Lens_matter

H.A. Rey recreated star maps with wit, grace, and accuracy.

All we are is dust in the wind, man. The same goes for the planets and asteroids and comets. Starting from our dusty beginnings, gravity and a mess of other forces conspired to build our solar system. There’s a venerable tradition of trying to figure out what that grand and hectic process must have looked […]

It doesn’t feel right to see a toddler walking down the street by themselves. Toddlers don’t just go rogue, and if they do they are quickly chased down by a parent or grandparent or teacher and brought back where they belong. Most planets are like toddlers: They follow a well-behaved orbit around a star. It […]

A planetary scientist explains why SpaceX’s Starship will transform her field.

What I learned when I challenged the legendary physicist.

Black holes are cosmic dimmers.

Overcoming sexist naysayers and self-doubt in astrophysics.

A geophysicist breaks down the elements of wildfires.

Mining the mysteries of Uranus and Neptune.

Quantum mechanics seems to have a problem with the order of time, which might signal the need for an entirely new type of law.Illustration by Ekaterina Kulaeva / Shutterstock The history of science so far has been a triumph of reductionism. Biology can be reduced to chemistry, chemistry can be reduced to atomic physics, and […]