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Meghan Bartels

@meghanbartels.bsky.social

Reporter at @sciam.bsky.social (posts are my fault). Book person, cat person, Georgetown alumna, etc. In NYC. Signal: mbartels.07. she/her http://meghanbartels.github.io/portfolio/

8,794 Followers  |  1,012 Following  |  1,157 Posts  |  Joined: 29.05.2023
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Posts by Meghan Bartels (@meghanbartels.bsky.social)

🧡

05.03.2026 13:21 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

He knows he’s endangered and he’s doing something about it!!

05.03.2026 01:34 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I love them already!!

04.03.2026 22:32 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I promise I say it with the greatest of affection and respect!!

04.03.2026 21:22 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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A new Love Island? Berry bloom leads to baby boom for New Zealand’s goofiest parrot A massive bloom of rimu berries fueled a mating surge among the world’s heaviest (and strangest) parrots

Trust me, you don't want to miss the incredible photos of these goobers: πŸ§ͺ πŸͺΆ www.scientificamerican.com/article/kaka...

04.03.2026 19:30 β€” πŸ‘ 131    πŸ” 38    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 8

I can only imagine!!! This whole thing is delightful, congratulations/thank you!

04.03.2026 15:40 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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This may be the oldest β€˜butthole’ imprint on Earth Fossils show exceptionally rare evidence of a cloacal ventβ€”the slit that most vertebrates use to excrete, have sex and lay eggβ€”which could shed light on the evolution of the orifice

Please enjoy the single most amazing quote from a paleontologist I have ever read: β€œThe animal literally cemented itselfβ€”and its nether regionsβ€”into eternal history like the movie stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.” πŸ§ͺ www.scientificamerican.com/article/see-...

04.03.2026 14:24 β€” πŸ‘ 434    πŸ” 142    πŸ’¬ 16    πŸ“Œ 25
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In war-torn Ukraine, astronomers are still fighting for their future Russia’s war has left many of Ukraine’s world-class observatories in ruinsβ€”but the besieged nation’s astronomers already have plans to rebuild and recover

Russia’s war has left many of Ukraine’s world-class observatories in ruinsβ€”but the besieged nation’s astronomers already have plans to rebuild and recover

03.03.2026 15:56 β€” πŸ‘ 51    πŸ” 11    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1

Thank you!

01.03.2026 13:11 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

"The Islamists oppose women getting an education," I mutter, as I aim my missile at the girls school

28.02.2026 18:53 β€” πŸ‘ 23550    πŸ” 5960    πŸ’¬ 142    πŸ“Œ 66

A broader takeaway I think is nobody should be allowed to be so rich that being told no, or being held accountable, represents such a moral injury to that person's psyche that they feel like their only recourse is to burn the world down.

28.02.2026 02:52 β€” πŸ‘ 2237    πŸ” 525    πŸ’¬ 11    πŸ“Œ 10
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On moonshots and Minneapolis Space exploration can bring people together and reflect deep societal divisions.

I've been really struggling to write about space while living through the ICE occupation in Minneapolis this winter. I was shocked to find myself thinking, "Who cares about sending people to the moon?"

That feeling is more historically resonant than I thought. πŸ§ͺπŸ”­
www.sciencenews.org/article/moon...

27.02.2026 19:20 β€” πŸ‘ 88    πŸ” 31    πŸ’¬ 6    πŸ“Œ 5

imo the threat posed by CBS News and CNN getting absorbed by pro-regime billionaires isn't that they're going to produce right-wing slop that convinces people to be right-wing, it's the dismantling of newsrooms capable of doing investigative reporting on the administration. Fewer eyes on the street.

27.02.2026 00:40 β€” πŸ‘ 7215    πŸ” 1747    πŸ’¬ 144    πŸ“Œ 102

Please also tell your oldest that we talk to the rovers at least twice a day so they don’t get scared. Recently, we gave one of them its own map, so it will never be lost. We try to be the best parents to them that we can.

26.02.2026 21:46 β€” πŸ‘ 71    πŸ” 9    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 2
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Netflix Backs Out of Bid for Warner Bros., Paving Way for an Ellison Takeover

The richest man owns X.

The second and third richest men control Google.

