Margherita Bassi

Contributor

About

In addition to Popular Science, her bylines include Smithsonian Magazine, Gizmodo, Discover Magazine, BBC Travel, Live Science, Interesting Engineering, Atlas Obscura, and more.

More from Margherita Bassi

Endangered Species

German hairy snails are disappearing from London’s River Thames

By Margherita Bassi

a chimpanzee in green grass

Chimpanzees shock biologists with rational thinking

By Margherita Bassi

a family talking around the dinner tableSkynesher via Getty Images

Science confirms hand gestures make you seem more persuasive

By Margherita Bassi

A scan of an Arabic manuscript of the dīwān of Ibn Sanā' al-Mulk dating back to 1181-1182 (left). The Annual perseid meteor seen in the sky on August 14, 2023. The meteors have a radiant bordering on Cassiopeia and Camelopardalis (right).

Medieval Arabic texts help researchers track down explosive star deaths

By Margherita Bassi

ancient reindeer antlers on rocks

Hiker stumbles on massive medieval reindeer traps in Norway

By Margherita Bassi

a small brown and white owl on a brown towel

Alaska’s smallest owl gets the royal treatment after life-threatening injury

By Margherita Bassi

a teenage boy holds a robotic hand made out of legosUniversity of Bristol/Jared Lepora

Teen designs and builds a robotic hand with only LEGOs

By Margherita Bassi

An octopus camouflages itself with the seafloor.

What octopus camouflage has to do with sunscreen

By Margherita Bassi

AI created video of bunnies on a trampoline

AI videos of animals could be dangerous. Here’s how to spot them.

By Margherita Bassi

several boys sit around a tribal drum

Digital linguists work to save the Arapaho language

By Margherita Bassi

a stone circle in a field

‘Extremely rare’ Roman tomb discovered in Germany

By Margherita Bassi

a plump brown spider

Beware, beachgoers: New spider discovered in California’s sand dunes

By Margherita Bassi

a dolphin blowing bubbles under water

Dolphins may be getting an Alzheimer’s-like disease due to this neurotoxin

By Margherita Bassi

Northern right whale.Eubalaena glacialis.Courting group. Several males approach a female (on left). Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick, Canada

Endangered North Atlantic right whales are making a slow comeback

By Margherita Bassi

Archaeologists discover massive ancient Egyptian fortress

By Margherita Bassi

A ringworm mosquito (Culiseta annulata) is seen on a control monitor connected to a microscope in the laboratory for mosquito monitoring at the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI) on the island of Riems in Germany.

Iceland was the only country in the world without mosquitos—now they’ve found three

By Margherita Bassi

A 3D model of the ancient Roman water basin uncovered about 11 miles east of Rome.

Forgotten rival of Ancient Rome featured an impressive water basin

By Margherita Bassi

several large black antsDeposit Photos

Ants ‘social distance’ during a pandemic

By Margherita Bassi

a lemur in a tree

Lemurs keep evolving new species, even after 50 million years

By Margherita Bassi

peeled and open kiwis. they have green fruit with brown skins

Constipated? Try kiwis.

By Margherita Bassi

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