Ask the Author: Neil deGrasse Tyson
Answered Questions (51)
Neil deGrasse Tyson
In a way, the COVID virus was a microscopic alien. Leading me to post this tweet on March 6, 2020: https://x.com/neiltyson/status/123607...
Below a certain size, aliens are not building space-ships. Their technology would be too susceptible to forces that would overwhelm their existence. I go there briefly in this 15 min StarTalk Explainer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqa2d...
You're right, however,. the subject is ripe for Science Fiction. the 1961 Twilight Zone episode titled "The Invaders" brilliantly went there. So did the 1962 episode titled, "Little People." But neither accurately represent the fact that physics is not scalable to any arbitrary size.
Thanks for your interest.
-NDTyson
Below a certain size, aliens are not building space-ships. Their technology would be too susceptible to forces that would overwhelm their existence. I go there briefly in this 15 min StarTalk Explainer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqa2d...
You're right, however,. the subject is ripe for Science Fiction. the 1961 Twilight Zone episode titled "The Invaders" brilliantly went there. So did the 1962 episode titled, "Little People." But neither accurately represent the fact that physics is not scalable to any arbitrary size.
Thanks for your interest.
-NDTyson
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Thank you for your kind words and well-wishes.
Starry Messenger was translated almost immediately into Spanish by Paodós. And imprint of Grupo Planeta.
-NDT
Starry Messenger was translated almost immediately into Spanish by Paodós. And imprint of Grupo Planeta.
-NDT
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Three Body Problem is a good one. Don't forget to see my overview on the actual 3-body problem. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GfID...
Otherwise, I'm a bit old-school. Sci-fi seems to make great short stories. One from Isaac Asimov comes to mind: Nightfall (1941), and two from Arthur C Clarke: The Sentinel (1951) and the Star (1955), I think about those often, the first of which served as taproots for the film 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Also, Philip K, Dick's Minority Report (1956) and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (1968), both of course becoming films, the second as Bladerunner (1982).
-NDT
Otherwise, I'm a bit old-school. Sci-fi seems to make great short stories. One from Isaac Asimov comes to mind: Nightfall (1941), and two from Arthur C Clarke: The Sentinel (1951) and the Star (1955), I think about those often, the first of which served as taproots for the film 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Also, Philip K, Dick's Minority Report (1956) and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (1968), both of course becoming films, the second as Bladerunner (1982).
-NDT
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Gulliver's Travels, by Jonathan Swift. I think about those stories more than any other work of fiction. I've even referenced it in my 2022 book, Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization. -NDT
Neil deGrasse Tyson
The Andromeda Black Hole is called SagA* Pronounced: "Sagittarius A-Star"
Not very exciting.
The collision between Andromeda and the Milky Way will be long and drawn-out. Occurring a few billion years after the Sun swells to become a Red Giant and vaporizes Earth.
Not very exciting.
The collision between Andromeda and the Milky Way will be long and drawn-out. Occurring a few billion years after the Sun swells to become a Red Giant and vaporizes Earth.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Of course it helps to have a problem that requires that level of computing power to solve, but, based on the history of computing hardware, I see no reason why this power would not be available to "ordinary" people even if access were provided via cloud services. -NDT
p.s. A reminder of how far we've come.....
https://www.businessinsider.com/pictu...
p.s. A reminder of how far we've come.....
https://www.businessinsider.com/pictu...
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Some scientific problems will be come tractable in the realm of quantum computing. But if you don't yet know what questions to ask, the computer will not help you, no matter how fast it is.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Excellent question. Often they are cherrypicking failures and ignoring the successes. 35,000 people die each year in the US in auto accidents. Yet people continue to drive cars every day. So what people cherrypick seems to be a matter of their religion, politics, or culture, and not something based on rational statistical analysis.
More broadly, science on the frontier will be wrong most of the time. That's the whole point of repeated observations and experiments. Only when there's scientific agreement from multiple research paths can we declare that science has established an objective truth. And when that happens, it's not later shown to be false.
In Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization, there's a whole chapter that explores the meaning of scientific truths.
FYI: The press likes to report on new scientific results, without the benefit of confirmatory studies. So when a conflicting study comes along, which is perfectly normal an natural on the frontier, the public is left thinking that scientists don't know what they're taking about.
More broadly, science on the frontier will be wrong most of the time. That's the whole point of repeated observations and experiments. Only when there's scientific agreement from multiple research paths can we declare that science has established an objective truth. And when that happens, it's not later shown to be false.
In Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization, there's a whole chapter that explores the meaning of scientific truths.
