Author | Lightnews

Reposted by Niayesh Afshordi

Nikhil Shah @grandmastershah.bsky.social · 8d

Yesterday I was waiting at an ICE office with a client to make sure that she was not going to get deported. It was a 5 hour excruciating wait without internet access and I was reading the book, Battle of the Big Bang by @nafshordi.bsky.social This passage made me stop and rethink reality :)

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Reposted by Niayesh Afshordi

Nikhil Shah @grandmastershah.bsky.social · 8d

I also texted a physicist friend, Spiros Michalakis (when I would get reception occasionally) about the passage and he agreed and asked me about the book. Thank you to @seanmcarroll.bsky.social for the podcast with @nafshordi.bsky.social which intrigued me enough to get the book.

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Niayesh Afshordi @nafshordi.bsky.social · 8d

Expect haunted horizons, ghostly fields, and cosmic echoes — a séance between theory and observation, reason and mystery.

🕯️ Join us under Dublin’s shadows, Edinburgh’s spires, or from the spectral halls of Zoom.
#HauntedCosmology #BattleOfTheBigBang #ScienceAndSpirits

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Niayesh Afshordi @nafshordi.bsky.social · 8d

🦇 Edinburgh – Battle of the Big Bang: New Tales of Our Cosmic Origins
📅 Oct 24 · 13:00 BST
📍 Elm Lecture Theatre, Kings Buildings Campus, University of Edinburgh
🖥️ Online via Zoom (passcode: higgs_20)
🔗 higgs.ph.ed.ac.uk/colloquia/co...

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Colloquium: Battle of the Big Bang: New Tales of our Cosmic Origins - Higgs Centre for Theoretical Physics

Colloquium: Colloquium with Niayesh

higgs.ph.ed.ac.uk

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Niayesh Afshordi @nafshordi.bsky.social · 8d

👻 Dublin – Ghosts, Phantoms & Monsters in the Battle of the Big Bang
📅 Oct 22 · 19:00 GMT+1
📍 Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
🔗 www.eventbrite.ie/e/ghosts-pha...

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Ghosts, Phantoms, and Monsters in the Battle of the Big Bang

Come join us for the first event of Samhain agus Science 2025

www.eventbrite.ie

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Niayesh Afshordi @nafshordi.bsky.social · 8d

🎃 Haunted Cosmology Celtic Tour: Dublin & Edinburgh 🕯️

This October, Phil and I are taking our ghost-hunting into the heart of cosmology.
Join us for a journey through cosmic ghosts, phantoms, and monsters — not from folklore, but from the deepest mysteries of physics.

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graphic showing a hallowen-themed pumpkin head and a ghost, reads: "Haunted Cosmology Tour"

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Reposted by Niayesh Afshordi

Malcolm Fairbairn @malcfairbairn.bsky.social · 12d

Oh, hi, yeah by the way, US democratic party, Trump is getting the credit for this peace deal because you were so useless. Trump. Think about that.

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Niayesh Afshordi @nafshordi.bsky.social · 16d

Big topics covered:
• The relationship between empirical evidence & metaphysical claims
• Where cosmology stops and philosophy begins
• Implications for science, religion, and public discourse

Would love to hear your take: did science just tip the scales?

#BattleoftheBigBang

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Niayesh Afshordi @nafshordi.bsky.social · 16d

New Debate Out Now
“Has Science Just Proved God?”
I had the privilege of debating alongside Michel-Yves Bolloré, under moderator John Nelson, on whether modern science points toward a divine creator.

Watch here ▶️ youtu.be/DO5iArbukzg

#ScienceAndFaith #Cosmology #Philosophy

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Has Science Just Proved God? Michel-Yves Bolloré v Niayesh Asfshordi hosted by John Nelson

YouTube video by Premier Unbelievable?

youtu.be

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Reposted by Niayesh Afshordi

IROON ایرون @irooncom.bsky.social · Aug 8

The Royal Institution: Prof. Niyayesh Afshordi lecture on what really happened during the #BigBang iroon.com/irtn/vlog/55...
#Cosmology #Physics #Science

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Niayesh Afshordi @nafshordi.bsky.social · Sep 19

#BattleoftheBigBang

with

@philhalper.bsky.social

Royal Institution @rigb.org · Aug 22

Was the Big Bang really the start of it all? 💥 Phil Halper explains how, in modern cosmology, the rapid expansion of the Universe (cosmic inflation) triggers endless Big Bangs.

Watch the full talk with Niayesh Afshordi and Phil Halper: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx0n...

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Niayesh Afshordi @nafshordi.bsky.social · Sep 13

Thanks @danfalk.bsky.social and @reviewcanada.bsky.social for this thoughtful review of our #BattleoftheBigBang

@philhalper.bsky.social
@uchicagopress.bsky.social

Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · Sep 13

How well do we understand the big bang? I review "Battle of the Big Bang: The New Tales of Our Cosmic Origins" by Niayesh Afshordi ( @nafshordi.bsky.social ) and Phil Halper,
for the Literary Review of Canada ( @reviewcanada.bsky.social )
#physics #science
reviewcanada.ca/magazine/202...

In the Beginning | A review of “Battle of the Big Bang” by Niayesh Afshordi and Phil Halper | Literary Review of Canada

Dan Falk reviews “Battle of the Big Bang,” a book which explores competing theories of the origin of the universe.

reviewcanada.ca

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Reposted by Niayesh Afshordi

philhalper.bsky.social @philhalper.bsky.social · Sep 10

Why dark energy does not rule out a cyclic cosmos. @nafshordi.bsky.social and I debunk this commonly held myth in our new video www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHzo...

