Lee Billings

Senior Editor, Space and Physics at Scientific American

Senior editor at @sciam. Author of Five Billion Years of Solitude, re: the search for Earth-like exoplanets. Opinions my own. Signal: @lee_billings.81

Articles

Why Trump’s ‘Golden Dome’ Won’t Shield the U.S. from Nuclear Strikes

2 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Lee Billings

During a briefing from the Oval Office this week, President Donald Trump revealed his administration’s plan for “Golden Dome”—an ambitious high-tech system meant to shield the U.S. from ballistic, cruise and hypersonic missile attacks launched by foreign adversaries. Flanked by senior officials, including Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and the project’s newly selected leader, Gen.
What to Know about Kosmos-482, the Soviet Spacecraft Crash-Landing on Earth

1 month ago | scientificamerican.com | Lee Billings

A defunct spacecraft from the former Soviet Union that has been stuck in space for more than half a century is, at last, about to come home. Kosmos-482 was launched on a voyage to Venus in March 1972 as part of the Soviet multimission Venera program. Thanks to a rocket malfunction, however, it never escaped Earth orbit.
Trump Seeks to Cancel NASA’s Mars Sample Return—And Scientists Are Outraged

1 month ago | scientificamerican.com | Leonard David |Lee Billings

For more than four years, NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has been on the prowl within Jezero Crater, a site on the Red Planet that eons ago harbored a sprawling river delta, a large, deep lake and—just maybe—ancient Martian life. Since its touchdown in February 2021, the car-sized, nuclear-powered robot has traveled far and wide across this otherworldly terrain, dutifully gathering samples of rock and soil.
Quantum Randomness Could Create a Spoof-Proof Internet

1 month ago | scientificamerican.com | Gayoung Lee |Lee Billings

The allure of quantum computers is, at its heart, quite simple: by leveraging counterintuitive quantum effects, they could perform computational feats utterly impossible for any classical computer. But reality is more complex: to date, most claims of quantum “advantage”—an achievement by a quantum computer that a regular machine can’t match—have struggled to show they truly exceed classical capabilities.
Breakthrough Prize Winner Gerard ’t Hooft Says Quantum Mechanics Is ‘Nonsense’

2 months ago | scientificamerican.com | Lee Billings

In the pantheon of modern physics, few figures can match the quiet authority of Gerard ’t Hooft. The Dutch theoretical physicist, now a professor emeritus at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, has spent much of the past half-century reshaping our understanding of the fundamental forces that knit together reality.
Breakthrough Prize Winner Gerard ’t Hooft Says Quantum Mechanics Is ‘Nonsense’

2 months ago | flipboard.com | Lee Billings

23 hours agoPentagon opens ‘crazy’ competition to build quantum computerThe Pentagon wants to know, once and for all, if a useful quantum computer can actually be built — or if it remains in the realm of science …2 days agoScientists Are Mapping the Boundaries of What Is Knowable and UnknowableMath and computer science researchers have long known that some questions are fundamentally unanswerable.
SpaceX’s Private Fram2 Mission Reaches Polar Orbit—But That’s Not the Most Impressive Part

2 months ago | scientificamerican.com | Lee Billings

In some respects, the most notable thing about Fram2, the private four-person space mission that launched on Monday night on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, is its polar orbit. Named after the Norwegian polar-exploration vessel Fram, the Fram2 mission marks the first time humans have occupied this particular slot around our planet, a swooping ellipse that takes a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft between Earth’s North and South Poles in about 45 minutes.
Best-Yet ‘Baby Pictures’ of the Universe Unveiled

2 months ago | scientificamerican.com | Lee Billings

Sometimes, a picture can be worth much more than a thousand words. For instance, one measure associated with the pictures below—new high-definition snapshots of the cosmos in its infancy—is 1,900 “zetta-suns.”On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
Are D-Wave’s Claims of ‘Quantum Advantage’ Just ‘Quantum Hype’?

2 months ago | scientificamerican.com | Lee Billings

D-Wave, a British Columbia–based technology firm, made a scientific and stock-market splash on Wednesday with its declaration of a breakthrough in quantum computing. But for some experts, the company’s claims are landing with a thud. What Did D-Wave Do?
Blue Ghost, a Private U.S. Spacecraft, Successfully Lands on the Moon

Mar 2, 2025 | scientificamerican.com | Lee Billings

Blue Ghost, a NASA-funded lunar lander built and operated by the private U.S. company Firefly Aerospace, has successfully touched down on the moon. After 45 days in space—and a pulse-pounding semi-autonomous hour-long descent to its landing site—at 3:35 A.M. EST three of the boxy, car-sized spacecraft’s four footpad-tipped legs crunched into the surface of Mare Crisium, a vast and ancient impact basin filled with frozen lava on the moon’s northeastern near side.