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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

Stories from Margherita Bassi

Illustration of a black hole star, an enormous black hole surrounded by dense hydrogen gas

Astronomers Peered at the Early Universe and May Have Discovered a New Kind of Celestial Object: Black Hole Stars

Since the James Webb Space Telescope started collecting data in 2022, it has found puzzling objects dubbed little red dots. A new study suggests they might be giant black holes with some characteristics of stars

Streaks of light from Venus and satellites

An Aerospace Startup Just Got Approval to Test Beaming Sunlight to Earth. Here’s Why Experts Are Worried—and Petitioning

By 2035, Reflect Orbital aims to launch up to 50,000 satellites equipped with mirrors to provide sunlight to Earth-based solar panels. Critics are concerned about impacts on wildlife, astronomy research and human health

An artistic conception of one of the Voyagers speeding through space

NASA Completes Daring ‘Big Bang’ Fix on the Voyager 2 Probe, Allowing It to Keep Studying Interstellar Space

Scientists swapped three of the probe’s heating devices for ones that use less energy, and they might do the same with Voyager 1. Both spacecraft launched almost 50 years ago

A saber-toothed cat skull found at the La Brea Tar Pits

Spinal Deformities in Saber-Toothed Cat Fossils Reveal How the Now-Extinct Felines May Have Spent Their Final Days

Researchers studied saber-toothed cat vertebrae found in the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles. They identified a surprisingly high number of deformations, including signs of spinal nerve tumors, hinting at a dwindling population suffering the consequences of inbreeding

The Falcon 9 rocket's upper stage left its mark on the moon's surface. 

A SpaceX Rocket Part Just Slammed Into the Moon, Creating a Dust Plume and Crater. Here’s What Some Scientific Instruments Saw

The Korea Aerospace Research Institute captured before-and-after images of the impact site, and a telescope in Chile detected signs of the plume. However, no one was able to watch the collision live

Previous research hinted at ghost ancestry in our DNA, but the new work helps pinpoint the timeline of when the ancient relatives' genetic material entered our genomes.

Traces of Two Extinct ‘Ghost’ Ancestors Were Found Hiding in Modern Human DNA, Hinting at Our Extremely Complex Family Tree

Researchers used a new method to investigate past interbreeding with Homo sapiens that doesn’t require ancient DNA. The technique identified areas of living humans’ genomes that came from unknown hominins, including one from a 1.8-million-year-old lineage

Researchers involved in the study collect samples at Blood Falls.

Why Does Antarctica’s Blood Falls Spew Ruby Red Water? Microbes Offer New Clues About the Geologic Feature’s Ancient Origins

The falls contain saltwater rich with iron, which oxidizes and turns red when exposed to air. A new study provides further evidence that the brine probably comes from ocean water trapped when flood waters retreated millions of years ago

Sperm whales seem to communicate differently in the presence of underwater shipping sounds.

Sperm Whales Seem to Change Their Calls When Ships Are Near, Highlighting the Implications of Underwater Noise Pollution

Several of the huge cetaceans living in the eastern Caribbean Sea shortened the intervals between their clicks and used one click pattern more than another when vessels were around, according to a new study

A 2022 image of Neptune, captured by the James Webb Space Telescope's Near-Infrared Camera

Neptune May Have Once Witnessed a Lunar Massacre That Turned Its Original Moons ‘Inside Out’

A new study identifies an unexpected mineral in two of the planet’s inner moons, pointing to a destructive past in which a large object got pulled into the system and obliterated the former, larger satellites

An artistic rendering of a tidal disruption event, when a black hole rips apart and devours a star that got too close. These events help scientists find black holes, which don't emit light.

In a First, Astronomers May Have Spotted a Supermassive Black Hole That Wandered to the Edge of Its Galaxy

These giant celestial objects have mostly been identified at the centers of galaxies, where they’re known to reside. But a recently discovered one—found because of the light emitted while it snacked on a star—appears to be more than 30,000 light-years from its host galaxy’s heart

The recently discovered ancient snake species probably burrowed underground, while another of a similar age likely lived on the surface.

How Did Some Reptiles Lose Their Limbs to Become Snakes? An 80-Million-Year-Old Fossil Helps Uncover the Winding Evolutionary History

Researchers have long suspected that the first of these slithering creatures lived in water, on land or underground. New research hints that more than one environment might be correct

A meteor photographed on August 3, 2025. 

Keep an Eye Out for Two Stellar Meteor Showers Peaking This Week, the Southern Delta Aquariids and the Alpha Capricornids

A nearly full moon may obscure the fireballs falling from the remains of two comets that passed through Earth’s orbit

Getting the device to transition between air and water seamlessly was one of the most challenging aspects of the work.

This Robot Can Flap Its Wings to Both Fly and Swim. It Might One Day Help Scientists Study Diving Birds and Survey Ocean Habitats

The bioinspired device, which weighs roughly half a pound and measures around three feet wide, was also modeled after aquatic birds like puffins, gulls and loons

The upper stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is estimated to hit the moon on August 5.

A SpaceX Rocket Part Is Expected to Smack Into the Moon in August, Highlighting the Growing Problem of Space Junk

The unintended event also creates an opportunity for scientists and skywatchers to witness lunar impact dynamics in real time, although the debris will hit a sunlit portion of the moon from the perspective of Earth, making it hard to see

Handedness refers to both hand preference and hand dominance. 

People Aren’t Born as Righties or Lefties—They Develop Hand Dominance With Practice, a New Study Suggests

Humans do have a biological preference for using one side of their body, which might prime them for using limbs on that side for complex motor tasks like writing—and honing those skills over time

An artistic rendering of LHS 1140 b and its host star, with another smaller exoplanet orbiting nearby.

Could Life Exist on This Nearby World? In a First, Astronomers Find an Atmosphere on an Earth-Like Exoplanet in the Habitable Zone

While the celestial body seems to host three features that could make a livable environment—an atmosphere, a rocky composition and a temperature that could allow liquid water to sit on the surface—researchers have not currently detected any residents

An amateur astronomer thought he found an impact crater on Google Maps. Then, an expedition to the site confirmed that he was right.

An Amateur Astronomer Using Google Maps Spotted a Strange Indentation. It Turned Out to Be a Meteorite Crater From 390 Million Years Ago

Scientists confirmed the astronomer’s suspicions with an expedition to the site in Quebec. The discovery offers a rare case of a reported new crater turning out to be real

Cats lick each other in different contexts, and they're not all friendly.

When a Cat Licks Another Cat, It’s Not Always a Friendly Gesture. New Study Reveals They May Just Want Their Own Space

Classic feline behavior could be a passive-aggressive maneuver to get what they want

Two new studies suggest that smartphones are partially to blame for declining birth rates.

Smartphones Might Be Playing a Role in the United States’ Declining Birth Rate, New Research Suggests

Some economists suspect that the technology’s widespread adoption has reduced in-person interactions and increased access to pornography and information on birth control, leading to less unprotected sex

Researchers observed seafloor movement at the Southeast Indian Ridge, denoted by the yellow line.

In a First, Scientists Witness the Seafloor Spread in Real Time, Giving Them a Rare Glimpse at a Mysterious Geologic Process

Across a matter of days in 2024, the seafloor in part of the Indian Ocean dropped by about 13 feet, and roughly 5.7 billion cubic feet of molten rock rose to the crust’s surface, according to a new study

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