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.
While there are presently more than ~10²³ stars in the Universe shining today, each one of them is fated to live only for a finite amount of time. While more […]
https://players.brightcove.net/2097119709001/4kXWOFbfYx_default/index.html?videoId=5042734601001 In the more than 40 years since Apollo ended, we’ve never gone farther. “I knew I was alone in a way that no earthling has ever been before.” –Michael Collins On […]
When the Viking landers ran their three experiments looking for life, one came up positive. That’s still a mystery. “This suggests a robust biological response. These analyses support the interpretation that […]
The infrared reveals stars — and a surprising population of failed stars — we’ve never seen before. “…innumerable stars, thousands of double and multiple systems, clusters in one blaze with their tens of thousands of […]
If everything is relative, as Einstein says, then how do cosmologists measure these quantities in ways everyone can agree? “A human being is part of a whole, called by us the […]
Why, even with infinite magnification, we’d never view the first stars. “Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.” –Marcus Aurelius Imagine the […]
Why we’re positive the Universe isn’t all there is, and what the different possibilities for a Multiverse are. “Go, then. There are other worlds than these.” –Stephen King When you […]
A new idea links the Standard Model’s most elusive particles with the zero-point energy of the Universe. “If you’re puzzled by what dark energy is, you’re in good company.” –Saul […]
If you thought the Kuiper belt was just icy worlds of various sizes orbiting like Pluto, think again. “There have only been two true planets discovered since ancient times, and this […]
As seen by Hubble and Chandra, NASA’s greatest observatories. “My eureka moment was in the dead of night, the early hours of the morning, on a cold, cold night, and […]
And what, exactly, is the significance of a tetraquark? “I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way — things I had no words […]
We have electric charges and currents in electromagnetism, so why not magnetic ones, too? “It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is […]
The idea that there might only be one fundamental force might be a fundamental mistake. “Even if there is only one possible unified theory, it is just a set of […]
If we started all over again, could our Solar System’s second planet have been the inhabited one? “It was the Venus I had prayed to, it was my prayer, though […]
An awful op-ed about how science is no different than other disciplines misses some fundamental facts. “Philosophy of science is about as useful to scientists as ornithology is to birds.” […]
And are likely due to subsurface water, geysers and an incredible process. “Have you entered the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in search of the depths?” –Job […]
If they change and distort spacetime as the ripples pass through, could what was once inside actually get out? “Find a place inside where there’s joy, and the joy will burn […]
After 4th of July this past Monday, here’s the science behind how they work! “Celebrate the independence of your nation by blowing up a small part of it.” -The Simpsons This […]
Why Everest and the Grand Canyon are so small. Yes, SMALL! “How well I have learned that there is no fence to sit on between heaven and hell. There is a […]
If it’s such a light element, why are Earth’s stores of it buried beneath the surface? “I have this one little saying, when things get too heavy just call me helium, […]
It’s the ‘nightmare scenario’ for some. But for Sabine Hossenfelder, it might be a dream come true. This article was authored by Sabine Hossenfelder. Sabine is a theoretical physicist specialized in […]
Combined with Hubble, it creates our longest-baseline view. “It used to be that Pluto was a misfit. Now it turns out that Earth is the misfit. Most planets in the […]
There’s a small rock orbiting our planet more distant than the Moon we know. Does that mean we have two Moons? “You can be the Moon and still be jealous of […]
It’s more than a conclusion that most scientists agree on; it’s the basis for all the science we do now! “Those who know that the consensus of many centuries has sanctioned […]
The massive black holes that formed LIGO’s first event were a surprise, and then a mystery. Here’s the long-awaited solution! “Black holes can bang against space-time as mallets on a […]
And the wisdom from an exclusive interview with Larry Niven. Ever since humanity had the thought that the distant, twinkling stars might be Suns like our own, with their own planetary […]
Now that LIGO’s found two pairs of merging black holes, what does the future hold? “We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to […]
The New York Times claimed that aliens must have existed at some point. But science is less certain. “There are two possible outcomes: if the result confirms the hypothesis, then you’ve […]
Over 300,000 light years long, a new record! “Mozart’s music is like an X-ray of your soul — it shows what is there, and what isn’t.” –Isaac Stern From 500 million light years […]
They’re not just for dogs and cats to lay in; there’s a real, physical story behind them! “The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for among old parchments […]