Brian Koberlein
Astrophysicist and Author
What’s New
The design of the website has been updated. While it looks quite different, the overall structure remains the same. One big change is the addition of clear navigation tags, which should make it easier to use the site.
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The Way the Universe Changed
At the end of the 1800s we finally knew how the universe worked. Our classical laws of physics worked extraordinarily well. At the time it was thought that the last few mysteries of physics would soon be solved. But they weren't. Instead, small mysteries became large ones. Science would soon undergo a quantum revolution.
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The Librarian and the Astrophysicist
When I was about nine my parents finally allowed me to go to the library on my own. As a resident of the county, I had my own library card, and that meant I could check out up to five books at a time. For a midwest farm kid, it was like the entire world lay open before me. For free.
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Proven World
In Medieval Europe, the physical universe could be divided into two parts: the Earth and earthly events (chaotic and temporary) and the heavens (structured and eternal). Two things changed this view. The first was rise of accurate astronomical measurements. The second was the rise of the physical sciences. Read about how our views of the universe changed in this series of posts.
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Science Fiction, Science Fact
We love dreaming of new horizons, and science fiction can create entire tales from the the mere whiff of scientific possibility. This can be both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand science fiction lets us explore the possibilities, and can inspire an interest in science. On the other hand, the trappings of science fiction can make awesome feats of human engineering seem trivial.
Recent Work
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Keeping the Beat
Astronomers have found a fast radio burst with a regular period of 16 days, which narrows down the mystery of its source.
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Striking Differences
Uranus and Neptune are similar in mass and composition, but are very different in appearance.
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Margin of Error
“What went wrong?” the President asked.
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See Saw Margery Daw
When matter is created, antimatter is created in an equal amount. So why do we live in a universe dominated by matter? The answer could lie in a strange kind of neutrino.
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Too Big to Fail
Neutrinos are remarkably common. Billions of neutrinos pass through your body every second. But a few rare neutrinos are so powerful we don’t understand how they are created.
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Black Hole Limit
Astronomers calculate just how many black holes can form in the universe
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Taking Einstein’s Pulse
A pulsar orbiting a white dwarf allows us to study frame dragging, and how supernovae form.
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Too Fast, Too Furious
Computer simulations show how large planets form around small stars.