Ethan Siegel
A theoretical astrophysicist and science writer, host of popular podcast “Starts with a Bang!”
Ethan Siegel is a Ph.D. astrophysicist and author of "Starts with a Bang!" He is a science communicator, who professes physics and astronomy at various colleges. He has won numerous awards for science writing since 2008 for his blog, including the award for best science blog by the Institute of Physics. His two books "Treknology: The Science of Star Trek from Tricorders to Warp Drive" and "Beyond the Galaxy: How humanity looked beyond our Milky Way and discovered the entire Universe" are available for purchase at Amazon. Follow him on Twitter @startswithabang.
The greatest Messier object of them all, a treat all winter long. “What caused me to undertake the catalog was the nebula I discovered above the southern horn of Taurus on […]
If you’re struggling with the final, most important obstacle separating you from your graduate degree, here’s how to make it happen! “I spent every night until four in the morning on […]
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 […]
Of all the wooded places I’ve never been, here are the 10 I’d most like to see! “But I’ll tell you what hermits realize. If you go off into a far, […]
Do black holes exist? The world’s most famous scientist vs. the actual science. “My goal is simple. It is a complete understanding of the Universe, why it is as it is […]
Once you cross the event horizon, you’ll never go back. “They say ‘A flat ocean is an ocean of trouble. And an ocean of waves… can also be trouble.’ So, it’s […]
Is running up an inclined treadmill the same, physically, as running up an actual mountain? Here’s what science has to say. “Nothing worth having was ever achieved without effort.” -Teddy Roosevelt […]
We know that the Universe has been around for 13.8 billion years, but we also know we can see for 46 billion light-years. How is this possible? “Nature decrees that […]
When all the galaxies, stars, gas, dust, dark matter and all the other forms of matter and radiation are summed together, its energy still pales in comparison to dark energy. […]
The brightest galaxy in a spectacular close grouping of three provides a beacon of insight into our far future. “Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead.” -Benjamin […]
We normally think of the Big Bang as the very beginning of our Universe, but we now know the story goes back even before it. Here’s how. “The aim of science […]
“Camouflage is a game we all like to play, but our secrets are as surely revealed by what we want to seem to be as by what we want to […]
How you can safely trick your mind into triggering a visual hallucination, using only math and neuroscience! “Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of […]
When we look across the Universe, we find that things used to be closer together in the past. So how large do things appear when they’re very far away? “Life is […]
The stars, gas and dust of our own galaxy dominates our night sky. But what secrets does the Universe hold beyond that? “Who are we? We find that we live on […]
100 years ago, we thought the Milky Way was the full extent of the Universe, containing everything. Now, we know we’re just one of many. But how many? “The human mind […]
Given all the stars, galaxies and what we know about the laws governing reality, how many planets are there in our observable Universe? “Stuff your eyes with wonder, live as […]
How the closest supernova in a generation — soon to be visible to skywatchers almost everywhere — is about to help us better understand the entire Universe. “I saw a star explode and send […]
To the limits of our observable Universe and well beyond, here’s what we know the minimum size of the Universe must be, along with how we know it. “The greatest enemy […]
How the Universe tells us its age, size, and properties, and leads us inescapably to the conclusion that it’s billions, not merely thousands, of years old. Today, we’re lucky enough to […]
How one of the faintest galaxies in the entire Messier catalogue holds some of the greatest sights for dedicated skywatchers. “There are so many more important things to worry about […]
Rather than the six or seven you may have learned, your eye is capable of delineating a tremendous number more. But just how many, and what’s the explanation? “The colors […]
An amazing art project from Randall Rosenthal that you have to see to believe. “Men admire the man who can organize their wishes and thoughts in stone and wood and steel […]
Whether you’ve ever run across this famous “how many triangles” puzzle or not, you’re in for a treat looking at the magnificence of the solution. “Arithmetic! Algebra! Geometry! Grandiose trinity! […]
Why the kind of knowledge you get by asking the Universe questions about itself is the most valuable type of knowledge there is. “I’m also uncomfortable with dogmatic believers; to my […]
Under the tremendous pressure and at the incredible temperatures of the Earth’s deep interior, there’s a thick layer of liquid: our outer core. But why is it so? “If you ever […]
The Sun — like nearly all stars — burns bright through its nuclear reactions, sending light, heat and energy out into the Universe over a timespan of billions of years. But how? “The sun is […]
It’s a scientific truth of the Universe, one that many people — children especially — have trouble coming to terms with. But it doesn’t have to be a tragedy. “Through that last dark cloud is […]
It’s easier than you might think, and we’ve been doing it for over a century. “The doctors realized in retrospect that even though most of these dead had also suffered from […]
Do changes in a gravitational field propagate instantaneously, at the speed of light, or at a different speed altogether? “The only problem with the speed of light, is it gets […]