Astronomy
Galactic Settlement and the Fermi Paradox
The results of galactic colonization models are a mixed bag for SETI optimists.
Do We Share DNA with ET?
If there’s life beyond Earth, the genetic code might be our common bond.
Top Dark Matter Candidate Loses Ground to Tiniest Competitor
Physicists have long searched for hypothesized dark matter particles called WIMPs. Now, focus may be shifting to the axion — an ultra-lightweight particle whose existence would solve two mysteries at once.
If We Believe in Dark Matter, Why Not Extraterrestrial Life?
Avi Loeb has a lot of thoughts about aliens and scientific prejudice.
Physics Nobel Honors Early Universe and Exoplanet Discoveries
The astronomers Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz won half of the prize for their 1995 discovery of a Jupiter-like planet orbiting a nearby star. The cosmologist James Peebles won the other half for work exploring the structure of the universe.
Is the Search for Dark Matter an Act of Faith?
In an underground laboratory, the talk turns to religion.
The 315-Year-Old Science Experiment
How counting sunspots unites the past and future of science.
Possible Detection of a Black Hole So Big It ‘Should Not Exist’
At stake are fundamental ideas about how black holes form—and a six-way bet.
