Meghan Rosen headhsot

Meghan Rosen

Staff Writer, Biological Sciences

Meghan Rosen is a staff writer who reports on the life sciences for Science News. She earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology with an emphasis in biotechnology from the University of California, Davis, and later graduated from the science communication program at UC Santa Cruz. Prior to joining Science News in 2022, she was a media relations manager at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Her work has appeared in Wired, Science, and The Washington Post, among other outlets. Once for McSweeney’s, she wrote about her kids’ habit of handing her trash, a story that still makes her (and them) laugh.

All Stories by Meghan Rosen

  1. Paleontology

    Pinhead-sized sea creature was a bag with a mouth

    Dozens of tiny fossils discovered in 540-million-year-old limestone represent the earliest known deuterostomes, a diverse group of animals that includes humans and sea cucumbers.

  2. Tech

    Bat robot takes wing

    Unlike other aerial robots that use whirling rotor blades to fly, the Bat Bot relies on soft, silicone-based wings to glide, swoop and turn.

  3. Chemistry

    LSD’s grip on brain protein could explain drug’s long-lasting effects

    The newly discovered structure of a human serotonin receptor linked to LSD could reveal why the drug’s hallucinogenic effects last so long.

  4. Life

    Map of Zika virus reveals how it shifts as it matures

    A cryo-electron microscopy map of immature Zika virus offers a never-before-seen glimpse of remodeling of the virus’s protein and RNA core.

  5. Paleontology

    With dinosaurs out of the way, mammals had a chance to thrive

    The animals that lived through the great extinction event had a range of survival strategies to get them through.

  6. Paleontology

    Ancient otter of unusual size unearthed in China

    Fossils unearthed in China reveal a newly discovered, now-extinct species of otter that lived some 6.2 million years ago.

  7. Paleontology

    Ancient giant otter unearthed in China

    Fossils unearthed in China reveal a newly discovered, now-extinct species of otter that lived some 6.2 million years ago.

  8. Tech

    Heart-hugging robot does the twist (and squeeze)

    A robotic sleeve that slips around the heart mimics the heart’s natural movement, squeezing and twisting to pump blood in pigs. If it works in humans, it could buy time for heart failure patients awaiting a transplant.

  9. Health & Medicine

    Though complex, new peanut allergy guidelines are based on science

    Unlike some past recommendations, new guidelines state that introducing babies to peanut-containing foods early is generally OK, with certain caveats.

  10. Chemistry

    New molecular knot is most complex yet

    The knot is woven from 192 atoms of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen and forms a triple braid with eight crossing points.

  11. Paleontology

    Tomatillo fossil is oldest nightshade plant

    Two 52-million-year-old tomatillo fossils in Patagonia push the origin of nightshade plants back millions of years, to the time when dinosaurs roamed.

  12. Health & Medicine

    Ebola vaccine proves effective

    The Ebola vaccine rVSV-ZEBOV proved effective at stopping the spread of the virus in a clinical trial in West Africa.