August 16, 2014
"When a star goes supernova, the explosion emits enough light to overshadow an entire solar system, even a galaxy. Such explosions can set off the creation of new stars. In its own way, it was not unlike being born." -Todd Nelson
Did you follow all the action this past week over at the main Starts…
August 15, 2014
“Es ist immer angenehm, über strenge Lösungen einfacher Form zu verfügen.” (It is always pleasant to have exact solutions in simple form at your disposal.) -Karl Schwarzschild
The Universe is a vast and complex place, full of a diversity of structure from the smallest scales to the largest. And yet…
August 14, 2014
“When I had satisfied myself that no star of that kind had ever shone before, I was led into such perplexity by the unbelievability of the thing that I began to doubt the faith of my own eyes.” -Tycho Brahe
The Milky Way is home to many of the greatest sights ever to grace the night sky, including…
August 13, 2014
“To be loyal to myself is to allow myself to grow and change, and challenge who I am and what I think. The only thing I am for sure is unsure, and this means I’m growing, and not stagnant or shrinking.” ‐Jarod Kintz
But for the Universe, although it's constantly changing, growing in a gravitational…
August 12, 2014
There are a few questions that have perplexed humans for all of recorded history, ranging from the nature of matter to the origin of the Universe to whether there are limits to what is knowable in principle about all there is. One of the great questions that people have wondered about since ancient…
August 11, 2014
“And then you wake up, only to see that the darkness has gone, the light now truly makes you feel vulnerable and you wonder why this darkness did not wish you well and why did it leave you so sudden, without revealing the answers you were looking for.” -Chirag Tulsiani
"You've seen one, you've seen…
August 10, 2014
“I’m just thankful that I’m still here. I hope I’m still relevant to somebody. I don’t trip on all that icon stuff. I’m still that down-to-earth girl I was all those years ago.” -Martha Wash
Everyone has their own unique set of contributions that they can make to the world: some do it scrupulously…
August 9, 2014
"There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity." -Rod Serling
It's been an action-packed week here on Starts With A Bang, and we've tackled a whole slew of topics you're unlikely to see anyplace else! The past week has…
August 9, 2014
“Whenever you have infinities in a theory, that’s where the theory fails as a description of nature. And if space was born in the Big Bang, yet is infinite now, we are forced to believe that it’s instantaneously, infinitely big. It seems absurd.” -Janna Levin
Of course, we don't believe space was…
August 7, 2014
"I’m a shooting star. A meteor shower. But I’m not going to die out. I guess I’m more like a comet then. I’m just going to keep on coming back.” -C. JoyBell C.
Every year, meteor showers sizzle and fizzle, yet no matter what happens in the skies, there's always one meteor shower that's reliable for…
August 6, 2014
“You can’t cheat an honest man. Never give a sucker an even break or smarten up a chump.” -W.C. Fields
Well, it was bound to happen. A bad science story -- a story of illegitimate science with all the right buzzwords -- has gone viral. By now, you, too, have probable heard about the "impossible"…
August 5, 2014
Every once in a while, a scientist comes along who leaves an impression on the field so strong that all of the subsequent work on uses their results as a starting point, as a foundation. Einstein did that with relativity; Dirac did that with relativistic quantum mechanics; even Newton did that with…
August 4, 2014
“It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.” -Thomas Sowell
Every object of the 110 in the Messier Catalogue tells its own unique story, but not every object is a true astronomical object on its own! Along with two groupings of stars -- a double star (M40) and…
August 2, 2014
“Everybody wants peace. That’s a truism. There is no point in accomplishing through war what you can accomplish through peace.” -Norman Finkelstein
Say what you will about this world, and there's an artist out there who can say it more effectively without needing to use a single word. For those…
August 2, 2014
"Growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together." -James Cash Penney
We don't normally have a week like this, where we not only take on the biggest topics in all of existence, but also have a ground-shaking announcement to make that alters the very fabric of Starts With…
August 1, 2014
“In my better sense of mind, I know that I’m far from alone and far from the worst, and the earth keeps spinning. Everything keeps moving, with or without me.” -Phil Anselmo
The Universe is a chaotic place, where nothing truly exists in isolation. Even if, at the moment of the Big Bang, nothing in…
August 1, 2014
“Men at some time are masters of their fates:
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves...” -William Shakespeare
It isn't every day that I pause to make an announcement, but it also isn't every day that I have news quite like this!
