How to Make Molecular Movies: Scientist Thomas Allison Explains
The winner of the 2017 Discovery Prize discusses his work watching electrons moving through molecules
Stories by Lee Billings
![Watch Live Today: What Does a Black Hole Collision Sound Like? [Video]](https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/09FC0002-8117-4D51-8065609326FE61F0_agenda.jpg?w=275&h=154&fit=crop)
Watch Live Today: What Does a Black Hole Collision Sound Like? [Video]
Physicist and author Janna Levin will present a free live Webcast tonight at 7 P.M. Eastern time about merging black holes and gravitational waves
Interstellar Projectiles Zoom around Us at Blistering Speeds
Hypervelocity stars, and the black holes that launch them, whip through space at millions of miles per hour.
Newfound Super-Earth Boosts Search for Alien Life
Planet LHS 1140 b orbits a dim red dwarf star just 40 light-years away, making it a prime target for life-finding telescopes
Food on Enceladus, Old Faithful on Europa Strengthen Case for Finding Alien Life
Scientists find molecular hydrogen and liquid-water geysers on ocean-bearing moons in the outer solar system
![Ink-Drop Supernovae and Quantum Love Triangles [Video]](https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/FE2C9777-BD59-4DEB-9DDB2E503696D1D7_agenda.png?w=275&h=154&fit=crop)
Ink-Drop Supernovae and Quantum Love Triangles [Video]
Short films about exploding stars and subatomic particles top the list of prizewinners from the annual Quantum Shorts contest
Electric Sand: How Titan's Dunes Got Their Weird Shapes
Bizarre “plastic” dunes made sticky by static cling may cover the surface of Saturn's largest moon—and could threaten future missions there
The 10 Weirdest Things in the Solar System
Pierogi moons, rubber duckie comets and spewing ice balls: We have some very strange neighbors among the myriad planets, moons and objects that circle our sun.
Q&A: Kim Stanley Robinson Explains How He Flooded Manhattan
His new book, New York 2140, explores the interplay of climate change and global finance on a warmer, wetter future world
![Watch Live Today: The James Webb Space Telescope Will Spark a New Era in Astronomy [Video]](https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/733A2769-4821-4BAD-8FDA61E7796963FE_agenda.jpg?w=275&h=154&fit=crop)
Watch Live Today: The James Webb Space Telescope Will Spark a New Era in Astronomy [Video]
Astronomer Amber Straughn will present a free live Webcast tonight at 7 P.M. Eastern time about NASA’s revolutionary space observatory
A Tasty Trove of Exoplanets at TRAPPIST-1
A baker’s half-dozen of Earth-size worlds is orbiting a (relatively) nearby star—and some could be habitable
![Nearby Star Hosts 7 Earth-Size Planets [Video]](https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/4FC47A43-8E18-44DB-8421079287E4A8EF_agenda.jpg?w=275&h=154&fit=crop)
Nearby Star Hosts 7 Earth-Size Planets [Video]
Astronomers say at least three of the worlds may be habitable, and could be studied for signs of life within a decade
![Europa Mission Heralds Sea Change in the Search for Alien Life [Video]](https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/04E811A2-49CF-4B1C-AC41795C76E4FBF4_agenda.jpg?w=275&h=154&fit=crop)
Europa Mission Heralds Sea Change in the Search for Alien Life [Video]
Jupiter’s ocean-bearing moon is the next frontier in NASA’s hunt for extraterrestrials
Planet Formation out of Black Hole Belches
New studies suggest lonely planets flying through intergalactic space were formed by star-destroying supermassive black holes.
![150-Year Journey to Alpha Centauri Proposed [Video]](https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/8929FC73-45C3-4DF4-8533212047197E6C_agenda.jpeg?w=275&h=154&fit=crop)
150-Year Journey to Alpha Centauri Proposed [Video]
Humanity possesses the means to place probes into orbit around nearby stars. But do we have the patience?
Is It Time to Give Up on Dark Matter?
There is still good reason to think undiscovered fundamental particles act as gravitational glue for galaxies.
A Breakthrough in the Search for Alpha Centauri's Planets
A new public-private partnership is supercharging the race to image habitable exoplanets
Newfound Source of Mysterious Cosmic Bursts Poses Deeper Enigmas
Despite a breakthrough discovery by radio astronomers, the decade-long puzzle of elusive “fast radio bursts” is far from being solved
Brain Beauty: The Art of Neuroscience
Book recommendations from Scientific American
![Q&A: The Astronaut Who Captured Out-of-This-World Views of Earth [Slide Show]](https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/DB4637C2-B800-4B30-8A9C9DA5F3FF1B79_agenda.jpg?w=275&h=154&fit=crop)
Q&A: The Astronaut Who Captured Out-of-This-World Views of Earth [Slide Show]
Don Pettit discusses his dazzling orbital photographs of our home planet
