Lee Billings

@leebillings

CHNOPS in ferruginous saline. Multicellular aerobic chemoheterotroph; symbiont of photosynthetic autotrophs. Descendant of stardust; aspiring good ancestor. Senior Editor, Scientific American. Signal: @lee_billings.81

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Lee Billings@leebillings· Apr 14

Spotted what I suspect must be a SpaceX Falcon 9 second stage over NJ this morning.

Lee Billings@leebillings· Apr 7

The crew members of the International Space Station just wrapped a friendly convo with the four astronauts of the Artemis II lunar mission. But a part of me suspects that behind each jovial, smiling question from the ISS there was a wee bit of this:

A smartly dressed young child poses for school pictures with a big frown on his face, juxtaposed against text labels including "CONGRATS", "HAPPY FOR YOU", and "NICE".

Lee Billings@leebillings· Sep 9

Now on @sciam.bsky.social: Is Golden Dome, Trump’s missile shield plan, destined to be a pillar of U.S. defense or a trillion-dollar boondoggle? Even the experts don’t know—which probably isn’t a good thing. Important story by @raminskibba.bsky.social. www.scientificamerican.com/article/u-s-...

Lee Billings@leebillings· Jul 28

Thrilled to be here in DC for the duration of the #HWO25 conference. Eager to learn more about this next chapter of astronomy, astrophysics, and astrobiology! If you want to chat about the project with this ink-stained wretch, ping me here or find me in person.

Lee Billings@leebillings· Jul 17

Now on @sciam.bsky.social: 3I/ATLAS, the third known interstellar object to enter our solar system, is full of mysteries. Here's what scientists are trying to learn about it before it boomerangs back to the void. By @astrojonny.bsky.social. www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-...

Lee Billings@leebillings· Feb 6

Yeah, if I had to bet I'd say the path to any viable interplanetary or interstellar future doesn't run through cryptocoin grifts, disinformation memes, pay-to-win video games, grievance-based policymaking, and a shameless embrace of neofascism. SpaceX makes nice rockets, though.

But even if you accept a prescriptive interpretation of these cold war–era ideas, why assume Musk and other tech-impresarios hold the key to becoming a Type II civilization—or avoiding the Great Filter? If we take the “fork in the road” at face value, what justifies the belief that they are the ones with the solution? Could they not equally be part of the problem, accelerating the very conditions—oligarchic control, systemic inequality and environmental degradation—that could lead to existential catastrophe? The irony is that their speculative ethos, when turned back on itself, reveals its own contradictions: a worldview that claims to safeguard humanity’s future could just as easily be entrenching the very power structures that threaten it.

That the uncritical embrace of cold war SETI theories is now justifying aggressive changes to the U.S. government and its workforce underscores their pervasive influence, but it also highlights their limitations. By framing humanity’s challenges as simple engineering problems rather than complex systemic ones, technologists position themselves as decisive architects of our future, crafting grand visions that sidestep the messier, necessary work of social, political and collaborative change.

Lee Billings@leebillings· Nov 21