Comments of the Week
esiegel | July 24, 2016“Even though the future seems far away, it is actually beginning right now.” -Mattie Stepanek
After another tremendous week here at Starts With A Bang, including one where I recorded a new podcast (look for it later this week on SoundCloud), it's time to take a look back and review all that we've been through. From last Saturday through the past Friday, here's what we saw:
Are there different types of time and space? (for Ask Ethan),
Deepest view of the Orion nebula reveals shocking discoveries (for Mostly Mute Monday),
Forty years ago, we landed on Mars... and found life?,
Apollo 11's…
esiegel | July 17, 2016“We called the new quark the “charmed quark” because we were pleased, and fascinated by the symmetry it brought to the subnuclear world. “Charm” also means a “a magical device to avert evil,” and in 1970 it was realized that the old three quark theory ran into very serious problems.” -Sheldon Glashow
It's been another fascinating week here at Starts With A Bang, with a focus ranging from the very, very smallest subatomic particles to dwarf planets, stars, nebulae, dark energy and even the Multiverse! Plus, with all the fascinating news of what's going on in our Solar System, I had another…
esiegel | July 10, 2016“According to well-known electrodynamic laws, an electron moving in a magnetic field is acted upon by a force which runs perpendicular to the direction of motion of the electron and to the direction of the magnetic field, and whose magnitude is easily determined.” -Pieter Zeeman
We're now full-on into summer here at Starts With A Bang, but that doesn't mean that science slows down at all! Our podcasts are killer with a new one coming soon, the 4th of July has just passed giving way to a huge slew of fantastic outdoor activities, and we've spent the first half of last week focused on astronomy…
esiegel | July 3, 2016“All sins have their origin in a sense of inferiority otherwise called ambition.” -Cesare Pavese
We're halfway through the year at Starts With A Bang, but it feels like the greatest things are just getting started! For one, enjoy our newest podcast: on Interstellar Travel, highlighted by an interview with Larry Niven last month at Balticon 50!
As always, we've had a fantastic week leading up to right now. If you didn't catch it all, here's what you missed:
Does Earth really have a second Moon? (for Ask Ethan),
NASA's New Horizons views first distant Kuiper belt object beyond Pluto (for…
esiegel | June 26, 2016“All sins have their origin in a sense of inferiority otherwise called ambition.” -Cesare Pavese
After another Universe-investigating week here at Starts With A Bang, I'm pleased to make two simple but very satisfying announcements:
The latest Starts With A Bang podcast, on Interstellar Travel, will be going live next week, so look for it soon!
I just signed a contract to write my second book, on the real-life science and technology of the Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation franchises!
So if you've got comments on either of those, or suggestions or whatever, you know what to do.…
esiegel | June 19, 2016“It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe.” -Muhammad Ali
It may have been another fun week here at Starts With A Bang, where I've just learned something fun: I have an Erdös-Bacon number of nine! On the academic side, I published with Jim Fry, who published with Jim Peebles, who published with Bob Dicke, who published with Albert Einstein, who published with Ernst Straus, who published with Paul Erdös, giving me an Erdös number of six. But on the TV side, I was on Good Day Sacramento with Cody Stark, who appeared with Dolly Parton on Good Day…
esiegel | June 13, 2016“It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe.” -Muhammad Ali
It's been a very busy week here at Starts With A Bang — as most full weeks after vacation often are — but there's a whole lot to look forward to and look back on this past week. Not only did we have a new podcast come out for The Mac Observer, but we also had an overflowing week of stories to cover, including:
Is the Universe expanding faster than expected? (for Ask Ethan),
No one, not even Newton or Einstein, was the Muhammad Ali of physics,
Fly over NASA's greatest-ever view of Pluto (for…
esiegel | June 5, 2016“It isn't the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it's the pebble in your shoe.” -Muhammad Ali
After a week of travel here at Starts With A Bang -- where we appeared at Balticon 50 and had a fantastic time -- it's time to catch up on all the news that the Universe had to offer. That includes a whole lot, including a fun podcast for Ikonoclast, now live, Saturn just having reached opposition and Mercury, today, at its greatest elongation from the Sun. (Look for it in the pre-dawn sky!) The only Balticon disappointment: the session I had with Larry Niven didn't have audio setup in it,…
esiegel | May 23, 2016“Love doesn't make the world go 'round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.” -Franklin P. Jones
It's been such a busy time here at Starts With A Bang that we're a day late bringing you last week's recap! And we've got to get rocking on it, because there's so much coming up to consider as well! First off, the Patreon campaign is even closer to our next goal, with a total of 128 active patrons. We did a Podcast for Science By Number talking about dark matter/dark energy and inflation and expansion:
and we had a fantastic, busy week on top of that, including:
How many atoms do you share…
esiegel | May 15, 2016“If I can't make it through one door, I'll go through another door - or I'll make a door. Something terrific will come no matter how dark the present.” -Rabindranath Tagore
Time continues marching on here at Starts With A Bang, just as it does everywhere. My Patreon supporters have stepped up their game, and we're just $21 shy of unlocking our next goal! There are two great new items this week I'd love to share with you: first, our newest Podcast on dark energy and the fate of the Universe,
and second, a video whose script I helped write (with a bonus coming up) for Kurzgesagt - In a…
esiegel | May 8, 2016"Thinking isn't agreeing or disagreeing. That's voting." -Robert Frost
Our first week of may has gone by here at Starts With A Bang, and we're just $26 in pledges short, over on Patreon, of unlocking our next goal! In addition, we've also guest-starred on a Podcast/radio show over at Science For The People, on stories from Beyond The Galaxy:
We’ve also hit on the following articles this week, just in case you missed anything:
Can we use quantum entanglement to communicate faster-than-light? (for Ask Ethan),
Curiosity's first visit to the Martian dunes, in visuals (for Mostly Mute Monday),…
esiegel | May 1, 2016"Science is the only self-correcting human institution, but it also is a process that progresses only by showing itself to be wrong." -Allan Sandage
As April leaves us and May commences here at Starts With A Bang, I'm so pleased to inform you that amazing things are happening! Thanks to the support of everyone on Patreon, we're over 95% of the way towards our next goal: the creation of the most accurate, beautiful, scientific timeline of the Universe's history poster ever made! We've also covered the following topics this past week for you to ring in on:
Could an atmosphere slow down a…
esiegel | April 24, 2016“I left Earth three times and found no other place to go. Please take care of Spaceship Earth.” -Wally Schirra
We've made it through another amazing week here at Starts With A Bang, and what many of you might not realize is that there was a fabulous new release thanks to the support of everyone on Patreon: a new Podcast, this time on Planet Nine!
