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Margherita Bassi

Daily Correspondent

Margherita Bassi

Margherita Bassi is a multilingual freelance journalist specializing in science reporting and feature writing, with particular expertise in archaeology. Through her work, she seeks to inspire a sense of wonder at every scale, from molecular dynamics to the theories on the origins of the universe.

Highlights

  • Work has appeared in BBC Travel, Discover magazine, Live Science, Atlas Obscura, Interesting Engineering, The Brussels Times, Città Nuova and more

Education

Bachelor’s degree in English, with a concentration in creative writing and minors in ancient civilizations and French, from Boston College

Master’s degree in international new media journalism from L’École du Journalisme de Nice

About two-thirds of patients ages 40 and older with a common form of breast cancer might be able to forego chemotherapy—usually delivered intravenously—as part of their treatment plans.

This ‘Practice-Changing’ Gene Test Could Tell Doctors Which Patients With Breast Cancer Can Skip Chemo, Clinical Trial Suggests

Chemotherapy comes with debilitating side effects, including brain fog, nausea and nerve damage. New research suggests that many people with a common type of breast cancer need just radiation and hormone therapy to prevent recurrence

Venus flytraps and other carnivorous plants have long intrigued scientists, including English naturalist Charles Darwin.

Venus Flytraps Snap Their Traps Shut in Less Than a Second. Scientists Say They’ve Discovered How the Predatory Plants Are So Fast

The walls of cells in the leaves’ outer layer suddenly soften, allowing the structures to hinge into a closed position, according to a new study

How teenage participants moved on a schoolground in Spain. 

Researchers Accidentally Discover That Humans Prefer to Turn Counterclockwise. But They Still Have No Idea Why

The effect transcends factors like culture, gender and handedness, causing the scientists, who were initially studying social distancing behavior, to scratch their heads

A team of researchers put out information about a fake disease, and A.I.-powered chatbots fell for it.

Scientists Invented a Disease to Test Whether A.I. Knew It Was Fake. Then, Chatbots Started Saying It Was Real

The eye condition bixonimania doesn’t exist, but neither bots nor some researchers caught that the content was fabricated—despite obvious clues

Researchers recovered environmental DNA from ancient ground squirrel poop.

Researchers Investigated Ancient Squirrel Poop Frozen in Permafrost and Found Enlightening Details About the Animal’s Ecosystem

Up to 700,000 years ago, ground squirrels in modern-day Canada collected tons of helpful genetic information on their bygone environment through their diet

In many animal species, males display showier features than females. Among humans, however, women are popularly described as the "fairer sex."

People Across Cultures Find Women’s Faces to Be More Attractive Than Men’s, a New Study Suggests

In many species of wild animals, males have flashier features than females to help them attract mates. But scientists have long noticed that humans seem to be an exception, with women often being considered the “fairer sex”

An artistic rendering of Labrujasuchus expectatus

Meet the ‘Witch Croc,’ a Strange Ancient Crocodile Relative With Two Legs and No Teeth That Roamed New Mexico During the Triassic

The reptile, a dinosaur look-alike called a shuvosaur, represents a long-awaited discovery that helps paleontologists fill a gap in the fossil record

Queen bee larvae develop in unique peanut-shaped cells.

What Determines Royalty Among Honeybees? Not Just a Distinct Diet—Queens Also Need Specially Built Regal Chambers, a Study Suggests

The peanut-shaped compartments where future queens grow up seem to play an important role in development. The wax has chemical and physical differences from that in other parts of the hive

This satellite image from January 16, 2022, reveals formaldehyde in blue. The volcanic plume from the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano traveled over the South Pacific.

Tonga’s Enormous Volcanic Eruption Cleaned Up Part of Its Own Methane Emissions in 2022, Hinting at a Way to Fight Climate Change

Researchers analyzed satellite imagery of the volcanic plume and found evidence that the potent greenhouse gas had broken down. The work could inform artificial interventions aiming to mitigate global warming, scientists say

A microscope image of tissue taken from a sea cucumber. The green coloring indicates cellular activity.

