Science meets pop culture on StarTalk! Astrophysicist & Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, his comic co-hosts, guest celebrities & scientists discuss astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe. Keep Looking Up!
Also pulls from https://www.youtube.com/@StarTalkPlus
From StarTalk. What is string theory, really? Why does it need extra dimensions? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Chuck Nice welcome theoretical physicist and mathematician Lara Anderson to guide us through string theory, higher dimensions, and finding a unifying theory of everything. Could it be the long-sought bridge between quantum mechanics and Einstein’s theory of…
From StarTalk. The universe’s expansion rate doesn’t match across different measurements, suggesting either our models are incomplete or there are undiscovered forces or fields affecting cosmic evolution. This "Hubble tension" challenges our current understanding of cosmology and may hint at new physics. From ‘Answering Questions about Hubble Tension, Dyson Spheres, & Relativity’: https://youtu.be/y8b93R3kfso?si=00o3TaIY9RJifycM Get the…
From StarTalk. Is the whole universe actually a jinn particle? Neil deGrasse Tyson and cohosts Chuck Nice and Gary O’Reilly hang out with astrophysicist Charles Liu to answer questions about the nature of gravity, dark matter, and why we don’t actually know how the solar corona gets hot. We explore some of the universe’s deepest…
From StarTalk. The conversation explores how identifying "super emitters" (individuals who spread airborne diseases more than others) and violent crime hotspots can challenge our ideas of fairness and equality in public policy. It addresses the tension between targeted interventions versus uniform solutions, using parallels with mask mandates during the pandemic and policing strategies in urban…
From StarTalk. Is our universe inside a black hole? Neil deGrasse Tyson breaks down intriguing new evidence along with other curious parallels that could point to the universe being inside a black hole. Is the edge of our universe an event horizon on a black hole in some other universe? Timestamps: 00:00 – What is…
From StarTalk. In this lively and insightful discussion, Neil deGrasse Tyson and Janna Levin explore Einstein’s groundbreaking paper on stimulated emission of radiation, the quantum phenomenon that ultimately led to the invention of the laser. They break down how photons interact with electrons in discrete energy levels, describe the strange but elegant mechanics of stimulated…
From StarTalk. Go to https://ground.news/startalk to stay fully informed on the latest Space and Science news. Save 40% off through our link for unlimited access to the Vantage plan this month. Can you measure time without something moving? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Chuck Nice tackle your cosmic questions, from the Silurian Hypothesis to singularities…
From StarTalk. In this interview, Malcolm Gladwell revisits the central thesis of The Tipping Point. He explains that his experience reporting on the AIDS epidemic led him to think about how ideas and behaviors spread like infectious diseases. Inspired by an academic article by Jonathan Crane, he applied epidemiological models to understand social phenomena like…
From StarTalk. Astrophysicists Neil deGrasse Tyson and Janna Levin discuss the surprising origin of black holes in Einstein’s equations—despite Einstein himself not believing in their physical existence. They dive into Karl Schwarzschild’s groundbreaking discovery during WWI, explore Newton’s and Laplace’s views on cosmic stability, and share a memorable anecdote involving Stephen Hawking that ends with…
From StarTalk. How does lightning actually work? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice get corrected on how lightning works after having gotten it wrong with lightning expert Amir Rizk. Learn about the anatomy of a lightning strike, what not to do during a lightning storm, and more. Timestamps: 00:00 – Introduction: Neil Getting Lightning Wrong…
From StarTalk. Neil deGrasse Tyson and Janna Levin explore the astonishing achievements of Albert Einstein during his annus mirabilis—the "miracle year" of 1905—when, at just 26 years old and working in a patent office, Einstein published four revolutionary scientific papers that reshaped the foundations of modern physics. They discuss how Einstein first shocked the world…
From StarTalk. Why three dimensions? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedians Chuck Nice and Hasan Minhaj celebrate 100 years of quantum physics and everywhere it’s taken us, joined by theoretical astrophysicists Brian Greene and Janna Levin live at the Beacon Theater. We begin in the 1920s with the famous Shapley-Curtis debate: were spiral nebulae entire galaxies…
