Stories by Shannon Hall

Researchers trapped in the central Arctic Ocean for a year prepare to unlock secrets of the region’s changing climate

Scientists setting sail to the North Pole will become stranded in slowly migrating sea ice to investigate climate change

Thirty years after a probe visited Neptune, many scientists say now is the time to finally return to that world and Uranus

Moving away from meat would reduce fertilizer use, cropland and carbon dioxide emissions. Yet it alone will not save the planet

Much like Earth’s seas, the subsurface ocean of this icy moon of Jupiter contains sodium chloride, the main ingredient of table salt

Once a water-rich Eden, the hellish planet could reveal how to find habitable worlds around distant stars

A new finding points to possible life in other extreme environments, including on ancient Mars

Nearly two million tiny tremors could help explain the inner workings of key faults

A rare phenomenon seen in just a handful of materials at forbidding temperatures has been detected within “warm” graphite—a finding that could aid future microelectronics

A newly discovered class of odd stars appears to have persevered through supernova explosions—providing a rare glimpse into these astrophysical catastrophes

New observations of a superluminous supernova could finally solve the mystery behind these and other bewildering cosmic events

Silica, a common ingredient in sand, concrete and glass, may have its origins in supernovae

New observations of a stellar explosion have revealed a surprise that could point to the trigger behind these violent, yet mysterious, eruptions

A supervolcano may be brewing underneath Chile, with a cold interior that is upending ideas about triggers of huge eruptions

A new finding is shedding light on how our galaxy—and those throughout the universe—evolve

Half-billion-year-old fossils reveal new details about one of the most mysterious chapters in Earth’s history

Scientists claim to have achieved superconductivity at room temperature, but other physicists say the data look doctored

New results suggest a massive star once swung dangerously close to our sun—helping to shape the mysterious features we see today

The Milky Way is strewn with sparkling, spinning microscopic diamonds, which might explain an unusual microwave glow

Ellen Stofan, head of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, told us about the power of museums to attract young scientists and combat attacks on science

Stars traveling more than 1,200 kilometers per second hint at a new mechanism behind cosmos-spanning stellar explosions

The stark climatic border in the U.S. separating the sultry east from the dry west is rapidly shifting—a change that could have a significant future impact

The U.S. Northeast may be more geologically active than was previously thought, according to a seismic sensor network.

It looks like the galaxy is overflowing with worlds soaked in water, but scientists are divided on whether life there would succeed or fail