Paul Sutter

NASA's Top 5 Technical Challenges Countdown: #2: More Power

June 09, 2025

What we have now just…isn't going to cut it. Right now if you want power in space you essentially have two options: solar panels, and a kind of nuclear power called radioisotope thermoelectric generators.

NASA's Top 5 Technical Challenges Countdown: #3: Better Computers

June 08, 2025

Computers have been involved in spaceflight since almost the very beginning. Just like on the Earth, computers aid in a variety of tasks, like navigation and communication. But unfortunately, space is really, really unkind to electronics.

NASA's Top 5 Technical Challenges Countdown: #4: Improved Navigation

June 07, 2025

But in space, like on the Moon or Mars, we have…none of that. Zero. No GPS satellites, no globe-spanning networks. Just radio broadcasts from command centers here on Earth to tell our robots and crews what to do.

NASA's Top 5 Technical Challenges Countdown: #5: High-Powered Robotics

June 06, 2025

Space is hard. There's no doubt about that. It's completely unlike any environment we have ever faced on the Earth.

Titan May be the Liveliest Place in the Solar System

June 05, 2025

Titan has no liquid water whatsoever on its surface. But it does have liquids. Seas, lakes, streams, rivers…of methane and ethane.

What Life on Europa Needs

June 04, 2025

As the years go by, the chance of Europa hosting life seems to keep going down. But it's not out of contention yet.

Do the Clouds of Venus Really Host Life?

June 03, 2025

On the surface (you're welcome for the joke), Venus is not even close to being hospitable to life. But that's not the end of the story.

How Likely Is Life on Mars?

June 02, 2025

Mars is by far the most Earth-like planet in the solar system…but that's not saying much.

How Can the Sun Become a Telescope?

April 23, 2025

How can we turn the sun into a telescope?

The Sun's Natural Gravitational Lensing is More Powerful Than You Thought

April 22, 2025

Let's turn the sun into a telescope. In fact, we don't have to do any work – we just have to be in the right spot.

What is the Most Powerful Telescope in the World?

April 21, 2025

Just how powerful is the world's most powerful telescope?

How Astronomers Compare Telescopes

April 20, 2025

How can you fairly compare one telescope to another? It's all in the (angular) resolution.

The Evidence for Ancient Supernovae Is Buried Underground

April 19, 2025

The solar system is currently embedded deep within the Local Bubble, a region of relatively low density stretching for a thousand light-years across. It was carved millions of years ago by a chain of supernova explosions. And the evidence for it is right under our feet.

What Blew Up the Local Bubble?

April 18, 2025

In our neighborhood of the Milky Way, we see a region surrounding the solar system that is far less dense than average. But that space, that cavity, is a very irregular, elongated shape. What little material is left inside of this cavity is insanely hot, as it has a temperature of around a million Kelvin.

Magnetic Fields Can Map the Universe - Here's How

April 17, 2025

Who knew that magnetic fields could be so useful?

How Astronomers Mapped the Interstellar Medium - And Discovered The Local Bubble

April 16, 2025

How can astronomers pierce through the interstellar fog of the Milky Way – not to study distant objects, but to understand the fog itself? It just takes a little light.

Why Can't Physicists Decide if Warp Drives are Real?

March 23, 2025

In the years since Miguel Alcubierre came up with a warp drive solution in 1994, you would occasionally see news headlines saying that warp drives can work. And then a few months later you'll see that they've been ruled out. And then after that you'll see that warp drives kind of work, but only in limited cases. It seems to constantly go around and around without a clear answer. What gives?

What Rules Actually Prohibit Us From Building a Warp Drive?

March 22, 2025

In 1994 Miguel Alcubierre was able to construct a valid solution to the equations of general relativity that enable a warp drive. But now we need to tackle the rest of relativity: How do we arrange matter and energy to make that particular configuration of spacetime possible?

How Warp Drives Actually (Might) Work

March 21, 2025

To make a warp drive you have to arrange spacetime so that you never locally travel faster than light but still arrive at your destination…faster than light. And in 1994 Mexican physicist Miguel Alcubierre figured out how.

How Warp Drives Don't Break Relativity

March 20, 2025

Somehow, we all know how a warp drive works. You're in your spaceship and you need to get to another star. So you press a button or flip a switch or pull a lever and your ship just goes fast. Like really fast. Faster than the speed of light. Fast enough that you can get to your next destination by the end of the next commercial break.

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