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“Soccer matches should be something special, something people eagerly look forward to, something that brightens life.” -P. J. O’Rourke
Well, my World Cup fanatics, the time is upon us. The 2014 World Cup is here and off to a spectacular start! No doubt, some of you have incredibly fond memories of previous soccer/fútbol matches; for me, it's the most incredible set shots that stand out the most. No doubt, many among you (especially the Brits) will remember this gem from 2006.
But how do you bend the ball like David Beckham? The secret lies in the physical phenomenon of the Magnus Force…
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“It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth. I didn’t feel like a giant. I felt very, very small.” -Neil Armstrong
When you think about the faintest object in the Messier catalogue -- which happens to be an extended, low-surface-brightness galaxy -- you probably don't think that looking for it on one of the shortest nights of the year just after a full Moon is ideal. Yet, in the case of Messier 91, that may well be the best time to look for it!
Image credit: © 2006 — 2012 by…
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“I guess I just prefer to see the dark side of things. The glass is always half-empty. And cracked. And I just cut my lip on it. And chipped a tooth.” -Janeane Garofalo
During the week, it's all about the natural wonders of the Universe here, about what we know and how we know it, and about our place as human beings in the grand scheme of things. But on the weekend, I hope to bring you a little bit of the joys and wonders that, as humans, we create for ourselves on this little blue marble. Have a listen to the Puppini Sisters’ wonderful interpretation of a Blondie classic,
Heart Of…
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"The real deal is always going to win in the end." -Bill Hybels
I always do my best to cut through the hype and give it to you straight here at Starts With A Bang, and that means telling you the secrets of the Universe and the truth about our physical reality to the absolute best of our knowledge. In turn, you do your thing and let me know what you think, what else you want to know, and what just doesn't sound right to you in the comments here on our forum. Over the past week, we've covered the following topics:
What are supernova impostors? (for Ask Ethan),
The world's first Vine from…
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“Sometimes a person has to go a very long distance out of his way to come back a short distance correctly.” -Edward Albee
Every week on Ask Ethan, we've been taking a look at my favorites of the questions you send in. And one of the things you've been wondering about is this: when we look at an object way out there in the Universe, how do we determine how far back in time we're looking.
Image credit: © 2013 Alan Dyer, via http://amazingsky.net/2013/12/10/orion-and-canis-major-rising/.
Is it as simple as measuring the distance to it and calculating the time by using the speed of light…
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“I see miracles all around me
Stop and look, it’s all astounding
Water, fire, air and dirt
Fucking magnets, how do they work?” -Insane Clown Posse
Oh, Insane Clown Posse, is there any amount of education that could ever change you? On the one hand, magnetism is a lot more counterintuitive than simple mechanics, I certainly won't deny it. But on the other hand, it certainly makes a lot of amazing things possible, things we might never have even tried had we not understood the physics and predicted them!
Like the phenomena we're seeing in the video, above, for example, which showcases…
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“You cannot, in human experience, rush into the light. You have to go through the twilight into the broadening day before the noon comes and the full sun is upon the landscape.” -Woodrow Wilson
You might think of black holes as cosmic rarities, but the fact of the matter is that pretty much every time we form new stars in large numbers, we're going to wind up forming black holes as well. This is something that, over the nearly 14 billion year history of the Universe, each and every galaxy has had literally thousands (if not millions) of opportunities to do.
Image credit: NRAO / Very…
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“It’s a brilliant surface in that sunlight. The horizon seems quite close to you because the curvature is so much more pronounced than here on earth. It’s an interesting place to be. I recommend it.” -Neil Armstrong
Whether it's a job, a college/University, a scholarship or a competitive program, we've all had occasions where we've had to go through the application process in one form or another. And in almost all cases, that means we've needed to get recommendations from others.
Image credit: Linkedsoul of deviantART, via http://linkedsoul.deviantart.com/art/All-i-need-is-someone-to-…
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“Conceit spoils the finest genius. There is not much danger that real talent or goodness will be overlooked long; even if it is, the consciousness of possessing and using it well should satisfy one, and the great charm of all power is modesty.” -Louisa May Alcott
On Messier Monday, we take a look at one of the 110 deep-sky objects that makes up the Messier catalogue. On night with bright Moons -- like this one -- objects like nebulae and galaxies make terrible targets, but star-and-globular clusters are still fair game. And, in particular, each one can teach us something different, and offer…
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“I saw for the first time the earth’s shape. I could easily see the shores of continents, islands, great rivers, folds of the terrain, large bodies of water. The horizon is dark blue, smoothly turning to black. . . the feelings which filled me I can express with one word—joy.” -Yuri Gagarin
Most weekends, you can come here and count on me to provide you with a diversion from the science, space and astrophysics we normally talk about during the week. But this weekend, I've got something far too spectacular about the Universe to keep to myself. So have a listen to a classic from The…
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"All one can really leave one's children is what's inside their heads. Education, in other words, and not earthly possessions, is the ultimate legacy, the only thing that cannot be taken away." -Wernher von Braun
After another outstanding week here at Starts With A Bang, it's time to take a detailed look at what you've had to say about everything we've talked about. From the expanding Universe to galaxies near and far, to the future of NASA and more, here's the weekly recap, just in case you missed anything (or want a second look):
Why does light stretch as the Universe…
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“If you are a dreamer come in
If you are a dreamer a wisher a liar
A hoper a pray-er a magic-bean-buyer
If youre a pretender com sit by my fire
For we have some flax golden tales to spin
Come in!
