Water Bears' Super Survival Skills Give Up Secrets
A protein from microscopic creatures called tardigrades keeps their DNA protected—and could someday shield humans from radiation.
Stories by Lee Billings
Astronomers Spy Shadowy Plumes around Europa
If confirmed, the icy Jovian moon’s eruptions could offer new pathways for exploring its subsurface ocean
![The Book That Predicted Proxima b [Excerpt]](https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/69390A4A-E33A-44D7-A3FED7B50D35F8A0_agenda.jpg?w=275&h=154&fit=crop)
The Book That Predicted Proxima b [Excerpt]
A science fiction novel published in 2013 pegged some of the most salient details for our nearest neighboring exoplanet
Physics Confronts Its Heart of Darkness
Cracks are showing in the dominant explanation for dark matter. Is there anything more plausible to replace it?
Have We Detected an Alien Signal? It's Highly Doubtful
A blip of energy picked up by a Russian radio telescope might have been nothing more than a satellite passing overhead—or even a software glitch
The Earth Next Door
Astronomers find an exoplanet that could be habitable—and it’s as close to us as it could possibly be
![Voyage to Bennu and Back with OSIRIS-REx [Video]](https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/CF14AF19-1E4E-44F4-8D846A72C68E9734_agenda.jpg?w=275&h=154&fit=crop)
Voyage to Bennu and Back with OSIRIS-REx [Video]
NASA’s first sample-return mission to an asteroid could be vital for understanding life’s origins and shaping its future
Great Red Spot Helps Explain Jupiter's Warm Upper Atmosphere
A thermal spike linked to the solar system’s largest storm explains weather on gas-giant planets
![Miniature Space Telescope Could Boost the Hunt for "Earth Proxima" [Video]](https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/E3EC5DD4-3FC5-44B5-94503492791436DB_agenda.jpg?w=275&h=154&fit=crop)
Miniature Space Telescope Could Boost the Hunt for "Earth Proxima" [Video]
A new film presents an innovative plan to image potentially habitable planets around our sun's closest stellar neighbor—Alpha Centauri
Is Mars Missing a Moon?
A new theory suggests the Red Planet once had a spectacular lunar system. Lee Billings reports.
Scientists Get to the Bottom of the Bright Spots on Ceres
New results from Dawn spacecraft fuel debate on whether the dwarf planet is a habitable oasis between Mars and Jupiter
Jupiter, Get Ready for Your Close-Up!
Juno, NASA’s new mission to Jupiter, reaches the giant planet on July 4, 2016. Among its many firsts, Juno will peer deeper than ever before beneath the Jovian clouds and will deliver the first interplanetary LEGO kit. Produced with support from Explore Scientific
A "Starshade" Could Help NASA Find Other Earths Decades Ahead of Schedule
A next-generation space telescope is in the works—but if it is to see potentially habitable planets, it will need to block out their suns
![Mapping Laniakea, the Milky Way's Cosmic Home [Video]](https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/190DB0EF-2221-43C4-B430142272BB36B7_agenda.jpg?w=275&h=154&fit=crop)
Mapping Laniakea, the Milky Way's Cosmic Home [Video]
The Milky Way’s home supercluster of galaxies is far bigger than previously known
New Map Shows the Dark Side of Artificial Light at Night
More than a third of humanity cannot see the Milky Way due to light pollution, and a new wave of energy-efficient lighting could make the problem much worse
LISA Pathfinder Reports Record-Breaking Gravitational Wave Results
The successful technology demonstration paves the way for detecting mergers of supermassive black holes with future space-based observatories
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
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.
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
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
