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 way you experience time changes when you near the speed of light. So what happens when you actually reach it? “Everyone has his dream; I would like to live […]
The most powerful accelerator in the world found the Higgs, but might not find anything else. What should come next? “It is no good to try to stop knowledge from […]
Have you been enjoying learning about the Universe? There’s always so much to cover that we’re never going to run out of stories to tell, new discoveries to report on, […]
Is everything astonishingly simple, though? Or is this a grandiose claim that falls flat when confronted with the evidence? “My main interest is the problem of the singularity. If we […]
The death throes of a Sun-like star announce its funeral to the whole galaxy. “The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough.”–Rabindranath Tagore Image credit: Adam Block/Mount […]
NASA just posted all 8,400 photos from all 12 Apollo missions to Flickr. Here are the best in full, original resolution. “Suddenly, from behind the rim of the Moon, in […]
Our Sun gets its energy from fusion in its core. But can any light be made from the surface? “Birds sing after a storm; why shouldn’t people feel as free […]
It’s been more than three years since we’ve found the Higgs boson. So how does it give particles mass? “This is evidently a discovery of a new particle. If anybody […]
If you saw the lunar eclipse from a city, here’s what you missed. “The reports of the eclipse parties not only described the scientific observations in great detail, but also […]
NASA’s Dawn Mission has finally photographed the full world at full resolution. Come see it! “Bringing an asteroid back to Earth? What’s that have to do with space exploration? If […]
At 104 years old, Grace Brett’s “yarn-bombing” of numerous towns in Scotland is a sight the whole world should see. “Some people become vandals because they want to make the […]
There were two periods of exponential expansion in the Universe: one today and one long ago. Are they related? “What is wild cannot be bought or sold, borrowed or copied. […]
Why the argument that “this idea is absurd” is no argument at all. “He who loves practice without theory is like the sailor who boards ship without a rudder and […]
But especially for anyone who listened to your “Celebration of Creation” speech. “In science it often happens that scientists say, ‘You know that’s a really good argument; my position is […]
And is blue even a rare color for planets? “Whenever I gaze up at the moon, I feel like I’m on a time machine. I am back to that precious […]
From the Hubble Space Telescope, of course. Come view them all at once! “From our home on the Earth, we look out into the distances are strive to imagine the […]
If Americans get a “D” in science, what should the A-students do? “It is worthwhile, too, to warn the teacher that undue severity in correcting faults is liable at times […]
We know that Einstein’s general relativity is superior to Newton’s gravity, but where did Newton go wrong? “To me there has never been a higher source of earthly honor or […]
Out beyond Neptune lies the Kuiper belt, whose residents we can see. But what’s out there beyond that? “The great oak of Astronomy has been felled, and we are lost […]
Even though we can’t see individual galaxies past a certain point, we know they’re there. Here’s the first evidence. “Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some […]
The most spectacular satellite system of any known planet, Saturn’s Rings are a sight like no other. “This then, I thought, as I looked round about me, is the representation […]
Tired of wires, breadboards and the traditional electrical mess? Try drawing your electrical path instead! “Drawing is not only a way to come up with pictures: drawing is a way […]
Is looking for radio transmissions in space like claiming the lack of smoke signals means there are no modern humans? “[W]hat Fermi immediately realized was that the aliens have had […]
Dark matter makes up the vast majority of mass in the Universe, and most of it is unknown. But not all of it. “A cosmic mystery of immense proportions, once […]
If there’s only one Higgs, no unexpected decays and no new fundamental, heavy particles, it might all be over. “There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now. All […]
There are lots of wrong reasons out there, but only one that matters. “The scientist does not study nature because it is useful; he studies it because he delights in […]
Only 0.1% of all stars will die in a type II supernova. This one’s running away so fast, it’s literally a “shocking” sight. “The thing is, when you see your […]
The cologne marketed to men as “catnip for women” actually works. Only, not on women, but on jungle cats. “The impact of an attacking tiger can be compared to that […]
Is it possible, how would it affect us, and would we be destroyed as a result? “There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is […]
Mariam Sultana became her country’s first woman with a Ph.D. in astrophysics. This is her story, with an update on where she is now. Mariam Sultana, Pakistan’s very first woman […]