“My Friend the Chatbot”, Discover, November/December 2024
How Big can stars be?

 

“Life lessons from hell-house Venus“, Nautilus, June 2024

“How to Charge Up a Sliding Water Drop”, Physics Magazine, May 2024

“Dark energy: a brief history“, Sky and Telescope, February 2024

“Lego bricks are making science more accessible“, MIT Technology Review, June 2024

“How rocks and minerals play with light to produce breathtaking colors“, Big Think, July 2023

“Space travel will radically change human psychology and spirituality“, Big Think, February 2023

“What Einstein and Bohr’s debate over quantum entanglement taught us about reality“, Big Think, October 2022

 

Will the constellations ever change?, space.com, April 2024

Does consciousness change the rules of quantum mechanics?, Big Think, November 2022

Four Night Sky Christmas Meditations, BioLogos, December 2023

A Letter to My Kids about the Universe, Faith and Science, BioLogos, August 2023

 

Quantum biology: Your nose and house plant are experts at particle physics, Big Think, July 2023

 

Could you stand on the surface of Jupiter? Exploring the enigmatic outer planets, Big Think, June 2023 

 

Plants perform quantum mechanics feats that scientists can only do at ultra-cold temperatures, Big Think, May 2023

 

How plate tectonics shook life into existence, Big Think, May 2023

5.3 million years ago, the world’s largest flood refilled the Mediterranean, Big Think, May 2023

How life survived “Snowball Earth”, Big Think, April 2023

Life might exist between eternal day and eternal night on tidally locked planets, Big Think, April 2023

Some earthquakes last for seconds, others for minutes — and a few for decades, Big Think, February 2023

Space travel will radically change human psychology and spirituality, Big Think, February 2023

We may not be alone in the Universe. Should we reach out?, Big Think, January 2023

Earth’s magnetic field supports biblical stories of destruction of ancient cities, Big Think, December 2022

Brain experiment suggests that consciousness relies on quantum entanglement, Big Think, November, 2022

Does consciousness change the rules of quantum mechanics?, Big Think, November 2022

Quantum sensors use “spooky” science to measure the world with unprecedented precision, Big Think, October 2022

Practical physics: How quantum uncertainty will make our communications secure, Big Think, October 2022

What Einstein and Bohr’s debate over quantum entanglement taught us about reality, Big Think, October 2022

 

Could we use quantum communication to talk to aliens?, Big Think, July 2022

Tiktaalik: Bridging the Gap Between Water and Land, BioLogos, July 2022

How the biggest earthquake in world history nearly destroyed a local civilization, Big Think, June 2022

Mars “earthquakes”: Red Planet might have more seismic activity than we ever expected, Big Think, June 2022

The strange under-ice lakes of Antarctica

 

Why is Titan’s landscape so Earth-like despite its different composition?

Why is Titan’s landscape so Earth-like despite its different composition?

Cryovolcanoes: How ice volcanoes reshaped the surface of Pluto

 

How general relativity could help predict volcano eruptions

How general relativity could help predict volcano eruptions

 

What leaking helium-3 gas can tell us about Earth’s origin

 

Gravitational waves could be “pushing” the Moon

 

Why Mercury could be encrusted with diamonds

Why did dinosaurs go extinct while other animals survived?

“Supermountains” may have influenced the course of life on Earth

Self-driving cars could transform the world in unexpected ways

How Mars lost its magnetic field — and then its oceans

Earth’s mantle: how earthquakes reveal the history and inner structure of our planet

Tonga volcano eruption was a once-in-a-millennium event

How astronomers piece together surfaces of invisible alien worlds

Benefits Of “Deepfaking” The Mind In Creating Brain-Computer Interfaces

How To Not Be Fooled When Looking For Life On Mars

Don’t Underestimate Local Knowledge Of Agriculture In Dealing With Climate Change

By 2500, Climate Change May Completely Transform The World

 

Does Staying In Space Too Long Lead To Brain Damage?

 

AI May Have A Thing Or Two To Learn From Our Imperfect Brains

A Massive Meteor May Have Destroyed The Biblical City Of Sodom

What Stars Host Planets That Would Be Able To See Earth?

 

Now Time Travel Can Be Paradox-Free, Thanks To Math

What Would It Mean For Life On Earth If There Is Life On Venus?

68% Of Animals Are Gone – Yet Conservation Can Work. Here’s How

Is Consciousness Continuous, Like A Movie, Or Discrete, Like A Flipbook?

Quantum Physics May Upend Our Macroscopic Reality In The Universe

How Quantum Entanglement Can Help You Win At Blackjack

How Will Climate Change Affect Biodiversity? For Clues, Look To The Past

Think Our Sun Is A Nice, Constant Star? Changes Might Be Coming.

Think Our Sun Is A Nice, Constant Star? Changes Might Be Coming.

We May Owe Our Existence To These Small, Ghostly Particles

You Can’t Look Someone In The Eye On A Video Chat – And That Changes How We Interact

How Can We Responsibly Return To Work And End Social Distancing?

What Does It Take For Time To Move In Two Directions?

Our Brains Are Just Making It Up As We Go Along

How To Keep From Being Isolated During The Coronavirus Pandemic – While Still Keeping Your Distance

The COVID-19 Coronavirus Is Now A Pandemic – Can We Ethically Deal With Lockdowns?

