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.
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 […]
How to stay safe and prepare yourself for the show of a lifetime! “Nations, like stars, are entitled to eclipse. All is well, provided the light returns and the eclipse […]
At 7,000 light years away, are they even still there today? “There’s no difference between a pessimist who says, “Oh it’s hopeless, so don’t bother doing anything.” and an optimist who […]
Brown dwarfs are the ultimate failed stars, but they might not remain as failed forever. “[Brown dwarfs] appear to live a more exciting life than we presumed. They are too big […]
65 million years, an impact wiped out 30% of all life on Earth. Could another one be imminent? “That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.” […]
Meet LISA, the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna. Yes, it’s giant LIGO, in space, and it’s happening! “Einstein’s gravitational theory, which is said to be the greatest single achievement of theoretical […]
A new planet, bigger than Earth, could be lurking in the outer solar system. But new evidence says ‘probably not.’ “Although we were initially quite skeptical that this planet could […]
The Omega Nebula, the Eagle Nebula and Sharpless 2–54 all line up in space. Here’s a never-before-seen view of them all together! “It shows you exactly how a star is […]
A new podcast, to cover an incredible story of why we can exist at all. “Already in my original paper I stressed the circumstance that I was unable to give a […]
How the Universe’s expansion rate continues to baffle us. “In expanding the field of knowledge we but increase the horizon of ignorance.” –Henry Miller It’s the most fundamental law of special […]
The smart money is still on LIGO, but there sure looks like something funny is happening if the new group is correct. This article was contributed by Sabine Hossenfelder. Sabine […]
Now we know, on every scale. “There is no such thing as perpetual tranquillity of mind while we live here; because life itself is but motion, and can never be without […]
With the launch of JPSS-1 coming up this year, everything that NASA Earth science stands for hinges on its success. “There is, then, no water that is wholly of the Pacific, […]
Never heard of SKA, the square kilometer array? Once it starts taking data, you’ll never forget it. “Not all chemicals are bad. Without chemicals such as hydrogen and oxygen, for […]
Long thought to be a fallacy, new analysis shows the ‘hot hand’ is real, and Klay Thompson has it. “Success isn’t a result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on […]
Add sideways tornadoes to the list of things you can have when your atmosphere is as tenuous as Mars’ is. “This would be like an F8 tornado sweeping across the surface. […]
More massive is bigger, less massive is smaller, right? That’s not even half the story. “Billions of years from now our sun, then a distended red giant star, will have reduced […]
This isn’t an XZibit joke; it’s a real scientific question. And the answer may be that it’s possible after all. “People who work every day are kind of scared of things […]
Gravitational waves and electromagnetic ones don’t need to go together. But physics says it’s possible; what do the observations say? “The black holes collide in complete darkness. None of the […]
What we think of as our average region of the Universe might not be average at all. “No matter what technique you use, you should get the same value for the […]
Some say it’s more than all of humanity emits in a year. But people say a lot of things. What does the science say? “One volcano puts out more toxic gases — one […]
Think the periodic table is complicated? Now learn how each element in it was created. “It is the function of science to discover the existence of a general reign of order […]
You know what a black hole is, and we’ve found a few so far. But oh, are there ever so many more out there! “Black holes are the seductive dragons of […]
Every star must eventually run out of fuel and die… but did you know the galaxy itself will come to an end someday? “Unless one says goodbye to what one loves, […]
If we see an atomic nucleus decay in a particular way, it means the Universe is fundamentally different from how we see it today. “There are several categories of scientists in […]
The event horizon is real, and we know it without even needing to see it directly. “Where we’re going, we won’t need eyes to see.” –Sam Neill, Event Horizon If […]
Constant? Not-a-constant? Or is there a fundamental flaw in the way we’re doing business? This article was written by Sabine Hossenfelder. Sabine is a theoretical physicist specialized in quantum gravity […]
It isn’t just supernovae or merging neutron stars. In fact, it’s the quietest way of all! “N6946-BH1 is the only likely failed supernova that we found in the first seven years […]
There’s a point beyond which we cannot go, there are things beyond that we cannot know. But here’s what we expect. “The Edge… there is no honest way to explain it […]
It’s not too late to change course, but we’re headed in the wrong direction faster than ever now. “Oh Beautiful for smoggy skies, insecticided grain,For strip-mined mountain’s majesty above the asphalt […]