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
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
From before the Big Bang to the present day, the Universe goes through many eras. Dark energy heralds the final one.
A wild, compelling idea without a direct, practical test, the Multiverse is highly controversial. But its supporting pillars sure are stable.
The surface and atmosphere is colored by ferric oxides. Beneath a very thin layer, mere millimeters deep in places, it’s not red anymore.
The first supernova ever discovered through its X-rays has an enormously powerful engine at its core. It’s unlike anything ever seen.
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
A well-deserved award for the discovery over a century in the making. “Well, I walked into Building 20 and looked in at the various little labs. There was a bunch of […]
It isn’t just the morality that’s dubious in the newest iteration of Star Trek. “If I die trying but I’m inadequate to the task to make a course change in the […]
Why not just put your detectors in place of a giant mirror? “Look and think before opening the shutter. The heart and mind are the true lens of the camera.” –Yousuf […]
Even though we’ve never seen them, here’s what we already know. “Suddenly whole new programs open up, things you can do that you could never do before. It’d be great scientifically, […]
One of inflation’s cofounders has turned his back on the idea. But practically no one else is following him. Is he right? This article was written by Sabine Hossenfelder. Sabine is […]
Three eyes are so much better than two. Here’s why. “Einstein’s gravitational theory, which is said to be the greatest single achievement of theoretical physics, resulted in beautiful relations connecting gravitational […]
It isn’t the rapture or some crazy prophesy, but science, that tells us when and how the end will come. “The surface of the Earth is the shore of the cosmic […]
Welcome to Star Trek: Discovery. From science to ethics and more, how does the new series’ debut stack up? “If man is to survive, he will have learned to take a […]
How three factors come together to unfreeze the ice, and unlock the potential for extraterrestrial life. “Day after day, day after day,We stuck, nor breath nor motion;As idle as a […]
A new podcast tells the incredible tale of the next great leap into the Universe “And so far as I’m concerned, I’m not going to run a program that’s just a […]
From what it’s expanding into to whether things are moving faster-than-light, this clears up some of our greatest misconceptions. “The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders […]
Why you can’t extrapolate back to a singularity. “Despite its name, the big bang theory is not really a theory of a bang at all. It is really only a […]
It’s currently billions of tonnes of fossil fuels every year. With new (or existing!) technologies, we could literally change the world. “In terms of weapons, the best disarmament tool so far […]
If you think we’ve seen all there is to see in the Universe, you’re about to have your imagination unlocked. “Hubble often takes images of distant gravitationally lensed galaxies to […]
The first (double) episode has come and gone, but here’s what I hope for the series. “We are what we are, and we’re doing the best we can. It is not […]
Everything is made of quarks, leptons, photons, and gluons, yet everything comes with a finite, non-zero size. “There’s something about sitting alone in the dark that reminds you how big the […]
If not for the indeterminate nature of matter, the Sun would never be able to shine. “The bedrock nature of space and time and the unification of cosmos and quantum are […]
It isn’t just a theory; it’s the best way we have to make sense of everything that exists. “The physicist is like someone who’s watching people playing chess and, after watching […]
The ELT, at 39 meters in diameter, will dwarf everything that’s ever come before. “There are so many people who are arguing or fighting over issues which don’t have much relevance. […]
Last week, Cassini plunged into Saturn’s atmosphere. Here are the top 6 things we learned from it while it was alive. “Being a scientist and staring immensity and eternity in the […]
While it’s fresh in everyone’s mind, this is the best time to turn awareness into action. “Hurricane Katrina overwhelmed levees and exploded the conventional wisdom about a shared American prosperity, exposing […]
It worked for Iran two years ago, and it can work again with the right negotiations. “We have to understand the ubiquity of energy in everything we do. Energy is […]
If you’ve ever wondered where it gets its blue color from, physics has you covered. “That’s a misconception, Lennie. The sky is everywhere, it begins at your feet.” –Jandy Nelson One […]
Something’s got to be wrong. But is it what we think about the star, the Universe, or something else? “The older you get, the more you realize that the way […]
Just a few simple, common conditions can create the perfect storm. 80% of the time, humans are the trigger. “I’d rather fight 100 structure fires than a wildfire. With a structure […]
It does undergo nuclear fusion, but there are more reactions and more energy released from reactions other than H → He. “The sun is a miasmaOf incandescent plasmaThe sun’s not simply […]
I’m not saying it wasn’t aliens… but… it wasn’t aliens. “Just the fact that you so desperately attempt to dismantle our theory proves that we are on the right track. Otherwise […]
It isn’t just supernovae or neutron star collisions that make the heaviest elements. The physics might surprise you! “Comrades, this man has a nice smile, but he’s got iron teeth.” –Andrei A. […]
How the gravitational Casimir effect might cause our Universe’s accelerated expansion, without any new physics at all. “For although it is certainly true that quantitative measurements are of great importance, it […]
Are we about to make a breakthrough to go beyond black holes? Here’s what it means if we do! “It’s becoming clear that in a sense the cosmos provides the only […]