Meghan Rosen

Staff Writer, Biological Sciences, Science News

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. 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. Genetics

    For some kids, their rock-star hair comes naturally

    A variant of a gene involved in hair-shaft formation was linked to most of the uncombable-hair-syndrome cases analyzed in a recent study.

  2. Chemistry

    Lego-like way to snap molecules together wins 2022 chemistry Nobel

    This so-called ‘click chemistry’ allows scientists to build complex molecules in the lab and in living cells.

  3. Animals

    The top side of an elephant’s trunk is surprisingly stretchy

    Research on elephant trunks could inspire new artificial skins for soft robots.

  4. Plants

    This pitcher plant lures insects into underground deathtraps

    Scientists didn’t expect the carnivorous, eggplant-shaped pitchers to be sturdy enough to grow embedded in the soil.

  5. Animals

    Why these jumping toadlets get confused mid-flight

    The tiny pumpkin toadlet tumbles when it jumps. Its ear canals may be too tiny to help the animal track its motion through the air.

  6. Fossils

    Fossils offer new candidate for earliest life

    Rock unearthed in Canada appears to hold fossils from seafloor microbes that would have lived around 4 billion years ago, when Earth was very young.

  7. Tech

    Speedy, springy robot ‘Salto’ catches some serious air

    A lightweight robot nicknamed “Salto” can bound from floor to wall and back. Such fast and agile bots may someday aid in search-and-rescue operations.

  8. Fossils

    Dinosaur tail preserved in amber — feathers and all

    Scientists have found the tail of a dinosaur trapped in amber. It includes both feathers and identifiable bits of bone.

  9. Fossils

    Speckled dino spurs debate about ancient animals’ colors

    Structures found in fossil dinosaur skin may give clues to the creatures’ colors and how they lived. But not all scientists agree on how to interpret what they see.

  10. Fossils

    Dino brain found ‘pickled’ in boggy swamp

    Scientists claim to have identified the first fossil brain tissue from a dinosaur.

  11. Health & Medicine

    Zika birth defects: Concerns spread from head to toe

    Zika infections may trigger problems well beyond babies born with small heads and brains. Scientists have begun linking a range of head-to-toe health ails to the virus.

  12. Life

    Nobel awarded for unveiling how cells recycle their trash

    Cell biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi has won the 2016 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine for discovering how cells take care of housekeeping.