Author

Ethan Siegel

@startswithabang

articles: 110
total claps: 62,771
top claps: 2,984
avg read: 9.4 min
paywalled: 109
active: 2018-01-12 → 2026-10-02

Wiki topics

⚛️ · Physics · 88 🔭 · Astronomy & Space · 87 🔬 · Science · General · 25 MAC · Macroeconomics · 4 📐 · Mathematics · 4 GEN · Genomics & Sequencing · 4 🎵 · Music & Audio · 4 🏔️ · Outdoor & Adventure · 4

Top tags

#space ·67 #astronomy ·52 #astrophysics ·47 #physics ·42 #cosmology ·22 #particle-physics ·17 #black-holes ·12 #theoretical-physics ·10 #science ·10 #quantum-physics ·9

TCH SOC SCI

ET Ethan Siegel · Starts With A Bang!

This Simple Thought Experiment Shows Why We Need Quantum Gravity

If our current laws of physics can’t predict what will happen, even probabilistically, we need something new.

Jul 27, 2018 · 7 min read · 2,984 claps paywalled #physics #double-slit #quantum-gravity

This Simple Thought Experiment Shows Why We Need Quantum Gravity

SCI SPT

ET Ethan Siegel · Starts With A Bang!

How did the matter in our Universe arise from nothing?

If nature makes equal amounts of matter and antimatter, how are we here?

Jan 12, 2018 · 7 min read · 2,825 claps paywalled #science #matter #physics

How did the matter in our Universe arise from nothing?

SCI

ET Ethan Siegel · Starts With A Bang!

Attosecond spectroscopy wins 2023’s Nobel Prize in Physics

Our greatest tool for exploring the world inside atoms and molecules, and specifically electron transitions, just won 2023’s Nobel Prize.

Oct 11, 2023 · 10 min read · 2,744 claps paywalled #attosecond #physics #laser

Attosecond spectroscopy wins 2023’s Nobel Prize in Physics

HUM SCI SOC

ET Ethan Siegel · Starts With A Bang!

Ask Ethan: Will Future Civilizations Miss The Big Bang?

And if their conclusions will be different from ours, how can we be certain we’ve got it right?

May 26, 2018 · 7 min read · 2,510 claps paywalled #science #dark-energy #big-bang

Ask Ethan: Will Future Civilizations Miss The Big Bang?

SCI

ET Ethan Siegel · Starts With A Bang!

Could We Create A Bottomless Pit On Earth?

And if we did, what would happen if you fell in?

Jun 14, 2018 · 7 min read · 2,255 claps paywalled #science #bottomless-pit #earth

Could We Create A Bottomless Pit On Earth?

SCI

ET Ethan Siegel · Starts With A Bang!

Ask Ethan: Why Is The Black Hole Information Loss Paradox A Problem?

It was Stephen Hawking’s obsession for the last 30 years of his life. Here’s why it matters.

Oct 13, 2018 · 8 min read · 1,867 claps paywalled #black-holes #information-loss #entropy

Ask Ethan: Why Is The Black Hole Information Loss Paradox A Problem?

SCI

ET Ethan Siegel · Starts With A Bang!

A Cosmic First: Ultra-High Energy Neutrinos Found, From Blazing Galaxies Across The Universe

In 1987, we detected neutrinos from another galaxy in a supernova. After a 30 year wait, we’ve found something even better.

Jul 19, 2018 · 7 min read · 1,604 claps paywalled #science #blazar #neutrinos

A Cosmic First: Ultra-High Energy Neutrinos Found, From Blazing Galaxies Across The Universe

SCI AI

ET Ethan Siegel · Starts With A Bang!

Ask Ethan: Does Mars’s gravity prohibit human colonization?

Mars is very different than Earth: smaller, drier, colder, etc. But the biggest long-term challenge, for human colonies, is its low…

Jul 24, 2026 · 12 min read · 1,468 claps paywalled #mars #space #space-exploration

Ask Ethan: Does Mars’s gravity prohibit human colonization?

SCI

ET Ethan Siegel · Starts With A Bang!

LIGO’s 10th anniversary gift confirms Hawking’s theorem

10 years ago, LIGO first began directly detecting gravitational waves. Now better than ever, it’s revealing previously unreachable…

Sep 24, 2025 · 11 min read · 1,387 claps paywalled #ligo #hawking #area

LIGO’s 10th anniversary gift confirms Hawking’s theorem

SCI

ET Ethan Siegel · Starts With A Bang!

No, theoretical physics isn’t broken; it’s just very hard

When you don’t have enough clues to bring your detective story to a close, you should expect that your educated guesses will all be wrong.

Sep 04, 2025 · 11 min read · 1,305 claps paywalled #physics #theoretical-physics #grand-unification

No, theoretical physics isn’t broken; it’s just very hard

SCI

ET Ethan Siegel · Starts With A Bang!

Ask Ethan: Could Octonions Unlock How Reality Really Works?

A fascinating mathematical structure exists that goes well beyond our common experience. Could it revolutionize physics?

Dec 21, 2019 · 8 min read · 1,287 claps paywalled #physics #octonion #mathematics

Ask Ethan: Could Octonions Unlock How Reality Really Works?

