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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Featured
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.
Popular
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: Is the Universe rotating?
At all distances, the Universe expands along our line-of-sight. But we can't measure side-to-side motions; could it be rotating as well?
Fireworks are only possible because of quantum physics
From the explosions themselves to their unique and vibrant colors, the fireworks displays we adore require quantum physics.
World’s oldest trees reveal the largest solar storm in history
1859's Carrington event gave us a preview of how catastrophic the Sun could be for humanity. But it could get even worse than we imagined.
How the “Einstein shift” was predicted 8 years before General Relativity
The idea of gravitational redshift crossed Einstein's mind years before General Relativity was complete. Here's why it had to be there.
5 revolutionary cosmic ideas that turned out to be wrong
No matter how beautiful, elegant, or compelling your idea is, if it disagrees with observation and experiment, it's wrong.
Ask Ethan: How can “the Hubble constant” be a constant?
The Universe is expanding, and the Hubble constant tells us how fast. But how can it be a constant if the expansion is accelerating?
Flamingos stand on just one leg, and physics is the surprising reason why
There’s an enormous evolutionary advantage for flamingos to stand on one leg, but genetics doesn't help. Only physics explains why.
There are more galaxies in the Universe than even Carl Sagan ever imagined
Forget billions and billions. When it comes to the number of galaxies in the Universe, both theorists' and observers' estimates are too low.
NASA’s super-Hubble to finally find inhabited planets
There are billions of potentially inhabited planets in the Milky Way alone. Here's how NASA will at last discover and measure them.
One shocking fact about each and every planet in the Solar System
Do you think you know the Solar System? Here's a fact about each planet that might surprise you when you see it!
Ask Ethan: Why do black holes look like rings, not disks?
With two different black hole event horizons now directly imaged, we can see that they are, in fact, rings, not disks. But why?
Star-formation is truly unstoppable, even with the strongest feedback
When stars form, they emit energetic radiation that boils gas away. But it can't stop gravitational collapse from making even newer stars.
A new nova disappeared faster than ever, and an even bigger cosmic catastrophe is coming
If you think you know how an astronomical nova works, buckle up. You're in for a ride like you never expected.
Is there phosphine, and maybe life, on Venus after all?
Earth is the Solar System's only known inhabited planet. Could Venus, if its phosphine signal is real, be our second world with life?
How JWST’s first science images will blow us all away
On July 12, 2022, NASA will release the first science images taken with the James Webb Space Telescope. Here's what to hope for.
Starts With A Bang podcast #82: JWST and infrared astronomy
The James Webb Space Telescope is about to begin science operations. Here's what astronomers are excited about.
Ask Ethan: Will physics ever see another Einstein or Newton?
In all of science, no figures have changed the world more than Einstein and Newton. Will anyone ever be as revolutionary again?
This is the most important equation in cosmology
If you want to understand the Universe, cosmologically, you just can't do it without the Friedmann equation. With it, the cosmos is yours.
Why Uranus needs, and deserves, a closer look than ever before
We've only seen Uranus up close once: from Voyager 2, back in 1986. The next time we do it, its features will look entirely different.
Why are there exactly 3 generations of particles?
The Standard Model of elementary particles has three nearly identical copies of particles: generations. And nobody knows why.
5 ways the James Webb Space Telescope could change science forever
On July 12, 2022, JWST will release its first science images. Here are 5 ways the telescope's findings could change science forever.
Ask Ethan: Could extracting wind energy change the weather?
Wind energy is one of the cleanest, greenest sources of power. But could it have the sneaky side-effect of changing the weather?
No, particle physics on Earth won’t ever destroy the Universe
Smashing things together at unprecedented energies sounds dangerous. But it's nothing the Universe hasn't already seen, and survived.
Could quantum mechanics be responsible for the Mandela effect?
Humans who've lived through the same events often remember them differently. Could quantum physics be responsible?
The Universe is flat. Here’s what that teaches us.
In theory, the fabric of space could have been curved in any way imaginable. So why is the Universe flat when we measure it?
17 pictures that show how mind-bogglingly large the Universe is
The observable Universe is 92 billion light-years in diameter. These pictures put just how large that is in perspective.
Ask Ethan: Could dark matter be decaying… into dark energy?
Over time, the Universe becomes less dominated by dark matter and more dominated by dark energy. Is one transforming into the other?
Why Elon Musk’s Hyperloop won’t work for humans
The hyperloop would be a great idea for a completely flat planet. With topography and infrastructure, it's a very different story.
Dark energy is here to stay, and a “Big Crunch” isn’t coming
13.8 billion years ago, the hot Big Bang gave rise to the Universe we know. Here's why the reverse, a Big Crunch, isn't how it will end.
Could “nuclear clocks” drive a technological revolution?
Atomic clocks keep time accurately to within 1 second every 33 billion years. Nuclear clocks could blow them all away.