Black HolesOctober 6, 2020
Black Hole Scientists Win Nobel Prize in Physics
Half the award goes to Roger Penrose, with the rest split between Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez, for work revealing the “darkest secrets of the universe”
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 & PhysicsAugust 11, 2020
Dark Frontiers: The Science of Black Holes
How massive can black holes become? How do astronomers typically observe them? How do they die? Scientific American presents a conversation about these mysterious cosmic phenomena with Yale University astrophysicist Priyamvada Natarajan.
Space & PhysicsApril 27, 2020
Space Telescope Director Says Best Is Yet to Come for Hubble
Three decades into the life of the world’s most revered orbital observatory, Ken Sembach, director of the Space Telescope Science Institute, reflects on its future
Space & PhysicsApril 23, 2020
The Lost Worlds of Soviet Space Graphics [Slideshow]
A new book captures the pioneering, propaganda-infused visions of mid-20th-century Soviet space exploration
Space & PhysicsApril 15, 2020
Do We Live in a Lopsided Universe?
A new study of galaxy clusters suggests the cosmos may not be the same in all directions
Space & PhysicsMarch 8, 2020
The New Cosmos: A Conversation with Ann Druyan
Emmy and Peabody Award–winning science writer, producer and director Ann Druyan talks about Cosmos: Possible Worlds, the next installment of the Cosmos series.
CultureMarch 1, 2020
Ann Druyan Is Reimagining the Future
Cosmos co-creator discusses communicating her dream for humanity
Space & PhysicsFebruary 20, 2020
New Horizons May Have Solved Planet-Formation Cold Case
An encounter with Arrokoth at the outskirts of the solar system offers the best evidence yet for how worlds coalesce from dust
Space & PhysicsJanuary 30, 2020
Bizarre Cosmic Dance Offers Fresh Test for General Relativity
Scientists have detected relativistic frame dragging, a prediction of Einstein’s greatest theory, around a distant pair of exotic stars
Space & PhysicsJanuary 15, 2020
The Curious Case of Proxima C
Astronomers continue to gather evidence for a second world around the sun’s nearest neighboring star
Space & PhysicsNovember 20, 2019
Record-Breaking Gamma Rays Reveal Secrets of the Universe’s Most Powerful Explosions
Two teams of astronomers using ground-based telescopes to study gamma-ray bursts have detected the highest-energy light ever seen from celestial sources
Space & PhysicsNovember 12, 2019
Proposed Interstellar Mission Reaches for the Stars, One Generation at a Time
Starting in the early 2030s, the project could become our first purposeful step out of the solar system—if it launches at all
The SciencesNovember 1, 2019
Inside the World’s First Underground Gravitational-Wave Detector
Japan’s KAGRA observatory set to begin operations by the end of 2019
Space & PhysicsSeptember 25, 2019
Space Archaeologist Probes History in Orbit
Alice Gorman argues for preserving more of humanity’s off-world heritage
Space & PhysicsSeptember 11, 2019
Astronomers Find Water on an Exoplanet Twice the Size of Earth
Water vapor in the skies of the world K2-18 b may make it “the best candidate for habitability” presently known beyond our solar system
Space & PhysicsJune 10, 2019
Interview: The Once and Future Moon
Oliver Morton discusses his new book about how art, science and politics have shaped past, present and planned voyages to Earth’s nearest celestial neighbor
Space & PhysicsApril 23, 2019
Did a Meteor from Another Star Strike Earth in 2014?
Questionable data cloud the potential discovery of the first known interstellar fireball
Space & PhysicsApril 12, 2019
A Second Planet May Orbit Earth’s Nearest Neighboring Star
Informally called “Proxima c,” the candidate world appears to be six times the mass of Earth and orbits in the frigid outskirts of the Proxima Centauri system
TechnologyApril 11, 2019
Israeli Spacecraft Fails to Make First Private Lunar Landing
Private organization SpaceIL’s Beresheet lander crashes down on the moon following engine and communications problems
Black HolesApril 10, 2019
At Last, a Black Hole’s Image Revealed
The Event Horizon Telescope captures one of the universe’s most mysterious objects
The SciencesMarch 20, 2019
Atheism Is Inconsistent with the Scientific Method, Prizewinning Physicist Says
In conversation, the 2019 Templeton Prize winner does not pull punches on the limits of science, the value of humility and the irrationality of nonbelief
Space & PhysicsMarch 20, 2019
‘Oumuamua, Our First Interstellar Visitor, May Have Been a Comet After All
New research flags jets of water vapor—rather than alien technology—as the source of the mysterious object’s anomalous motions
Space & PhysicsJanuary 18, 2019
Lunar De-Light! How to View 2019’s Sole Total Eclipse of the Moon
On January 20, stargazers across the Americas will have stunning views of a historic celestial event
Space ExplorationDecember 12, 2018
Finding Alien Life May Require Giant Telescopes Built in Orbit
Scientific American reports on new efforts from NASA and other federal agencies seeking to service and assemble large structures—such as life-finding telescopes—in space