Every generation grows up with starships that jump across galaxies in a heartbeat, but the real universe is far less forgiving than the screen. The same physics that lets GPS satellites work and ...

The idea of traveling faster than light has fascinated scientists and dreamers for generations. With stars and galaxies separated by unimaginable distances, humanity continues to explore how we might ...

The light echo around the star V838 Monocerotis as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope in November 2005. When I was a teenager, I was—shockingly, I know—deeply nerdy. At a science-fiction convention, I ...

You know that scene in the film Contact where the “Machine” is spooling up, its three spinning rings kicking out crazy light and an electromagnetic field powerful enough to pitch nearby Navy ...