The Planetary Sweet Spot

Geochemist Matthew Jackson argues that the abundance of certain elements in the Earth dictate whether plate tectonics can happen.

Roadmap to the Stars

A laser-powered wafer-thin spacecraft capable of reaching Alpha Centauri in 20 years may sound like the stuff of science fiction, but it’s not. And while such a launch isn’t imminent, the possibility of one in the future does exist, according to UC Santa Barbara physics professor Philip Lubin.

Artist’s rendion of a laser-propelled interstellar mission