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
These cosmic monsters make the LHC look like child’s play, and yet even they have their limits. “Energy is liberated matter, matter is energy waiting to happen.” –Bill Bryson You […]
Can the world’s most fantastic and speculative “theory of everything” candidate shed light on the Universe’s most invisible objects? “I just think too many nice things have happened in string […]
The most powerful telescope in history will never see the farthest galaxy. “No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded […]
See as far back in the Universe as our greatest telescope’s eyes will take us. “It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. […]
If winter is coming, this epic artwork is the spring thaw. “When I was a kid, my world was five streets long. I never got away, except in books. I […]
Can failed stars, or stellar corpses, give light to the Universe once again? “A single tiny light creates a space where darkness cannot exist. The light vanquishes the darkness. Try […]
Can a running start really improve your driving distance in golf? “What a shot by Happy Gilmore! <aside> Who the hell is Happy Gilmore?”–Announcer, from Happy Gilmore As I prepare […]
Should we get vaccinated? Fluoridate our water? Fight global warming? Believe in evolution? The Big Bang? Dark matter? Find out. “Those who know that the consensus of many centuries has […]
Govert Schilling’s new book deserves a place in everyone’s life. “Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere.” –Carl Sagan Imagine the […]
With Hubble, Spitzer and Chandra combined, we get a view like no other. “But I see it differently now. There has to be a middle. Without it, nothing can truly […]
After seeing these pictures, you’ll switch to raising your own. “People speak sometimes about the “bestial” cruelty of man, but that is terribly unjust and offensive to beasts, no animal […]
How do we know that the fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background aren’t polluted by everything Hubble reveals? “Silently, one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven,Blossomed the lovely […]
It’s what holds the nuclei in atoms together, overcoming electric repulsion. But how does it work? “I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say […]
The most important lessons about Earth come from looking outward. “We came all this way to explore the Moon, and the most important thing is that we discovered the Earth.” […]
What sort of greenery are these galaxies smoking? “The illegality of cannabis is outrageous, an impediment to full utilization of a drug which helps produce the serenity and insight, sensitivity […]
Just open your eyes, full-screen it, and watch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PD2XgQOyCCk “Exploring this set I certainly never had the feeling of invention. I never had the feeling that my imagination was rich […]
Before the first star ever formed, the Universe was filled with light. But how? “Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light […]
The Anthropic Principle is more limited than we like to believe. “There is a voice inside of youThat whispers all day long,‘I feel this is right for me,I know that […]
They’re our best measurement of dark energy, even better than supernovae! “If you think this Universe is bad, you should see some of the others.”–Philip K. Dick Imagine you’re looking […]
How “faith” in the Universe destroyed two brilliant men of genius. “I don’t like it, and I’m sorry I ever had anything to do with it.” –Schrödinger The idea that […]
The closest, brightest edge-on galaxy gives us a view like nothing else. “Since man, fragment of the universe, is governed by the same laws that preside over the heavens, it […]
Sick of yogurt winding up stuck to the underside of the lid? Problem solved. “My love for you would blot out the sun like a cloud made out of yogurt. […]
If our “standard candles” aren’t so standard, is dark energy still real? “Some say the world will end in fire,Some say in ice.From what I’ve tasted of desireI hold with […]
The Universe contains black holes billions of times as massive as our Sun. “It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. Where you […]
It’s the only thing separating real knowledge from ignorant misinformation. “The first duty of every Starfleet officer is to the truth, whether it’s scientific truth or historical truth or personal […]
If you knew nothing, Jon Snow, here’s what it’s doing in five simple steps. “Let them see that their words can cut you and you’ll never be free of the […]
It burns so hot and intense, it’s probably already gone. But what a sight! “The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long.” –Lao Tzu Image credit: NASA, […]
Incredible canvases, created with the burning ends of incense sticks. “Every act of creation is first an act of destruction.” –Pablo Picasso When it comes to the art we make, […]
This past week, the Colima volcano in Mexico erupted spectacularly.César Cantú captured it like never before. “It’s tempting to go to the throat of the volcano to get the data, […]
The possibilities were almost limitless, so why does everything line up? “Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless […]