Space & Physics: Hopeful hints of a habitable exoplanet

View in web browser

September 11 — This week, we're covering exciting new observations of a potentially habitable exoplanet, the best-yet evidence for ancient life on Mars, a record-breaking measurement of merging black holes that would make Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking proud, and more. Enjoy! —Lee Billings, Senior Editor, Space and Physics

Hints of Atmosphere on Earth-Sized Exoplanet Raise Hopes for Life A monumental sign of an atmosphere on TRAPPIST-1e could be the precursor to finally finding a living world around another star

Top Stories

New Black Hole Measurements Show More Ways Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein Were Right Spacetime ripples from a black hole collision across the cosmos have confirmed weird aspects of black hole physics Clara Moskowitz

This Rock May Hold Proof of Life on Mars The Perseverance rover's new findings set the stage for bringing Martian samples back to Earth to test whether microbes once inhabited the Red Planet Humberto Basilio

What's the Plan for 'Golden Dome'? Even Experts Aren't Sure A sweeping U.S. missile defense program comes with many risks, costs and uncertainties, analysts say Ramin Skibba

Dive into all things space and physics with a subscription to Scientific American.

How Big Can a Black Hole Be? Some black holes get extremely massive. Is there an upper limit to their growth? Phil Plait

Your Name Could Orbit the Moon with NASA's Artemis II The public can submit names to travel along with four astronauts on an orbital journey to the moon next year Clara Moskowitz

Marsquakes, Vaccine Politics and Mammoth Microbiomes A common nasal spray shows promise in reducing COVID risk, but vaccine access remains tangled in policy in the U.S. Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Alex Sugiura

How the Math of Shuffling Cards Almost Brought Down an Online Poker Empire Card dealers create a unique deck with each shuffle, something computers cannot replicate Manon Bischoff

What We're Reading

After early struggles, NASA's mission to Titan is "on track" for launch | Ars Technica We are watching a scientific superpower destroy itself | New York Times 40 years later, Carl Sagan's Contact still stands the test of time | Supercluster

From the Archive

Nearby Worlds May Tell Us How Life Might Look in Our Galaxy TRAPPIST-1 could make or break the extended push to make red dwarfs an astrobiological priority Seven Rasmussen

Subscribe to this and all of our newsletters here. Scientific American One New York Plaza, New York, NY, 10004 Support our mission, subscribe to Scientific American here Unsubscribe  |  Preferences Privacy Policy  |  Contact Us