The universe is a deeply vexing place. Every breakthrough we make in our understanding of it begets more mysteries about how all this (gestures wildly) actually happened. In the new book Space Oddities: The Mysterious Anomalies Challenging Our Understanding of the Universe, experimental physicist Harry Cliff describes a handful of the most confounding phenomena at … Read more
Pondering the scale of the cosmos can feel as if you’re peering over the edge of the brink; it can be daunting enough to make you want to flee to the comforts of working, commuting, and other quotidian endeavors. But in Waves in an Impossible Sea: How Everyday Life Emerges From the Cosmic Ocean, theoretical … Read more
Image: Photo: Shutterstock Graphics: Vicky Leta Renowned puzzler Peter Winkler invented the addictive word game, HIPE, with some friends when they were juniors in high school. While it may not have become the overnight success of Wordle, the game did earn Winkler admission to Harvard. According to his book, Mathematical Mind-Benders, he wrote a college … Read more
Image: Photo: Shutterstock Graphics: Vicky Leta Survivor has produced a whopping 45 seasons, with more in development. If you remember the buzz around season 1 but can’t believe it’s been 45 years, it hasn’t. They’ve cranked out two seasons per year for most of its run to feed their insatiable fanbase. Each season, the mega-successful … Read more
We’ll Get to See NASA’s Sonic Boom-Less Supersonic Plane Next Week Astronomers Could Soon Get Warnings When SpaceX Satellites Threaten Their View NASA’s supersonic experimental plane—the linchpin of the agency’s Quesst mission—is set to roll out of its warehouse in the California desert next week. We’re gassed for the big moment: the X-59 has been … Read more
Space is hard, as the cliché reminds us, and that was plenty clear this week, as several groups ran into trouble: NASA with its aging Voyager 1 spacecraft, AstroForge with a struggling debut mission to prove asteroid mining can work, and a few missing-in-action satellites from a recent SpaceX launch. Back on Earth, doctors issued … Read more
Our most-read science stories this week contain a few timeless life lessons. One, don’t go into an MRI room carrying metal, particularly if that metal is a loaded gun. Two, don’t cross a killer whale, even if you’re a great white shark. And finally, never judge a sea cucumber by its cover—no matter how repulsive … Read more