Expert Voices

SPACE.com invites experts in space exploration, science & technology to provide insightful commentary and informed perspective on news, current events, innovations, big ideas and ongoing research. Expert Voices includes Op-Ed analysis and opinion as well as interesting observations from the field and space exploration efforts around the world.

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A recent analysis of results from the Large Hadron Collider revealed no evidence of the theory known as supersymmetry.

From squarks to gluinos: It's not looking good for supersymmetry

By Paul Sutter

According to a recent report, there have been no signs of supersymmetry, and the theory is looking a little shaky.

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

Did a holographic phase transition in the early universe release gravitational waves?

By Paul Sutter

A team of physicists recently used a string-theory technique to reveal that we're on the cusp of detecting phase transitions in the early universe through their gravitational wave signature.

This graphic shows a map of the universe's expansion rates in different directions, estimated in a recent study by Konstantinos Migkas and collaborators.

Is there more than one dark energy?

By Paul Sutter

What if there is more than one cosmological agent for dark energy? This mixture would have strange effects in our universe, making it potentially detectable with upcoming surveys.

Artist's concept showing DG CVn — a binary system consisting of two red dwarf stars — unleashing a series of powerful flares seen by NASA's Swift spacecraft on April 23, 2014.

Bad space weather may make life impossible near Proxima Centauri

By Andrew Zic, Tara Murphy

If you look up in the southern sky you can see the “pointer” stars, pointing towards the Southern Cross.

Test pilot Chuck Yeager in the cockpit of the Bell X-1, in which he became the first recorded pilot to break the sound barrier – although others had likely died trying.

Chuck Yeager was a Hollywood idea of a brave test pilot – today they must be skilled engineers too

By Guy Gratton

Charles “Chuck” Yeager, who has died aged 97, epitomised the movie test pilot of the 1940s and 1950s.

'War in space' would be a catastrophe. A return to rules-based cooperation is the only way to keep space peaceful

By Steven Freeland, David Kuan-Wei Chen, Ram S. Jakhu

In 2019, US President Donald Trump declared “space is the new war-fighting domain”.

The only six sites on the farside of the Moon suitable for telescope arrays of around 200km across.

A lunar gold rush could create conflict on the ground if we don't act now

By Tony Milligan

When it comes to the moon, everyone wants the same things.

An artist's depiction of astronauts at work on the dusty lunar surface.

The surface of the moon is a galactic time capsule

By Paul Sutter

You wouldn't know it by looking at it, but the moon is a time capsule.

A man in Canada says he was attacked by a UFO in 1967. (Not this one.)

I'm an astronomer and I think aliens may be out there — but UFO sightings aren't persuasive

By Chrisy Impey

If intelligent aliens visit the Earth, it would be one of the most profound events in human history.

Nokia has been tapped by NASA to research technology for a 4G network on the moon.

A 4G network on the moon is bad news for radio astronomy

By Emma Alexander

This aerial view shows the damage at the Arecibo Observatory after one of the main cables holding the receiver broke in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, on December 1, 2020.

Arecibo telescope's fall is indicative of global divide around funding science infrastructure

By Raquel Velho

SpaceX Starship prototype exploded, but it's still a giant leap toward Mars

By Hugh Hunt

Private company SpaceX launched SN8, a prototype of its Starship spacecraft, designed to go to the Moon and Mars, on December 10.

Ancient Earth had a thick, toxic atmosphere like Venus — until it cooled off and became liveable

By Antony Burnham, Hugh O'Neill

Earth is the only planet we know contains life. Is our planet special?

On Dec. 21, 2020, Jupiter and Saturn will appear just one-tenth of a degree apart, in an event known as a "great conjunction." The planets will be visible to the naked eye when looking toward the southwest about an hour after sunset.

As heavenly bodies converge, many ask: Is the Star of Bethlehem making a comeback?

By Eric M. Vanden Eykel

On Dec. 21, 2020, Jupiter and Saturn will cross paths in the night’s sky and for a brief moment, they will appear to shine together as one body.

The ghostly ORC1 (blue/green fuzz), on a backdrop of the galaxies at optical wavelengths. There’s an orange galaxy at the centre of the ORC, but we don’t know whether it’s part of the ORC, or just a chance coincidence.

Ghostly circles in the sky can't be explained. And astronomers are excited.

By Ray Norris

Ghostly circles of radio emission, hanging out in space like cosmic smoke-rings, can't be explained by current theories. And astronomers are excited to figure them out.