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?
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 & PhysicsJanuary 1, 2016
How to Map an Exoplanet's Rings
Dips in starlight reveal the architecture of a super Saturn around a distant star
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
The SciencesDecember 9, 2015
Ceres Is Cloudy, with a Chance of Cryovolcanoes
New findings reveal a crater’s vaporous hazes, and hint at the dwarf planet’s possible origin in the outer solar system
The SciencesDecember 2, 2015
Fast Radio Bursts Mystify Experts—for Now
Astronomers are closing in on the origins of baffling radio flashes from deep space
The SciencesNovember 24, 2015
Collecting Meteorites in Your Own Backyard
All it takes is a magnet and knowing where to look.
Space & PhysicsNovember 1, 2015
Astronomers May Have Witnessed 2 Black Hole Births
Stars that disappear rather than explode could signal a black hole’s beginnings
Space & PhysicsOctober 2, 2015
Human Missions to Mars Will Look Completely Different from The Martian
The blockbuster film’s futuristic vision of interplanetary exploration could soon be out of date
TechnologyOctober 1, 2015
Are We on the Cusp of War—in Space?
China, Russia and the U.S. are developing and testing controversial new capabilities to wage war in Earth orbit
The SciencesSeptember 28, 2015
Searching for Life in Martian Water Will Be Very, Very Tricky
The risk of microbial contamination could prevent humans and even robots from visiting the most promising parts of the Red Planet
Space & PhysicsSeptember 16, 2015
Cassini Confirms a Global Ocean on Saturn's Moon Enceladus
Space & PhysicsSeptember 10, 2015
NASA Struggles over Deep-Space Plutonium Power
Sluggish production of nuclear fuel could make solar power the preferred choice for the agency’s outer-planets missions
The SciencesSeptember 1, 2015
QUIZ: How Well Do You Know Einstein?
Space & PhysicsAugust 14, 2015
To Play or Not to Play the Exoplanet Name Game?
Campaigns to name exoplanets seem like Shakespearean farce
Space & PhysicsAugust 10, 2015
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
Space & PhysicsAugust 1, 2015
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
Space & PhysicsAugust 1, 2015
Europa's "Brown Gunk" Suggests a Briny Sea
The mysterious gunk on Jupiter’s moon may be sea salt
Space & PhysicsJuly 29, 2015
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 & PhysicsJuly 23, 2015
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 & PhysicsJuly 20, 2015
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 & PhysicsJuly 20, 2015
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