Physical Science

Comments of the Week #176: From making heavy elements to why the sky is blue
Posted by Ethan on September 10, 2017

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In the media age, everybody was famous for 15 minutes. In the Wikipedia age,
everybody can be an expert in five minutes. Special bonus: You can edit your own
entry to make yourself seem even smarter. ?Stephen Colbert Its been another fun-
and-fact-filled week here at Starts With A Bang! (And did you know I have a
wikipedia page?

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Ask Ethan: How Can A Nation Have Nuclear Power Without The Danger Of Nuclear
Weapons? (Synopsis)
Posted by Ethan on September 9, 2017

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We have to understand the ubiquity of energy in everything we do. Energy is core
to our economy and it brings with it environmental challenges, and its core to our
security challenges. -Ernest Moniz In 1953, then-President Eisenhower, in the
aftermath of World War II and with rising tensions between the USA and the Soviet

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Why The Sky Is Blue, According To Science (Synopsis)
Posted by Ethan on September 8, 2017

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Thats a misconception, Lennie. The sky is everywhere, it begins at your feet.
-Jandy Nelson There are all sorts of explanations that people give for why the sky
is blue. Some say that its because of the fact that oxygen is a light blue gas.
Others contend that the sky reflects the blue ocean, giving

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The Greatest Cosmic Puzzle: Astronomers Find Stars That Appear Older Than The
Universe (Synopsis)
Posted by Ethan on September 7, 2017

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The older you get, the more you realize that the way you look is a reflection of
how you treat yourself. -Hope Davis Age may be just a number, but in cosmic terms,
there are some rules its pretty important to obey. It should be impossible to have
a complex creature thats older than the

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The Terrifying Physics Of How Wildfires Spread So Fast (Synopsis)
Posted by Ethan on September 6, 2017

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Id rather fight 100 structure fires than a wildfire. With a structure fire you
know where your flames are, but in the woods it can move anywhere; it can come
right up behind you. -Tom Watson On September 2nd, a group of teenagers were
lighting fireworks in the Columbia Gorge near Eagle Creek. They would

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The Suns Energy Doesnt Come From Fusing Hydrogen Into Helium (Mostly) [Synopsis]
Posted by Ethan on September 5, 2017

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The sun is a miasma Of incandescent plasma The suns not simply made out of gas
No, no, no The sun is a quagmire Its not made of fire Forget what youve been told
in the past -They Might Be Giants Ask anyone where the Sun (or any star) gets its
energy from, and most

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Five reasons why the signals from Stephen Hawkings Breakthrough Initiative arent
aliens (Synopsis)
Posted by Ethan on September 4, 2017

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Just the fact that you so desperately attempt to dismantle our theory proves that
we are on the right track. Otherwise you would not feel so threatened by our
theories! -Giogrio Tsoukalos (in a letter to Jason Colavito) Whenever we detect a
signal that we cant immediately explain, its a very human trait to ascribe

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Comments of the Week #175: From future technology to the cause of dark energy
Posted by Ethan on September 3, 2017

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There will be days when we lose faith. Days when our allies turn against usbut
the day will never come that we forsake this planet and its people. ?Optimus Prime
There was too much to simply keep it to a single article a day this week here at
Starts With A Bang! The dynamic duo of Megan

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Ask Ethan: Can Normal Stars Make Elements Heavier (And Less Stable) Than Iron?
(Synopsis)
Posted by Ethan on September 2, 2017

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Comrades, this man has a nice smile, but hes got iron teeth. -Andrei A. Gromyko
When you have a star, perhaps its most defining characteristic is that it fuses
lighter elements into heavier ones, releasing energy. While all stars fuse hydrogen
into helium, the more massive ones will undergo helium fusion, with the most
massive

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A new explanation for dark energy: the matter in our Universe (Synopsis)
Posted by Ethan on September 1, 2017

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For although it is certainly true that quantitative measurements are of great
importance, it is a grave error to suppose that the whole of experimental physics
can be brought under this heading. -Hendrik Casimir Ever since we first discovered
that the expansion of the Universe is accelerating, scientists have puzzles as to
whats causing it.

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