Latest articles by Rafi Letzter
What should we do if a 'planet-killer' asteroid takes aim at Earth?
If a giant object looks like it's going to slam into Earth, humanity has a few options. A new guide could help NASA decide which one is best.
Neuroscientists discover 'engine of consciousness' hiding in monkeys' brains
No one knows how consciousness works in the brain, but a team of neuroscientists seems to have found an engine that keeps it going.
This is the most violent object in the solar system
New images reveal that one of the strangest asteroids in the solar system is also the most covered in craters, after billions of years plowing through the asteroid belt like a runaway train.
Saturn's weird, Earth-like moon just failed a key test for alien life
Life on Earth likely began with the bubble-like membranes that surround our cells. Similar membranes probably wouldn't form on Titan, according to quantum mechanics.
New pattern uncovered in mysterious 'fast radio bursts' from deep space
For the first time, astrophysicists have detected a pattern in fast radio bursts, one of the most mysterious phenomena in the universe.
Stolen painting reappears after 23 years, in the same gallery where it was taken
A famous painting by Gustav Klimt that went missing 23 years ago turned up in the walls of the gallery from which it appears it was stolen from. No one knows who took it.
Rosetta's 'rubber ducky' comet changed color as it neared the sun. Here's why.
As Rosetta's comet got near enough to the sun for frost to evaporate off its surface, a color-changing water and dust cycle began that shuffled its colors around.
Hidden baby Jesus revealed under Leonardo da Vinci’s 'Virgin of the Rocks'
Baby Jesus and his wings are just some of the images hidden beneath da Vinci's "Virgin of the Rocks".
Here's how to read election news like a scientist
Political coverage often involves the same sort of data and methods scientists use in their own research. But it's important to know how to read them.
A super-rare 'Zee burst' in Antarctica could one day unlock a key mystery of ghostly neutrinos
Watch out for the Zee burst!
Photons could reveal 'massive gravity,' new theory suggests
This is a radical new design compared to the world's most sensitive gravitational wave detectors.
2 satellites will — hopefully — narrowly avoid colliding at 32,800 mph over Pittsburgh on Wednesday
A collision would create a debris belt that would endanger spacecraft worldwide.
Physicists: Ancient life might have escaped Earth and journeyed to alien stars
A pair of researchers presented a wild new theory in a new paper.
Black holes shouldn't echo, but this one might. Score 1 for Stephen Hawking?
When two neutron stars slammed together far off in space, they created a powerful shaking in the universe — and their echoes could violate Einstein's theory of relativity.
Mysterious particles spewing from Antarctica defy physics
What's making these things fly out of the frozen continent?
Ancient Australian Crystals Unlock History of Earth's First Magnetic Field
It was a lot more powerful than anyone believed.
Australian Hunters to Kill 10,000 Feral Camels from Helicopters Amid Worsening Drought
The dry season is turning the pest creatures into dangerous competitors for limited water supplies.
Our Galaxy Has Thousands of Alien Stars That Didn't Come from the Milky Way
Where did these stars come from?
This Super-Sharp Image Could Help Explain the Milky Way's Strange Creamy Center
What's going on in the middle of our galaxy?
A Major Earthquake Knocked Out Power Across Puerto Rico This Morning
It was the largest yet in a series of quakes to impact the island.
The World's Oldest 'Fossil Forest' Was Just Discovered in New York State
This forest changed the world.
There's a Giant Mystery Hiding Inside Every Atom in the Universe
No one really knows what happens inside an atom.
