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Cosmology Demystified
That has got to be the single strangest post title I’ve ever written. Of all the whacky branches of science out there, cosmology almost takes the cake — second only, I think, to the downright trippy world of quantum mechanics.…
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A Cosmological Timeline
We started covering cosmology way back in April. And since then, we’ve explored quite a bit — in fact, the grandest story the universe has to offer. We’ve followed the universe from the first fractions of a second after the…
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From the First Nuclei to First Light
When we talk about the first 30 minutes of time, we describe the universe expanding and cooling. As the universe cooled, the nuclear reactions that produced the first atomic nuclei slowed and stopped. But it was only relatively cool. The…
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The Universe’s First Moments
Imagine a time before galaxies existed, before the first stars had been born, before the most basic building blocks of matter — atoms — had formed. This was mere moments after the Big Bang. No one understands how matter and…
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How Were Atoms Discovered?
Welcome to my fourth “Science Answers” post! If you have a question, you can ask it in the comments here, or ask it in an email. Or find me on Facebook! Q: (1) How did scientists find elements in the first place?…
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What is the Intercloud Medium?
Stars are like headlights in a fog bank that’s impossibly thick in some places, and so thin as to be transparent in others. Sometimes, we get lucky enough for starlight to light up the fog. Other times, stars shine straight…
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What is a Nebula Made of?
What you see here is the Trifid Nebula, a vast cloud of gas and dust in space. In my last post, we explored why it looks the way it does. We discovered that the pink hues of emission nebulae are caused…
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The Proton-Proton Chain
Take a wild guess: how much energy do you think the sun generates? Think about it. It definitely generates enough energy to power a world. Humans depend on the photosynthesis of plants, which converts sunlight into energy. And that’s not…
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The Battery of the Sun
Does this image look familiar? It should — these are soap bubbles. Okay, now you’re probably going to ask me how soap bubbles have anything to do with the battery of the sun. Well…you might be surprised to know that…
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Star Stuff & Cecilia Payne
If this quote really is from Cecilia Payne, then she had the right idea — at least for a female astronomer in the 1920s. Women in science back then faced an uphill battle to get recognized for any discoveries they…
