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
And if it were, is there any way we could detect that this were the case? “Do I believe, for example, that by using magic I could fly? No. How would […]
SETI is searching for the same signals humans were producing in the 1960s. Why wouldn’t aliens do better? “I know perfectly well that at this moment the whole universe is listening […]
And could every black hole our Universe creates give rise to a baby Universe itself? “Man is something that shall be overcome. Man is a rope,tied between beast and overman — a rope […]
From “billions and billions” to more than two trillion, we still need dark matter as much as ever! “In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be […]
October had one, November will have one and December will have one, too. What’s the science of Supermoons? “The supermoon is a 16-inch pizza compared with a 15-inch pizza. It’s […]
From a “faint smudge” to the most intricate objects in our galaxy, we’ve come an incredibly long way. “From our home on the Earth, we look out into the distances … to […]
It used to be billions and billions, but now it’s in the trillions! “There are in fact 100 billion galaxies, each of which contain something like a 100 billion stars. […]
Might Armageddon come not from an asteroid or a comet, but by something completely unseen altogether? “Honestly, if you’re given the choice between Armageddon or tea, you don’t say ‘what […]
How many galaxies are there in the observable Universe? For the first time, we don’t just have a ‘lower limit’ — we have an answer. “Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that […]
Scientists still don’t know, but the answer could hold the key to the expanding, accelerating Universe. “Scratch a cynic and you’ll find a disappointed idealist.” –Jon F. Merz When you […]
The past is gone, the future not yet here, only the present is now. But why does it always flow the way it does for us? “Thus is our treaty written; […]
Einstein’s first great revolution happened way back in 1905. It still puzzles many amateurs and professionals alike even today. “Each ray of light moves in the coordinate system ‘at rest’ with […]
The ‘compact galaxy groups’ of the Universe won’t be around for long! “They most likely form as subsystems within looser associations and evolve by gravitational processes. Strong galaxy interactions result and […]
If we can’t even witness the birth of our Solar System and planet, how can we claim to see the birth of the Universe? “There have to be moments when […]
Before the Big Bang… after the Big Freeze… will everything look the same? “What is wild cannot be bought or sold, borrowed or copied. It is. Unmistakeable, unforgettable, unshamable, elemental as […]
Not faster than 299,792,458 m/s, but faster than light moves through anything other than vacuum! “You are both fools. You cannot see thoughts, or angels. One is an abstract, the other […]
We might have been spared the worst of Hurricane Matthew, but the underlying science is informative at any time! “She didn’t even know what she’d do when she got back to […]
If you were betting on LIGO, you bet wrong. Just like everybody else. “‘Topology is destiny,’ he said, and put the drawers on. One leg at a time.” –Neal Stephenson One […]
The dark horsehead nebula isn’t dark at all, but only if you look at the invisible forms of light. “If you are fearful, a horse will back off. If you are […]
If the waste we have is so hazardous, and we have the capability, why don’t we hurl it all into the Sun? “There will be peace when the people of the […]
We see them change in wavelength, energy and in their electric and magnetic fields over time. So how do they experience it? “Everyone has his dream; I would like to […]
A correlation between normal matter and the observed rotation suggests that maybe dark matter isn’t a certainty, after all. “Nothing in the standard cosmological model predicts this, and it is almost […]
The same way a forgotten woman astronomer — Annie Jump Cannon — first did over 100 years ago! “Teaching man his relatively small sphere in the creation, it also encourages him by its lessons of […]
Want to ‘make America great again’? Not without science, you won’t. “Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson hated each other so much. But that hate that they had for each other did […]
As great as Hubble is, it can only see a narrow range of light, which means it can only see a sliver of the Universe. Want more? “We conducted the first […]
In 1994, Miguel Alcubierre showed how warp drive could be made real within General Relativity. What does that imply? “Its continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new […]
There are strict scientific standards a new ‘claimed discovery’ needs to meet. Has cold fusion gotten there? “Between cold fusion and respectable science there is virtually no communication at all. …because the […]
And can we even agree on the definition of ‘nothingness’? “Alone, I often fall down into nothingness. I must push my foot stealthily lest I should fall off the edge […]
The darkness we see from Earth can never be 100% dark. “All I want is blackness. Blackness and silence.” –Sylvia Plath If you take a look at the night sky […]
Looking into the great, dark unknown was a mystery for thousands of years. No longer! “Science cannot tell theology how to construct a doctrine of creation, but you can’t construct a […]