Space & PhysicsMay 27, 2016
For Asteroid-Hunting Astronomers, Nathan Myhrvold Says the Sky Is Falling
The wealthy technologist claims some of the world’s top experts on Earth-threatening asteroids are guilty of bad science
Stories by Lee Billings
Lee Billings is a science journalist specializing in astronomy, physics, planetary science, and spaceflight and is senior desk editor for physical science at Scientific American. He is author of a critically acclaimed book, Five Billion Years of Solitude: The Search for Life Among the Stars, which in 2014 won a Science Communication Award from the American Institute of Physics. In addition to his work for Scientific American, Billings’s writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Boston Globe, Wired, New Scientist, Popular Science and many other publications. Billings joined Scientific American in 2014 and previously worked as a staff editor at SEED magazine. He holds a B.A. in journalism from the University of Minnesota.
Space & PhysicsMay 20, 2016
Giant Tsunami Remnants Spotted on Mars
Evidence indicates that waves as tall as skyscrapers and thousands of kilometers wide once washed over the Red Planet.
Space & PhysicsMay 11, 2016
Astronomers Find More Than 1,000 New Planets
The Kepler mission’s announcement of 1,284 worlds previews the overwhelming number of planetary discoveries to come
Space & PhysicsMay 2, 2016
How NASA's Next Big Telescope Could Take Pictures of Another Earth
A “starshade” flying alongside the WFIRST observatory could deliver images of potentially habitable worlds decades ahead of schedule
TechnologyApril 28, 2016
Golden Eye: Webb Telescope's Giant Mirror Unveiled
Witness the glimmering heart of NASA’s largest-ever space telescope
Space & PhysicsApril 12, 2016
$100-Million Plan Will Send Probes to the Nearest Star
Funded by Russian entrepreneur Yuri Milner and with the blessing of Stephen Hawking, Breakthrough Starshot aims to send probes to Alpha Centauri in a generation
Space & PhysicsMarch 31, 2016
Lasers Could Hide Earth from Prying Aliens
We could use laser light to mask our transits across the sun and thus hide Earth from any intelligent aliens looking for planets to invade
Space & PhysicsMarch 30, 2016
Astronomers Create the First Heat Map of a Super-Earth
The super-Earth 55 Cancri e may have a magma ocean or windblown clouds of vaporized rock
Space & PhysicsMarch 18, 2016
Pluto's Wonders Come into Focus
NASA’s New Horizons mission has delivered a treasure trove of data from the dwarf planet
Space & PhysicsMarch 17, 2016
An Israeli Moonshot [Q&A]
The co-founder of SpaceIL, a contender for the Google Lunar XPRIZE, discusses his plans to reach the moon
Space & PhysicsMarch 11, 2016
10 Years at Mars: Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's Best Images [Slide Show]
NASA’s most prolific interplanetary mission reaches a new milestone in Martian exploration
Space & PhysicsMarch 4, 2016
No Man's Land: Where on Mars Should Astronauts Go?
Inside the first meeting of the committee to colonize the Red Planet
The SciencesMarch 2, 2016
The Recurring Question: Where Do Fast Radio Bursts Come from?
Astronomers have discovered a repeating source for an enigmatic cosmic phenomenon
The SciencesFebruary 24, 2016
Billion Sun–Bright Events Leave Radio Wave Clues
“Fast radio bursts” detected here on Earth last only a thousandth of a second, but are the result of a faraway source briefly shining a billion or more times brighter than our sun.
The SciencesFebruary 12, 2016
The Future of Gravitational Wave Astronomy
Fully opening this new window on the universe will take decades—even centuries
The SciencesJanuary 30, 2016
Mirror on the Cosmos: NASA's Next Big Telescope Takes Shape
After more than 20 years the giant mirror of the James Webb Space Telescope is finally complete
Space & PhysicsJanuary 14, 2016
Found: The Most Powerful Supernova Ever Seen
A stellar explosion almost 600 billion times brighter than the sun pushes the limits of physics
EvolutionJanuary 5, 2016
Richard Garriott's Cabinet of the Universe, Part 2: Earth Forms
In this episode of Richard Garriott's miniseries, he shows us how Earth formed, how remnants of that formation still wander the solar system and how our planet came to be covered by oceans.
Next week: Life on Earth Begins
Space & PhysicsJanuary 1, 2016
How to Map an Exoplanet's Rings
Dips in starlight reveal the architecture of a super Saturn around a distant star
Space & PhysicsJanuary 1, 2016
Millions of Small Asteroids That Could Threaten Our World Remain Uncatalogued
NASA’s best hope for planetary defense resides with a proposed asteroid-seeking space telescope. Will it get funded?
The SciencesDecember 23, 2015
Richard Garriott's Cabinet of the Universe, Part 1: The Big Bang
Richard Garriott, video game developer and space entrepreneur, explains how he and his wife collected enough artifacts to illustrate the entire history of the universe. In this video he takes us back to the very beginning. Next Week: Earth Forms
The SciencesDecember 22, 2015
SpaceX's Triumphant Rocket Landing Could Revolutionize Spaceflight
Once considered the stuff of science fiction, fully reusable rocketry is now closer to reality than ever before
The SciencesDecember 15, 2015
Astronomers Rename Famous Exoplanets
More than 30 worlds have new names drawn from world mythology, literature and history
The SciencesDecember 10, 2015
Astronomers Skeptical Over "Planet X" Claims
Two controversial new studies suggest the discovery of large objects at the outer reaches of the solar system