Comments of the Week

Kid: "Mortal Kombat, on Sega Genesis, is the best video game ever."Billy Madison: "I disagree, it's a very good game, but I think Donkey Kong is the best game ever."Kid: "Donkey Kong sucks."Billy Madison: "You know something? YOU SUCK!" -Billy Madison, 1995 Every week brings with it something new, but this is the first week since we've started doing a comments roundup here on Starts With A Bang that we've had an entirely new series to talk about, with the end of our Messier Monday and the start of something new! This all includes: Magnetism from afar (for Ask Ethan), Sleeping in the stars (…
“In that little party there was not one who would desert another; yet we were of different countries, different colours, different races, different religions--and one of us was of a different world.” -Edgar Rice Burroughs It's the end of yet another week, and so it's time to look back on all we've written about and all you've discussed. There's been a lot, too! This past week has seen the telling of some terrific tales at Starts With A Bang, including: What happens to matter as the Universe expands? (for Ask Ethan), Top 5 Great Christmas Sweaters (for our Weekend Diversion), The Ultimate Trip…
“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson Every week brings a new set of challenges, but also a new opportunity to find not only great things within ourselves, but wonder wherever we look and the prospect of getting to share it with others. This past week has seen some remarkable stories get told at Starts With A Bang, including: The birth of space and time (for Ask Ethan), Make 2015 a year in…
"Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war that we know about peace, more about killing that we know about living." -Omar N. Bradley There are some words that, seemingly, you can't utter without inflaming people's passions in one way or another, and nuclear seems to fall squarely in that category. This week, we touched on a number of remarkable topics over on Starts With A Bang, including: The biggest spiral galaxy (for Ask Ethan), Norway vs. Kenya (for our Weekend Diversion), An all-season cluster, M35 (for Messier Monday), The chameleon in the vacuum…
"It's a tad easier to be proud when you come in first than it is when you finish further back. But there's no reason to hide when you don't do as well as you'd hoped. You can't run away from your problems." -My Little Pony It's been two weeks since our last edition of Comments of the Week here on our Starts With A Bang forum, and -- to my great pleasure -- that hasn't meant a thing for the flow of great comments here! There's plenty to catch up on if you missed anything, as the last two weeks have seen some amazing posts, including: Why is the Universe's energy disappearing? (for Ask Ethan),…
"There is no secret ingredient. It's just you." -Po, Kung-Fu Panda Each week at Starts With A Bang brings a fresh set of topics from around the Universe -- near and far, large and small, concrete and abstract -- for us to think about. This week has been a splendid example, with new articles on such diverse topics as: Double the flame; half the time? (for Ask Ethan), The forest man of India (for our Weekend Diversion), Messier's final galaxy, M110 (for Messier Monday), Ghostly physics (from contributor Paul Halpern), Into the woods (from science communicator Brian Koberlein), What is the…
"Sexism was the only thing that kept Jerrie Cobb out of space in 1960, and it cannot be allowed to stand in her way now." -Patricia Ireland It isn't every week that you cover topics ranging from the birth of the Universe to the fundamental nature of space, and the go from sexism in NASA to the anthropic principle to... the math of reality television. But all that and more was on tap this past week at Starts With A Bang, with new articles on: What is dark energy? (for Ask Ethan), Had NASA believed in merit (for our Weekend Diversion), The Eagle Nebula, M16 (for Messier Monday), 10 things you…
"Out, you impostors! Quack salving, cheating mountebanks! your skill Is to make sound men sick, and sick men kill." -Philip Massinger It's been a wild ride full of ups-and-downs this week, as we've covered topics from solidly-based science to the theoretically expected, all the way to physical impossibilities and unverifiable, outlandish claims. Sometimes, that's what you get here at Starts With A Bang! If you missed anything, take a look back at everything we've covered this past week, including: How do black holes die? (for Ask Ethan), Your city in fantasy (for our Weekend Diversion), The…
"No testimony is sufficient to establish a miracle, unless the testimony be of such a kind, that its falsehood would be more miraculous than the fact which it endeavors to establish." -David Hume It's sometimes mind-boggling how many different aspects of the Universe we touch on here at Starts With A Bang, and the past week has perhaps really exemplified that. Ranging from the largest scales down to the smallest, from Nobel-winning developments to the science of hundreds of years ago, here's what we've covered during the first week in October: Are black holes made of dark matter? (for Ask…
