
Paul Sutter
Paul M. Sutter is a research professor in astrophysics at SUNY Stony Brook University and the Flatiron Institute in New York City. He regularly appears on TV and podcasts, including "Ask a Spaceman." He is the author of two books, "Your Place in the Universe" and "How to Die in Space," and is a regular contributor to Space.com, Live Science, and more. Paul received his PhD in Physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2011, and spent three years at the Paris Institute of Astrophysics, followed by a research fellowship in Trieste, Italy.
Latest articles by Paul Sutter

Are Dark Photons the Secret 'Fifth Force' Holding Our Universe Together?
By Paul Sutter published
Wherever they are, they sure are good at hiding.

Physicists Just Released Step-by-Step Instructions for Building a Wormhole
By Paul Sutter published
All you need are a couple of black holes and some cosmic strings. No biggie.

A Rail Gun the Size of Manhattan Could Reveal the Secrets of the Higgs Boson
By Paul Sutter published
A giant linear collider the size of Manhattan could finally help us find new physics, scientists argue.

'Evil-Genius' Neutrino Gun Could Finally Unmask the Tiniest Particles in the Universe
By Paul Sutter published
Several giant experiments are hunting for neutrinos, the tiniest, most-elusive particles in the universe.

These Odd 'Quasiparticles' Could Finally Unmask Dark Matter
By Paul Sutter published
Tiny ripples called magnons could lure even a fleeting, lightweight dark matter particle out of hiding.

What Is the Black Hole Information Paradox?
By Paul Sutter published
The universe really likes its information. It doesn't like to create new information, and it doesn't like to destroy any of its existing information.

Physicists Search for Monstrous Higgs Particle. It Could Seal the Fate of the Universe.
By Paul Sutter published
Without the Higgs, the Standard Model of particle physics comes crashing down.

Why 'Cosmic Nothingness' May Hold Secrets of the Universe
By Paul Sutter published
Why avoid the cosmic void?

Last-Ditch Hack Led to the Invention of Quantum Mechanics
By Paul Sutter published
Max Planck had no idea where his solution would lead

Inside Giant Atom Smasher, Physicists See the Impossible: Light Interacting with Light
By Paul Sutter published
Physicists thought this was impossible, until now.

What Makes the Strong Force So Special?
By Paul Sutter published
The Force is (super) strong with these quarks.

The Quest to Find One of the Most Elusive Particle Decays in the Universe
By Paul Sutter published
...and break the laws of physics.

This Single Mission Could Solve 2 of the Biggest Mysteries of the Universe
By Paul Sutter published
Here's how the biggest thing in the universe could reveal secrets of the smallest things.

Physicists Just Detected a Very Odd Particle That Isn't a Particle at All
By Paul Sutter published
I'm a particle that really isn't; I vanish before I can even be detected, yet can be seen. I break your understanding of physics but don't overhaul your knowledge. Who am I?

Where Are All the 'Sparticles' That Could Explain What's Wrong with the Universe?
By Paul Sutter published
A recent search for oddball supersymmetric particles, which could explain some of the weirdness of the universe, came up empty-handed.

Why Physicists Are Interested in the Mysterious Quirks of the Heftiest Quark
By Paul Sutter published
The top quark is about 100 trillion times heavier than the up quark. But why?

How to Destroy the Earth in 3 Easy Steps
By Paul Sutter published
Mad scientists through the ages have dreamed of holding the world hostage by threatening to destroy the whole thing. Here's how that could work.

Why Physicists Are Hunting the Strangest of the Ghost Particles
By Paul Sutter published
These tiny subatomic particles, showering down from the depths of space, continue to surprise (and annoy) physicists chasing them.

Alien Hunters, Stop Using the Drake Equation
By Paul Sutter published
For the precocious hunter of off-Earth life, the Drake equation is the ever-ready, go-to toolkit for estimating just how (not) lonely humans are in the Milky Way galaxy. But it's not useful.

The Origins of the 'OMG Particle'
By Paul Sutter published
Right now, as you read this very text, your DNA is getting sliced up by tiny, invisible bullets.

Why Relativity's True: The Evidence for Einstein's Theory
By Paul Sutter published
As good skeptics, we shouldn't immediately believe general relativity's tangle of mathematics at first blush. Instead, we need evidence. Good evidence.

What's the Evidence for Einstein's Theory of Relativity?
By Paul Sutter published
As good skeptics, we shouldn't immediately believe general relativity's tangle of mathematics at first blush. Instead, we need evidence. Good evidence.

Here's How We Know the Big Bang Happened
By Paul Sutter published
At 13.8 billion years ago, our entire observable universe was the size of a peach and had a temperature of over a trillion degrees.
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