Latest articles by Rafi Letzter
Strange space signal could come from a 'mystery object'
A big black hole gobbled up a mystery object. It emitted no light detectable from Earth. What was it?
Famous 'immaculate conception' painting is unrecognizable after art restoration failure
A botched restoration of a Bartolomé Esteban Murillo painting in Spain has frustrated art conservators and recalled memories of an earlier, similar mistake involving a painting of Jesus.
Why some physicists really think there's a 'mirror universe' hiding in space-time
What happens when you turn space-time upside-down?
Astronomers solve whirling mystery around nearby black hole
How fast is this nearby black hole spinning? A new measurement offers clues that could solve the old mystery.
BREAKING: Physicists announce first direct evidence for 'axions'
An experiment buried underground in Italy has turned up a mysterious result, and a never-before-seen "axion" particle seems like the most likely explanation.
Einstein's core idea about gravity just passed an extreme, whirling test in deep space
Once again, physicists have confirmed one of Albert Einstein's core ideas about gravity and relativity — this time with the help of a neutron star flashing across space.
What's causing a spooky hum to fill parts of San Francisco?
Aerodynamic slats newly installed on the Golden Gate Bridge produce a loud hum on windy days, as San Fransiscans learned this past weekend.
Great white sharks are bottom-feeders, at least when they're little
Great white sharks are fierce hunters. But as juveniles, their diets involve way more bottom-feeding than hunting large prey.
Russia declares emergency after 22,000 tons of oil spill in the Arctic Circle
Twenty-two thousand tons (20,000 metric tons) of oil products leaked from a Russian industrial power plant into an Arctic river on May 29. It could take decades for the region to recover.
Mars once had rings and a much bigger moon, new evidence suggests
Some scientists suspect Martian moons sometimes break up into rings. A new piece of evidence from the surviving moon Deimos' orbit supports that theory.
Why would a little storm in the distance shut down historic SpaceX launch?
Why should a little storm in the distance shut down a Falcon 9 launch? History, the tricky timing of matching orbits, and complex meteorology.
The coronavirus didn't really start at that Wuhan 'wet market'
It looks like early reports that COVID-19 first infected humans at a particular live animal market in Wuhan were wrong.
Ancient 'ring of fire' galaxy found glaring at Earth across space and time
Eleven billion years ago, a hot, active, eyeball of a galaxy glared across space. It formed in a violent collision, and could help explain the Milky Way's spiral.
An astronomer calculated that Earth's intelligent life is probably 'rare.' Here's what that means.
A new paper used an advanced "Bayesian" model to show that the emergence of intelligent life on Earth was probably a lucky break.
Strange ice formations may have tricked physicists into seeing mysterious particles that weren't there
What if one of the strangest, most unsettling findings in particle physics turned out to be an illusion? A new study suggest a simple physical explanation for a mysterious event.
Hurricanes really are getting stronger, just like climate models predicted
The authors of a new paper studied 4,000 tropical cyclones spanning 39 years, and showed that major hurricanes are coming more frequently as Earth cooks.
Why a microwave-beam experiment will launch aboard the Air Force’s secretive X-37B space plane
There's a microwave power experiment heading to space Saturday (May 16) aboard the Air Force's secretive X-37B spaceplane. Researchers hope it could lead to a new global power source.
Here's how to tell a 'murder hornet' from other nasty wasps
A new paper gathers images of invasive Vespa hornet species worldwide, and offers clues to help identify them.
Massive piece of Chinese space junk slams uncontrolled into Earth's atmosphere
The 19.6 ton (17,800 kilogram) body of a Chinese rocket slammed into the planet's atmosphere today (May 11). It was the biggest such incident since 1991.
These lava tubes could be the safest place for explorers to live on Mars
The Martian surface is a radiation hot zone. But ancient lava tubes might offer explorers safety from the cosmic bombardment
Here's how a wavy jet stream is screwing up weather all over the US this weekend
A polar vortex event will bring record lows and May snow to the east this weekend, even as the west coast bakes. Here's why.
Gigantic new 3D map traces every neuron in a tiny mouse brain
A years-long Allen Institute for Brain Science project to map the entire mouse brain is complete, and you can explore it now.
Renowned string theorist proposes new way to hunt our solar system's mysterious 'Planet 9'
A new paper by physicist Edward Witten proposes hunting Planet 9 using a fleet of laser-launched probes like Breakthrough Starshots'.