“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.” -Albert Einstein After a wide-ranging week here on Starts With A Bang, it's only fair to take a look at what conversations this has sparked among all of you, and to jump in where there's a good opportunity to add even more amazing stories about the Universe into the mix. In case you missed anything, this past week saw us cover the following topics: Could a manned mission to Mars abort? (for Ask Ethan), The ultimate fighter... of stains? (for our Weekend Diversion), The most elusive globular cluster,…
“Everything comes at the right time, but if the right time is too late to be patient, go earlier before it becomes too late.” -Michael Bassey Johnson After another fun-and-science-filled week here on Starts With A Bang, where we've covered topics ranging from near-to-far, from historical to very modern, and from the beginnings of the Universe up to the present day, it's time once again to take a look at the fabulous comments you've left for us! Looking back, we've recently covered the following topics: What's the earliest signal from the Universe? (for Ask Ethan), The Greatest Chatroulette of…
“I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart. I am, I am, I am.” -Sylvia Plath It's been two weeks since our last edition of our Comments of the Week, and from the heartbreaking to the mystifying, there's a lot we've written about and explored together. If you missed anything, go ahead and take a look back at our amazing suite of articles over that time: What is the Big Rip (for Ask Ethan), Saving Salmon... with a Cannon (for our Weekend Diversion), The Inconstant Moon (a super article from Summer Ash), The Teapot Dome Cluster, M28 (for Messier Monday), The Planets That…
"All you touch and all you see, is all your life will ever be." -Pink Floyd It's been another great week exploring the Universe over at the main Starts With A Bang blog, as we've taken on the following topics since our last week: How long has the Universe been accelerating? (for Ask Ethan), Sharing Your Art (for our Weekend Diversion), A Titan in a Teapot, M69 (for Messier Monday), What most people get wrong about science, and The Ten Brightest Stars in the Sky (for Throwback Thursday). As always, you've had (and taken advantage) of your chance to have your say here on our forum here, so…
"There is no dark side in the moon, really. Matter of fact, it's all dark." -Pink Floyd / Gerry O'Driscoll It's been another fantastic week here at Starts With A Bang, where we've taken on a huge diversity of topics and run two fantastic posts from our contributing writers: Brian Koberlein and James Bullock. If you missed any of them (or if you want to catch them again), here's what we've covered this past week: Is astrology a science? (for Ask Ethan), The Universe in your home (for our Weekend Diversion), The flattened fake-out globular, M19 (for Messier Monday), The brilliance of scientific…
"Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another." -G.K. Chesterton It's been a very busy week here at Starts With A Bang! You may have noticed that our blog's main page has a new layout, some of you who follow me on social media may have noticed that I took the ice bucket challenge (and my bald head proved hydrodynamic), and we had a remarkable week of outstanding posts, including: Why didn't the Universe become a black hole? (for Ask Ethan), The dumbest sign in history (for our Weekend Diversion), The butterfly cluster, M6 (for Messier Monday), Five…
"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 With A Bang blog? With a new post nearly every day, we've really put together a set of amazing stories about the Universe we know (and are still discovering) for you, including: Do the cosmic unknowns cast doubt on the Big Bang? (for Ask Ethan), Martha Wash's biggest fan (for our Weekend Diversion…
"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 seen us take a look at the following: Where does cosmic rotation come from? (for Ask Ethan), Cartoons for social justice (for our Weekend Diversion), The most curious object of all, M24 (for Messier Monday), The man who invented the 26th dimension (a stellar contribution from Paul Halpern), How to…
"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 A Bang! This past week, we've had a whole slew of outstanding things that we've covered, including: Do science and religion have to be at odds? (for Ask Ethan), A Jedi's dream come true (for our Weekend Diversion), Virgo's final galaxy, M100 (for Messier Monday), The Opportunity of the lifetime...…
“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 and subtle to the large and... less subtle. In a span of only seven days, we've explored the following topics and questions (and go ahead and click if you missed anything): What is a quantum observation? (for Ask Ethan), But will it Bea Art(hur)? (for our Weekend Diversion), The Most Perfect…
"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 Bang blog, we've tackled the following topics: How deep does the Multiverse go? (for Ask Ethan), Planetary Beers (for our Weekend Diversion), A cluster that stands out from the galaxy, M23 (for Messier Monday), The Mystery of the Missing Mini-galaxies, How the experiment that claimed to detect dark…