Come in!” -Shel Silverstein
There are fakers out there of all types, to be sure. But one of the most unexpected ones is the ultimate cosmic faker: a giant star that erupts and pretends to be a supernova!
Image credit: Celestia, by author / user HeNRyKus, with η Carinae at left and Canopus at right.
Just because something brightens tremendously to become visible to the eye, perhaps even…
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“There is nothing more contemptible than a bald man who pretends to have hair.” -Martial
There's nothing worse in the world of science than spending your life working your heart out on a problem... and getting scooped by someone who did your work just a little bit faster and a little bit better.
Image credit: © www.astropolis.fr, via http://www.astropolis.fr/articles/Biographies-des-grands-savants-et-ast….
And -- in the world of style -- there's no worse fate for a bald man than to choose the combover as their hairstyle-of-choice. Yet despite falling victim to both of these tragedies, John…
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“There is just one thing I can promise you about the outer-space program — your tax-dollar will go further.” -Wernher von Braun
Over the past 100 years, we've gone from looking out at a Universe whose very nature -- the stars, nebulae, and even the planets -- were virtually unknown to us. And because of the investment we've made as an entire world in the endeavor of science, it's almost breathtaking to realize how far we've come.
Image credit: ESA/C. Carreau, edits by me, via http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2013/03/Planck_history_of_Unive….
But the big question -- the one no…
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“I realise now that I wanted to disappear. To get so lost that nobody ever found me. To go so far away that I’d never be able to make my way home again. But I have no idea why.” -Jessica Warman
When you think about the galaxies up there in the night sky, only visible with the most powerful telescopes in the world, it also behooves us to think about how incredibly rapidly they're moving.
Image credit: Tony Hallas of Astrophoto.com, via http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070719.html.
As the Universe expands, the space between us and them expands as well, causing an incredibly fast apparent…
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“But touch a solemn truth in collision with a dogma of a sect, though capable of the clearest proof, and you will find you have disturbed a nest, and the hornets will swarm about your eyes and hand, and fly into your face and eyes.” -John Adams
Not every swarm is a danger, however, particularly if you're talking about the densest individual swarms of stars out there in the Universe: globular clusters!
Image credit: © 2006 — 2012 by Siegfried Kohlert, via http://www.astroimages.de/en/gallery/M107.html.
For today's Messier Monday, the Moon will be out and polluting your skies, but that doesn…
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“I call it like the domino theory of reality. If you can go one step at a time and it seems to make sense, you can then take your audience into an area that is relatively outlandish.” -Ivan Reitman
There's a special joy that I get when you start with something very simple, make slight variations on it that progress little-by-little, and before you know it, you're in an entirely new, amazing world. Have a listen to the Pet Shop Boys on one of their hits from all those years ago,
Domino Dancing,
while you start thinking about one of the most humble toys in all the world: the domino…
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“Einstein, my upset stomach hates your theory — it almost hates you yourself! How am I to' provide for my students? What am I to answer to the philosophers?!!” -Paul Ehrenfest
It's been another great week here at Starts With A Bang, and we've shed light on a number of wonders of the Universe, from galaxies to dark matter to some of the amazing properties of relativity itself. As always you’ve had plenty to say about it as well. Over the past week, in case you missed anything, we covered:
How do I write a science blog? (for Ask Ethan),
The Best (Worst) Fake Astro Pics (for our…
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“They say the universe is expanding. That should help with the traffic.” -Steven Wright
When you think of the expanding Universe, you very likely think of galaxies moving away from one another, of space getting stretched, and quite possibly, of light redshifting as it travels through this expanding, stretching space.
Image credit: James Imamura of University of Oregon, via http://hendrix2.uoregon.edu/~imamura/123cs/lecture-5/lecture-5.html.
But does it have to be this way? In other words, these galaxies are moving away from us; are we sure that the light is getting…
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“Oh leave the Wise our measures to collate. One thing at least is certain, light has weight. One thing is certain and the rest debate. Light rays, when near the Sun, do not go straight.” -Arthur Eddington
It might seem like General Relativity has been around forever, but it's been less than a century since it was released and confirmed. In fact, today marks the 95th anniversary of the solar eclipse that changed our view of the Universe!
Actual negative and positive photographic plates from the 1919 Eddington Expedition, via http://www.sciencebuzz.org/buzz-tags/eddington-expedition.…