Space & Physics
To Play or Not to Play the Exoplanet Name Game?
Campaigns to name exoplanets seem like Shakespearean farce
Stories by Lee Billings
Astronomers Glimpse a Young Jupiter, 51 Eridani b
The newfound planet is 96 light years away, but it's the closest twin to Jupiter astronomers have ever directly seen
War in Space May Be Closer Than Ever
China, Russia and the U.S. are developing and testing controversial new capabilities to wage war in space despite their denial of such work
Europa's "Brown Gunk" Suggests a Briny Sea
The mysterious gunk on Jupiter’s moon may be sea salt
Space & Physics
Search for Alien Life Ignites Battle over Giant Telescope
Private funding for the Arecibo Observatory—the largest single-dish radio telescope in the world—may be a poison pill
Space & Physics
Kepler Mission Discovers a Near-Twin of Earth Orbiting Sunlike Star
The planet, Kepler 452 b, is likely rocky and orbits in its star’s habitable zone where liquid water can exist
Space & Physics
Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Nets Historic Cash Infusion
With a $100-million donation, billionaire Yuri Milner plans to revolutionize the astronomical quest to find alien life
Space & Physics
Inside the Race to Glimpse Alien Jupiters
Two rival teams of astronomers are racing to capture unprecedented images of giant planets around other stars. What they find could change the future of planet hunting
Stephen Hawking and Yuri Milner Announce $100M Initiative to Seek ET
Milner, a tech start-up entrepreneur and philanthropist, is partnering with scientists around the world to search for life among the stars
Space & Physics
At Pluto, the End of a Beginning
Early this morning, if all has gone well, the first golden age of interplanetary exploration will have come to a close
Book Review: Aurora
Books and recommendations from Scientific American
Hubble's Proposed Supersize Successor Generates Controversy
As the legendary space telescope enters its twilight years, astronomers are searching for a replacement, but no one agrees about what it should accomplish
Space & Physics
Taking the Weight of an Alien World
Though hobbled by age, NASA’s Kepler planet-hunting telescope is proving to be an almost inexhaustible engine of discovery. The observatory found thousands of new worlds before an equipment malfunction in 2013 slowed its planetary torrent to a trickle, but clever researchers have managed to squeeze remarkable new findings out of its vast trove of archival data...
Making Space for Everyone: A Q&A with BoldlyGo's Jon Morse
NASA’s former director of astrophysics plans to revolutionize space science with agile, privately funded missions
NASA Tests Its Flying-Saucer Lander for Mars
The lander, a six-meter Kevlar-inflatable disk, could carry heavier loads to the Red Planet
Frenzy-Feeding Black Hole Makes Galaxy Most Luminous
A galaxy 12.5 billion light-years away gives off the light of 300 trillion suns, because its feeding black hole produces enough heat to set the whole galaxy's dust glowing. Lee Billings reports ...
Space & Physics
Launch of First Private Solar Sail–Powered Spacecraft Set for Wednesday [Video]
With its LightSail project, the Planetary Society aims to take the next step in its decades-long quest to transform spaceflight
Scientific American Presents: Neil deGrasse Tyson-on StarTalk [Video]
Neil deGrasse Tyson is host of StarTalk, which is both a top-rated podcast and a television series on National Geographic Channel. Click here for full transcript
Dawn Spacecraft Images Reveal "Ice Rinks" on Ceres
Bright spots in the latest pictures from NASA’s mission to the dwarf planet may be water ice, researchers say
Book Review: How to Clone a Mammoth
Books and recommendations from Scientific American
