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
There were two periods of exponential expansion in the Universe: one today and one long ago. Are they related? “What is wild cannot be bought or sold, borrowed or copied. […]
Why the argument that “this idea is absurd” is no argument at all. “He who loves practice without theory is like the sailor who boards ship without a rudder and […]
But especially for anyone who listened to your “Celebration of Creation” speech. “In science it often happens that scientists say, ‘You know that’s a really good argument; my position is […]
And is blue even a rare color for planets? “Whenever I gaze up at the moon, I feel like I’m on a time machine. I am back to that precious […]
From the Hubble Space Telescope, of course. Come view them all at once! “From our home on the Earth, we look out into the distances are strive to imagine the […]
If Americans get a “D” in science, what should the A-students do? “It is worthwhile, too, to warn the teacher that undue severity in correcting faults is liable at times […]
We know that Einstein’s general relativity is superior to Newton’s gravity, but where did Newton go wrong? “To me there has never been a higher source of earthly honor or […]
Out beyond Neptune lies the Kuiper belt, whose residents we can see. But what’s out there beyond that? “The great oak of Astronomy has been felled, and we are lost […]
Even though we can’t see individual galaxies past a certain point, we know they’re there. Here’s the first evidence. “Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some […]
The most spectacular satellite system of any known planet, Saturn’s Rings are a sight like no other. “This then, I thought, as I looked round about me, is the representation […]
Tired of wires, breadboards and the traditional electrical mess? Try drawing your electrical path instead! “Drawing is not only a way to come up with pictures: drawing is a way […]
Is looking for radio transmissions in space like claiming the lack of smoke signals means there are no modern humans? “[W]hat Fermi immediately realized was that the aliens have had […]
Dark matter makes up the vast majority of mass in the Universe, and most of it is unknown. But not all of it. “A cosmic mystery of immense proportions, once […]
If there’s only one Higgs, no unexpected decays and no new fundamental, heavy particles, it might all be over. “There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now. All […]
There are lots of wrong reasons out there, but only one that matters. “The scientist does not study nature because it is useful; he studies it because he delights in […]
Only 0.1% of all stars will die in a type II supernova. This one’s running away so fast, it’s literally a “shocking” sight. “The thing is, when you see your […]
The cologne marketed to men as “catnip for women” actually works. Only, not on women, but on jungle cats. “The impact of an attacking tiger can be compared to that […]
Is it possible, how would it affect us, and would we be destroyed as a result? “There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is […]
Mariam Sultana became her country’s first woman with a Ph.D. in astrophysics. This is her story, with an update on where she is now. Mariam Sultana, Pakistan’s very first woman […]
A leftover glow unlike any other — of neutrinos — has finally been seen. “When you see how fragile and delicate life can be, all else fades into the background.” –Jenna Morasca Seventy years […]
By Ethan SiegelImages: NASA, Francis Godwin, OSA As part of the Space Glass project — Ethan Seigel, astrophysicist, science communicator & NASA columnist explains how technology, imagination and our desires come together […]
Starts With A Bang on Medium is a labor of love: a love for the story of the Universe as it tells us about itself. It’s a story unlike any […]
Once a complete mystery, the Cassini mission has solved them at last! “It is marvelous indeed to watch on television the rings of Saturn close; and to speculate on what […]
Thanks to 3D printing, creativity and a lot of effort, this DIY Optimus Prime cake is unlike any other. “When he came home, I could see a change. He was […]
Or is this an example of the media hype surrounding Hawking going nuts? “Thus it seems Einstein was doubly wrong when he said, God does not play dice. Not only […]
It’s not just leaps and breakthroughs, but a way of thinking and a way of life. Are you in? “When I say, ‘I love you,’ it’s not because I want […]
According to relativity, there’s no universal frame of reference. But the Big Bang gave us one anyway. “The slow philosophy is not about doing everything in tortoise mode. It’s less […]
Cepheids are the hottest, brightest variable stars of all. When they’re surrounded by gas, a spectacular light-echo can follow. “What is history? An echo of the past in the future; […]
The pictures of Stuart Palley tell a story that no words can. “the way to create art is to burn and destroyordinary concepts and to substitute themwith new truths that […]
There’s no such thing as absolute time, but after 13.8 billion years, is anything relatively different? “The total number of people who understand relativistic time, even after eighty years since […]