Brilliant because: She discovers the secrets of planets by re-creating their collisions

摘要

What makes the universe the way it is? Sarah T. Stewart thinks she knows the answer. "It all comes down to big things running into each other," she says, and space is full of battered rocks. Stewart studies their scars and shapes. A planet's pockmarks can be used to predict its age-if it has many, it's probably been around for a while-and its contours can hint at what might lie beneath the ground. "I use the way craters look," she explains, "to learn about the planet they're on."