March 19, 2014
“I don’t think at this point we have any way of knowing where the laws of physics came from. We could hope that when we really understand the laws of physics that they will describe how the Universe came into existence.” -Alan Guth
So, since Monday's big story -- about the BICEP2 collaboration…
March 17, 2014
“A friend who is far away is sometimes much nearer than one who is at hand. Is not the mountain far more awe-inspiring and more clearly visible to one passing through the valley than to those who inhabit the mountain?” -Khalil Gibran
When you think about globular clusters, you normally think about…
March 17, 2014
“Despite its name, the big bang theory is not really a theory of a bang at all. It is really only a theory of the aftermath of a bang.” -Alan Guth
So, you've heard the big news by now, no doubt? Primordial B-modes have been detected in the polarization of the cosmic microwave background!
Images…
March 16, 2014
“[M]y goal is to always come from a place of love… but sometimes you just have to break it down for a motherfucker.” -RuPaul
We've all had to face the dilemma, when we can't easily afford something, whether to forego it, or whether to obtain it through means that don't compensate the original…
March 15, 2014
"People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use." -Soren Kierkegaard
After all is said-and-done this week, and after all the new posts over at the main Starts With A Bang on Medium, you've had a chance to have your say here on our forum! And…
March 14, 2014
“What makes us love… is when we learn all these fantastic stories. Feeding the imagination is what makes a subject come alive.” -Daniel Tammet
Is the largest object in our galaxy — our central black hole — poised to devour a massive gas cloud?
Image credit: ESO/MPE/M. Schartmann/L. Calçada.
As…
March 13, 2014
“So here we have π squared, which an engineer would call ‘10.’” -Frank King
This March 14th, stump your friends with these amazing facts about the world’s favorite transcendental number!
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons users TechnoGuyRob and InverseHypercube.
I've written about Pi Day twice…
March 12, 2014
“We cannot conceive of matter being formed of nothing, since things require a seed to start from… Therefore there is not anything which returns to nothing, but all things return dissolved into their elements.” -William Shakespeare
Every element found on Earth was made in either the Big Bang or the…
March 11, 2014
“The brain is like a muscle. When it is in use we feel very good. Understanding is joyous.” -Carl Sagan
I haven't been shy about sharing my hopes for the new Cosmos series, which aired its first episode earlier this week.
Image credit: Fox Studios / Cosmos.
Personally, I thought it was good,…
March 10, 2014
“[L]ife is a luminous halo, a semi-transparent envelope surrounding us from the beginning of consciousness to the end.” -Virginia Woolf
One of the only members of the Virgo Cluster… that isn’t located in Virgo!
When it comes to wonders of the night sky, you might think that if you've seen one…
March 9, 2014
“I love that moment just before the curtain goes up…It’s a thrill that’s unequaled anywhere.” -Joel Grey
Seven of the greatest and most entertaining achievements of human ingenuity.
I don't know how many of you have ever come across the French television show Le Plus Grand Cabaret Du Monde (The…
March 8, 2014
"I don't watch it, but I know enough to comment on it." -Dan Quayle
First off, I want to thank everyone involved here at Scienceblogs (especially Wes Dodson) for all the support over the years and especially over the past few months, even as the main Starts With A Bang blog has moved to Medium. I…
March 7, 2014
“They do not see what lies ahead, when Sun has faded and Moon is dead.” -J.R.R. Tolkien
Someday, the Sun will expand, engulfing Mercury and Venus, and then some. Will we survive?
It's an exciting week, as our long-running Ask Ethan series debuts over at Medium! You can still send in your questions…
March 6, 2014
“All the problems of the world could be settled easily if men were only willing to think. The trouble is that men very often resort to all sorts of devices in order not to think, because thinking is such hard work.” -Thomas J. Watson
You’ll frequently hear people say, “the science is settled.”…
March 6, 2014
“Building one space station for everyone was and is insane: we should have built a dozen.” -Larry Niven
From Earth and beyond, these time lapses show our one-of-a-kind motion through the Universe.
