What makes time so hard to understand? Why is it so different from the spatial dimensions? Is time in any way connected to that most difficult of concepts, entropy?
Nov 20th: I Give Up, What Is Time?
Tag: Ask A Spaceman
Nov 6th: Could We Blow Up a Star?
How much energy is needed to blow up the sun? How is this connected to the idea of binding energy? Where is all the energy in the universe?
Oct 16th: Why Are Brown Dwarf Stars So Weird?
What do brown dwarfs teach us about stars? What do they teach us about planets? What keeps them warm, and how long do they live?
Oct 2nd: What makes all the light?
What are the many sources of light in the universe? Why is a spectrum so important?
Sep 28th: Your Place in the Universe: Understanding Our Big, Messy Existence
Paul reads from chapter 10, The Cosmic Web, of his upcoming book “Your Place in the Universe”.
Sep 18th: Is the Drake Equation useful?
What does the Drake Equation teach us about extraterrestrial civilizations? What does it NOT teach us? Is it even science?
Sep 4th: How Do Magnets Work?
What’s the connection between motion and magnetism? How can something like a black hole have a magnetic field?
Aug 21st: Why Do We Need Cosmic Inflation?
What was going in the very early universe? How does inflation provide the seeds of larger structures?
Aug 7th: Why do we need cosmic inflation? (Part 1)
What are some weaknesses with the standard Big Bang model? What are the horizon and flatness problems? How does accelerated expansion solve these?
Jul 3rd: Can Entangled Particles Communicate Faster than Light?
What is a quantum state? How can two particles share the same state? What is entanglement, and does it really allow for faster-than-light communication?