The Universe is still delivering hordes of wonder to anyone and everyone curious about it, and that's why last week saw us cover the following topics:
Why don't you look like a scientist? (for Ask Ethan),
Mars gears up for its closest approach to…
esiegel | April 17, 2016“Not going to the Moon and banging on it with my own hammer has been the biggest disappointment in life.” -Gene Shoemaker, co-discoverer of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9
Don't fret about your taxes here at Starts With A Bang; I'll continue to bring you the Universe for free! (Although I do take donations, and one reward you're sure to get is an early version of April's podcast, for those who don't want to wait!) If you missed anything this past week, don't be afraid to check it out now, including:
Why is Jupiter hit by so many objects in space? (for Ask Ethan),
NASA's Cassini reveals the full glory…
esiegel | April 9, 2016“I guess I have a short attention span! I'm interested in new worlds, new universes, new challenges. I always said the only reason to make a film is not for the result but for what you learn for the next one.” -Alfonso Cuarón
April has gotten off to a great start here at Starts With A Bang, with some amazing stories and some unique features you won't find anywhere else! Here's what the past week had in store:
Does the climax of the movie 'Gravity' violate simple physics? (for Ask Ethan),
LIGO's director explains what it's like to find a gravitational wave,
What do star trails look like from…
esiegel | April 3, 2016"All the evidence, experimental and even a little theoretical, seems to indicate that it is the energy content which is involved in gravitation, and therefore, since matter and antimatter both represent positive energies, gravitation makes no distinction." -Richard Feynman
It was a big last week at Starts With A Bang, and you might not realize it but next week is shaping up to be even bigger! If you missed anything, here's what we took a look at:
How do black hole jets carve out bubbles in space? (for Ask Ethan),
Beyond human vision, distant galaxy clusters emit spectacular fireworks (for…
esiegel | March 27, 2016“Public discourse has been polluted now for decades by corporate-funded disinformation - not just with climate change but with a host of health, environmental and societal threats. The implications for the planet are grim.” -Michael E. Mann
What a couple of weeks it's been, both at Starts With A Bang and beyond, as I had a trip to MidSouthCon spin my head around last weekend. And even though we were a little short on articles and on time, you certainly let me (and each other) have it with your comments, both last week and this past one. If you missed anything, we hit on:
Could our Universe be…
esiegel | March 13, 2016“[W]hen I was younger, I was afraid of something that didn't make a lot of sense. But now I'm not. I have nothing to worry about. It doesn't matter.” -Maurice Sendak
Well, here in the USA we're all still reeling from the loss of an hour for daylight savings time, and in the meantime, I've been reeling here at Starts With A Bang as I sift through your comments. Maybe there was something special about this week, but you weighed in with hundreds of comments on the following:
Is this a hole in the Universe? (for Ask Ethan),
Pluto's color variations finally make sense (for Mostly Mute Monday),…
esiegel | March 6, 2016“Mistakes can be corrected by those who pay attention to facts but dogmatism will not be corrected by those who are wedded to a vision.” -Thomas Sowell
It's hard to believe, but it's already almost time for spring! After leaping an extra day to help keep our calendar in synch, March started off with an amazing string of stories over at Starts With A Bang, including:
Why are maps of the cosmos oval-shaped? (for Ask Ethan),
A new hope for our galaxy's next supernova (for Mostly Mute Monday),
Why college is so expensive, and how to fix it,
The mystery of fast radio bursts deepens: they can…
esiegel | February 28, 2016“A great accomplishment shouldn't be the end of the road, just the starting point for the next leap forward.” -Harvey Mackay
Tomorrow is such a big, rare day that it only comes once every four years (or 4.1237 years, for a little greater precision), yet practically every day offers something new and wonderful here at Starts With A Bang. If you missed anything over the past week, here's what we've taken a peek at:
Do gravitational waves exhibit wave-particle duality? (for Ask Ethan),
Astronomers push the limits of Hubble (for Mostly Mute Monday),
Sorry, but lasers aren't taking you to Mars in…