The universe is out there, waiting for you to discover it.
Our mission: to answer, scientifically, the biggest questions of all.
- What is our universe made of?
- How did it become the way it is today?
- Where did everything come from?
- What is the ultimate fate of the cosmos?
For countless generations, these were questions without resolutions. Now, for the first time in history, we have scientific answers. Starts With A Bang, written by Dr. Ethan Siegel, brings these stories — of what we know and how we know it — directly to you.
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Nuclear fusion explained
Why power generated through nuclear fusion will be the future, but not the present, solution to humanity’s energy needs.
It’s a strange idea to consider: that a tiny building block of matter, the atomic nucleus, holds the greatest potential for energy release.
And yet, it’s true; while electron transitions in atoms or molecules typically release energy on the order of ~1 electron-Volt, nuclear transitions between different configurations release energies a million times as great, on the order of ~1 Mega-electron-Volt.
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The Universe is already in its sixth and final era
From before the Big Bang to the present day, the Universe goes through many eras. Dark energy heralds the final one.
This is why physicists suspect the Multiverse very likely exists
A wild, compelling idea without a direct, practical test, the Multiverse is highly controversial. But its supporting pillars sure are stable.
The red color of Mars is only inches deep
The surface and atmosphere is colored by ferric oxides. Beneath a very thin layer, mere millimeters deep in places, it’s not red anymore.
Record-breaking supernova manages to “X-ray” the entire Universe
The first supernova ever discovered through its X-rays has an enormously powerful engine at its core. It’s unlike anything ever seen.
Does the expansion of the Universe break the speed of light?
Just 13.8 billion years after the hot Big Bang, we can see 46.1 billion light-years away in all directions. Doesn’t that violate…something?
All Stories
Ask Ethan: How vulnerable is Earth to a solar flare?
A Carrington-magnitude event would kill millions, and cause trillions of dollars in damage. Sadly, it isn't even the worst-case scenario.
Ancient killer asteroid created a megatsunami on Mars
Compared to Earth, Mars is small, cold, dry, and lifeless. But 3.4 billion years ago, a killer asteroid caused a Martian megatsunami.
There must be a singularity at each black hole’s center
We'll never be able to extract any information about what's inside a black hole's event horizon. Here's why a singularity is inevitable.
Is dark matter’s “nightmare scenario” true?
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?
Inside JWST’s first view of the Local Group’s edge
By studying the dwarf galaxy Wolf-Lundmark-Melotte ~3 million light-years away, JWST reveals the Universe's star-forming history firsthand.
Ask Ethan: How do we know the Universe is 13.8 billion years old?
We confidently state that the Universe is known to be 13.8 billion years old, with an uncertainty of just 1%. Here's how we know.
Be thankful for an out-of-equilibrium Universe
Every time our Universe cools below a critical threshold, we fall out of equilibrium. That's the best thing that ever happened to us.
How low-mass black holes bend space the most
The strongest tests of curved space are only possible around the lowest-mass black holes of all. Their small event horizons are the key.
Why we need quantum fields, not just quantum particles
Realizing that matter and energy are quantized is important, but quantum particles isn't the full story; quantum fields are needed, too.
Have we found the Milky Way’s twin?
Our galactic home in the cosmos — the Milky Way — is only one of many trillions of galaxies within in the observable Universe. Do we have a twin?
Ask Ethan: When do we start counting the age of the Universe?
The Universe is 13.8 billion years old, going back to the hot Big Bang. But was that truly the beginning, and is that truly its age?
Will physics prevent SpinLaunch from succeeding?
SpinLaunch will cleverly attempt to reach space with minimal rocket fuel. But will physics prevent a full-scale version from succeeding?
No, there isn’t a hole in the Universe
The image you're seeing isn't a hole in the Universe, and the cosmic voids that do exist aren't hole-like at all.
Does physical reality objectively exist?
We think of physical reality as what objectively exists, independent of any observer. But relativity and quantum physics say otherwise.
See Hubble’s most beautiful star-forming image ever
It's rare that one single image packs so much beauty and science simultaneously. This Hubble view of a nearby star-forming region has both.
Starts With A Bang Podcast #87 – AGNs from the South Pole
Supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies gobble up whatever matter ventures too close, becoming active. Here's how they work.
Ask Ethan: What do the stars make an astrophysicist feel?
We're used to scientists telling us about the math and physics behind astronomical events. But what does studying space make us feel?
The inconvenient truth of global warming in the 21st century
Based on data since 2000 alone, global warming is still occurring at a whopping 7-sigma significance. How hot will planet Earth get?
How many types of precipitation can a planet have?
All across the Universe, planets come in a wide variety of sizes, masses, compositions, and temperatures. And most have rain and snow.
Everything you need to know about the math of Powerball
With a record-setting $1.9 billion jackpot, you'd think it's a no-brainer to buy a Powerball ticket. But the math truly shows otherwise.
How close is the nearest black hole to Earth?
The ESA's Gaia mission just broke the record for closest black hole by over 1,000 light-years. Is there an even closer one out there?
Ask Ethan: How can you reason with a young-Earth creationist?
Science is for everyone, even those possessing strongly held beliefs that seem to conflict with the best available evidence.
IceCube finds neutrinos from 47 million light-years away
IceCube just found an active galaxy in the nearby Universe, 47 million light-years away, through its neutrino emissions: a cosmic first.
How physics and a video game trick forever changed the NASCAR Championships
Using physics, Ross Chastain floored it during the final turn, scraping the wall and passing 5 cars to advance to the NASCAR championship.
Cosmic inflation solves the “past hypothesis” problem
Billions of years ago, the ever-increasing entropy must've been much lower: the past hypothesis. Here's how cosmic inflation solves it.
New Earth-threatening asteroid highlights humanity’s unpreparedness
The largest hazardous asteroid found in the last 8 years showcases a little-known class of planet-killers. And we're woefully unprepared.
Ask Ethan: How does Hawking radiation lead to black hole evaporation?
In 1974, Stephen Hawking showed that even black holes don't live forever, but emit radiation and eventually evaporate. Here's how.
The secret race exposed inside the Pillars of Creation
In 1995, Hubble peered at the Pillars of Creation, forever changing our view. Now in 2022, JWST completes the star-forming puzzle.
A science communicator’s 4 rules of persuasion
If you want to share the truths about our Universe with others, don't fall into the trap of arguing with a misinformer. Do this instead.
New method could reveal novel, habitable exoplanets
Most exoplanets have been found around single stars via the transit method. But binary star systems might contain even more of them.