Rafi Letzter
Rafi wrote for Live Science from 2017 until 2021, when he became a technical writer for IBM Quantum. He has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of journalism. You can find his past science reporting at Inverse, Business Insider and Popular Science, and his past photojournalism on the Flash90 wire service and in the pages of The Courier Post of southern New Jersey.
Latest articles by Rafi Letzter
![In a new study scientists found a way to make laser light incredibly "pure" by ensuring that it remains steadily at almost the same wavelength. (Note: the image is not the laser in question).](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Q3jQfrCUL6dWiBbV4StJBD-320-80.jpg)
This Is the Purest Beam of Light in the World
By Rafi Letzter published
The device, built to be portable enough for use in space, produces a beam of laser light that changes less over time than any other laser humanity has created.
![China far side moon lander](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/vvaHoo7gMWu5vN9PNefNwm-320-80.jpg)
Chinese Probe Uncovers New Mystery on the Dark Side of the Moon
By Rafi Letzter published
The 'dark' side of the moon isn't really darker than the 'light side of the moon. But it does appear to get colder at night.
![A weather map shows expected temperatures across the United States on the morning of Jan. 30.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/6aJxzHJf9LFZrw8NLm6f3V-320-80.jpg)
North Dakota Will Get Colder Than The North Pole Tonight — Here's Why
By Rafi Letzter published
A meteorologist explains the science behind the historic weather event hitting the Midwest and Plains right now.
![schrodinger's cat](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/cZNNeckNMz4kCGzQqa42Y-320-80.jpg)
Physicists Made a Flying Army of Laser Schrödinger's Cats
By Rafi Letzter published
A laser pulse glanced off a rubidium atom and entered the quantum world — taking on the weird physics of Schrödinger's cat.
![ALE co. satellite creating satellite](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/f7r3mXMpvatjBnm9spToGd-320-80.jpg)
A New Satellite Will (Safely) Drop 'Meteors' Over Hiroshima
By Rafi Letzter published
There's a new satellite in space, and it was put there to drop "meteors" over the city of Hiroshima.
![artistic concept of early universe, black hole, galaxy.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RRKfPK4ff478Nhqano4N8L-320-80.jpg)
Bizarre Superfluid Could Explain the Existence of the Modern Universe
By Rafi Letzter published
Back in the first moment of the universe, everything was hot and dense and in perfect balance. A new quantum experiment aims to show how that changed.
![Cotton Sprouts on the Moon's Far Side](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/3WNSrGds8V7nxx2dPj2EEg-320-80.jpeg)
Here's How China's Cotton Sprouts Died on the Far Side of the Moon
By Rafi Letzter published
China managed to grow some tiny cotton sprouts on the moon, but it killed them. Here's how.
![In a simulation, dark matter flowed away from the center of a galaxy as new stars formed. Real data about that galaxy, on the right, closely matches the simulation.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/BurbeeKncSieGFdDub9rUR-320-80.jpg)
Dark Matter Behaves Differently in Dying Galaxies
By Rafi Letzter published
Astronomers barely know anything about dark matter, but now they know this: It behaves differently in old, dying galaxies than in new, star-forming ones.
![light ring](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/DvBSHXR8SyWD82LXEMMjmi-320-80.jpg)
Physicists Built a Machine That Breaks the Normal Rules of Light
By Rafi Letzter published
Physicists have built a ring in which pulses of light whip circles around each other and the normal rules that govern light's behavior stop applying.
![The International Space Station](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/V2BWVGrUyqvhhCCbi2tYpE-320-80.jpg)
No, Bacteria Aren't Mutating into Superbugs on the International Space Station
By Rafi Letzter published
Bacteria on the International Space Station are evolving and changing in the strange orbital environment. But they don't seem to be any more dangerous to humans.
![The surface of the moon with Earth in the background. (Composite image)](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/kpp4CgbScwwA9pFRd8taUQ-320-80.jpg)
There Are Plants and Animals on the Moon Now (Because of China)
By Rafi Letzter published
China's Chang'e-4 lander contains a living experiment that could lay the groundwork for agriculture at its future lunar base.
![A photo shows the underground water tank where LUX-ZEPLIN will eventually sit.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/sZYT7boutNCBeDayRkXRta-320-80.jpg)
4 Dark Matter Searches to Watch in 2019
By Rafi Letzter published
As 2019 nears, physicists are hard at work on the next generation of dark matter detectors, and on parsing confusing data from detectors that already exist.
