Ethan Siegel – Medium

Ethan Siegel

Published in
Starts With A Bang!

Why does physics break down at the Planck scale?

There are limits to where physics makes meaningful predictions: beyond the Planck length, time, or energy. Here’s why we can’t go further.

14h ago

Why does physics break down at the Planck scale?

14h ago

Published in
Starts With A Bang!

Ask Ethan: When do stars turn the most mass into energy?

All stars shine due to an internal source of energy. Usually, it’s nuclear fusion: converting mass into energy. What makes them most…

3d ago

Ask Ethan: When do stars turn the most mass into energy?

3d ago

Published in
Starts With A Bang!

Why 21 cm is our Universe’s “magic length”

Photons come in every wavelength you can imagine. But one particular quantum transition makes light at precisely 21 cm, and it’s magical.

4d ago

Why 21 cm is our Universe’s “magic length”

4d ago

Published in
Starts With A Bang!

The importance of caring about the truth

You don’t need to be a scientist or a philosopher for facts, reality, and the truth to matter. The alternative is simply known as bullshit.

5d ago

The importance of caring about the truth

5d ago

Published in
Starts With A Bang!

The evidence for biosignatures on K2–18b is flimsy, at best

A Cambridge-based team claims to find molecules on an exoplanet that are only produced by life on Earth. Don’t fall for the unfounded hype.

6d ago

The evidence for biosignatures on K2–18b is flimsy, at best

6d ago

Published in
Starts With A Bang!

How come we’ve never observed a black hole decaying?

According to Stephen Hawking, spontaneously emitted radiation should cause all black holes to decay. But we’ve never seen it: not even…

Apr 28

How come we’ve never observed a black hole decaying?

Apr 28

Published in
Starts With A Bang!

Ask Ethan: What right do we have to colonize other worlds?

In all the known Universe, Earth is the only planet known to have native life. What should guide us in expanding humanity beyond our world?

Apr 25

Ask Ethan: What right do we have to colonize other worlds?

Apr 25

Published in
Starts With A Bang!

Is our Universe fundamentally unstable, and will it decay?

Empty space itself, the quantum vacuum, could be in either a true, stable state or a false, unstable state. Our fate depends on the answer.

Apr 24

Is our Universe fundamentally unstable, and will it decay?

Apr 24

Published in
Starts With A Bang!

Science’s value, unlike NASA, cannot be destroyed by politics

After drastic cuts to the NIH, the FDA, the NSF, and the DOE, NASA science faces down its smallest budget ever. All of society will suffer.

Apr 23

Science’s value, unlike NASA, cannot be destroyed by politics

Apr 23

Published in
Starts With A Bang!

Science’s best answer to “where did the Universe come from?”

Perhaps no existential question looms larger than that of our ultimate cosmic origins. At long last, science has provided the answers.

Apr 22

Science’s best answer to “where did the Universe come from?”

Apr 22

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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