Nuclear fusion is when atoms join to become a different kind of atom and they give off energy in the process, like two hydrogens becoming a helium. At which point that fusion starts to take energy. And so then you have this like huge chunk of iron that's not being held up by anything. And so it starts to collapse under its own gravity. You end up with the singularity, this point of infinite density technically. Um, what is the shape like? Is it like an ice cream cone that has an infinite tail or what? What does it mean?"
Stars. Black holes. THE GAWDANG UNIVERSE. Astrophysicist and cosmologist Katie Mack (@astrokatie) joins to tell us her most embarrassing moments as a cosmologist, to debunk some physicist myths and give the nuts + bolts of everything form particle physics to gravitational waves and existential mysteries. Walk away with cocktail party comprehension of everything from the itty-bitty quarks that make you to the neutron stars banging together across the cosmos. More than anything, get perspective about your life on this, our little pale blue dot.
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Theme song by Nick Thorburn