Ethan Siegel

Ethan Siegel

Theoretical astrophysicist and science writer

Ethan Siegel 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.

When stars form, they emit energetic radiation that boils gas away. But it can't stop gravitational collapse from making even newer stars.
fastest nova
If you think you know how an astronomical nova works, buckle up. You're in for a ride like you never expected.
phosphine venus life
Earth is the Solar System's only known inhabited planet. Could Venus, if its phosphine signal is real, be our second world with life?
JWST first science
On July 12, 2022, NASA will release the first science images taken with the James Webb Space Telescope. Here's what to hope for.
jwst
The James Webb Space Telescope is about to begin science operations. Here's what astronomers are excited about.
In all of science, no figures have changed the world more than Einstein and Newton. Will anyone ever be as revolutionary again?
Uranus
We've only seen Uranus up close once: from Voyager 2, back in 1986. The next time we do it, its features will look entirely different.
standard model color
The Standard Model of elementary particles has three nearly identical copies of particles: generations. And nobody knows why.
jwst change science
On July 12, 2022, JWST will release its first science images. Here are 5 ways the telescope's findings could change science forever.
wind power weather
Wind energy is one of the cleanest, greenest sources of power. But could it have the sneaky side-effect of changing the weather?
parallel universe
Humans who've lived through the same events often remember them differently. Could quantum physics be responsible?
The observable Universe is 92 billion light-years in diameter. These pictures put just how large that is in perspective.
galaxy cluster colors
Over time, the Universe becomes less dominated by dark matter and more dominated by dark energy. Is one transforming into the other?
Hyperloop
The hyperloop would be a great idea for a completely flat planet. With topography and infrastructure, it's a very different story.
big crunch
13.8 billion years ago, the hot Big Bang gave rise to the Universe we know. Here's why the reverse, a Big Crunch, isn't how it will end.
atom
Atomic clocks keep time accurately to within 1 second every 33 billion years. Nuclear clocks could blow them all away.
Voyager 1
In all of human history, only 5 spacecraft have had the right trajectory to exit the Solar System. Will they ever catch Voyager 1?
black hole spacetime
Everything is made of matter, not antimatter, including black holes. If antimatter black holes existed, what would they do?
blue sky
The sky is blue. The oceans are blue. While science can explain them both, the reasons for each are entirely different.
runaway black hole
At four million solar masses, the Milky Way's supermassive black hole is quite small for a galaxy its size. Did we lose the original?