Humans Need The Wilderness To Be Happy

Who Is Responsible In A Crash With A Self-Driving Car?

Could Our Universe Be 2-Dimensional? Black Holes Offer A Clue

The Multiverse And Eastern Philosophy

Feeling Anxious? Try Getting More Sleep

How Did Language Originate? Charades Might Offer A Clue

Is A New Geologic Epoch Beginning – The Anthropocene?

Understanding AI Could Hold Up A Mirror To How We Think

AI Is Not Similar To Human Intelligence. Thinking So Could Be Dangerous

Human Participants In Experimentation On The Brain? They Better Be Treated Well.

Are The Past And Future Real? The Physics And Philosophy Of Time

Stress Isn’t Just In Your Mind – It’s Also From Your Body

To Combat Climate Change, We Also Need To Understand Our Black Carbon Footprint

A Newly Seen Quantum Symmetry Can Lead To Insights To The Workings Of The Universe

Could Quantum Gravity Allow Us To Time Travel?

That Pill Is Watching You – Privacy And Hackability Of Ingestible Electronic Sensors

How Would Society React If The Europa Clipper Discovered Life In Our Cosmic Backyard?

Engineering Ethics Isn’t Always Black And White

How Could We Decode A Message From Extraterrestrials?

Can Reality Ever Be Known? A Tribute To Bell’s Theorem

 

“A Time Standard for the Moon – Thanks to General Relativity“, Physics, September 2024

As part of an effort to establish a lunar time standard, researchers have used relativity to calculate time differences between Earth and the Moon.

“Gravitational-Wave Memory May Illustrate Spacetime Symmetries“, Physics, June 2024

Ripples in space-time, gravitational waves, may leave a permanent imprint of their passage. I discuss what we can learn about their signatures.

“Some White Dwarfs Might be Older than Previously Thought“, Physics, April 2024

White dwarfs were always assumed to be dead stars, slowly cooling by radiating away their remaining heat. But new research shows that an unusual process may heat up these stars once more.

“Earth’s magnetic field supports biblical stories of destruction of ancient cities“, Big Think, December 2023

In this award-winning piece, I tell the story of battles in Judea, thousands of years ago, with fires that raged so hot that they melted rocks within cities. As these rocks resolidified, they oriented in the direction of the Earth’s magnetic field. This leads to an accurate dating technique, filling in gaps in biblical history and archeology.

“No music on Mars: Sound is different on the red planet “, Big Think, May 2022

We have an idea of what Mars looks like. But what does it sound like? I talk about the physics of sound on Mars and describe what it would be like to listen to a concert on this alien planet.

 

“The Bizarre Shape of our Universe“, Up and Atom, September 2024

What is the shape of our Universe? What does such a question even mean? In a YouTube script I wrote for the channel Up and Atom, I explore these questions.

“Floods in India – A View of Climate Change from Under the River“, SparkDialog Podcasts, July 2021

There are places in the world where climate change cannot be ignored.  One of those areas is North Bihar, India.  Today’s podcast guest, Dr. Luisa Cortesi, is an environmental anthropologist studying water disasters.  She just happened to be living in India when two of the region’s largest floods hit.  Today she speaks on climate change, caste, culture, and what it’s like when an enormous river suddenly changes course.

“Quantum Entanglement, Consciousness, and the Nature of Reality”, SparkDialog Podcasts, April 2021

Quantum entanglement is weird. Two particles can share properties no matter where they are in the Universe. Have they always shared these properties, and they are somehow hidden from us, or do they decide these properties the moment they are measured, and somehow communicate across the vastness of space, instantaneously? Or is something else at work? Can people become entangled? Can we put a human consciousness in a sort of “Schrodinger’s Cat” situation, where they are in two states at once? And is your reality the same as my reality? Guest Dr. Eric Cavalcanti addresses these questions and more on this episode of SparkDialog Podcasts.

‘The Science of Subjectivity: The World Your Brain Creates“, SparkDialog Podcasts, August 2020

Why do we see the world as subjective? How is the reality that I see different than from what you see? Does our brain lie to us? Dr. Jorge Morales joins me to talk about the science of the subjective, optical illusions, if we need to be conscious to form a subjective opinion of the world, and when our brain gets it wrong.

“How We Found Out Meteors Are Actually Little Rocks From Space Burning Up In The Atmosphere“, SparkDialog Podcasts, February 2020

People didn’t always know that meteors were from space. How did they figure THAT out? From the moments of terror during historical meteor storms to clever ways that early astronomers figured out what meteors were, I take you on a journey through the history of meteor showers.

“They’re Not Speaking English – Decoding a Message from ET“, SparkDialog Podcasts, September 2019

If we were to hear a message from extraterrestrials, how would we go about decoding it? And what’s the best way to send our own message? I talk to Dr. Sheri Wells-Jensen, a xenolinguist, who studies aliens languages.

“The Future of the Universe“, SparkDialog Podcasts, March 2019

What is the far future of the Universe? I am joined by Dr. Avi Loeb and Dr. Ethan Siegel to discuss the future of our sun, and our Galaxy, if black holes will last forever, and what the Universe will be like once the stars burn out.