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.
Get Starts With A Bang in your inbox
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
Some things are held to a higher standard than mob rule. “The evidence at present available points strongly to the conclusion that the spirals are individual galaxies, or island universes, […]
How Polling botched the 2016 election “Distinguishing the signal from the noise requires both scientific knowledge and self-knowledge.” –Nate Silver On the eve of the 2016 election, Nate Silver’s 538 site […]
The reports that our Solar System is missing the galaxy’s most common type of planet are greatly exaggerated. “To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a […]
With a whole-planet comparison, you’d never confuse the two worlds. But from their surfaces, telling them apart is harder than you’d think. Image credit: NASA. Think you can tell the red […]
Perhaps the limits of what we can observe aren’t just artificial; perhaps there are no limits to what’s out there at all. “Two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, […]
All pointing toward the Standard Model plus General Relativity not being all there is. “The Universe is very, very big. It also loves a paradox. For example, it has some extremely […]
The Big Bang’s leftover glow tells us a lot more than just where we came from. “Cosmology is the study of the origin, evolution, and fate of objects in the observable […]
Our Moon might even be a rarer occurrence for a Solar System than an ‘Earth’ is. “The pressure to compete, the fear somebody else will make the splash first, creates a […]
Something isn’t right about the Universe without something extra. So why can’t scientists agree on what that “extra” thing is? “All we know so far is what doesn’t work.” –Richard Feynman […]
As if the north pole of Saturn weren’t weird enough already. “Cassini is different — it’s a mission of enormous scope and is being conducted in grand style. It is much more sophisticated […]
The press says yes. But what does the science say? “This isn’t my life anymore, Mulder. I’m done chasing monsters in the dark.” –Dana Scully, X-files Without a doubt, one […]
They’re the darkest, most massive things in the Universe. How come they have nothing to do with each other? “All enterprises that are entered into with indiscreet zeal may be pursued […]
Could the Nobel Prize of 2011 have been awarded without cause? “Even if I stumble on to the absolute truth of any aspect of the universe, I will not realise my […]
And succeeds! “Faced with the choice between changing one’s mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everybody gets busy on the proof.” –J. K. Galbraith One […]
Sorry to all you ‘Flash’ fans out there; it’s not reality yet. This article was written by Sabine Hossenfelder. Sabine is a theoretical physicist specialized in quantum gravity and high energy […]
From a “watery past” to water today! “If you look at the field of robotics today, you can say robots have been in the deepest oceans, they’ve been to Mars, you […]
From “Under The Sea” to “Part of your world” Happy Halloween!
And if it were, is there any way we could detect that this were the case? “Do I believe, for example, that by using magic I could fly? No. How would […]
SETI is searching for the same signals humans were producing in the 1960s. Why wouldn’t aliens do better? “I know perfectly well that at this moment the whole universe is listening […]
And could every black hole our Universe creates give rise to a baby Universe itself? “Man is something that shall be overcome. Man is a rope,tied between beast and overman — a rope […]
From “billions and billions” to more than two trillion, we still need dark matter as much as ever! “In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be […]
October had one, November will have one and December will have one, too. What’s the science of Supermoons? “The supermoon is a 16-inch pizza compared with a 15-inch pizza. It’s […]
From a “faint smudge” to the most intricate objects in our galaxy, we’ve come an incredibly long way. “From our home on the Earth, we look out into the distances … to […]
It used to be billions and billions, but now it’s in the trillions! “There are in fact 100 billion galaxies, each of which contain something like a 100 billion stars. […]
Might Armageddon come not from an asteroid or a comet, but by something completely unseen altogether? “Honestly, if you’re given the choice between Armageddon or tea, you don’t say ‘what […]
How many galaxies are there in the observable Universe? For the first time, we don’t just have a ‘lower limit’ — we have an answer. “Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that […]
Scientists still don’t know, but the answer could hold the key to the expanding, accelerating Universe. “Scratch a cynic and you’ll find a disappointed idealist.” –Jon F. Merz When you […]
The past is gone, the future not yet here, only the present is now. But why does it always flow the way it does for us? “Thus is our treaty written; […]
Einstein’s first great revolution happened way back in 1905. It still puzzles many amateurs and professionals alike even today. “Each ray of light moves in the coordinate system ‘at rest’ with […]
The ‘compact galaxy groups’ of the Universe won’t be around for long! “They most likely form as subsystems within looser associations and evolve by gravitational processes. Strong galaxy interactions result and […]