Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights

LiveScience invites experts in 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 science labs around the world.

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Can we solve the black hole information paradox with 'photon spheres'?

By Paul Sutter

Theories that attempt to resolve the so-called black hole information paradox predict that black holes are much more complicated than general relativity suggests.

German mathematician Emmy Noether (shown here in this portrait) was born on March 23, 1882, in Erlangen, Germany, and died April 14, 1935, in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.

Math genius Emmy Noether endured sexism and Nazism. 100 years later, her ideas still ring true.

By Tamar Lichter Blanks

Albert Einstein described Emmy Noether as a "creative mathematical genius" who, despite "unselfish, significant work over a period of many years," did not get the recognition she deserved.

What if 'Oumuamua was sent into our solar system to scan for signals at the behest of some alien civilization? Pretty far-fetched, but perhaps worth thinking about, says one astrophysicist.

Could there be a link between interstellar visitor 'Oumuamua and unidentified aerial phenomena?

By Avi Loeb

If some UAP turn out to be extraterrestrial technology, they could be dropping sensors for a subsequent craft to tune into. What if ‘Oumuamua is such a craft?

An illustration of the Voyager 1 spacecraft, which is traveling through interstellar space.

Lost in space? Here's a new method to find your way back home.

By Paul Sutter

Space is big — really big. And if you want to successfully navigate the interstellar depths of our galaxy, you're going to need some sort of reliable system.

High Energy Particles Flow Through A Tokamak Or Doughnut-Shaped Device.

How much energy can be created at one time?

By Xuejian Wu

How much energy can be created at one time without losing control?

Mushrooms on Mars? 5 unproven claims that alien life exists

By Gareth Dorrian

A recent study claims to have found evidence for mushroom-like life forms on the surface of Mars.

Illustration of the end of Earth, doomsday, destruction.

How much time does humanity have left?

By Avi Loeb

Statistics tell us that individuals are most likely to be somewhere around the middle part of their life. The same could be true of the human race.

Is there a pattern to the universe?

By Paul Sutter

For decades, cosmologists have wondered if the large-scale structure of the universe is a fractal — that is, if it looks the same no matter how large the scale.

Artist impression of the Big Bang with particles firing away from a bright core.

The 1st few seconds of the Big Bang: What we know and what we don't

By Paul Sutter

Believe it or not, physicists are attempting to understand the universe when it was only a handful of seconds old.

Can super-rotating oceans cool off extreme exoplanets?

By Paul Sutter

New research suggests a way to move heat around "tidally locked" alien planets: ocean currents whipping around the worlds faster than they rotate.

Abstract illustration of the early universe and quantum physics.

Superpowerful 'oscillon' particles could have dominated the infant universe, then vanished

By Paul Sutter

A weird, super-powerful particle that's not truly a particle could have dominated the universe when it was just a second old, releasing a flood of ripples that permeated all of space-time.

Mysterious 'kick' just after the Big Bang may have created dark matter

By Paul Sutter

A mysterious "kick" in the early universe may have produced more matter than antimatter. And that imbalance may have also led to the creation of dark matter, researchers now say.

Illustration of a pair of stars about to merge: a neutron star and a white dwarf, whose gravity is severely distorting the larger white dwarf.

Neutrons' 'evil twins' may be crushing stars into black holes

By Paul Sutter

The universe may be filled with "mirror" particles — and these otherwise-undetectable particles could be shrinking the densest stars in the universe, turning them into black holes.

A Hubble Space Telescope image of a nearby supernova remnant.

How do stars die?

By Paul Sutter

Surprisingly, the fate of a star is easy to predict. All you need to know is how big it is.

Where are all the squarks and gluinos?

By Paul Sutter

There have been no signs of supersymmetry, and the theory is looking a little shaky, researchers say.

the first ever direct image of a black hole, with yellow ring surrounding black circle

Are primordial black holes really giant gravitinos?

By Paul Sutter

New research proposes that the first black holes came from clumps of gravitinos, exotic, hypothetical particles that managed to survive the first chaotic years of the Big Bang.

This graphic shows a map of the universe's expansion rates in different directions, estimated in a new study by Konstantinos Migkas and collaborators. The map is in galactic coordinates, with the center looking toward the center of our galaxy. The black and purple colors show the directions of the lowest expansion rates (the Hubble constant); yellow and red show the directions of the highest expansion rates.

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.

Physicists attempt to unify all forces of nature and rectify Einstein's biggest failure

By Paul Sutter

Einstein's failed dream could ultimately become his ultimate triumph, as a small group of theoretical physicists rework his old ideas to explain the most pressing issues of modern science.