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.
Light up your holidays with the greatest natural show the sky has to offer! “Bethany: Is your house on fire, Clark?Clark: No, Aunt Bethany, those are the Christmas lights.”–National Lampoon’s […]
All things being equal, the simplest explanation is usually the best. But we don’t all agree on what “simple” means. “It is always the simple that produces the marvelous.” –Amelia […]
It’s home to everything we’ve ever directly explored, but where did our Solar System come from? “When you look at the stars and the galaxy, you feel that you are […]
On August 21, 2017, a total solar eclipse will cross the USA. Start planning for it now. “Astronomers are greatly disappointed when, having traveled halfway around the world to see […]
The Universe looks bizarre: a plethora of galaxies, many clusters, but very little bigger than that. What made it so? “We are incredibly heedless in the formation of our beliefs, […]
As the year draws to an end and the nights reach their extremes, enjoy these six amazing facts that you probably don’t know! “In the depth of winter I finally […]
Forget nine lives; if one interpretation of quantum mechanics is right, the cat might have an infinite number of them. Observers are the necessary, but unliked, bouncers in the elegant […]
How would you tell the story of our Universe to an 8-to-10 year old? “To begin, begin.” –William Wordsworth The Big Bang is maybe the greatest scientific achievement of the […]
In 1980, Carl Sagan laid out the story of the Universe to the best of our knowledge. Here are the three biggest advances. “Our feeblest contemplations of the Cosmos stir […]
Time to bring back the VHS players… and the magical rapping black man to train the new employees! “If there are things you don’t like in the world you grew […]
Not a chance. What we’ve found may be a mystery, but it’s definitely not our Universe’s missing mass. “Time takes it all whether you want it to or not, time […]
For destruction, ice is also great, and will suffice. “Some say the world will end in fire,Some say in ice.From what I’ve tasted of desireI hold with those who favor […]
Here on Earth, it’s liquid all the way. But in space, that’s impossible! “You can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.”–Rabindranath Tagore If you brought […]
This weekend, the Geminids arrive, and promise to be the best meteor shower of the entire year! “Men of genius are often dull and inert in society; as the blazing […]
The first part in a new series of where all this comes from. “You may have heard the world is made up of atoms and molecules, but it’s really made […]
From cloudy nights to clear, and even during the day, this beautiful bedding brings the beauty of the Universe to you! “The probability of success is difficult to estimate; but […]
It’s hard enough to measure here on Earth, so how do we measure magnetism for our Sun, the stars and even distant galaxies? “Nothing is too wonderful to be true, […]
And how we’re about to take the amazing scientific leap from “we think” to “we know” when it comes to its history. “Mars once was wet and fertile. It’s now […]
Our love of the one-time ninth planet holds the key to our drive for venturing out into the Universe. “I have announced this star as a comet, but since it […]
Sometime over the next few weeks, Planck will release their new results. What will that mean for gravitational waves from inflation? “The paradigm of physics — with its interplay of data, theory […]
After more than two years, we’ve visited all 110 objects. Have a look back at each one! “If you keep your eyes open enough, oh, the stuff you will learn. […]
If you grew up in the 80s/90s, relive the joy of the seasonal promise of a great new video game! “Devote yourself, but do not lose who you are!” –Marvel […]
Radiation gets stretched to longer and longer wavelengths as space itself expands, but what happens to matter? “The trees that are slow to grow bear the best fruit.” –Molière It’s […]
The way the Universe has unfolded, to bring us about in this moment, has been remarkable. Be thankful for it all. “We live in an atmosphere of shame. We are […]
And how, if we manage to harness it on Earth, it could be the most accurate probe in all of scientific history. “We… are what happens when a primordial mixture […]
How new developments in measuring the highest-energy particles and earliest signals from the Universe are teaching us what all this is. Big questions in the field of Cosmology are often […]
The Great Orion Nebula is so great, it needed a second Messier object all to itself! “Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others […]
The best 2015 calendar makes a great gift. And you can win one for free just for reading this blog! “We are not the same persons this year as last; […]
If there’s something before the Big Bang, then what does that mean for the beginning of our Universe? “You can try to lie to yourself. You can try to tell […]
A huge percentage of our Universe is blocked by the plane of our own Milky Way. Here’s how we’re finally seeing what’s there! “I am undecided whether or not the […]