Big Bang myths . Does dark energy disprove a cyclic cosmos?

YouTube video by Phil Halper (aka Skydivephil)

www.youtube.com

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Niayesh Afshordi @nafshordi.bsky.social · Sep 11

And pre-order Chanda’s new book: www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/746817...
Which promises to be just as fantastic as the last one.

The Edge of Space-Time by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein: 9780593701683 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books

A fresh, charming, socially conscious tour of the mysteries of space-time, from the award-winning author of The Disordered Cosmos In her highly acclaimed debut, distinguished cosmologist and particle...

www.penguinrandomhouse.com

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Niayesh Afshordi @nafshordi.bsky.social · Sep 11

@chanda.bsky.social was my first PhD student, and this was my first PhD cake!

She has now surpassed me in every way, and I couldn’t be prouder.

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · Sep 10

Fifteen years ago today, I successfully defended my PhD dissertation, "Cosmic Acceleration as Quantum Gravity Phenomenology" and my co-PhD advisor @nafshordi.bsky.social had this cake made to celebrate.

I have since graduated three PhD students of my own! 😅

me smiling in front of a chocolate cake with a figure in the middle

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Niayesh Afshordi @nafshordi.bsky.social · Sep 11

Thanks @chanda.bsky.social for the plug!

@uchicagopress.bsky.social

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · Sep 10

and
2. Buying Niayesh's 2025 release! 🧪
press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...

Battle of the Big Bang

“Excellent.”—Steven Poole, The Wall Street Journal • “Terrific.”—Liz Else, New Scientist (Best Popular Science Books of 2025) • “A brilliant overview of the state of modern cosmology.”—Alex O'Connor, ...

press.uchicago.edu

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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · Sep 10

Celebrate this anniversary with me by
1. Preordering my next book

The Edge of Space-Time by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein: 9780593701683 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books

A fresh, charming, socially conscious tour of the mysteries of space-time, from the award-winning author of The Disordered Cosmos In her highly acclaimed debut, distinguished cosmologist and particle...

www.penguinrandomhouse.com

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Niayesh Afshordi @nafshordi.bsky.social · Sep 11

Such a wonderful memory! Thanks @chanda.bsky.social for sharing. You were also my first PhD student, and I couldn’t be more proud 🥲

Reposted by Niayesh Afshordi

Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · Sep 2

I’m doing a public talk with @perimeterinstitute.ca in Waterloo!

www.eventbrite.ca/e/how-the-un...

(Tickets are free but you have to be quick — Eventbrite ticket reservations open at 9am Eastern Sep 2, which is in… 5 minutes)

How the Universe Ends - Katie Mack (CIGI)

The Big Bang started the universe 13.8B years ago - but how might it end? Here's what modern astrophysics says about its ultimate fate.

www.eventbrite.ca

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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · Aug 28

What if scientists hadn’t waited until this point to speak about politics

Every time I see a headline like this, my brain just shouts

Like what if scientists hadn’t sat around silently watching everyone around them get attacked

Maybe the fight on campus would have gone differently

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · Aug 28

"Tao is one of the most prominent mathematicians and academics to publicly oppose the administration’s actions, calling them an “existential threat” to his field, and academic science, more broadly. He said public advocacy is a priority over his research, for now."

www.nbcnews.com/science/scie...

The 'Mozart of Math' rarely speaks about politics. The wide-ranging cuts to science funding made him change that.

UCLA's Terence Tao called the Trump administration's actions an "existential threat" to academic research in the U.S.

www.nbcnews.com

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Reposted by Niayesh Afshordi

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · Aug 27

The only prayer that matters when it comes to the regular and repeated murder of American children while they are at school is the kind of prayer that is taking action, the kind of prayer that materially fights for the living, the kind of prayer that says "never again" and means it, from MN to Gaza.

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Niayesh Afshordi @nafshordi.bsky.social · Aug 23

Time is running out to apply for our workshop:

"50 years of the black hole information paradox: November 3 -7 , 2025"

at Simons Center for Geometry and Physics

scgp.stonybrook.edu/archives/45328

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Niayesh Afshordi @nafshordi.bsky.social · Aug 22

#BattleoftheBigBang
@uchicagopress.bsky.social

philhalper.bsky.social @philhalper.bsky.social · Aug 21

@cosmicskeptic.bsky.social was so kind to host both @nafshordi.bsky.social and I on his amazing show Within Reason. Thanks so much Alex, for saying these words about our book Battle of the Big Bang www.youtube.com/shorts/LMYEI...

Alex O'Connor on Battle of the Big Bang "a triumph" #cosmology #science #bigbang #alexoconnor

YouTube video by Phil Halper (aka Skydivephil)

www.youtube.com

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Mike Boylan-Kolchin @mbkplus.bsky.social · Aug 14

This is one of the worst developments in higher education in an era of terrible developments. If faculty classroom speech is government speech, there’s no such thing as academic freedom. It would lead to a collapse of free inquiry and classical liberal education.

Adam Steinbaugh @adamsteinbaugh.bsky.social · Aug 14

Federal court refuses to block Alabama’s “divisive concepts” law, says university faculty classroom speech is government speech with no First Amendment protection. This dangerous development allows lawmakers to dictate what professors say in class. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

storage.courtlistener.com

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Niayesh Afshordi @nafshordi.bsky.social · Aug 14

Speaking of which, I have never seen you and Avi in a room 🤨

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