CHNOPS in ferruginous saline. Multicellular aerobic chemoheterotroph; symbiont of photosynthetic autotrophs. Descendant of stardust; aspiring good ancestor. Senior Editor, Scientific American. Signal: @lee_billings.81
Now on @sciam.bsky.social: A spacecraft on a rescue mission to NASA's aging Swift space telescope is in trouble in Earth orbit. Can the mission—and Swift—be saved? www.scientificamerican.com/article/resc...
Rescue mission to save NASA’s Swift space telescope is imperiled in orbitA private spacecraft launched to boost the decaying orbit of NASA’s Swift Observatory is now suffering from potentially mission-ending malfunctionswww.scientificamerican.comIf you've enjoyed @nadiadrake.bsky.social's story for @sciam.bsky.social about a key conundrum in the search for life on Mars (or if, heavens forbid, you haven't read it yet!), her thread below offers a bit more insight into the piece's origins and some key considerations.
Nadia DrakeA few months ago, I got a bit obsessed with a question about life on Mars: When—or if—“life” becomes the most parsimonious explanation for a handful of potential biosignatures, how will we know? Would we even admit it? This story grew from that question. www.scientificamerican.com/article/has-...
ICYMI, this is the best story you're gonna find about the current status of the search for life on Mars, wrapped up inside a 50th-anniversary retrospective of NASA's epochal Viking missions. And it's only on @sciam.bsky.social.
Lee BillingsNow on @sciam.bsky.social: Has NASA already found life on Mars? A controversial new assessment of half-century-old data suggests the space agency’s life-hunting Mars lander Viking 1 found exactly what it was looking for. By @nadiadrake.bsky.social. www.scientificamerican.com/article/has-...
Now on @sciam.bsky.social: Astronomers just revealed the best-yet images of Betelgeuse's buddy, a ~3x-solar-mass companion star. By @adamjkovac.bsky.social. www.scientificamerican.com/article/scie...
Scientists get best-yet glimpse of Betelgeuse’s companion starAfter decades of hints and speculation, scientists have at last unveiled the hidden companion to the iconic star Betelgeusewww.scientificamerican.comA great get for AIP. Congrats all around!!!
Dan VerganoSome business news: Pleased to announce today was my first day as Director, Science Policy News, at the American Institute of Physics. We're best known for FYI: Science Policy News www.aip.org/fyi the long-running weekly newsletter and news platform for science insiders. More TK.
Now on @sciam.bsky.social: Has NASA already found life on Mars? A controversial new assessment of half-century-old data suggests the space agency’s life-hunting Mars lander Viking 1 found exactly what it was looking for. By @nadiadrake.bsky.social. www.scientificamerican.com/article/has-...
Has NASA already found life on Mars?In searches for past and present Martian life, some scientists say we’ve been too cautious to see what’s right in front of uswww.scientificamerican.comNow on @sciam.bsky.social: The Fields Medals—math's most prestigious prizes, often compared to the Nobels—have 4 new honorees, for work ranging from the theory of knots to the motion of fluids. Congrats to Hong Wang, Yu Deng, John Pardon & Jacob Tsimerman! www.scientificamerican.com/article/2026...
Math’s latest Fields Medalists are the most diverse group yetThe 2026 Fields Medals recognize breakthroughs in the math of messy fluids, tangled knots, spinning pencils, and morewww.scientificamerican.comNow on @sciam.bsky.social: Unlucky 13? SpaceX's first attempt at launching Starship's 13th test flight ends in a scrub. scientificamerican.com/article/spac...
Unlucky number 13? SpaceX’s latest Starship launch attempt ends in a scrubSpaceX’s first attempt to launch its Starship megarocket on its thirteenth flight test ended before it could properly begin, aborting just before liftoffscientificamerican.comVia @sciam.bsky.social: The FCC’s approval for launching a controversial sunlight-beaming satellite, Eärendil-1, comes despite astronomers’ concerns about light pollution. To such objections, the FCC essentially had one response: that’s not our problem. www.scientificamerican.com/article/u-s-...
U.S. approval of a controversial satellite has scientists asking: Who’s really in charge of space?A controversial new ruling from the Federal Communications Commission leaves no one responsible for regulating light pollution and other ill effects from skyrocketing numbers of satelliteswww.scientificamerican.comNow on @sciam.bsky.social: A recent paper in the high-profile journal Nature claimed what would've been an epochal revision to our understanding of the cosmos. Instead, independent follow-up work suggests the claim is wrong via a subtle-but-basic mistake. www.scientificamerican.com/article/phys...
Physicist says splashy new cosmology study made ‘elemental’ mistakeA recent study in the journal Nature carries cosmos-quaking implications for our understanding of the universe—except a new preprint says that it’s wrongwww.scientificamerican.comMeghan is an editor’s dream. Sharp, fast, and thorough reporting; finely crafted prose; excellent situational awareness and an eagerness to break news and do impactful work. She’s one of the best in the biz, and SciAm is significantly poorer without her.
