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Stories from Margherita Bassi

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

Researchers tracked children's reactions to particular food exposure when they were fetuses, newborns and then 3-year-olds.

Want to Avoid Having a Picky Eater? Start Exposing Your Kids to Veggies Super Early—in the Womb

In a new study, 3-year-olds who were repeatedly exposed to the taste of bitter kale as fetuses appeared to be less averse to the leafy greens’ scent than they were to a food smell they hadn’t experienced in utero

Researchers don't know what drives whale gaping in humpback whales, but the observations posted to social media can help them identify context clues.

Humpback Whales Sometimes Hold Their Mouths Open for No Clear Reason. Tourists Are Helping Scientists Understand the Rare Behavior

A trove of photos and videos gathered from social media has helped researchers propose a few possible reasons for the seldom documented action, called “gaping,” including communication, jaw stretching and play

Remoras might dive into manta rays' rear ends when they're scared.

This Fish Hitches Rides in Manta Rays’ ‘Buttholes,’ According to New Research

Scientists suspect that the behavior could harm the manta rays, suggesting a complex relationship between remoras and their hosts that can sometimes be parasitic

A shell that protected the Perseverance rover during its descent to Mars in a clean room at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

This Microscopic Fungus Survived NASA’s Sterilization Protocols—and Is Potentially Hardy Enough to Contaminate Mars

The microbe was gathered from the agency’s clean rooms, where experts build spacecraft in carefully controlled environments. The findings reveal gaps in the agency’s procedures to prevent durable hitchhikers

A crescent Earth floats beyond the moon in a gorgeous role reversal captured during the Artemis 2 mission. Photo ID ART002-E-21106

NASA Just Uploaded More Than 12,000 Stunning Photos From the Artemis 2 Mission. Here Are a Few of Our Favorites

Although the mission’s four astronauts sent a few photos to Earth while in space, most needed to be delivered via physical memory cards once they returned to the planet

Australia's Twelve Apostles were pushed out of the water by tectonic plate movement. 

It Took Millions of Years for Australia’s Famous Twelve Apostles Landmark to Rise Out of the Sea

The iconic tourist destination provides a beautiful view, but also represents a physical record of Earth’s climate history

Curiosity had a 28.6-pound rock dubbed "Atacama" stuck to its arm for a while.

NASA’s Curiosity Rover Had a Martian Rock Stuck on Its Arm for Days. Watch It Finally Shake the Stubborn Stone Off

While drilling has fractured rocks, this is the first time the instrument has ever accidentally pulled a whole chunk from the ground, according to the space agency

Kenya's Great Rift Valley

East Africa Might Break Off From the Continent Sooner Than Scientists Thought—and a New Ocean May Fill the Gap

A new study suggests that a rift in Kenya and Ethiopia has reached a critical stage in the split-up process, and that water may flood it in a few million years

Illustration of a time sequence as the celestial body moves in front of a distant star

This Tiny Celestial Body Past Pluto Shouldn’t Have an Atmosphere—but Astronomers Say They May Have Detected One

Worlds this small and distant are thought to be too cold and have too little surface gravity to hold onto gases. But the findings suggest that icy, rocky objects in the solar system’s outer reaches are more dynamic than we thought

The treatment involves wearing a headset for various at-home sessions.

FDA-Approved At-Home Brain Stimulation Device Aims to Treat Depression by Changing Patients’ Brain Excitability

The treatment consists of a Bluetooth headset that patients can connect to an app on their smartphones. It could mark a revolution in mental health medicine

The HPV vaccine defends patients against cervical cancer. 

Could Australia Be the First Country to Eliminate Cervical Cancer? It’s on Track, but HPV Vaccination and Screening Rates Are Falling

The country implemented a national vaccination program to prevent the disease in 2007. New data show that in 2021, no women under age 25 were diagnosed with cervical cancer, marking a major milestone

Pluto was considered the solar system's ninth planet for more than 70 years.

Could Pluto Once Again Be Considered a Planet? New Remarks From NASA’s Administrator Highlight an Enduring Debate Among Scientists

Two decades ago, the International Astronomical Union—which defines and names celestial bodies—redefined the criteria for being a planet, putting Pluto into the new category of dwarf planet

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