Ethan Siegel
A theoretical astrophysicist and science writer, host of popular podcast "Starts with a Bang!"
Ethan Siegel is a Ph.D. astrophysicist and author of "Starts with a Bang!" He is a science communicator, who professes physics and astronomy at various colleges. He has won numerous awards for science writing since 2008 for his blog, including the award for best science blog by the Institute of Physics. His two books "Treknology: The Science of Star Trek from Tricorders to Warp Drive" and "Beyond the Galaxy: How humanity looked beyond our Milky Way and discovered the entire Universe" are available for purchase at Amazon. Follow him on Twitter @startswithabang.
It does undergo nuclear fusion, but there are more reactions and more energy released from reactions other than H → He. “The sun is a miasmaOf incandescent plasmaThe sun’s not simply […]
I’m not saying it wasn’t aliens… but… it wasn’t aliens. “Just the fact that you so desperately attempt to dismantle our theory proves that we are on the right track. Otherwise […]
It isn’t just supernovae or neutron star collisions that make the heaviest elements. The physics might surprise you! “Comrades, this man has a nice smile, but he’s got iron teeth.” –Andrei A. […]
How the gravitational Casimir effect might cause our Universe’s accelerated expansion, without any new physics at all. “For although it is certainly true that quantitative measurements are of great importance, it […]
Are we about to make a breakthrough to go beyond black holes? Here’s what it means if we do! “It’s becoming clear that in a sense the cosmos provides the only […]
We may use superlatives all the time, but that’s no substitute for quantifying just how bad, big, or important something is. This article was written by Kimberly Arcand and Megan […]
Science communication is about more than just “stating facts.” A lot more. “Curious that we spend more time congratulating people who have succeeded than encouraging people who have not.” –Neil deGrasse […]
It’s incredibly simple and straightforward, and the science doesn’t lie. (And yes, global warming played a role!) “The hurricane flooded me out of a lot of memorabilia, but it can’t flood […]
Every star dies, but not every would-be star really lives. “The origin and evolution of life are connected in the most intimate way with the origin and evolution of the stars.” […]
Many sci-fi technologies will remain in the realm of fiction unless physics changes. But some experiments could uncover just that! “Imagination makes us aware of limitless possibilities. How many of us […]
Earthquake? Nuclear explosion? Fission or fusion? We know, even if world leaders lie. “North Korea has taught a great lesson to all the countries in the world, especially the rogue countries […]
Our most common fears of the “other” extend even into outer space. Here’s why those fears are baseless. “Man has gone out to explore other worlds and other civilizations without […]
For the first time, the gravitational wave sky and the astronomical sky might be coming together. It’s a new era, at long last. “Presently thought to be the most powerful explosions […]
Did you experience totality? I did, for the first time. And it was, even as a well-prepared scientist, beyond anything I expected. “All that is nowAll that is goneAll that’s […]
A new podcast: a first-person account, by a scientist, of what it was like to live and experience totality for the first time. “I sometimes ask people, ‘Can you be aware […]
Want to be hotter? Add more mass. Want to go even hotter than that? Lose almost all of it. “A candidate is not going to suddenly change once they get into […]
When matter falls in, black holes grow. But Hawking radiation says that black holes decay. Who wins? “Maybe that is our mistake: maybe there are no particle positions and velocities, but […]
More than 90% of the eclipses to ever happen on Earth have already occurred. Don’t miss the next one! “We live in a moment of history where change is so speeded […]
The pulsar map to Earth was perfect when it was launched. By time aliens get it, it’ll be completely useless. “We [are] a species endowed with hope and perseverance, at […]
The new Moon is brighter than every star in the sky. But you’ll never see it during an eclipse. “Even though the reason for taking the photographs was science, the result […]
The origin of life on Earth may have nothing to do with Earth at all. “An extrapolation of the genetic complexity of organisms to earlier times suggests that life began before […]
It’s a great show in total darkness. Here’s how to not ruin it for yourself. “Yes, I am well aware that nature — or what we call nature: that totality of objects […]
It’s a lot more than just being unable to measure two things simultaneously. “In the future, maybe quantum mechanics will teach us something equally chilling about exactly how we exist […]
No other object this large has come so close to Earth in millions of years. In the 5th millennium, we might suffer the consequences. “Honestly, if you’re given the choice […]
When you’re confronted by some new information, how do you tell whether it’s valid or not? “I’m old enough to remember when the polio vaccine was still new. Also, it hadn’t […]
That number is far bigger than anyone expected, but physics doesn’t lie. “Our first priority was making sure we weren’t fooling ourselves.” –Keith Riles, LIGO team member How many black holes are […]
It isn’t about saving us from aliens at all. “To be on my very first spacewalk, to be outside, and to have contamination in my suit to the point that I […]
Oregon, Idaho, and Wyoming are all on fire, and simply driving your car can be the most dangerous thing of all. “I’d rather fight 100 structure fires than a wildfire. With […]
Drop a chunk of sodium metal into water, and a violent reaction ensues. But it’s more than just chemistry at play. “Chlorine is a deadly poison gas employed on European battlefields […]
99 years ago, General Relativity was still unproven. During the 1918 eclipse, a small team of Americans almost changed that. “Astronomers are greatly disappointed when, having traveled halfway around the world […]