Things That Make You Go "Wow!"

August 28, 2009

In need of some cosmic head candy for your weekend? Via Phil Plait, the baddest astronomer that ever there was, here's a fantastically concise explanation of the Big Bang and the birth of our universe, with a bit of speculation about a possible multiverse as well. It's a great example of what can be done even with a budget of, well, zero.

The video  features Janna Levin, an astrophysicist at Columbia University, who really should do more of this sort of thing. She's one of the hippest theoretical physicists you're ever likely to meet: married to a jazz musician, she's lived in funky bohemian lofts with a community of artists and dabbles in painting and philosophy, in addition to teaching, raising two children, and pursuing her scientific research. All that life experience combines to give her a truly unique voice. Levin is the author of How the Universe Got Its Spots and the award-winning A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines, both quirky, genre-busting works of popular science that are well worth a read.