Tag: Ethan Siegel

Einstein, Schrodinger, and the reluctance to give up hard determinism

Ethan Siegel on his Starts With a Bang blog has an interesting review of Paul Halpern's new book on Einstein and Schrodinger, and their refusal to allow the implications of quantum physics to dissuade them from idea that the universe is strictly deterministic.  It's an interesting post and one that I recommend reading in full. … Continue reading Einstein, Schrodinger, and the reluctance to give up hard determinism →

The theoretical preference for a timeless and eternal reality

Ethan Siegel has an excellent post up contemplating the various models of the timeline of the universe. It’s only human to ask the most fundamental of all questions: where did all this come from? And we like to think we know the answer; it all came from the beginning. But if you think about it … Continue reading The theoretical preference for a timeless and eternal reality →

Global Warming for Beginners — Starts With A Bang! — Medium

Ethan Siegel on global warming.  If you are still a skeptic about global warming, please consider taking a few minutes to learn about it. If you had never heard of global warming before, how would you figure out whether it’s happening? “There is no question that climate change is happening; the only arguable point is what … Continue reading Global Warming for Beginners — Starts With A Bang! — Medium →

What is Color? — Starts With A Bang! — Medium

This article is Ethan Siegel's response to Alan Alda's challenge to explain color in 300 words of less.  He meets that challenge, albeit with a lot of visual aids. It’s one of our most common experiences, and we all know it when we see it. But what, exactly, is color? Where does it come from, … Continue reading What is Color? — Starts With A Bang! — Medium →

The faster interstellar travel is, the further away intelligent aliens are

Ethan Siegel has an excellent post up exploring the possibility of extraterrestrial civilizations. With hundreds of billions of stars (visible, above, in infrared wavelengths) in our galaxy alone, and literally trillions of planets around them, we have many, many chances for life to have evolved similarly to how it did here on Earth. With at … Continue reading The faster interstellar travel is, the further away intelligent aliens are →

Ask Ethan #20: Is the Mars One crew doomed? – Starts With A Bang

What Mars One is counting on is that they can safely land a heavier payload than ever before, that they can do it more precisely than ever before (as in, within just a few hundred meters of previous successful landings), and they can do it for only 12% of the projected costs, with a total … Continue reading Ask Ethan #20: Is the Mars One crew doomed? – Starts With A Bang →

The Most Abused Principle in all of Science — Starts With A Bang! — Medium

How the mis-application of the Anthropic Principle has led factions of scientists away from the search for a natural, physical explanation of our Universe, and why that’s bad for everyone. via The Most Abused Principle in all of Science — Starts With A Bang! — Medium. Ethan Siegel, at his new home at Medium, takes … Continue reading The Most Abused Principle in all of Science — Starts With A Bang! — Medium →

Ask Ethan #17: The Burden of Proof – Starts With A Bang

Perhaps no word in the English language generates as much misunderstanding as the word theory. In scientific circles, this word has a very specific meaning that’s different from everyday use, and — as a theoretical astrophysicist myself — I feel it’s my duty to help explain exactly what we mean when we use it. via … Continue reading Ask Ethan #17: The Burden of Proof – Starts With A Bang →

Ask Ethan #12: How far is the distant Universe? – Starts With A Bang

Ethan Siegel's blog, Starts With a Bang, is one of the best science astrophysics blogs on the web. Ask Ethan #12: How far is the distant Universe? – Starts With A Bang. In this post, he tackles an issue I often see a lot of confusion over, even from science reporters.  When talking about extreme … Continue reading Ask Ethan #12: How far is the distant Universe? – Starts With A Bang →