The fourth richest man owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

The fifth richest man owns The Washington Post.

And now the sixth richest could soon take over both Paramount and Warner Bros.

See the problem here?

26.02.2026 23:40 β€” πŸ‘ 38933    πŸ” 16522    πŸ’¬ 1827    πŸ“Œ 1082

Fun vocab: sweet gum balls are more formally called syncarps!

27.02.2026 01:34 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

I spent an hour and a half this evening listening to a nice man talk about tree identification and it was the most soothing thing I can remember offhand from within <waves hands >, 10/10 highly recommend

27.02.2026 01:33 β€” πŸ‘ 26    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

πŸ§ͺ 🌎

26.02.2026 18:25 β€” πŸ‘ 9    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Rubin Observatory has started paging astronomers 800,000 times a night Asteroids, exploding stars, and feasting black holes swarm in the first-ever batch of nightly alerts from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile

Now on @sciam.bsky.social: Wake up, astronomersβ€”the sky is calling.

@vrubinobs.bsky.social has unleashed its first rapid-fire alerts of new celestial activity. 800k of 'emβ€”a nightly number that will soon rise to a million+!

By @meghanbartels.bsky.social

www.scientificamerican.com/article/rubi...

26.02.2026 13:05 β€” πŸ‘ 55    πŸ” 19    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

I have had the Darth Vader theme song stuck in my head all day from hearing it played in sneaker squeaks, cannot recommend this highly enough

26.02.2026 01:03 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Listen I don't like to tell you what to do but you need to watch this masterpiece.

25.02.2026 22:14 β€” πŸ‘ 17    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 1
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The surprising new physics of squeaky basketball shoes A new study explains why basketball shoes make a high-pitched squeaking noise when they rub against the hardwood. The ridges on the sole hold the key

My basketball era predates Bluesky but this is a prime example of a question that NEEDED answering and I am glad physics has risen to the challenge: πŸ§ͺ

25.02.2026 16:42 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Picture of myspace Tom with the writing it didn’t have to be this way over it

Picture of myspace Tom with the writing it didn’t have to be this way over it

in a world of bad outcomes we collectively chose and funded some of the worst

23.02.2026 22:15 β€” πŸ‘ 194    πŸ” 34    πŸ’¬ 6    πŸ“Œ 4

For real. Some of us chose to become writers because we are πŸ‘ ugly and πŸ‘ awkward and πŸ‘ have πŸ‘ bad πŸ‘ voices! (Those are my reasons, tbh.) I'm not liking the necessity of video these days.

23.02.2026 20:18 β€” πŸ‘ 422    πŸ” 28    πŸ’¬ 27    πŸ“Œ 4

πŸ§ͺ πŸ¦‘

20.02.2026 14:34 β€” πŸ‘ 18    πŸ” 7    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1

In addition to being absolutely brilliant, amazing & charming in her own right, we all know she was raised by a single dad w/4 siblings and that he came to the US bc of persecution bc of his participation in the β€˜89 Tiananmen democracy uprising, right?

20.02.2026 13:02 β€” πŸ‘ 4056    πŸ” 780    πŸ’¬ 50    πŸ“Œ 20

πŸ§ͺ πŸ›Ÿ

19.02.2026 22:30 β€” πŸ‘ 14    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Substack announces a partnership with Polymarket. β€œJournalism is better when it’s backed by live markets.”

19.02.2026 04:34 β€” πŸ‘ 286    πŸ” 56    πŸ’¬ 65    πŸ“Œ 145
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Digital Trial Offer Get digital access to Scientific American for 90 days for just $1!

Hi! I know pay walls can be frustrating, but they're how companies pay journalists like me (and how we pay our rent). We have a great $1-for-90-days trial if you'd like to check us out: www.scientificamerican.com/getsciam/90-...

18.02.2026 15:59 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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This fossilized vomit is older than the dinosaurs Vomit is grossβ€”but 290-million-year-old vomit is a scientific marvel

Please come on this journey with me, the journey of the 290-million-year-old barf, I promise we'll have fun: πŸ§ͺ www.scientificamerican.com/article/this...

18.02.2026 14:16 β€” πŸ‘ 87    πŸ” 23    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 4