Image credit: John Hothersall (Brisbane…
July 31, 2014
“The atoms come into my brain, dance a dance, and then go out — there are always new atoms, but always doing the same dance, remembering what the dance was yesterday.” -Richard Feynman
It took 13.8 billion years of cosmic evolution, billions of years of biological evolution and astronomical numbers…
July 31, 2014
“By allowing the positive ions to pass through an electric field and thus giving them a certain velocity, it is possible to distinguish them from the neutral, stationary atoms.” -Johannes Stark
One of the simplest tenets of electromagnetism -- the second of the fundamental forces ever discovered…
July 29, 2014
“In any field, find the strangest thing and then explore it.” -John Archibald Wheeler
It's been over a decade, nearly a hundred thousand turns of its wheels and an unprecedented journey that still continues. But finally, after all this time, the Mars Opportunity rover has arrived.
Image credit:…
July 28, 2014
“From a little spark may burst a flame.” -Dante Alighieri
It's hard to believe that less than two years ago, we hadn't even begun Messier Monday, and now there are fewer than 20 objects left! Today represents a great milestone, as we finally take on the last of fifteen galaxies that Messier…
July 27, 2014
“General Kenobi. Years ago you served my father in the Clone Wars. Now he begs you to help him in his struggle against the Empire. I regret that I am unable to convey my father’s request to you in person, but my ship has fallen under attack, and I’m afraid my mission to bring you to Alderaan has…
July 27, 2014
“As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain; and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.” -Albert Einstein
It's been a fabulous, fun-filled week over at the main Starts With A Bang blog, and we've taken on a variety of topics that range from the small…
July 26, 2014
“Ignorance is hardly unusual, Miss Davar. The longer I live, the more I come to realize that it is the natural state of the human mind. There are many who will strive to defend its sanctity and then expect you to be impressed with their efforts.” -Brandon Sanderson
At the risk of inflaming everyone…
July 24, 2014
“Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.” -Alexander Graham Bell
The Sun, contrary to what you might normally think about it, isn't a constant, uniform source of radiation. It has an active surface, replete with temperature…
July 24, 2014
“Since the beginning of physics, symmetry considerations have provided us with an extremely powerful and useful tool in our effort to understand nature. Gradually they have become the backbone of our theoretical formulation of physical laws.” -Tsung-Dao Lee
We normally think of the Universe as…
July 22, 2014
“Art has a double face, of expression and illusion, just like science has a double face: the reality of error and the phantom of truth.” -Publilius Syrus
Out in the depths of space, objects range from the incredibly small and low mass to the huge and super-heavy, shrinking down again for the most…
July 21, 2014
“We sail within a vast sphere, ever drifting in uncertainty, driven from end to end.” -Blaise Pascal
By now, you've probably learned that Messier objects -- and galaxies in particular -- come in a huge, rich variety of types, structures and compositions. But sometimes, the simplest structure of all…
July 20, 2014
"Which is more likely? That the universe was designed just for us, or that we see the universe as having been designed just for us?" -Michael Shermer
After the end of another fun-filled week, it's time again to take a look at (and respond to) what you've had to say! Over on the main Starts With A…
July 20, 2014
“I’m not playing a role. I’m being myself, whatever the hell that is.” -Bea Arthur
It isn't often that someone becomes both a legend and an inspiration simply by being themselves, and it's even rarer in the world of entertainment if that person doesn't just happen to be stunningly beautiful-or-…
