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
NASA Figures Out Where Weirdly Rectangular Iceberg Was Born
By Rafi Letzter published
NASA went back and looked at how that weirdly rectangular iceberg formed. What they found surprised them.
A Deadly, Fast-Spreading Form of Super-Ice Could Be Killing Off Alien Life-Forms
By Rafi Letzter published
Ice that forms at a speed faster than sound could be ripping life on alien planets to shreds before it even has a chance to get going.
The US Shot Down a Fake Nuclear Missile in Space with Another Missile (Video)
By Rafi Letzter published
It was the second-ever success for the joint missile defense program, and a stunning technological accomplishment.
NASA's Found a Weird, Rectangular Iceberg in Antarctica
By Rafi Letzter published
A NASA photograph revealed an extremely weird-looking iceberg. A NASA scientist explained why.
Exoplanet Hunters Have a New Plan to Spot Hidden 'Migrating' Worlds
By Rafi Letzter published
There's a telescope that can see thick rings of dust in distant star systems. And researchers want to use its data in a new way to spot hidden and migrating exoplanets.
This Hunk of Metal Fell From Space and Landed in California
By Rafi Letzter published
Iridium 70 fell out of orbit Oct. 10. A few days later, one of its fuel tanks caused a stir in central California.
Stephen Hawking Said 'Superhumans' Will Replace Us. Was He Right?
By Rafi Letzter published
Are we all going to be replaced?
Mysterious Leptoquarks Could Bind Both Types of Matter. That Is, If They Exist
By Rafi Letzter published
The leptoquark is down to couple with leptons and quarks.
US Air Force: Don't Worry About Those Weird Lights and Booms Sunday, It's Just a Spaceship
By Rafi Letzter published
SpaceX will attempt to launch and land a rocket on the West Coast Sunday, and the USAF wants Californians to know in advance so they won't worry.
Scientists Pinpoint Where Dark Matter Is Hiding in the Universe
By Rafi Letzter published
A new map of dark matter all over the universe could reveal things scientists don't know about dark energy.
Bizarre Particles Keep Flying Out of Antarctica's Ice, and They Might Shatter Modern Physics
By Rafi Letzter published
There's something out there that physicists have never seen before, and it's coming up from the bottom of the Earth. Scientists think it's a brand-new particle.
Primeval Black Holes Could Reveal How the Universe Formed
By Rafi Letzter published
Very close to the very beginning, scientists think, there were black holes. And now they know how to find them.
This Super-Strong Magnet Literally Blew the Doors Off a Tokyo Laboratory
By Rafi Letzter published
There's a magnet in a secure room in Tokyo. The last time its designers switched it on, it blew open the heavy doors designed to keep it contained.
Why the SpaceX Lunar Tourists Won't Walk on the Moon
By Rafi Letzter published
Twelve people have walked on the moon, and Elon Musk won't add any Japanese billionaires to that number anytime soon.
Hurricane Florence Is 50 Miles Larger, with 50% More Rain, Thanks to Climate Change
By Rafi Letzter published
For the first time, researchers have calculated the impact of climate change on a hurricane before it actually hits land.
Hurricane Florence Is Dumping a Huge Amount of Rain on the Carolinas
By Rafi Letzter published
The storm's winds are no longer as strong as they once were, but the rainfall is already approaching 'catastrophic.'
7 Quantum Particles Act Like Billions in Weird Physics Experiment
By Rafi Letzter published
Just seven photons in a mirrored trap formed a Bose-Einstein condensate, one of the more exotic particle states — and one usually reserved for matter.
Scientists Spot Ancient, Ultra-Fast Wind from the Early Universe
By Rafi Letzter published
Galaxies use powerful winds to save themselves from early deaths. And researchers just spotted one from just a billion years after the Big Bang.
Scientist Robbed of Nobel in 1974 Finally Wins $3 Million Physics Prize — And Gives It Away
By Rafi Letzter published
Jocelyn Bell Burnell shocked the physics world when she discovered radio pulsars. But the Nobel committee gave the 1974 award to her supervisor instead.
Physicists, Hunting the 'Dark Photon,' Will Blast a Diamond with Antimatter
By Rafi Letzter published
A new experiment in Italy will seek an unlikely particle that some scientists think could unlock the "dark sector" of our universe.
Glowing NASA Map Shows Huge Dust Clouds Swirling Across Earth
By Rafi Letzter published
We live our whole lives wandering from one cloud of dust to the next. A new NASA image lets you see that for yourself.
A Whole Lot of the Planet Is on Fire Right Now
By Rafi Letzter published
NASA's latest images of the world from space reveal just how much of planet Earth is straight-up burning right now.
Physicists Think They've Spotted the Ghosts of Black Holes from Another Universe
By Rafi Letzter published
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