Scientists Say They’ve Discovered ‘Little Lab Zombies’—Seemingly Immortal Tissue Taken From Sea Cucumbers

Chunks removed from the marine creatures more than three years ago haven’t degraded and show signs of biological activity, raising questions about what it means to be alive

People across New England and eastern Canada witnessed an ultrabright meteor explode over the weekend.

A Bright Meteor Lit Up the New England Sky Before Exploding With a Loud Boom—and Its Pieces May Have Landed in Cape Cod Bay

People reported seeing the glowing space rock or hearing or feeling its breakup from Delaware to Montreal. Experts estimate that it was about three feet wide and traveling at 75,000 miles per hour when it broke apart

A mosquito drinking blood from a bag, accessible through mesh

Could Bug Spray Attract Mosquitoes? Lab Insects Learned That the Smell of DEET Would Lead Them to a Tasty Treat

Researchers don’t know how the findings might overlap with real-world settings. But the discovery suggests that we’re most vulnerable when our insect repellent is wearing off, meaning we should reapply it regularly

A blue moon in 2015

A Smaller Than Usual Blue Moon Will End the Month With a Lunar Spectacle. Here’s What to Know About the Full Micromoon

The blue moon will be the second of two full moons in the same month, a coincidence that only takes place about every two and a half years. It will also appear to be slightly smaller and dimmer than the average full moon

From left: replicas of the Blue Origin lander, Astrolab rover, Lunar Outpost rover and the Firely orbiter. 

NASA Unveils New Details About the Future Moon Base and the Missions Laying the Groundwork to Build It

The first three missions are targeted to launch this year. They’ll involve lunar landers developed by several aerospace companies, including Blue Origin, and deliver scientific instruments and a rover

Western Australia’s Ningaloo coast

Scientists Detect an Elusive Giant Squid and Many Other Surprising Marine Animals Near Western Australia Thanks to DNA in the Water

Mucus, feces, skin and other shed tissue allowed researchers to investigate which creatures have been swimming in two deep-sea canyons without having to observe or catch them

An artistic rendering of Tylosaurus rex

Paleontologists Discover an Ancient Marine Reptile They’ve Dubbed the T. Rex of the Sea, Crowning Another King of the Cretaceous

Scientists figured out that the predators were lumped in with a previously named mosasaur species. The new one, called Tylosaurus rex, could grow to 43 feet long, about the length of a school bus

Neptune, which appears blue because of methane in its atmosphere, has a strange set of moons.

Neptune’s Moon Nereid Might Be the Sole Intact Survivor of an Ancient Lunar Collision

A study suggests that the ice giant’s largest moon, Triton, made a dramatic entrance to the Neptunian system long ago, kicking Nereid outward and destroying the planet’s other original lunar companions

Researchers collected groundwater in boreholes up to 1.8 miles underground. The water contains dissolved natural hydrogen.

This Canadian Mine Might Release Enough Natural Hydrogen Each Year to Power 400 Homes, Hinting at an Untapped Source of Clean Energy

Many of the country’s metal mines are embedded in an ancient rock formation that probably also houses a lot of the resource, referred to as “white hydrogen”

The researchers say this is one of the first studies looking at the effects of cold exposure over a prolonged period of time in people who are overweight or have obesity.

Regularly Wearing a Cooling Vest Might Help You Lose Body Fat, According to a New Study

Participants who were overweight or living with obesity wore the accessories for two hours every morning for six weeks and lost an average of two pounds. The researchers suspect showering or swimming in frigid water could have similar effects

"Night at the Remarkables" 

These Ten Breathtaking Images From the 2026 Milky Way Photographer of the Year Contest Capture the Beauty of Our Galaxy

The gorgeous astrophotographs highlight the dazzling night sky and remind viewers what we risk losing to light pollution

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