What is the most important scientific question of our time? [more inside]
posted by Demogorgon on Oct 12, 2009 - 44 answers

Was the entire universe created by the Big Bang, or is the space/time generated by the Big Bang part of a larger universe? [more inside]
posted by Lownotes on Jun 23, 2009 - 23 answers

Do radio waves attenuate and become noise or do they go on forever? [more inside]
posted by MrMulan on May 12, 2009 - 14 answers

Wanting to leave academia after astrophysics PhD (oscillations in atmospheres of rotating starts, planets and discs). Need some feedback, tags, hints, keywords, that I should search in google and some suggestions of where my skills (look in the extended explanation) would be appreciated. [more inside]
posted by gradstu1980 on Nov 9, 2008 - 11 answers

Help me choose a physics/astronomy-related design for a tattoo. [more inside]
posted by nightengine on Jul 9, 2008 - 18 answers

What are some topics in astronomy or cosmology that you find fascinating and mind blowing? [more inside]
posted by tomcochrane on Jul 3, 2008 - 17 answers

How has our understanding of Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, etc. changed in the last five years? [more inside]
posted by Orange Pamplemousse on Mar 24, 2008 - 15 answers

Why is the Big Bang possible? [more inside]
posted by Bonzai on Feb 20, 2008 - 24 answers

Are there any great lecturers/public speakers in the realms of cosmology, astronomy and physics? [more inside]
posted by dydecker on Jun 4, 2007 - 21 answers

There's this rather unspecific Feynman story that I keep encountering. Its formulation as found on the Internets goes "One of the most impressive discoveries was the origin of the energy of the stars, that makes them continue to burn. One of the men who discovered this was out with his girl friend the night after he realized that nuclear reactions must be going on in the stars in order to make them shine. She said "Look at how pretty the stars shine!" He said, "Yes, and right now I am the only man in the world who knows why they shine." She merely laughed at him. She was not impressed with being out with the only man who, at that moment, knew why stars shine. Well, it is sad to be alone, but that is the way it is in this world." Does anyone know who he is talking about (Eddington? Perrin? Bethe?) and if there's any truth to the story?
posted by themel on Jan 6, 2007 - 7 answers

I've heard astronomy has given us great insights about basic physics (and could be seen as a form of basic physics research). What technologies do we have today that can trace their gensis to astronomical findings?
posted by phrontist on Sep 29, 2006 - 10 answers

AskMeFi Physics folk: How do astronomers account for the temporal distinctiveness of their galactic subjects in their calculations? I understand that observations of the red shift of quasars delinates a speed increase in the expansion of the universe - yet my brain explodes when I try to understand how the enormous expanse of time is factored into these models. [more inside]
posted by 0bvious on Apr 9, 2006 - 12 answers