Ethan Siegel
A theoretical astrophysicist and science writer, host of popular podcast "Starts with a Bang!"
Ethan Siegel is a Ph.D. astrophysicist and author of "Starts with a Bang!" He is a science communicator, who professes physics and astronomy at various colleges. He has won numerous awards for science writing since 2008 for his blog, including the award for best science blog by the Institute of Physics. His two books "Treknology: The Science of Star Trek from Tricorders to Warp Drive" and "Beyond the Galaxy: How humanity looked beyond our Milky Way and discovered the entire Universe" are available for purchase at Amazon. Follow him on Twitter @startswithabang.
Discovering the face of Earth’s sister planet, Venus, beneath its cloudy veil. “Now, Venus is an extremely hostile environment, and as such presents a lot of challenges for a science […]
From novice to mastery, one frame at a time. “Ever since I was a child I have had this instinctive urge for expansion and growth. To me, the function and […]
Is it possible that our problems indicate a flaw in the theory of gravity? “I soon became convinced… that all the theorizing would be empty brain exercise and therefore a […]
Add static electricity to the long list of things we thought we understood, but didn’t. “Electricity can be dangerous. My nephew tried to stick a penny into a plug. Whoever […]
We’ve only ever seen 2nd-generation stars and later. Until, just maybe, now. “For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream.” […]
Catch MIT scientist Sara Seager take you to the cutting edge and into the future, with a live blog (plus commentary) right here! “Hundreds or thousands of years from now, […]
Spiral galaxies have a skeleton-like structure that supports them. See the Milky Way’s first discovered bone! “The progress of science is strewn, like an ancient desert trail, with the bleached […]
A whole new Jurassic World, where Disney princesses meet velociraptors. “A princess is many things, and a raptor is one of them.” –Laura Cooper It’s important to take time every […]
If all the random motions of the molecules inside aligned, how far and fast would it go? “Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton was the one who asked why.”-Bernard […]
How, with a sunny solstice, you can figure out how much our planet is tilted! “Soon the earth will tilt on its axis and begin to dance to the reggae […]
A “speculative” theory no more; it’s had four of them confirmed. “Scientific ideas should be simple, explanatory, predictive. The inflationary multiverse as currently understood appears to have none of those […]
Where new stars and the matter they form from fight for dominance. “People get cranky when you burst their bubble. Over time, advances in astronomy have relentlessly reinforced the utter […]
With no tape, markers or adhesives, these accurately modeled animals are a true work of art. “Laughs don’t come in barrels. They come from inside you as your body’s response […]
If you took all the energy out of something, you’d reach absolute zero, the coldest temperature of all. But is there a highest temperature? “Nothing is lost… Everything is transformed.” […]
And does it have its own type of charge, like all the other forces? “Time is a sort of river of passing events, and strong is its current; no sooner […]
The Universe was 99.999999% Hydrogen and Helium after the Big Bang. Billions of years later, there’s a new contender in town. “When it comes to atoms, language can be used […]
Obscured by our galactic plane, this once-unknown sight of the southern skies — Westerlund 2 — may house the Milky Way’s next supernova! “The wonder is, not that the field of the stars is […]
No matter how great your expertise, new discoveries await for the curious. “There is no end to education. It is not that you read a book, pass an examination, and […]
If String Theory has nothing to do with reality, what are our options? “I just think too many nice things have happened in string theory for it to be all […]
Would there be only blackness past the event horizon? Or something more? They say ‘A flat ocean is an ocean of trouble. And an ocean of waves… can also be […]
Pluto’s moons, Nix and Hydra, are the first with irregular rotations, and hence unpredictable sunsets and sunrises. “Movin’ right along.You take it, you know best.Hey, I’ve never seen the Sun […]
The simple sights of sunrises and sunsets, spectacularly but seldom seem. “Lost — yesterday, somewhere between sunrise and sunset, two golden hours, each set with sixty diamond minutes. No reward is offered, […]
Be a Patron for Starts With A Bang and bring the Universe to everyone. “The universe is big, its vast and complicated, and ridiculous. And sometimes, very rarely, impossible things […]
How one of the first tests of special relativity might lead to the greatest particle accelerator of all-time. “One feels that the past stays the way you left it, whereas […]
How the Solar Eclipse of 1919 spelled the end for Newton. “Oh leave the Wise our measures to collate. One thing at least is certain, light has weight. One thing […]
What the first American woman in space meant for people everywhere. “Each generation goes further than the generation preceding it because it stands on the shoulders of that generation. You […]
How tides, gravity and lava give Io the youngest surface in the Solar System. “The crust, being so thin, must bend, if, over wide areas, it becomes loaded with glacial […]
A galaxy cluster that’s been actively devouring matter for hundreds of millions of years blows all the records away. “The world exploded into billions of atoms, and when it rearranged […]
The most famous logic puzzle from the best police comedy on television, and how to (finally) solve it! “I have made the most important discovery of my career, the most […]
After the CMB, before the first stars, there was nothing to see. Or was there? “[I]f there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we […]