SCI HUM

ET Ethan Siegel · Starts With A Bang!

It’s time to stop teaching the biggest lie about Hawking radiation

It’s not about particle-antiparticle pairs falling into or escaping from a black hole. A deeper explanation alters our view of reality.

Jan 22, 2026 · 12 min read · 1,266 claps paywalled #stephen-hawking #hawking-radiation #physics

It’s time to stop teaching the biggest lie about Hawking radiation

SCI

ET Ethan Siegel · Starts With A Bang!

Measuring reality really does affect what you observe

The double-slit experiment, hundreds of years after it was first performed, still holds the key mystery at the heart of quantum physics.

Apr 20, 2023 · 7 min read · 1,056 claps paywalled #measure #observe #quantum

Measuring reality really does affect what you observe

MDA AI SCI

ET Ethan Siegel · Starts With A Bang!

4 myths cause us to abandon science. Here’s the path back.

It’s not a gambit. It’s not fraud. It’s not driven by opinion, prejudice, or bias. It’s not unchallengeable. And it’s more than facts…

Jul 30, 2026 · 13 min read · 1,031 claps paywalled #science #literacy #conspiracy-theories

4 myths cause us to abandon science. Here’s the path back.

SCI

ET Ethan Siegel · Starts With A Bang!

10 solstice facts for everyone to know

Earth orbits the Sun while spinning on its tilted axis, with two annual occasions marking that maximal tilt. That’s where solstices arise.

Dec 25, 2025 · 9 min read · 1,015 claps paywalled #solstice #space #astronomy

SCI

ET Ethan Siegel · Starts With A Bang!

Einstein’s E = mc² is only half of the full equation

Einstein’s most famous equation is E = mc², which describes the rest mass energy inherent to particles. But motion matters for energy, too.

Jul 02, 2026 · 11 min read · 921 claps paywalled #physics #einstein #relativity

Einstein’s E = mc² is only half of the full equation

SCI

ET Ethan Siegel · Starts With A Bang!

A new experiment deepens the physics mystery over “big G”

Newton’s gravitational constant, G, is still known to just 3 significant figures in 2026. New measurements merely highlight our…

May 13, 2026 · 11 min read · 882 claps paywalled #physics #gravity #gravitational-waves

A new experiment deepens the physics mystery over “big G”

SCI

ET Ethan Siegel · Starts With A Bang!

The one reason that physicists won’t give up on supersymmetry

Almost 100 years ago, an asymmetric pathology led Dirac to postulate the positron. A similar pathology could lead us to supersymmetry.

Jun 25, 2024 · 11 min read · 882 claps paywalled #physics #particle-physics #theoretical-physics

The one reason that physicists won’t give up on supersymmetry

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ET Ethan Siegel · Starts With A Bang!

The idea of “theories of everything” may be fundamentally wrong

For decades, theorists have been cooking up “theories of everything” to explain our Universe. Are all of them completely off-track?

Apr 30, 2026 · 12 min read · 811 claps paywalled #physics #theoretical-physics #string-theory

The idea of “theories of everything” may be fundamentally wrong

SCI

ET Ethan Siegel · Starts With A Bang!

Gravitational wave astronomy is now a fully mature science

In 2016, humanity announced our first successful gravitational wave detection. 10 years and 389 events later, here’s how far we’ve come.

Jun 09, 2026 · 11 min read · 804 claps paywalled #space #astronomy #gravitational-waves

Gravitational wave astronomy is now a fully mature science

SCI

ET Ethan Siegel · Starts With A Bang!

How Far Is It To The Edge Of The Universe?

There are three answers depending on what you consider the “edge,” but only two of them are known.

Jan 28, 2020 · 7 min read · 781 claps paywalled #universe #cosmology #astrophysics

How Far Is It To The Edge Of The Universe?

SCI

ET Ethan Siegel · Starts With A Bang!

The simplest explanation for ultra-high-energy cosmic rays

The highest-energy particles could be a sign of new, unexpected physics. But the simplest, most mundane explanation is particularly…

Dec 30, 2025 · 11 min read · 774 claps paywalled #physics #particle-physics #particle

The simplest explanation for ultra-high-energy cosmic rays

SCI

ET Ethan Siegel · Starts With A Bang!

The USA’s Genesis Mission: moonshot or madness?

The Department of Energy’s newest mission seeks to make a unified AI platform across all national labs. Will it help US science, or kill…

Dec 24, 2025 · 12 min read · 765 claps paywalled #genesis-mission #energy #space

The USA’s Genesis Mission: moonshot or madness?

SCI ECO

ET Ethan Siegel · Starts With A Bang!

How the “meter” came to be exactly one meter long

Until the late 20th century, there wasn’t a truly universal standard. Under our current definition, everyone agrees on what “one meter” is.

Nov 17, 2025 · 3 min read · 739 claps paywalled #space #length #meter

How the “meter” came to be exactly one meter long

SCI

ET Ethan Siegel · Starts With A Bang!

OJ 287 has the most supermassive pair of black holes ever

Binary black holes eventually inspiral and merge. That’s why the OJ 287 system is destined for the most energetic event in history.

Mar 23, 2026 · 3 min read · 734 claps paywalled #black-holes #space #astronomy