Cosmology
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COSMOLOGY
Featured Story
History
Story
Chapter 1 Quote Attribution Clarification
Great ideas often exist before and beyond any single speaker. The insight that humans are biologically, chemically, and atomically connected to the universe appears across science and philosophy, voiced by thinkers in different ways.
Featured Quote
Science
Quote
“We are all connected to each other biologically, to the Earth chemically, and to the rest of the universe atomically.”
- Carl Sagan
- circa 1980
We Are Stardust
Carl Sagan had many similar quotes to this.
Carl Sagan reminds us that we are intimately connected to the universe. The particles that form our bodies are borrowed from a cosmic pool of just 17 particles and four forces. Even more humbling, the molecules within us were forged in the hearts of stars, linking us directly to the vast cosmos that surrounds us.
Featured FAQ
Science
FAQ
When did we discover stars are mostly made of hydrogen and helium?
The Stuff of Stars
Scientific progress often comes from questioning assumptions hidden in plain sight. For decades, astronomers mistook spectral strength for elemental abundance, projecting Earth’s composition onto the cosmos. Payne’s insight—that ionization, not quantity, shaped stellar spectra—revealed a universe far simpler and more alien than expected, and far richer in understanding.
Cosmology
The Universe
Our origin story.
The universe is a self-reconfiguring machine, with nothing being created from the void nor destroyed to nothing. At the core of reality are four forces guiding 17+ particles. We see these particles combine into atoms and molecules. Those molecules bundle into materials, and those materials evolve into life.
The Fermi Paradox is Too Anthropocentric
The Fermi Paradox is the common framework for thinking about the odds of alien life, but we need more data before it can become accurate enough to be useful.
Speculative Ideas in Science: Rip-Bang, Bigfoot, and Beyond
The Idea Theory Framework is part of the Idea of Ideas and models a process in which ideas can go from speculative to theory.
The Universe Before the Telescope
Before instruments extended our vision, the universe was understood through naked-eye observation—the Sun, Moon, and five wandering planets set against a backdrop of stars that ...
Must-Reads
New Ideas
Physics
Cosmocycles: A Proposed Cosmic Calendar Based on Cyclic Universe Model
Proposal: Cosmic calendar for Big Crunch theories.
Updated ARTICLES
Cosmology | Philosophy of Science | Unification
Speculative Ideas in Science: Rip-Bang, Bigfoot, and Beyond
Idea Theory Framework
The Idea Theory Framework is part of the Idea of Ideas and models a process in which ideas can go from speculative to theory.
Wed 5 Jun 2024
(2 years ago)
Updated 1 week ago.
Cognitive Biases | Cosmology | Futurism
The Fermi Paradox is Too Anthropocentric
Fermi Paradox
The Fermi Paradox is the common framework for thinking about the odds of alien life, but we need more data before it can become accurate enough to be useful.
Sun 29 Dec 2024
(1 year ago)
Updated 3 weeks ago.
Astronomy | H1-Prehistory | Tech
The Universe Before the Telescope
Astronomy
Before instruments extended our vision, the universe was understood through naked-eye observation—the Sun, Moon, and five wandering planets set against a backdrop of stars that sometimes fell.
Thu 11 Apr 2024
(2 years ago)
Updated 3 weeks ago.