Ethan Siegel – Medium

Ethan Siegel

Published in
Starts With A Bang!

See NASA’s most important image in space telescope history

The Hubble Space Telescope, launched in 1990, was originally seen as a colossal mistake. This one image, taken in 1995, changed everything.

1h ago

See NASA’s most important image in space telescope history

1h ago

Published in
Starts With A Bang!

Ask Ethan: Couldn’t COVID-19 have originated in a Chinese Lab?

In theory, scientists could’ve produced a deadly virus that accidentally infected lab workers. In practice, we know that didn’t happen.

3d ago

Ask Ethan: Couldn’t COVID-19 have originated in a Chinese Lab?

3d ago

Published in
Starts With A Bang!

Why nuclear reactions on an exoplanet won’t imply alien life

Planets can create nuclear power on their own, naturally, without any intelligence or technology. Earth already did: 1.7 billion years ago.

4d ago

Why nuclear reactions on an exoplanet won’t imply alien life

4d ago

Published in
Starts With A Bang!

The sky is brighter than astronomers imagined

The most famous Hubble images show glittering stars and galaxies amidst the black backdrop of space. But more was captured than we…

5d ago

The sky is brighter than astronomers imagined

5d ago

Published in
Starts With A Bang!

How has cosmology changed from 2000 to 2025?

25 years ago, our concordance picture of cosmology, also known as ΛCDM, came into focus. 25 years later, are we about to break that model?

6d ago

How has cosmology changed from 2000 to 2025?

6d ago

Published in
Starts With A Bang!

Will the Sun make a planetary nebula when it dies?

In around 7 billion years, we expect the Sun to run out of fuel, dying in a planetary nebula/white dwarf combination. Is that for certain?

Apr 14

Will the Sun make a planetary nebula when it dies?

Apr 14

Published in
Starts With A Bang!

Starts With A Bang podcast #116 — Disintegrating exoplanets

Exoplanets can exist anywhere around their parent stars, even so close that they evaporate or disintegrate. Even the rocky ones.

Apr 12

Starts With A Bang podcast #116 — Disintegrating exoplanets

Apr 12

Published in
Starts With A Bang!

Ask Ethan: Why are maps of the cosmos always oval-shaped?

It’s difficult to project a sphere onto a flat, two-dimensional surface. All maps of the Earth have flaws; the same is true for the cosmos.

Apr 11

Ask Ethan: Why are maps of the cosmos always oval-shaped?

Apr 11

Published in
Starts With A Bang!

No, the “Kalam cosmological argument” doesn’t prove God’s existence

The Kalam cosmological argument asserts that everything that exists must have a cause, and the “first” cause must be God. Is that valid?

Apr 10

No, the “Kalam cosmological argument” doesn’t prove God’s existence

Apr 10

Published in
Starts With A Bang!

Why we still don’t know how many stars are in the Milky Way

We understand many things about our Universe, and our home within it, extremely well. The number of stars in the Milky Way isn’t among…

Apr 9

Why we still don’t know how many stars are in the Milky Way

Apr 9

Ethan Siegel

Ethan Siegel

The Universe is: Expanding, cooling, and dark. It starts with a bang! #Cosmology Science writer, astrophysicist, science communicator & NASA columnist.

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