If we want our conclusions to be meaningful, our data had better be robust. When it comes to the Universe, there’s a whole lot that doesn’t add up. All the matter […]
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The Big Bang is our accepted origin of the Universe. But is there another possibility? Since the mid-1960s and the discovery of the Cosmic Microwave Background, the Big Bang has […]
Forgetting them, at any step, can lead to unscientific conclusions. No one, not even the smartest among us, were competent scientists from the outset. The concept of science is simple […]
And what might we learn as we collect new, never-before-seen data? If you took one of history’s top scientists from 100 years ago and dropped them into today’s world, what […]
All scientific theories, at some level, are wrong. That’s why consensus is so vital. There are two important and common words that, when used scientifically, have a very different meaning than […]
Almost certainly not. Here’s the science of why. The Universe, as we know it, simply doesn’t add up. On the one hand, we can look out on a cosmic scale and […]
Scientific surprises are often how science advances. But more often than not, they’re just bad science. When you’re a scientist, getting an unexpected result can be a double-edged sword. The best […]
As soon as you start thinking about energy and gravity, you’ll realize the need to go beyond it. When it comes to a science like physics, theoretical expectations must always be […]
If dark energy were stronger or weaker, everything would be pretty much the same. And that’s a puzzle. After the Big Bang, the Universe was full of matter and radiation. It […]
We’ve come so far since 2015; what do we know about dark matter now that we didn’t know then? Back in 2015, the dark matter situation was pretty straightforward: the large-scale […]
Did they perform their analysis sub-optimally? Maybe. But gravitational waves were seen no matter what. “We hope that interested people will repeat our calculations and will make up their own minds […]
It’s the most fundamental fabric of the Universe itself. But how does it work? “‘Space-time’ — that hideous hybrid whose very hyphen looks phoney.” –Vladimir Nabokov When it comes to understanding the Universe, there […]
Gravity is the oldest fundamental force ever discovered. Might it not be fundamental after all? “The whole edifice of modern physics is built up on the fundamental hypothesis of the atomic […]
And can we even agree on the definition of ‘nothingness’? “Alone, I often fall down into nothingness. I must push my foot stealthily lest I should fall off the edge […]
They’re judged to be “standard candles” and the greatest cosmic distance indicators. What if they’re not so standard? “It’s everywhere, really. It’s between the galaxies. It is in this room. […]
If there is a quantum theory of gravity, is String Theory the only game in town? “I just think too many nice things have happened in string theory for it to […]
I scored an exclusive interview with Dave Reitze, the executive director of LIGO. Take a trip inside his Universe. “When I was in high school, I was certain that being […]
Is everything astonishingly simple, though? Or is this a grandiose claim that falls flat when confronted with the evidence? “My main interest is the problem of the singularity. If we […]
With the full suite of evidence, there’s no escaping dark matter. “A cosmic mystery of immense proportions, once seemingly on the verge of solution, has deepened and left astronomers and […]
If our “standard candles” aren’t so standard, is dark energy still real? “Some say the world will end in fire,Some say in ice.From what I’ve tasted of desireI hold with […]
Catch MIT scientist Sara Seager take you to the cutting edge and into the future, with a live blog (plus commentary) right here! “Hundreds or thousands of years from now, […]
Live-streamed from Perimeter Institute, & exclusive real-time commentary! “Every generation of physicists solves some old puzzles and finds some new ones.” –Dr. Kendrick Smith I want you to think back […]
If there’s something before the Big Bang, then what does that mean for the beginning of our Universe? “You can try to lie to yourself. You can try to tell […]
Sure, the Universe is expanding, and that expansion is accelerating. But beyond simply calling the cause “dark energy,” what do we know about it? Image credit: NASA, ESA, H. Teplitz […]
With all the matter-and-energy so close together and so dense at the moment of the Big Bang, why didn’t it recollapse? Image credit: Mark A. Garlick / University of Warwick. […]
No other idea explains even two of these. Image credit: NASA / CXC / ESO WFI / Magellan composite. Any recent article about the remaining mysteries of the Universe will […]
Which ideas are likely, which ones are speculative, and which ones are pure fiction? “Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think […]
What every middle-to-high schooler should know. Image credit: Bayside STEM academy, via Stanford at https://ed.stanford.edu/news/new-design-thinking-curriculum-targets-middle-school-students. “Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time […]
And what it might — and might not — give us useful insights into. Image credit: Karen46 of http://www.freeimages.com/profile/karen46. “The anthropic principle – the idea that our universe has the properties it does because […]
Even at the speed of light, you’ll never reach these galaxies. “I realise now that I wanted to disappear. To get so lost that nobody ever found me. To go […]