Stories by Meghan Bartels

Everything you need to know about hurricanes explained

From Miami to Maine, the East Coast is under moderate or high rip current risk advisories because of Hurricane Erin

The first detailed observation of the bathroom habits of Streaked Shearwaters at sea leave scientists with a surprising load of questions

In some of its most ambitious work yet, the James Webb Space Telescope looked to spot a planet in a potentially habitable orbit around Alpha Centauri A, the nearest sunlike star to our solar system

Fifty-eight people have been infected—and two have died—in a New York City outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease—a severe type of pneumonia caused by a bacterium commonly associated with air-conditioning systems and cooling towers

The Krasheninnikov volcano, located less than 150 miles away from the epicenter of Russia’s July 29 earthquake, began erupting on August 3

The magnitude 3.0 earthquake that shook the East Coast came nearly a year and a half after a magnitude 4.8 quake shocked New York City and its surroundings

Winds from the northwest are blowing cool, dry air—but also wildfire smoke—into the U.S. Midwest from Canada

As Earth spins through space, its rate of rotation changes. Here’s why

Records are starting to fall to the continuing heat dome that is covering much of the eastern U.S.

Tens of millions of people are already under heat alerts, and the worst is yet to come

High humidity and overnight low temperatures that are relatively hot will put tens of millions of people under heat alerts over the course of the coming week

Hundreds of staffers at the National Institutes of Health, Environmental Protection Agency, NASA and the National Science Foundation have signed public letters to leadership opposing the direction in which the agencies are headed

After photographs showed President Donald Trump with swollen ankles and bruised hands, the White House revealed he has chronic venous insufficiency—a blood vessel disease that affects circulation in the legs

Bird flu fears have focused on the poultry and dairy industries and human health. But wild animals are threatened, too—at scales no one fully understands

Bird flu was nearly everywhere in the U.S.—in chickens, cows, pet cats and even humans. Cases have gone down, but experts warn that it hasn’t disappeared

Evidence shows that Medicaid improves people’s health and is particularly vital for babies, older people in need of long-term care and people in rural communities

Astronomers have never had this much data available this quickly before

These graphics will guide you through science-based vaccine guidelines for children and adults

The bird flu was long known to poultry farmers. Here’s why the dairy industry was caught off guard by its jump to cattle.

Astronomy fans can zoom in practically forever into the stunning first images from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory

Data from beach cleanups show that banning or taxing single-use plastic bags makes a difference in ecosystems

Solar Orbiter isn’t the first spacecraft to study the sun’s poles—but it’s the first to send back photographs

In recent years COVID shots joined flu shots as an annual offering at most neighborhood pharmacies. But the current administration has thrown that into uncertainty