Paul M. Sutter
The Improbable Origins of Life on Earth
We do not yet know how, where, or why life first appeared on our planet. Part of the difficulty is…
The Galactic Habitable Zone
Our planet sits in the Habitable Zone of our Sun, the special place where water can be liquid on the…
Early Life Was Radically Different Than Today
All modern life shares a robust, hardy, efficient system of intertwined chemicals that propagate themselves. This system must have emerged…
Why Venus Died
Venus is only slightly smaller than the Earth, and so has enjoyed billions of years of a warm heart. But…
Why Mars Died
We know of Mars as the Red Planet, for its surface and atmosphere is caked in endless swirling dust of…
Thirsty? Water is More Common than you Think
Water is the most common chemical molecule found throughout the entire universe. What water has going for it is that…
Why Quantum Mechanics Defies Physics
The full, weird story of the quantum world is much too large for a single article, but the period from…
We Owe Our Lives to the Moon
Life appeared on Earth through a series of lucky coincidences, and that luck started with our Moon. None of the…
How Supersymmetry Saved String Theory
String theory, like most revolutions, had humble origins. It started all the way back in the 1960’s as an attempt…
Holograms Might Save Physics
Even though the guts of General Relativity are obtusely mathematical, and for decades was relegated to math departments rather than…