Tiny mice found mummified at the summits of Andean volcanoes appear to be living in the harsh environment, which resembles Mars more than it does Earth

The sun’s magnetic poles are about to reverse as part of a regular 11-year sunspot activity cycle

NASA’s Psyche mission is on its way to a heavy-metal asteroid of the same name—a type of object that scientists have never seen up close before

New research suggests that solar storms interfere with the magnetic compass that birds use for long-distance travel

The CDC is emphasizing how the flu vaccine can turn the virus from “Wild to Mild”

If this new estimate holds up, scientists have yet to identify the vast majority of earthworks strewn across the Amazon

With three degrees Celsius of warming, U.S. deaths during extreme temperatures could reach 63,000 a year, researchers calculate

Human scientists—used to the benefits of a centralized, complex brain—have been underestimating what a simple nerve network can do

Jupiter’s mysterious moon Europa may hold carbon in the ocean lurking beneath its icy shell

If it had hit Earth, this coronal mass ejection could have caused continent-scale blackouts, scientists say

NASA has appointed a director of unidentified anomalous phenomena research to advance that area of scientific investigation