Cosmologist, science communicator, author, speaker, and longtime writer of Starts With A Bang.
Not the next Carl Sagan; the first Ethan Siegel.
Ethan Siegel
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Ask Ethan: How are black holes active if nothing escapes from them?
Nothing can escape from inside a black hole.
But black holes launch jets, flares, radiation, antimatter, and much more all the time.
Here's the reconciliation.
bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#space #astro #blackholes #Einstein
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.
bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#space #astronomy #planets #stars #blackholes #ohmy
Move over, giant meteor. Here’s what the largest comet would do to Earth
Quit praying for a giant meteor to fix our problems here on Earth.
It's much better to pray for comet Bernadelli-Bernstein: the Solar System's largest comet ever.
bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#comet #space #astro #armageddon
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.
bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#space #astro #biology #seti #aliens
Many of you know that I run a Patreon to help support what I do at Starts With A Bang. It has helped me, in many ways since 2015, including in making a living.
If you support anyone on Patreon, or run one yourself, I'm now compelled to share this:
www.patreon.com/posts/warnin...
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?
bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#physics #quarks
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.
bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#space #astro
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.
bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#space #physics #logic
Ethan Siegel
Oort cloud object Bernardinelli–Bernstein has the largest known cometary nucleus: 119 km wide. An impact with Earth would be catastrophic.
I started writing my recap down 21 in the second quarter because I didn’t want to stay up late.
I just kept typing. I have not gone back and read or edited it. It’s 3400 words.
Also, my house lost power when Castle was at the line at the end.
Read it here:
knickerblogger.net/2026/06/2026...
