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
20 years before Sally Ride, Valentina Tereshkova set the bar. She’s still amazing after more than 50 years. “A bird cannot fly with one wing only. Human space flight cannot develop […]
With James Webb and WFIRST launching soon, the Universe can expect a revolution. But what will it look like? “For the first time we can learn about individual stars from near […]
The red planet once wasn’t so different from Earth. Here’s what happened. “Mars’ atmosphere is so thin, you do not need a lot of streamlining. By the time the ship […]
We take for granted how much the Moon does for Earth, but not all of the changes would be bad. “If we get rid of the moon, women, those menstrual cycles […]
A live-blog event of an incredible public lecture by a scientist on the inside of James Webb’s team. “The [James Webb] telescope is basically designed to answer the big questions in […]
The latest challenger to dark matter’s throne may not be so difficult to knock off, after all. This post was written by Sabine Hossenfelder. Sabine is a theoretical physicist specialized in […]
In 1987, the nearest supernova seen in nearly four centuries lit up Earth’s skies. Here’s what it looks like today. “When a star goes supernova, the explosion emits enough light to […]
If black holes lose information in an event horizon, then do we have a paradox with our cosmic horizon? “The history of astronomy is a history of receding horizons.” –Edwin Hubble […]
You may have heard of Laniakea, but don’t count on it being real. “It’s the gravity that shapes the large scale structure of the universe, even though it is the weakest […]
And England almost burned themselves down as a result. “When Benjamin Franklin inveted the lightning rod, the clergy, both in England and America, with enthusiastic support of George III, condemned it […]
But are any of these potentially Earth-like worlds actually inhabited? Here are the prospects. “It isn’t only the beauty of the night sky that thrills me. It’s the sense I […]
Phobos and Deimos may have had another, inner, much larger companion! “The larger inner moons fall back to Mars after about 5 million years due to the tidal pull of […]
If you don’t have pristine, dark skies, you might never connect to the Universe. But there’s hope. “Before we devised artificial lights and atmospheric pollution and modern forms of nocturnal entertainment […]
An incredible story, the current controversy, and the hope for the future. Our Universe was born pristine, with no stars, galaxies, molecules or even stable atoms, some 13.8 billion years […]
If Scotty beams you up for a trip around the Sun, here’s how to handle it. “I really didn’t have to work, shall we say, with Star Trek. It was a […]
Hydrogen is #1, Helium is #2. Who’s number 3? Hint: it’s not #3 in the periodic table! “It is the function of science to discover the existence of a general reign […]
Earth is pretty much the limit of how large you can get and still be rocky. Anything much larger, and you’re a gas giant. “How vast those Orbs must be, and […]
The physics of why popping off a few rounds in celebration can quickly turn deadly. “I’ve heard it said that God made all men, but Samuel Colt made all men equal. […]
The Earth is round, Kyrie Irving. But not every world needs to be. “‘I’ll follow him to the ends of the earth,’ she sobbed. Yes, darling. But the earth doesn’t have […]
How gravitational magnification allows us to see what we’ve never seen before. “The problem is, you’re trying to find these really faint things, but you’re looking behind these really bright things. […]
If the Big Bang happened and everything is moving away from us, where’s the center? “I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out […]
There is so much we’ve discovered and so far that we’ve come. But there’s a limit to knowledge we’ll never be able to overcome. “To know that we know what […]
We haven’t found the truly “first” ones yet, but we’re not just on our way; we’re almost there. “For the first time we can learn about individual stars from near the […]
Sometimes science is stranger than fiction. “To morrow, I believe, is to be an eclipse of the sun, and I think it perfectly meet and proper that the sun in the […]
Last week, an asteroid fell from the sky and struck the Lake Michigan area. What if it had been a city-killer instead? “By preventing dangerous asteroid strikes, we can save […]
It’s the longest feast we’ve ever seen, and it’s still going on! But why? “Put two ships in the open sea, without wind or tide, and, at last, they will come […]
Is gravitational repulsion a real thing? “For the first time, astronomers have outlined and named the network of galaxies that includes the Milky Way, adding a line to our cosmic address […]
Why Saturn’s Iapetus has three great mysteries… and we’ve only solved one of them. “The dance between darkness and light will always remain — the stars and the moon will always need the […]
One of the most famous quantum physicists of all makes his mark in space, 80 years after first predicting it. “What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed […]
Before you even look through your telescope, you need to know where to begin. “If you can’t measure something, you can’t understand it. If you can’t understand it, you can’t control […]