Starts With A Bang — November 1, 2016

Happy Halloween 2016, Everyone!

Ethan Siegel

Travel the universe with Dr. Ethan Siegel as he answers the biggest questions of all.

From “Under The Sea” to “Part of your world”

Happy Halloween!

Travel the universe with Dr. Ethan Siegel as he answers the biggest questions of all.

Three different 3D protein structures are displayed on a light grid-patterned background, each occupying a separate quadrant in the image.

Health

Gaming cancer: How video games and citizen science could help cure disease

By inviting players to tackle real scientific problems, games can offer a hand in solving medicine’s toughest challenges.

A visual simulation of two objects orbiting and merging, distorting a red-orange grid representing spacetime—illustrating gravitational waves once thought to be the worst prediction in science.

Starts With A Bang

Ask Ethan: Can we fix the worst prediction in all of science?

The measured value of the cosmological constant is 120 orders of magnitude smaller than what’s predicted. How can this paradox be resolved?

Painting of a man with red hair and a mustache wearing a white cap, resting his head on his hand, set against a swirling blue background with touches of van Gogh yellow paint highlighting the scene.

Books

Why did Van Gogh eat yellow paint? The troubled obsession behind the masterpieces.

In “Human History on Drugs,” Sam Kelly explores what the research can tell us about one of history’s most brilliant — and troubled — artists.

Side-by-side images of the Ring Nebula show its structure in different colors, each with a white dotted oval highlighting the central region.

Starts With A Bang

Did JWST catch the Ring Nebula forming new planets?

Our nearby Ring Nebula, with JWST’s eyes, shows evidence for planet formation. Will the Sun eventually destroy, and then replace, the Earth?

Microscopic view of green cyanobacteria chains forming spiral and linear patterns against a dark background, highlighting their role within the microbiome.

Books

Why your microbiome may matter more than DNA for your lifelong health

In “The Microbiome Master Key,” Brett and Jessica Finlay argue that we need to stop waging war on all germs and start working with the microbes that make us who we are.

Up Next

Hard Science

Need a New Reason to Hate Climate Change? It’s Coming for Your Coffee

It often feels like the repercussions of climate change may not apply directly to you. But here’s something that will hit home – a somber prediction for your coffee supply, and all those workers who farm it.