Space & Physics: Possible planet around Alpha Centauri enthralls astronomers

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August 7—This week, we've got stories on a blockbuster planet candidate around Alpha Centauri, NASA's new plan for a nuclear reactor on the moon, a possible first glimpse of primordial black holes, and much more. Enjoy! —Lee Billings, Senior Editor, Space and Physics

Our Nearest Sunlike Star Might Have a Planet, JWST Shows in Stunning Finding In some of its most ambitious work yet, the James Webb Space Telescope looked to spot a planet in a potentially habitable orbit around Alpha Centauri A, the nearest sunlike star to our solar system

Top Stories

NASA's Plan for a Nuclear Reactor on the Moon Could Be a Lunar Land Grab Spurred by competition from China and Russia, the Trump administration is pushing for nuclear power on the moon by 2030 Lee Billings

NASA Faces Deep Budget Cuts—Every Living Former Science Chief of the Agency Is Sounding the Alarm NASA faces historic budget cuts that could shutter missions and stall vital research, prompting a bipartisan outcry from all of the agency's living former science chiefs. Rachel Feltman, Lee Billings, Fonda Mwangi, Alex Sugiura, Jeffery DelViscio

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Strong Support for NASA and Project Artemis Will Advance the U.S. NASA needs clear support from the White House if we want to win the new space race Matthew Beddingfield

JWST Spots Ancient Light That Shouldn't Exist JWST observations of light sources before the first galaxies should have formed are raising new questions about our galactic origins Conor Feehly

Can Astronomers and Satellite Operators Learn to Share the Sky? Satellite streaks are ruining astronomical images. Can scientists and space companies find solutions before it's too late? Emma R. Hasson

The Physics of Spinning Black Holes Explained Scientists are uncovering how spinning black holes launch jets, warp spacetime and shape the cosmos Phil Plait

Students Find Hidden Fibonacci Sequence in Classic Probability Puzzle Though the Fibonacci sequence shows up everywhere in nature, these young mathematicians were surprised to find it in the answer to a variation of the pick-up sticks problem⁠—a nearly two-century-old form of puzzle Emma R. Hasson

How Teen Mathematician Hannah Cairo Disproved a Major Mathematical Wave Conjecture When she was just 17 years old, Hannah Cairo disproved the Mizohata-Takeuchi conjecture, breaking a four-decade-old mathematical assumption Emma R. Hasson

AI Took on the Math Olympiad—But Mathematicians Aren't Impressed AI models supposedly did well on International Math Olympiad problems, but how they got their answers reminds us why we still need people doing math Emily Riehl

Some Mathematicians Don't Believe in Infinity Can "finitism" possibly describe the real world? Manon Bischoff

What We're Reading

Senator Mark Kelly says he knows how to fix NASA. | New York Times Abu Dhabi company plans data centers in space | Semafor Is the Dream Chaser space plane ever going to launch into orbit? | Ars Technica

From the Archive

Is It a Planet? Astronomers Spy Promising Potential World around Alpha Centauri The candidate could be a "warm Neptune" or a mirage. Either way, it signals the dawn of a revolution in astronomy Lee Billings

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