Where is gravity the strongest and weakest on Earth? The acceleration due to gravity isn't constant at Earth's surface, but varies with latitude, altitude, and crustal composition. The differences are small, but they matter! bigthink.com/starts-with-... #space #earth #physics #astro

Where is gravity the strongest and weakest on Earth?

The Earth is a massive planet, but doesn't form a truly perfect sphere. Here's how to understand our strongest and weakest gravity points.

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3 forgotten keys to a real scientific golden age for the USA Instead of pouring money into "integrating AI into everything," we should follow the proven roadmap for science in America. These 3 keys were what previously made us great. bigthink.com/starts-with-... #space #physics #science #usa

3 forgotten keys to a real scientific golden age for the USA

Neither Vannevar Bush's "Science: the Endless Frontier" nor OSTP's "Science: A New Golden Age" got it fully right. Here's what they missed.

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Which 10 atmospheres are the Solar System’s thickest? Only a few worlds in the Solar System have substantial atmospheres of any type. This top 10 list goes from hero to almost-zero faster than you might've imagined. bigthink.com/starts-with-... #space #astro #planets #science

Which 10 atmospheres are the Solar System's thickest?

Obviously, the gas giants all top this list. But the fall-off is rapid after that, and the final two spots in the top 10 are truly shocking.

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Ask Ethan: What would “first life” see in their night sky? Our night sky reveals the Universe as it is today: 13.8 billion years after the Big Bang. What would first life, just 1 or 2 billion years into cosmic history, have seen instead? bigthink.com/starts-with-... #space #astro #physics

Ask Ethan: What would "first life" see in their night sky?

Human beings only see the Universe now: 13.8 billion years after the Big Bang. What would the earliest life, anywhere, have seen instead?

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Johannes Kepler, not Newton or Einstein, is science’s best role model People often look to Einstein or Newton as a scientist's best role model. But Kepler did something more important: he changed his mind when the evidence demanded it. bigthink.com/starts-with-... #space #astro #kepler #science

Johannes Kepler, not Newton or Einstein, is science's best role model

When people pick the greatest scientist of all-time, Newton and Einstein always come up. Perhaps they should name Johannes Kepler, instead.

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An honest look inside the “Science: A New Golden Age” report In a 100+ page report, OSTP director Michael Kratsios, with help from Trump and Vought, outlined a path for American science. I read through the whole thing so you don't have to. bigthink.com/starts-with-... #space #science #physics

An honest look inside the "Science: A New Golden Age" report

Scientists are livid over the OSTP director's official report to the President. Will it lead to a new golden age for US science, or end it?

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The 20 biggest cosmic discoveries of the last 20 decades 200 years ago, we didn't even know what the stars were, much less what the Universe was. These 20 big steps, one per decade, help illustrate exactly how we got here. bigthink.com/starts-with-... #space #astro #cosmology

The 20 biggest cosmic discoveries of the last 20 decades

200 years ago, we hardly knew anything about our Universe on cosmic scales. Today, there's so much that we know. Here's how we arrived.

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The rare quantum reason that neutral atoms are possible If atoms only de-excited conventionally, emitting ultraviolet photons when they dropped into the lowest-energy state, the Universe would have become neutral when it did. Here's how it happened. bigthink.com/starts-with-... #space #physics

The rare quantum reason that neutral atoms are possible

Early on, the entire Universe was ionized. Without the forbidden two-photon transition, it would have remained that way for far too long.

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If you see this, quote skeet a pic of yourself in sunglasses.

Harry Turtledove @hntdove.bsky.social · last wk.

If you see this, quote skeet a pic of yourself in sunglasses.

Ask Ethan: Should we stop worrying about vacuum decay? Vacuum decay is one of the most frightening, and undetectable-until-it-happens, possibilities for how this will all end. But if we learn enough, there could be a way to stop it. bigthink.com/starts-with-... #space #physics #cosmology

Ask Ethan: Should we stop worrying about vacuum decay?

