A special for the World Cup: how do the world’s best “bend it like Beckham”? “Soccer matches should be something special, something people eagerly look forward to, something that brightens […]
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A forgotten almost-hero of the 19th century still has something to teach about science… and style. “There is nothing more contemptible than a bald man who pretends to have hair.” –Martial […]
The population of science Ph.D.’s is steadily growing, while the number of available faculty jobs increases at a pace only a snail could envy.
It hadn’t hit me before I saw it, but it’s true – we have 3-D printing pens, yet we still have to use bulky, stationary printers that don’t fit in […]
NEW YORK – Karl Marx famously wrote that history repeats itself, “the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce.” Yet when we look around nowadays, we can’t help […]
They’re one of the great undetected predictions of dark matter, and we may have just found the first ones! “Two qualities are indispensable: first, an intellect that, even in the darkest […]
But with its gaps and unusual structure, we’re lucky it did. “But touch a solemn truth in collision with a dogma of a sect, though capable of the clearest proof, and […]
It’s the greatest cosmic masquerade of all: a star that fakes its own death! “If you are a dreamer come inIf you are a dreamer a wisher a liarA hoper a […]
What shape does the Sun trace out at the same time of day throughout the year? “Life is tragic simply because the earth turns and the sun inexorably rises and sets, […]
The Great Orion Nebula is so great, it needed a second Messier object all to itself! “Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others […]
What’s the opposite of inhaling helium? Inhaling sulfur hexafluoride. While helium makes you sound like a Merry Melodies character, sulfur hexafluoride will make you sound like, well, Satan. Adam Savage […]
When things don’t add up, it’s a great sign that something amazing is right around the corner. Every Thursday, we take an older post from the Starts With A Bang archives […]
Didn’t get picked to be a Google Glass Explorer? For a limited time, now’s your chance to get your gadget-hungry hands on the Star Trek-like accessory. People in the U.S. […]
ABC News anchor Dan Harris recounts having a panic attack live on “Good Morning America.” Harris went on to encounter a number of snake-oil-selling self-help gurus before he finally discovered the effectiveness of traditional Buddhist meditation. Harris is the author of 10% Happier.
Mike Denison’s artistic tribute to the small-screen legend is just delightful! “I’m not playing a role. I’m being myself, whatever the hell that is.” -Bea Arthur When it first came […]
How to destroy an Alderaan-sized planet. “What’s that star?It’s the Death Star.What does it do?It does Death. It does Death, buddy. Get out of my way!” –Eddie Izzard It’s one […]
Is a surprise trip to Disney World the best gift you could give your kids? Um, no.
Self-praise is a challenge for most of us. Women find it particularly uncomfortable and are inclined to give away more credit than is necessary — or even accurate. But if […]
Every prediction it’s ever made has been verified, except for one. “These neutrino observations are so exciting and significant that I think we’re about to see the birth of an entirely […]
I was recently (not for the first time) in a conversation where a woman said she never again wants to work for another woman. When I asked how many female […]
“riverrun, past Eve and Adam’s, from swerve of shore to bend of bay,” begins James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake, opening a torrent of words that has drowned many readers in confusion […]
NEW YORK – Stories are most believable when they reaffirm our prior beliefs and assumptions. If not, we tend to find them implausible. A case in point is Eduardo Galeano’s […]
Why is our solar system flat? We started off as a shapeless blob of gases after the Big Bang. How did our solar system flatten out? From Saturn’s rings to […]
The mind seeks out patterns, and this can lead to some tricky mind games…played by your own mind, on you. This could happen when a song gets stuck in your […]
New word of the day: equipopulous. Country A is equipopulous to country B if it has the same number of inhabitants. This map shows what a European Union with 28 […]
Must mindfulness always mean meditation—eyes closed, mind clear, simply breathing, simply being? Dan Harris’ recent best seller 10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without […]
If spinning-and-moving charges make magnetic fields, why does a giant neutral thing have one? Image credit: NASA, Chandra X-ray Observatory, SAO, DSS, via http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140725.html. “By allowing the positive ions to […]
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 […]
Messier himself lamented his own original discovery. If only he knew why he was so disappointed, he might’ve been amazed instead! “Things need not have happened to be true. Tales […]
“For me, I am driven by two main philosophies: know more today about the world than I knew yesterday and lessen the suffering of others. You’d be surprised how far […]