Meghan BartelsI’m so sad to share that yesterday was my last day at Scientific American. It was an honor to work alongside my incredible colleagues and to speak with researchers across the sciences. If you’re looking to hire staff or freelance, please consider me and my other laid off coworkers (🧵)
Now on @sciam.bsky.social: Heavy-duty machine learning and a surfing mathematician are at the forefront of a millennia-old quest (and a million-dollar prize) to understand how fluids swirl. www.scientificamerican.com/article/huma...
The million-dollar race to ‘blow up’ math’s hardest equationsNew results challenge AI’s promise for solving how fluids swirl—and suggest a more human path forwardwww.scientificamerican.comNow on @sciam.bsky.social: China’s Tianwen-2 spacecraft is prepping for a close encounter on July 4 with near-Earth asteroid and “quasi-moon” Kamo‘oalewa. Tianwen-2 will seek to grab samples from the small, enigmatic space rock for return to Earth in 2027. www.scientificamerican.com/article/chin...
China’s Tianwen-2 spacecraft will soon grab samples from a ‘quasi-moon’ of EarthThe Tianwen-2 spacecraft is slowly closing in on the near-Earth asteroid Kamo‘oalewa, on a mission that would bring China’s first asteroid samples back to Earth in 2027www.scientificamerican.comNow on @sciam.bsky.social: NASA has unveiled its Artemis III astronauts: commander Randy Bresnik, pilot Luca Parmitano, and mission specialists Andre Douglas and Frank Rubio. They'll launch to low-Earth orbit as early as next year. www.scientificamerican.com/article/nasa...
NASA reveals astronauts who will fly Artemis III, its next step toward a moon landingNASA’s Artemis III crew includes three NASA astronauts and one European Space Agency astronautwww.scientificamerican.comNow on @sciam.bsky.social: A rare meteorite recovered in 2019 from the Sahara Desert seems to be a half-kilo hunk blasted from the depths of a long-lost planet that roamed the (very) early solar system. Cool story by @jennaahart.bsky.social. www.scientificamerican.com/article/rare...
Scientists found a piece of a lost planet in the Sahara DesertHints of high-pressure chemistry within a rare meteorite suggest this fallen space rock comes from a planet gone wrong in the solar system’s early historywww.scientificamerican.comNow on @sciam.bsky.social: The most fecund sites for forming planets throughout the cosmos might be... the outskirts of supermassive black holes? What?! Nice piece from @philplait.bsky.social. www.scientificamerican.com/article/plan...
Planets may swarm around supermassive black holes. Could any be habitable?Planets might exist in the least likely place you’d imagine—around the outskirts of supermassive black holeswww.scientificamerican.comNow on @sciam.bsky.social: Yikes! Lots of folks were holding their breath this morning due to a sudden situation on the ISS. Astronauts briefly took shelter in a docked spacecraft and prepped for potential evac due to worsening air leaks. www.scientificamerican.com/article/astr...
Astronauts take shelter on the International Space Station due to air leaksNASA ordered its astronauts to take refuge inside a docked SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and prepare for potential evacuation of the International Space Station, but the crew returned to normal operat...www.scientificamerican.comNow on @sciam.bsky.social: Astronomers may have just found a primordial black hole at the Milky Way’s edge that could help solve the mystery of dark matter. They’ve named it “Phoebe.” Nice piece by @astrojonny.bsky.social. www.scientificamerican.com/article/did-...
A primordial black hole nicknamed ‘Phoebe’ may help solve the mystery of dark matterA blip of light in the outer reaches of the Milky Way might be a bizarre black hole born at the beginning of time itself—and the long-sought solution to the mystery of dark matter. Astronomers are cal...www.scientificamerican.comVia @sciam.bsky.social: Microsoft just unveiled its Majorana 2 quantum chip with a jaw-dropping claim, saying its purported performance suggests "scalable, practical quantum computing" could arrive by 2029. One problem: Physicists say the claim is bogus. www.scientificamerican.com/article/micr...
Microsoft announces an upgrade to its quantum chip. Experts say it never worked to begin withMicrosoft’s announcement of a new quantum computing breakthrough with its Majorana 2 chip continues a trend of bold claims followed by scant evidencewww.scientificamerican.comNow on @sciam.bsky.social: Last night's explosion of Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket during a preflight test is a major setback for the company—and for NASA's ambitious lunar exploration plans. www.scientificamerican.com/article/blue...
Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket explodes in massive fireball, imperiling NASA moon missionsThe latest flight of the New Glenn rocket was meant to prepare Blue Origin for a series of NASA-funded lunar voyages, instead it ended before it beganwww.scientificamerican.com