Starts With A Bang!

10 big questions about the search for life beyond Earth

Every time scientists talk about life beyond Earth, audience questions range from profound to unexpected.

Here are honest, up-to-date answer to 10 of the most interesting ones.

The scientific value, and limits, of the Anthropic Principle

Just from the fact that we exist, there's much we can rightfully conclude about the Universe.

That's the core of the Anthropic Principle: powerful to use, but all too easy to abuse.

From the smallest to the biggest objects in space

It's not a surprise that astronomical objects come in a variety of sizes.

But some types of objects vary wildly in size, while others are almost all exactly the same.

Starts With A Bang podcast #130 – the initial mass function of stars

Give the Universe a massive enough cold cloud of gas, and it'll give you a spectrum of stars of all different masses.

But that spectrum isn't universal, and we finally understand why.

Ask Ethan: How did we discover substructure inside the proton?

We discovered the proton in 1917, the neutron in 1932, and realized there was more to the nucleus than protons and neutrons in 1934.

So why did it take so long to get to quarks and gluons?

Singularities inside black holes are truly unavoidable

Nobody knows what resides inside a black hole's event horizon, because there's no way to measure it.

Nevertheless, we're certain there must be a singularity inside.

Here's why.

JWST proves that black holes really do come before galaxies

The biggest chicken-and-egg question in the Universe is what came first for galaxies: black holes or stars?

A new JWST discovery gives the strongest proof yet: the answer is black holes!

Gravitational wave astronomy is now a fully mature science

In 2016, LIGO announced their first gravitational wave detection.

10 years later, we've seen 390 events.

The field has now matured: a whole new way of doing astronomy.

Is the USA on track to fulfill Astro2020’s decadal plan?

Five years ago, the USA released the Astro2020 decadal plan: setting the course for astronomy and astrophysics.

Halfway through the decade, here's how we're progressing (or regressing).

Ask Ethan: Why does our Universe require CP-violation?

There's more matter than antimatter in the Universe, and no one knows exactly how that happened.

But CP-violation is sure to be a key; here's what's so important about it.

Yes, scientists can be hostile to new ideas. So should you

Have you ever presented a new scientific idea, only to have it dismissed or dunked on by an actual scientist.

There's a good reason for that, and they're probably in the right.

Science’s three big hopes for finding alien life

One of humanity's biggest hopes (and fears) is to find evidence of life beyond Earth.

We now have three scientific methods for seeking it, with one likely to pay off soon.

CERN to lead particle physics throughout the 21st century

The CERN Council has selected the Future Circular Collider as their next-generation plan for particle physics.

Fundamental science still has a chance in the 21st century.

Ask Ethan: What do surveys of physicists actually reveal?

A recent survey of physicists was conducted by the American Physical Society.

We learned a lot about their arrogance and willingness to opine, but about nature?

Not so much.

Space wasn’t infinitely small when the hot Big Bang began

There's a minimum size that space could've been "compressed into" at the start of the hot Big Bang.

Not a singularity, not soccer ball sized, but human hamster-ball sized.

Why the tooth fairy is important for theoretical physics

Theoretical physicists often explore wild, unusual ideas when confronting the mysteries of nature.

You can even invoke the Tooth Fairy if you like, but only once.

Here's why.

Why “galactic archaeology” is not archaeology at all

There's a science for studying the assembly, history, and evolution of our galaxy.

Infrared astronomy has taught us so much, but calling it "galactic archaeology" is too much.