Here on Earth, the night sky (and all the stars in it) appear to rotate a full 360° every 24 hours,…
March 3, 2014
“We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people.” -Carl Sagan
A galaxy very different from our own may hold the key to seeing what our far future looks like.
If…
March 2, 2014
“Experience is not what happens to you; it’s what you do with what happens to you.” -Aldous Huxley
Phrases that only came out of one man’s mouth because of his kids.
It's common knowledge that I myself don't have any children, but have spent the better portion of my adult life educating children…
February 28, 2014
"Man loves company - even if it is only that of a small burning candle." -Georg C. Lichtenberg
It's the end of the week here at Starts With A Bang, and so it's time for still another Ask Ethan! This is -- for those of you wondering -- the final Ask Ethan we'll have here on Scienceblogs; starting…
February 28, 2014
“You can’t get there by bus, only by hard work and risk and by not quite knowing what you’re doing. What you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll discover will be yourself.” -Alan Alda
Alan Alda recently challenged scientists to explain this simple question to 11-year-olds in less than 300…
February 27, 2014
“If you are caught on a golf course during a storm and are afraid of lightning, hold up a 1-iron. Not even God can hit a 1-iron.” -Lee Trevino
It’s one of the most beautiful (and terrifying) sights in the world. But what causes it?
If the Earth is about to spew volcanic ash, smoke, soot and even…
February 26, 2014
“There is not enough love and goodness in the world to permit giving any of it away to imaginary beings.” -Friedrich Nietzsche
You know that the square root of -1 is “i”, an imaginary number. But did you know any of these?
For classical (Newtonian) mechanics, as well as electromagnetism, it's …
February 24, 2014
“Some day I hope to meet you. When that happens you’ll need a new nose, a lot of beefsteak for black eyes, and perhaps a supporter below!” -Harry Truman, to a music critic who panned his daughter’s singing
When you think about the Messier objects in the night sky, you hope for skies like the ones…
February 23, 2014
“It is not the beauty of a building you should look at; it’s the construction of the foundation that will stand the test of time.” -David Allan Coe
As the population of cities continues to grow, real estate runs out fast. But one innovative solution may be the wave of the future: building down! …
February 21, 2014
"They will see us waving from such great heights
'Come down now,' they'll say.
But everything looks perfect from far away
'Come down now.' But we'll stay." -The Postal Service
Welcome back to another Ask Ethan! You keep sending in your questions and suggestions, and each week, I'll pick one of my…
February 21, 2014
“If you put yourself in a position where you have to stretch outside your comfort zone, then you are forced to expand your consciousness.” -Les Brown
On the one hand, you've got gravitation, the most powerful force in the Universe, trying to attract all the matter in it together. If it had its way…
February 20, 2014
“If the Universe Is Teeming with Aliens… Where Is Everybody?” -Stephen Webb
If stars, planets, and biological processes are so common in the Universe, then where is everyone?
Image credit: NASA / Space Shuttle Atlantis mission 110.
Here on Earth, we take for granted how easy it was for life to…
February 19, 2014
“Both the solutions must be rejected, and as these are the only statical solutions of the equations… the true solution represented in nature must be a dynamical solution.” -Willem de Sitter
First off, welcome, everyone! As you well know, the main Starts With A Bang blog has moved to Medium,…
February 14, 2014
"For the wise man looks into space and he knows there is no limited dimensions." -Lao Tzu
You know the deal: it's the end of the week, so it's time for another Ask Ethan! You've continued to send in your questions-and-suggestions, much to my delight, and I'm pleased to tell you that this week's…
February 7, 2014
"That which you create in beauty and goodness and truth lives on for all time to come." -Denis Waitley
It's been another spectacular week here in the Universe, and I'm pleased to take on another one of your wonderful questions in yet another Ask Ethan column! (Keep sending in your questions and…
February 2, 2014
The world’s first suspended traffic circle… for bicycles!
“I would like to propose slow cycling. Commute by bike. At a stroke, you remove the need for and absurd cost of public transport. Cycling is almost completely free. There is no longer any need for the gym as you get fit by cycling. And you…
