Even before the Big Bang, energetic radiation was always present. When it comes to the physical Universe, the notion of “nothing” may truly be possible only in theory, not in […]
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Enough mass in one location will always create a black hole. But not all masses are possible. If you take enough mass and compress it into a small enough volume […]
Why are the rest masses of fundamental particles related like this? When it comes to the nature of matter in the Universe, the Standard Model describes the known elementary particles perfectly […]
If you’ve ever struggled with the strong force, this explanation is a life-saver. If you ask someone to think about some physical phenomenon that’s responsible for any sort of force […]
Have we always had quantum fields in the Universe? Or did they emerge at some finite time? No matter how we look at the Universe — at low temperatures or ultra-high energies, from […]
If you have an old TV set with the “rabbit ear” antennae, and you set it to channel 03, that snowy static can reveal the Big Bang itself.
Yes, the Big Bang is real, but what about what came before? If you ask anyone about the origin of some phenomenon that we’ve observed, they’ll usually default to the same […]
It could evolve, strengthen, decay, or not be alone. Our known Universe contains matter, radiation, and dark energy. While matter (both normal and dark) and radiation become less dense as […]
The great hope is that beyond the indirect, astrophysical evidence we have today, we’ll someday detect it directly. But what if we can’t?
Some say that the Sun is a green-yellow color, but our human eyes see it as white, or yellow-to-red during sunset. What color is it really?
We pretend to be in control, but we have frighteningly little knowledge upon which to base our life’s decisions.
In the early 20th century, a young biochemist named Alexander Oparin set out to connect “the world of the living” to “the world of the dead.”
The credibility problem facing the biomedical and public health establishment is, at least in part, a product of its own making.
Yes, dark energy is real. Yes, distant galaxies recede faster and faster as time goes on. But the expansion rate isn’t accelerating at all.
Can computers do calculations in multiple universes? Scientists are working on it. Step into the world of quantum computing.
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Forget these scientific myths to better understand your brain and yourself.
Dark energy is one of the biggest mysteries in all the Universe. Is there some way to avoid “having to live with it?”
Are space and time real like atoms are, or is spacetime just a calculational tool? When most of us think about the Universe, we think about the material objects that […]
The Universe is grand, awe-inspiring, and greater than we likely imagine. Even astrophysicists get anxious thinking about it, but we cope.
Complex organisms and living worlds couldn’t exist without these transitions. You couldn’t make the Universe we have today if everything were always the same. Although many philosophically favored the idea […]
Using atoms to probe the Universe reveals the complete Standard Model. If you wanted to uncover the secrets of the Universe for yourself, all you’d have to do is interrogate […]
The most common element in the Universe, vital for forming new stars, is hydrogen. But there’s a finite amount of it; what if we run out?
Einstein’s “happiest thought” led to General Relativity’s formulation. Would a different profound insight have led us forever astray?
It’s the best-known transcendental number of all-time, and March 14 (3/14 in many countries) is the perfect time to celebrate Pi (π) Day!
It’s not for climate science and condensed matter physics. It’s for advancing our understanding beyond spherical cows.
Pseudoscience is science’s shadow.
Technology has advanced at a blinding pace in the past 150 years. That won’t always happen.
JWST has seen more distant galaxies than any other observatory, ever. But many candidates for “most distant of all” are likely impostors.
Proponents of transhumanism make big promises, such as a future in which we upload our minds into a supercomputer. But there is a fatal flaw in this argument: reductionism.
Scientific pluralism is the notion that some questions must be approached from many angles. How can we integrate these scientific models?