Space & Physics: What if we never find dark matter?

Plus, an ominous reveal of U.S. space weapons                    

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September 17—This week, our top stories include the U.S.’s ominous declaration that it has weapons in space and a deep dive into the potentially endless search for dark matter. That latter story is part of a spectacular special package from our latest print issue all about the questions science may never answer. All that and much more is below. Enjoy! Thoughts? Questions? Let me know via e-mail (lbillings@sciam.com), X or Bluesky. —Lee Billings, Senior Editor, Physical Sciences

Top Stories

It’s official: The U.S. has weapons in space A high-ranking official announced yesterday that the U.S. military has deployed weapons into orbit to counter threats from Russia and China Mary Randolph

What if we never find dark matter? Could the hunt for the universe’s missing matter be the biggest wild goose chase in scientific history? Joseph Howlett

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Which million-dollar math problem could AI solve next? After an OpenAI model presented a possible solution to the Navier-Stokes problem, mathematicians are speculating about which major unsolved question could be resolved next Manon Bischoff

‘Odd couple’ black holes can find each other in space Two studies find signs of strange black hole binary systems Mary Randolph

25 winners of math’s ‘Nobel Prize’ decry the AI invasion of their discipline A new declaration from winners of the Fields Medal reflects many mathematicians’ growing alarm over a “severe misalignment” between the tech industry and their field a week after AI toppled one of math’s biggest open problems Joseph Howlett

A mighty space telescope is dying. Here’s why it mattered NASA’s formidable gamma-ray burst hunter is doomed to soon reenter Earth’s atmosphere, leaving a glaring gap in our view of the high-energy sky Phil Plait

The questions science may never answer Will some of the biggest mysteries in science remain forever unsolved? Sarah Scoles

Why we love unexplainable mysteries The biggest questions in science inspire us even when we lack answers Clara Moskowitz

Will we ever know how life began? Scientists disagree on how biology got started and on whether we can ever know for sure Sarah Scoles

The hunt for reality’s smallest pieces Physicists are searching for what lies underneath the particles we know Jay Bennett

See how gravitational waves warp time and space The latest gravitational-wave discoveries include record-breaking cataclysms Clara Moskowitz, Lucy Reading-Ikkanda

Poem: ‘The Golden Record’ Science in meter and verse Jennifer Blackledge

What We're Reading

NASA Activates Roman’s Primary Instrument, Checks Out Coronagraph | NASA SpaceX declares Starship ready for orbit, sets launch date next week | Ars Technica The Age of Wonders and Terrors | Shtetl-Optimized

From the Archive

Trump’s order to release evidence for aliens obscures the scientific search for extraterrestrial life On Thursday the U.S. president ordered the release of federal files related to UFOs and aliens, although no evidence of extraterrestrials visiting Earth is known to exist Lee Billings

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