Expert Voices Paul Sutter

Paul Sutter received his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2011. After spending three years at the Paris Institute of Astrophysics, he is now a visiting scholar at the Ohio State University's Center for Cosmology and Astro-Particle Physics. Sutter is the host of several podcasts and YouTube series, consults for TV and film productions, and frequently makes public appearances discussing physics and astronomy topics and the role science plays in society.

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Cosmic strings, string theory, abstract background.

Black holes may not exist, but fuzzballs might, wild theory suggests

By Paul Sutter

What if black holes aren't black holes at all, but rather the cosmic equivalent of fuzzy, vibrating balls of string?

Dangerous 'naked' black holes could be hiding in the universe

By Paul Sutter

Black holes shorn of event horizons could lurk throughout the universe.

The "impossible" EmDrive engine, which purportedly generates thrust by bouncing microwaves around inside a cone-shaped chamber.

Can the EmDrive actually work for space travel?

By Paul Sutter

The EmDrive doesn't just violate our fundamental understanding of the universe; the experiments that claim to measure an effect haven't been replicated. When it comes to the EmDrive, keep dreaming.

Artist's illustration of NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). Using data from TESS, scientists have discovered an "improbable" exoplanet that should've been engulfed by its star but wasn't.

Distant alien planets could be turned into dark matter detectors

By Paul Sutter

A pair of astronomers is advocating a daring new research program: to turn our widening search for life beyond Earth into a hunt for dark matter.

An artist's depiction of the solar system as it appears today.

Will our solar system survive the death of our sun?

By Paul Sutter

Our sun's death is a long way off — about 4.5 billion years, give or take — but someday it's going to happen, and what then for our solar system?

What happens at the center of a black hole?

By Paul Sutter

At the center of a black hole, matter is compressed down to an infinitely tiny point, and all conceptions of time and space completely break down.

Black holes could become massive particle accelerators

By Paul Sutter

Physicists suggest harnessing the gravitational pull of black holes to create ferocious particle accelerators. The trick? Carefully set everything up so the particles don't get lost forever.

Space background showing a black hole and galaxy.

A mini fractal universe may lie inside charged black holes (if they exist)

By Paul Sutter

In one upside-down, hypothetical version of the universe, a bizarre type of black hole could exist that is stranger than an M.C. Escher sketch: charged black holes.

Black holes so big we don't know how they form could be hiding in the universe

By Paul Sutter

Black holes can get big … really big. But just how big? It's possible they could top out at over a trillion times more massive than the sun.

The Great American Solar Eclipse of Aug. 21, 2017, as seen over Madras, Oregon.

What the Aztecs thought about solar eclipses

By Paul Sutter

A recent survey sheds some light on what the mighty Aztecs thought about the rare and wonderful solar eclipses.

An image of Venus' thick atmosphere captured by NASA's Mariner 10 mission.

Did a migrating Jupiter turn Venus into hell?

By Paul Sutter

The giant planet's long-ago migration likely had big impacts.

A computer-simulated view of the northern hemisphere of Venus.

Meet Calypso, a daredevil mission concept to explore the surface of Venus

By Paul Sutter

Of all the rocky, inner worlds of the solar system, Venus is the most challenging to explore.

This photo of Earth and the moon was taken by an astronaut at the International Space Station in 2003.

What makes Earth's atmosphere so special?

By Paul Sutter

For all the biological activity on our homeworld, we're not the only interesting planet orbiting the sun. There are some other equally amazing places in the solar system. Here is just a sampling.

Could the universe collapse into a singularity? New study explains how.

By Paul Sutter

All you need is some string.

Black hole 'hair' could be detected using ripples in space-time

By Paul Sutter

Hair may record the information swallowed by the gravitational monsters.

An artist's illustration of two black holes merging and creating ripples in spacetime known as gravitational waves.

Hunting for medium-sized black holes with the next generation of gravitational wave detectors

By Paul Sutter

Some patience will be needed.

An artist's illustration of a white dwarf pulling gas away from its companion star.

Astronomers discover the fastest-spinning white dwarf yet — and it's a vampire

By Paul Sutter

Astronomers recently spotted perhaps the strangest white dwarf yet: a dead star the spins twice a second, sucking down material from a nearby companion as it goes.