Scientific American
  • Sign In
  • Newsletters
  • Sign In
<  Back to Archive
SA Space & Physics Vol 3 Issue 6

Space & Physics

December 2020

Volume 3, Issue 6

You are currently logged out. Please log in to download the issue PDF.

Features

Do We Live in a Simulation? Chances Are about 50–50

Do We Live in a Simulation? Chances Are about 50–50

Gauging whether or not we dwell inside someone else’s computer may come down to advanced AI research—or measurements at the frontiers of cosmology

By Anil Ananthaswamy and Lee Billings
Nobel Prize Work Took Black Holes from Fantasy to Fact

Nobel Prize Work Took Black Holes from Fantasy to Fact

Over the past century, the existence of these invisible cosmic bodies has become unmistakable

By Lee Billings and Daniel Garisto
Venus Might Host Life, New Discovery Suggests

Venus Might Host Life, New Discovery Suggests

The unexpected atmospheric detection of phosphine, a smelly gas made by microbes on Earth, could spark a revolution in astrobiology

By Adam Mann and Lee Billings

Departments

From the Editor
Are We Real? And Other Questions of Physics
Opinion
How Andrea Ghez Won the Nobel for an Experiment Nobody Thought Would Work
The Quantum Butterfly Noneffect
In Memoriam: John D. Barrow
News
Google's Quantum Computer Achieves Chemistry Milestone
Water on Mars: Discovery of Three Buried Lakes Intrigues Scientists
Rogue Rocky Planet Found Adrift in the Milky Way
First Room-Temperature Superconductor Excites and Baffles Scientists
Identical Quantum Particles Pass Practicality Test
Want to Talk to Aliens? Try Changing the Technological Channel beyond Radio
  • Return & Refund Policy
  • About
  • Press Room
  • FAQs
  • Contact Us
  • Site Map
  • Advertise
  • SA Custom Media
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • California Consumer Privacy Statement
  • Use of cookies/Do not sell my data
  • International Editions

Scientific American is part of Springer Nature, which owns or has commercial relations with thousands of scientific publications (many of them can be found at www.springernature.com/us). Scientific American maintains a strict policy of editorial independence in reporting developments in science to our readers.

© 2023 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, A DIVISION OF SPRINGER NATURE AMERICA, INC.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.