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
The LUX experiment just set the tightest bounds ever on dark matter, and may lead us down a different path entirely. “For me the best answer is not in words […]
While there are presently more than ~10²³ stars in the Universe shining today, each one of them is fated to live only for a finite amount of time. While more […]
https://players.brightcove.net/2097119709001/4kXWOFbfYx_default/index.html?videoId=5042734601001 In the more than 40 years since Apollo ended, we’ve never gone farther. “I knew I was alone in a way that no earthling has ever been before.” –Michael Collins On […]
When the Viking landers ran their three experiments looking for life, one came up positive. That’s still a mystery. “This suggests a robust biological response. These analyses support the interpretation that […]
The infrared reveals stars — and a surprising population of failed stars — we’ve never seen before. “…innumerable stars, thousands of double and multiple systems, clusters in one blaze with their tens of thousands of […]
If everything is relative, as Einstein says, then how do cosmologists measure these quantities in ways everyone can agree? “A human being is part of a whole, called by us the […]
Why, even with infinite magnification, we’d never view the first stars. “Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.” –Marcus Aurelius Imagine the […]
Why we’re positive the Universe isn’t all there is, and what the different possibilities for a Multiverse are. “Go, then. There are other worlds than these.” –Stephen King When you […]
A new idea links the Standard Model’s most elusive particles with the zero-point energy of the Universe. “If you’re puzzled by what dark energy is, you’re in good company.” –Saul […]
If you thought the Kuiper belt was just icy worlds of various sizes orbiting like Pluto, think again. “There have only been two true planets discovered since ancient times, and this […]
As seen by Hubble and Chandra, NASA’s greatest observatories. “My eureka moment was in the dead of night, the early hours of the morning, on a cold, cold night, and […]
And what, exactly, is the significance of a tetraquark? “I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way — things I had no words […]
We have electric charges and currents in electromagnetism, so why not magnetic ones, too? “It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is […]
The idea that there might only be one fundamental force might be a fundamental mistake. “Even if there is only one possible unified theory, it is just a set of […]
If we started all over again, could our Solar System’s second planet have been the inhabited one? “It was the Venus I had prayed to, it was my prayer, though […]
An awful op-ed about how science is no different than other disciplines misses some fundamental facts. “Philosophy of science is about as useful to scientists as ornithology is to birds.” […]
And are likely due to subsurface water, geysers and an incredible process. “Have you entered the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in search of the depths?” –Job […]
If they change and distort spacetime as the ripples pass through, could what was once inside actually get out? “Find a place inside where there’s joy, and the joy will burn […]
After 4th of July this past Monday, here’s the science behind how they work! “Celebrate the independence of your nation by blowing up a small part of it.” -The Simpsons This […]
Why Everest and the Grand Canyon are so small. Yes, SMALL! “How well I have learned that there is no fence to sit on between heaven and hell. There is a […]
If it’s such a light element, why are Earth’s stores of it buried beneath the surface? “I have this one little saying, when things get too heavy just call me helium, […]
It’s the ‘nightmare scenario’ for some. But for Sabine Hossenfelder, it might be a dream come true. This article was authored by Sabine Hossenfelder. Sabine is a theoretical physicist specialized in […]
Combined with Hubble, it creates our longest-baseline view. “It used to be that Pluto was a misfit. Now it turns out that Earth is the misfit. Most planets in the […]
There’s a small rock orbiting our planet more distant than the Moon we know. Does that mean we have two Moons? “You can be the Moon and still be jealous of […]
It’s more than a conclusion that most scientists agree on; it’s the basis for all the science we do now! “Those who know that the consensus of many centuries has sanctioned […]
The massive black holes that formed LIGO’s first event were a surprise, and then a mystery. Here’s the long-awaited solution! “Black holes can bang against space-time as mallets on a […]
And the wisdom from an exclusive interview with Larry Niven. Ever since humanity had the thought that the distant, twinkling stars might be Suns like our own, with their own planetary […]
Now that LIGO’s found two pairs of merging black holes, what does the future hold? “We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to […]
The New York Times claimed that aliens must have existed at some point. But science is less certain. “There are two possible outcomes: if the result confirms the hypothesis, then you’ve […]
Over 300,000 light years long, a new record! “Mozart’s music is like an X-ray of your soul — it shows what is there, and what isn’t.” –Isaac Stern From 500 million light years […]