Starts With A Bang

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The Universe is out there, waiting to be discovered
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Our mission is to answer the biggest questions of all, scientifically.

What is the Universe made of? How did it become the way it is today? Where did everything come from? What is the ultimate fate of the cosmos?

For most of human history, these questions had no clear answers. Today, they do. Starts With a Bang, written by Dr. Ethan Siegel, explores what we know about the universe and how we came to know it, bringing the latest discoveries in cosmology and astrophysics directly to you.

with Ethan Siegel
Ethan Siegel is an award-winning PhD astrophysicist and the author of four books, including The Grand Cosmic Story, published by National Geographic.
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“Singularities don’t exist,” claims black hole pioneer Roy Kerr
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A composite image showing the sun in two different wavelengths of light, highlighting its dynamic surface, magnetic activity, and the first elements formed.
Starts With A Bang
What was it like when the first elements formed?
In the early stages of the hot Big Bang, there were only free protons and neutrons: no atomic nuclei. How did the first elements form from them?
Ethan Siegel
A digital abstract composition with dynamic white lines and swirls on a black background, incorporating some blue rectangular shapes that appear to disappear like antimatter.
Starts With A Bang
What was it like when the last antimatter disappeared?
In the early stages of the hot Big Bang, matter and antimatter were (almost) balanced. After a brief while, matter won out. Here's how.
Ethan Siegel
Diagram illustrating the phase transition between hadronic matter, where protons and neutrons are formed, and quark-gluon plasma as a function of temperature and density.
Starts With A Bang
What was it like when protons and neutrons formed?
For a substantial fraction of a second after the Big Bang, there was only a quark-gluon plasma. Here's how protons and neutrons arose.
Ethan Siegel
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Starts With A Bang
What was it like when the Higgs gave particles mass?
In the very early Universe, practically all particles were massless. Then the Higgs symmetry broke, and suddenly everything was different.
Ethan Siegel
A diagram showing the difference between matter and antimatter.
Starts With A Bang
What was it like when matter defeated antimatter?
In the earliest stages of the hot Big Bang, equal amounts of matter and antimatter should have existed. Why aren't they equal today?
Ethan Siegel
A graphical representation illustrating the concept of the big bang and the subsequent expansion of the universe, depicted by a transition from a singular point of energy to a wide, grid-like spread of galaxies and celestial elements
Starts With A Bang
What was it like when the Universe was at its hottest?
When the hot Big Bang first occurred, the Universe reached a maximum temperature never recreated since. What was it like back then?
Ethan Siegel
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