FYI: The press likes to report on new scientific results, without the benefit of confirmatory studies. So when a conflicting study comes along, which is perfectly normal an natural on the frontier, the public is left thinking that scientists don't know what they're taking about.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Thanks for the question. Mostly "field experience". Trial and error. Life is, itself a classroom, provided you pay attention to what goes on around you. Consider further that when you are talking you are not learning. So make sure to listen to others.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
No. Other than it being Jackie Robinson's number when he played baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers, there's not much more to say about it.
Its significance in science fiction far exceeds anything we can say about it scientifically.
Its significance in science fiction far exceeds anything we can say about it scientifically.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization. If you read the synopsis in the link below, you will see why.
https://neildegrassetyson.com/books/2...
https://neildegrassetyson.com/books/2...
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Somebody didn't read Astrophysics for People In A Hurry.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Thanks for asking. Maybe. But as an educator, I have much more non-fiction content to communicate first.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Would be fun if it were regular matter in a parallel universe whose gravity is spilling into ours, leaving us to think of it as a mysterious substance. But the betting person's answer is that it's an exotic particle that interacts gravitationally with our particles, but not in any other way. Top people are working on that now, in search of a Dark Matter particle.
In my books Astrophysics for People in a Hurry and in my earlier book Death By Black Hole and Other Cosmic Quandaries, I devote some attention to Dark matter and its mysterious ways.
In my books Astrophysics for People in a Hurry and in my earlier book Death By Black Hole and Other Cosmic Quandaries, I devote some attention to Dark matter and its mysterious ways.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Fascinating concept. By lower class, I presume you mean poor people? In the UK, of course, it can also mean non-aristocrats.
If you have access to the time dimension, then by returning to the same time slot you are simply re-living that time interval exactly as you did before. You will not be accruing sleep or productivity or anything. To do that you need a. freshly lived time-slot.
If you have access to the time dimension, then by returning to the same time slot you are simply re-living that time interval exactly as you did before. You will not be accruing sleep or productivity or anything. To do that you need a. freshly lived time-slot.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
All of religion counts as superstition. That alone accounts for six-billion out of the eight-billion people in the world. So the problem is not specifically superstition, it's whether your superstitions override objectively true science in decision you make that affect your health, wealth, and security. Enlightened religious people know when science can and should matter in their lives. Others will suffer.
That being said, the methods and tools of science are responsible to two trending facts in the world -- outside of war zones and isolated epidemics, people everywhere are living longer than ever before. And there's less poverty than ever before. These are good and hopeful signs.
That being said, the methods and tools of science are responsible to two trending facts in the world -- outside of war zones and isolated epidemics, people everywhere are living longer than ever before. And there's less poverty than ever before. These are good and hopeful signs.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Many people do not know what skepticism really is. It's not doubting everything you hear. That leads of absurd claims of Earth being flat, and that we never went to the Moon. Proper skepticism requires you understand enough about people and institutions and how the world (and universe) works to know when to doubt and when to embrace the evidence presented.
Outside of the science classroom this is not taught in the school system. Leaving us all susceptible to charlatans. A sad but true fact.
Outside of the science classroom this is not taught in the school system. Leaving us all susceptible to charlatans. A sad but true fact.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
He will find that as he approaches the speed of light his fuel needs will grow exponentially -- we interpret that as a relativistic increase in his mass.
About the extra fuel, I'd have to do the math on this one. It may be that he wouldn't have that extra fuel for those reasons, in spite of the time dilation shortening his trip.
I've friends with Andy Weir, I'll check with him on this, to make sure he did his homework properly.
About the extra fuel, I'd have to do the math on this one. It may be that he wouldn't have that extra fuel for those reasons, in spite of the time dilation shortening his trip.
I've friends with Andy Weir, I'll check with him on this, to make sure he did his homework properly.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
There is no understanding of Biology without Chemistry. There is no understanding of Chemistry without Physics. For these reasons, Physics is Phundamental to our understanding of Earth and the rest of the universe.
Furthermore, Mathematics is the language of the Universe.
All branches of science ultimately reduce to physics and math. Learn them both and pick your path.
My favorite unanswered questions are: 1) what was around before the universe? What is Dark matter? What is Dark Energy? 2) One. Earth, how did organic molecules transition to become self-replicating life? 3) Is there intelligent life in the universe?
Furthermore, Mathematics is the language of the Universe.
All branches of science ultimately reduce to physics and math. Learn them both and pick your path.
My favorite unanswered questions are: 1) what was around before the universe? What is Dark matter? What is Dark Energy? 2) One. Earth, how did organic molecules transition to become self-replicating life? 3) Is there intelligent life in the universe?
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