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.

Related Topics: Expert Voices - Don Lincoln, Expert Voices - Leroy Chiao, Expert Voices - Paul Sutter, Expert Voices - Robert Lawrence Kuhn, Expert Voices - The Kavli Foundation 

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Titan's northernmost giant lake, Ligeia Mare, contains enough vinyl cyanide to form the cell membranes of ten million cells per cubic centimeter.

The five most impressive geological structures in the solar system

By David Rothery published

When we talk about amazing geological features, we often limit ourselves to those on Earth.

An artist's rendition of a future space colony.

The billionaire space race reflects a colonial mindset that fails to imagine a different world

By Ted McCormick published

It was a time of political uncertainty, cultural conflict and social change.

iss e orig.

An Australian 'space command' could be a force for good — or a cause for war

By Cassandra Steer published

Having a dedicated space command will bring Australia into line with Canada, India, France and Japan, all of which recently created similar organisations within their armed forces.

Traveling through a wormhole could be possible in certain gravity conditions.

Traversable wormholes are possible under certain gravity conditions

By Paul Sutter published

Certain weird gravity conditions would make it possible to travel through a wormhole and back.

An artist's depiction of colliding black holes causing ripples in the fabric of space-time.

How do gravitational waves work?

By Paul Sutter published

Fishing on the high seas is expensive, and the profits are often small.

Thousands of ocean fishing boats could be using forced labor – we used AI and satellite data to find them

By Gavin McDonald published

Fishing on the high seas is a bit of a mystery, economically speaking.

Ghost forest panorama in coastal North Carolina.

Sea level rise is killing trees along the Atlantic coast, creating 'ghost forests' that are visible from space

By Emily Ury published

Permanent flooding has become commonplace on this low-lying peninsula, nestled behind North Carolina’s Outer Banks. The trees growing in the water are small and stunted.

An artist's depiction of the metal-rich asteroid Psyche, which a NASA spacecraft will visit later this decade.

What can we do with a captured asteroid?

By Paul Sutter published

Asteroids are packed with gold and other valuable resources. And the best way to harvest those metals may be to bring space rocks to Earth.

An artist's depiction of what the surface of Proxima b might be like,

How can we take pictures of Earth-like exoplanets? Use the sun!

By Paul Sutter published

If we ever want to take pictures of an Earth-like exoplanet, we need to think bigger than the biggest telescopes on Earth.

Parkes 64 meter radio telescope with space shuttle Atlantis, International Space Station in the sky behind it.

Cyberspace and outer space are new frontiers for national security, according to an expert report

By Steven Freeland, Danielle Ireland-Piper, Dan Jerker B. Svantesson, Jonathan Crowe, Samuli Haataja, Wendy Bonython published

What do cyberspace and outer space have in common?

dark energy survey

'Dancing ghosts': A new, deeper scan of the sky throws up surprises for astronomers

By Ray Norris published

Scanning through data fresh off the telescope, we saw two ghosts dancing deep in the cosmos.

Blue Origin’s New Shepard lifts-off from the launch pad carrying Jeff Bezos along with his brother Mark Bezos, 18-year-old Oliver Daemen, and 82-year-old Wally Funk on July 20, 2021 in Van Horn, Texas.

Space travel for billionaires is the surprise topic with bipartisan American support — but not from Gen Z

By Joseph Cabosky published

With Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson both flying to space in craft made by their own private companies, July 2021 was perhaps the highest-profile month for space in years.

maxar technologies satellite image

One of Nigeria's satellites is on its last legs. Here's why it's worrying.

By Samuel Oyewole published

Nigeria has sponsored or co-sponsored six satellites, of which only two are currently operational.

A Jack Russell jumping after a ball

Why does gravity pull us down and not up?

By Mario Borunda published

Here's why the force of gravity pulls us down rather than up. The answer involves Einstein and the bendy realm of space-time.

According to an analysis from NASA, 2020 was the hottest year on record.

What will the Earth be like in 500 years?

By Michael A. Little, William D. MacDonald published

Scientists can make some pretty accurate forecasts about the future.

A dung beetle climbs atop its precious ball to orient itself using the night skies.

Skyglow forces dung beetles in the city to abandon the Milky Way as their compass

By James Foster published

Globally, nights are becoming ever brighter.

The problem of "space junk" continues to grow.

Who's going to fix the space junk problem?

By Paul Sutter published

The growing problem of space junk poses a risk to future space missions, but the solution isn't going to be easy.

3D illustration of an asteroid flying past Earth.

Move asteroids now before they become a threat, researchers argue

By Paul Sutter published

A pair of astronomers have proposed two new strategies for preventing possible asteroid impacts.

An illustration of a black hole

Black holes warp the universe into a grotesque hall of mirrors

By Paul Sutter published

If you were to place a galaxy behind the black hole and then look off to the side, you'd see a distorted image of the galaxy. Here's why.

The Crab Nebula as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope and ground-based telescopes in a composite view. The nebula is the aftermath of a brilliant supernova spotted in 1054.

Is there really a 'crisis' in cosmology?

By Paul Sutter published

You may have heard about the "cosmology crisis:" Different methods of measuring the age of the universe are giving different results, and cosmologists have no idea why.