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
Stories by Lee Billings
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
Pluto's Wonders Come into Focus
NASA’s New Horizons mission has delivered a treasure trove of data from the dwarf planet
![An Israeli Moonshot [Q&A]](https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/DC4EB110-34FF-41AA-97DDC2C1FEEAFA26_agenda.jpg?w=275&h=154&fit=crop)
An Israeli Moonshot [Q&A]
The co-founder of SpaceIL, a contender for the Google Lunar XPRIZE, discusses his plans to reach the moon
![10 Years at Mars: Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's Best Images [Slide Show]](https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/5FD822FB-201D-48D0-B08FD12AFB52FEC4_agenda.jpg?w=275&h=154&fit=crop)
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
No Man's Land: Where on Mars Should Astronauts Go?
Inside the first meeting of the committee to colonize the Red Planet
The Recurring Question: Where Do Fast Radio Bursts Come from?
Astronomers have discovered a repeating source for an enigmatic cosmic phenomenon
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...
Richard Garriott's Cabinet of the Universe, Part 4: Flexible Sandstone
Water plus rocks equal weird things – sometimes. Itacolumite is a rare sandstone riddled with tiny holes, leaving interlocking bits of mineral.
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
NASA Completing Primary Mirror for Space Telescope
NASA has reached a major landmark in the construction of the powerful 6.5-meter James Webb Space Telescope
Found: The Most Powerful Supernova Ever Seen
A stellar explosion almost 600 billion times brighter than the sun pushes the limits of physics
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...
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?
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...
![How to Map an Exoplanet's Rings [Video]](https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/C8FBB32D-64F6-4FE6-9579DD87E66D139E_agenda.jpg?w=275&h=154&fit=crop)
How to Map an Exoplanet's Rings [Video]
Dips in starlight reveal the architecture of a super Saturn around a distant star
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
Astronomers Rename Famous Exoplanets
More than 30 worlds have new names drawn from world mythology, literature and history
Astronomers Skeptical Over "Planet X" Claims
Two controversial new studies suggest the discovery of large objects at the outer reaches of the solar system
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