![Artist’s rendering of the Europa "tunnelbot."](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/nqLh25zzge35K9zdayn3MQ-320-80.jpg)
Scientists Proposed a Nuclear 'Tunnelbot' to Hunt Life in Europa's Hidden Ocean
By Rafi Letzter published
A group of scientists wants to send a nuclear-powered "tunnelbot" to Europa to blaze a path through its thick shell of ice and search for life.
![Comet 67p/Churyumov-Gerasimenko bow shock](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/pMNj8zy52yNXg7WMJNSCWK-320-80.jpg)
The Rubber Ducky Comet Blasted a Magnetic Path Through Space
By Rafi Letzter published
Rosetta's comet sent a magnetic shock wave screaming out in front of it, blazing a trail through the stellar wind. And scientists just found it.
![Milky Way Dark Matter](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/CSCAgN7RoUaieJfPr8Zt5W-320-80.jpg)
Physicists Keep Trying — and Failing — to Find Dark Matter in Dark Places
By Rafi Letzter published
A summertime sparkle seemed to hint that researchers had found dark matter, but it looks like those scientists were wrong.
![UFO on Earth.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Ss8gmasNF5kt6N4XzfsHDd-320-80.jpg)
Here's the Truth Behind a NASA Document on Aliens Visiting Earth
By Rafi Letzter published
Silvano Colombano said that his view on aliens visiting Earth “is not accurately represented” in a viral Fox News article.
![This artistic impression shows the gas motion around the supermassive black hole in the center of the Circinus galaxy.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/fnCc88x2Ev9sWnQaA73MTR-320-80.jpg)
Astronomers Think They've Figured Out the Raging Swirls of Gas Around Supermassive Black Holes
By Rafi Letzter published
Churning, hellish, hot-cold gas storms swirl around our universe's supermassive black holes. But the scientists involved in discovering them would prefer you call them "fountains."
![The world's largest atom smasher, the Large Hadron Collider, forms a 17-mile-long (27 kilometers) ring under the French-Swiss border.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/egBe2ktVFm7ekrng993wf-320-80.jpg)
Humanity's Largest Atom Smasher Takes a Pause, Will Wake Up Again in 2021
By Rafi Letzter published
Particles: Breathe easy. Scientists at the world's largest particle collider have no plans to smash you together until spring 2021.
![journey to space](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/BJo7XFBMeZvrzYcMYuufUn-320-80.jpg)
We Could Spray Cheap Chemicals in the Air to Slow Climate Change. Should We?
By Rafi Letzter published
A new paper reveals that it would cost less to slow climate change than it would to fix New York City's subway system.
![In this illustration, a hot, dense, expanding cloud of debris gets stripped from neutron stars just before they collide.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/rMMcrTHwF8XVu9gT9BqbnF-320-80.jpg)
Einstein's Theory of General Relativity Just Survived a Massive Crash in Outer Space
By Rafi Letzter published
Once again, a decades-old theory of gravity has survived a modern scientific onslaught. Einstein wins again.
![White Sands national monument](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/BfaR8Vn6ZYmgkyzPzon7v4-320-80.jpg)
Ugh, When These Stars Die They're Probably Gonna Get Sand Everywhere
By Rafi Letzter published
A new study reveals the origin of silica, and how a bunch of old supernovas got it all over everything.
![Apep's stellar streams coil around the knot of orbiting stars at its core in this image from the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere's Very Large Telescope.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/YDBTzQ2ZyyrCrRqCBbc9SJ-320-80.jpg)
This Spinning, Snakelike Star System Might Blast Gamma Rays into the Milky Way When It Dies
By Rafi Letzter published
Astronomers found a star system in our galaxy that could produce a gamma-ray burst — one of the brightest and most energetic events in the universe.
![Researchers 3D printed these ceramic items from fake moon dust, or regolith.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/v65rzHdZcbwsJGeGFu4yua-320-80.jpg)
European Researchers Baked Fake Moon Dust into Money and Screws
By Rafi Letzter published
Why did the European Space Agency create a whole bunch of fake moon dust and use it to 3D print small screws, gears and even a fake coin?
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