Our Universe has a positive, non-zero value to the energy within empty space. Can we potentially save ourselves by considering vacuum decay?

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4 myths cause us to abandon science. Here’s the path back. Four myths about how "science is flawed" cause people to choose conspiratorial thinking instead. That's the path to fraud, grift, and misinformation. Here's the way back. bigthink.com/starts-with-... #science #information #lies #myths

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 alone.

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So many great publications, with so many important writers who focus on deep, truthful stories about reality, are being sold off and scrapped for parts. Goodbye, National Geographic, Scientific American, Spektrum de Wissenschaft, Research Professional News, and more...

Elise Cutts@elisecutts.bsky.social · 2w ago

“At National Geographic, dozens of people have received layoff notices“ … The grim reaper really is out for science journalism right now, isn’t he 💀 Sci am was sold + had layoffs, research professional news is shutting down, and now this?

Has Subir Sarkar, Oxford cosmologist, published anything about dark energy, or cosmology in general, that isn't absurdly wrong since the last good paper I'm aware of that he wrote: back in 1996? Along with Madhu and Loeb, the clown show is really intensifying over here.

Clown Makeup Transformation with Rainbow Wig

ALT: Clown Makeup Transformation with Rainbow Wig

static.klipy.com

2026’s Perseids, lousy this July, will peak at the perfect time The #Perseids have begun here on Earth, but conditions are lousy for it right now. On the night of the peak, however, conditions will be just about ideal. Here's how to best see them. bigthink.com/starts-with-... #space #astro

2026's Perseids, lousy this July, will peak at the perfect time

Although the Geminids have rivaled the Perseids recently, in 2026, the Perseids should win at their peak. Here's why, plus how to see them.

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A cosmic first: separated sibling stars reunited by supernovae We've never witnessed a pair of massive, binary stars both go supernova before. Opposite the galactic center, we just might have spotted the ultimate family reunion: in death. bigthink.com/starts-with-... #space #astro #supernova

A cosmic first: separated sibling stars reunited by supernovae

We've never witnessed a system of binary stars both go supernova before. A once-hidden source of gamma rays just revealed the first one.

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Sugar in space: another step towards life’s origins With the discovery of our first sugar, the four-carbon molecule erythrulose, in an interstellar gas cloud, the raw ingredients for life are more abundant than ever. One big step to go! bigthink.com/starts-with-... #space #chemistry #astro

Sugar in space: another step towards life's origins

In a gas cloud 26,000 light-years away, a 4-carbon sugar, erythrulose, has just been found. Here's what it means for life in the Milky Way.

bigthink.com

Ask Ethan: Does Mars’s gravity prohibit human colonization? Human bodies decay in the microgravity environment of interplanetary space, but recover on planet Earth. The low gravity of Mars will be a challenge, but maybe not a dealbreaker. bigthink.com/starts-with-... #mars #humans #astro #space

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 gravity.

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The physical Universe isn’t made of pure mathematics alone Mathematics is great, as a tool, for describing the Universe. But our Universe isn't made of pure mathematics alone. To transform it into physics, something more is required. bigthink.com/starts-with-... #physics #math #maths

The physical Universe isn't made of pure mathematics alone

Mathematics is our language for quantitatively describing reality, but it can also take us to worlds that never were. Physics needs more.

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The big reason Einstein would never have used AI The point of school is to grow your mind; the point of science is to discover truths about reality. We know that Einstein never would've used AI. Here are the dangers if you do. bigthink.com/starts-with-... #space #astro #physics #einstein #ai

The big reason Einstein would never have used AI

Many think that intelligence can be outsourced to AI. Einstein wouldn't have used it. If he had, he never would have become Einstein.

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Follow @magsvisaggio.com, the author of this great piece, but do read this wonderful exploration of how the paradox of tolerance changes even the kindest and gentlest of us. bsky.app/profile/assi...

