Michael Jackson proudly wore the crown as the “King of Pop” until his death in 2009. In the visual arts, at least for Americans, Andy Warhol’s ruled as the “King […]
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A little magnetism, a few impurities and liquid nitrogen make the magic happen! “I see miracles all around meStop and look, it’s all astoundingWater, fire, air and dirtFucking magnets, how do […]
Falcon 9 made history in 2012 when the SpaceX rocket delivered Dragon into orbit for a rendezvous with the International Space Station. Yesterday, following two postponements, Falcon 9 launched its first commercial payload.
At the bottom of the teapot in Sagittarius, the ancient giants burn for your pleasure. Image credit: REU program / NOAO / AURA / NSF. “I told my father that […]
We do not set out to cause offence. But we go where strange maps lead us.
What shape does the Sun trace out at the same time of day throughout the year? “Life is tragic simply because the earth turns and the sun inexorably rises and sets, […]
Just as poet William Blake asks us “To see a world in a grain of sand” in his poem “Auguries of Innocence,” painter Paul Cézanne asks us to see the […]
Constrains, willingness to fail, willingness to take big risks and rapid iteration are absolutely fundamental to innovation.
Science and poetry both depend on metaphor. Science typically uses at least two. The first is usually Pythagoras’s astonishingly fruitful, but also limiting, “all things are numbers.” The second shapes […]
When things don’t add up, it’s a great sign that something amazing is right around the corner. Every Thursday, we take an older post from the Starts With A Bang archives […]
The world’s first suspended traffic circle… for bicycles! “I would like to propose slow cycling. Commute by bike. At a stroke, you remove the need for and absurd cost of […]
There’s no wrong way to be a galaxy, but this one sure does challenge our expectations. “Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it’s a way of looking at life […]
The most common source for radioactive dating depends on our Universe being active. “Life exists in the universe only because the carbon atom possesses certain exceptional properties.” –James Jeans Here on […]
Which ideas are likely, which ones are speculative, and which ones are pure fiction? “Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think […]
In a way, China is already sponsoring the global X-mas fete. If the Chinese really wanted, they could make Christmas in their own image.
Of all the galaxies in our local supercluster, one outweighs them all. “I recognize my limits, but when I look around I realise I am not living, exactly, in a world […]
“Red and dead” might describe the stars in most ellipticals, but this nearby galaxy tells a different story. “The line that describes the beautiful is elliptical. It has simplicity and […]
You just absolutely cannot separate the affects of genes from the affects of the environment, so all we can do is identify the resources that we have in our environments and maximize them as best we can.
Do you know the science of global warming? Fortunately, Michael Ranney at the University of California, Berkeley, put together a video that explains the science in less than one minute.
It’s the greatest cosmic masquerade of all: a star that fakes its own death! “If you are a dreamer come inIf you are a dreamer a wisher a liarA hoper a […]
“Crazy at any price!” read a sign above the modern art masterpieces at the Nazi-sponsored Entartete Kunst (“Degenerate Art,” in English) exhibition in Munich, Germany, in 1937. The fevered brainchild […]
Last week, moviegoers at the Busan International Film Festival in South Korea saw the debut of a 30-minute spy thriller using a new technology, ScreenX, that includes the theater side walls as screens.
If in the middle of the night you go to the emergency room and have an x-ray taken, the doctor who reads that x-ray is very likely to be a well-trained physician in India, for whom it’s daytime, who reads the digital file and sends back an answer.
Or, in theory, can they produce an infinite amount of energy? “The atoms become like a moth, seeking out the region of higher laser intensity.” –Steven Chu Each week on our […]
So the new X-Men film trailer is out. It’s being Tweeted, Facebooked; it’s probably rising through the ranks of YouTube, Vimeo and so on. It’s easy content for sites, a blessing of […]
The annual rite of February’s African-American History Month in America feels more and more like a mixed blessing with each passing year. On one hand, setting aside time to learn […]
It’s the first European country to allow parents to specify “X,” giving them time to decide whether to have their child undergo sex-reassignment surgery. Some say the new law doesn’t go far enough to address issues faced by intersex adults.
Seven of the greatest and most entertaining achievements of human ingenuity. “I love that moment just before the curtain goes up…It’s a thrill that’s unequaled anywhere.” -Joel Grey It’s a […]
Get straight to the criticism, but express it very positively: “Wouldn’t it be even better if we did X, wouldn’t it be even better if we did Y?”
How was Earth’s most well-known precious metal made? “Don’t gain the world and lose your soul;wisdom is better than silver or gold.” –Bob Marley Throughout all of recorded human history, there’s […]