Assigned Media@assignedmedia.org · 3w ago

Magdalene Visaggio was once in seminary, training to become a Catholic priest. Now she's a snarky online trans girl like the rest of us. In a challenging new essay for Assigned, she writes about the toll being hated for who she is has taken on her psyche. assignedmedia.org/breaking-new...

I am richer for having read this. Deepen your understanding of the world, a little bit, by reading about an experience that's likely quite different from your own. You might recognize more of yourself in it than you ever thought you would.

Mags Visaggio - Writer and Writing Coach for Hire 🏳️‍⚧️@magsvisaggio.com · 3w ago

I know y'all *just* finished writing you public comments on the fascist NIH takeover plan but the fascist NSF takeover plan public comment period is now open (until August 24) www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...

Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request; National Science Foundation Proposal/Award Information-NSF Guidance on Financial Assistance

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is announcing plans to renew and revise its collection for its financial assistance policies and procedures. In accordance with the requirements of the Paper...

federalregister.gov

99% of a core-collapse supernova’s energy is invisible Despite how luminous core-collapse supernovae are, 99% of the energy they carry away is invisible: in the form of neutrinos. Here's why that must be the case. bigthink.com/starts-with-... #supernova #astro #space #neutrinos #physics

99% of a core-collapse supernova's energy is invisible

Despite the brilliance of these cosmic beacons, only 1% of a core-collapse supernova's energy is observable. The other 99% is in neutrinos.

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Big evidence for “second generation” black hole mergers With 390 gravitational wave events under our belts, we can actually see a difference between spin-orbit aligned and non-aligned mergers. The switch is at 40-45 solar masses. bigthink.com/starts-with-... #blackholes #physics #astro #space

Big evidence for "second generation" black hole mergers

With nearly 400 black hole events from gravitational waves, we can begin to infer their origins. At least two different populations emerge.

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For some unknown reason, I got this song in my head today. Feel free to remind others that it exists: youtu.be/3ReavqtEILM?...

Lindsay Graham Says, "Trump Is A Fucking Idiot".

YouTube video by Jonathan Mann

youtu.be

Starts With A Bang podcast #131 – The baryon life cycle The Universe was born with just hydrogen and helium for atoms: insufficient for making complex molecules, rocky planets, and life. So how did we get from there to here? bigthink.com/starts-with-... #space #astro #physics #podcast

Starts With A Bang podcast #131 - The baryon life cycle

The history of atoms in the Universe is our own history: without them, there would be no us. So how do we piece their cosmic story together?

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Ask Ethan: What sets the size of the observable Universe? We know how big the observable Universe is, was, and will be: not just today, but far into the past and future as well. Here's what sets the "actual size" of our cosmos. bigthink.com/starts-with-... #space #astro #cosmology #actualsize

Ask Ethan: What sets the size of the observable Universe?

For all we know, the cosmos could truly be infinite in scale. But the observable part of our Universe? It's finite, and its size is known.

bigthink.com

To those of you wondering how bad wealth inequality has gotten here in the USA, the latest report on wealth (2025) has just come out. www.ubs.com/global/en/me... The average wealth in the USA is $696,277: 2nd in the world. But the median wealth in the USA is just $68k: 28th in the world.

America pioneered gravitational wave research. Now it may leave it behind. The USA has led the way in detecting gravitational waves here in the 21st century. The ongoing threat is that we'll abandon it, as we've done with so much science already. bigthink.com/starts-with-... #space #astro #physics

America pioneered gravitational wave research. Now it may leave it behind.

The LIGO facilities in the U.S. are the most sensitive gravitational wave detectors in the world. Their future remains uncertain.

bigthink.com

Forget seeing the Universe’s beginning. It’s already been erased The Big Bang gave us our cosmic origin story, and inflation took us back even before that, to an earlier stage. So where did inflation come from? That information's all been erased! bigthink.com/starts-with-... #space #astro

Forget seeing the Universe's beginning. It's already been erased

We used to think the Big Bang started it all. Then we realized that something else came before it, erasing everything that existed prior.

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