From StarTalk. The universe’s structure—galaxies, stars, and even us—emerged not from perfect symmetry, but from tiny quantum fluctuations during inflation, suggesting that randomness is not chaos, but creation. We are the result of cosmic imperfections seeded by quantum fluctuations in the early universe. From ‘Brian Keating on Losing the Nobel Prize & Origins of the…
From StarTalk. Can AI help us model biology down to the molecular level? Neil deGrasse Tyson, Chuck Nice, and Gary O’Reilly learn about Nobel-prize-winning Alphafold, the protein folding problem, and how solving it could end disease with AI researcher and Chief AI Officer of Isomorphic Labs, Max Jaderberg. We break down the protein folding problem…
From StarTalk. The interview explores what might have existed before the Big Bang and whether another universe preceded ours, highlighting how scientific curiosity drives cosmological research—even without immediate practical rewards. From ‘Brian Keating on Losing the Nobel Prize & Origins of the Universe’: https://youtu.be/xIM9hfbSJWU?si=TQYqESYoaILfH3g_ Get the StarTalk book, ‘To Infinity and Beyond: A Journey of…
From StarTalk. Could a “golden dome” over the US work? Neil deGrasse Tyson breaks down how ballistic missiles work and what it would take to protect the whole country from them. Learn what Robert J. Oppenheimer had to say about the safety of the world and the feasibility of an omnidirectional defense system. Timestamps: 00:00…
From StarTalk. In a conversation between Neil deGrasse Tyson and Dr. Brian Keating, they revisit the 2014 announcement from the BICEP2 experiment that claimed to detect primordial gravitational waves, or “ripples in spacetime” from the early universe—a discovery that made global headlines, including the front page of the New York Times. Keating, a key figure…
From StarTalk. The conversation focuses on plasma rocket propulsion as a revolutionary alternative to traditional chemical rockets. Neil deGrasse Tyson and Professor Ebrahimi explain how plasma rockets work, using magnetic energy to generate high-velocity exhaust, enabling efficient, long-term acceleration in the vacuum of space. While unsuitable for launches from Earth, plasma propulsion is ideal for…
From StarTalk. In this interview, Neil deGrasse Tyson and theoretical physicist Kip Thorne discuss a key scene from Interstellar where the protagonist, Cooper, enters a black hole and finds himself inside a tesseract—a four-dimensional construct created by an advanced civilization. This allows Cooper to experience time as a physical dimension and communicate with his daughter…
From StarTalk. What do you see when you look up? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice run through some of Neil’s favorite skywatching tips and other cool things you can see in the sky. Timestamps: 00:00 – Introduction: How to Look Up 00:25 – How to Delay Sunset 01:40 – Is it Darkest Before Dawn?…
From StarTalk. Neil deGrasse Tyson and Anil Seth discuss the future of consciousness and artificial intelligence. The conversation explores whether consciousness can be uploaded or recreated in non-biological systems like silicon chips. While Tyson leans on physics and engineering optimism, the guest emphasizes biological complexity and argues that replicating consciousness may require the same biological…
From StarTalk. Why can’t you divide by zero? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice discuss higher dimensions, dividing by zero, and math’s unsolved questions with math YouTuber Grant Sanderson (3blue1brown). We explore the Clay Millennium Problems: seven unsolved puzzles in mathematics, with a 1 million dollar prize. Grant shares his early fascination with the Twin…
From StarTalk. The conversation explores the critical distinction between intelligence and consciousness, particularly in humans, animals, and AI. While intelligence can exist without consciousness (as in AI), and consciousness can exist without high intelligence (as in animals experiencing pain or pleasure), the two are often wrongly conflated. The discussion critiques the adequacy of the Turing…
From StarTalk. Is medical misinformation just noise on the internet or a life-threatening epidemic? Neil deGrasse Tyson, Chuck Nice, and Gary O’Reilly team up with pharmaceutical scientist and social media “medfluencer” Morgan McSweeny (aka Dr. Noc) to break down common internet medical myths from Big Pharma to raw milk to vaccine hesitancy. Plus a discussion…
From StarTalk. The interview explores how human consciousness is often framed as something uniquely special, a concept challenged historically by scientific discoveries like heliocentrism and evolution. The speakers delve into the “hard problem” of consciousness—how physical matter gives rise to subjective experience—discussing philosophical perspectives like dualism, materialism, and functionalism. They question the anthropocentric bias in…
From StarTalk. Where is the best place to put a satellite? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice break down LEO, MEO, and GEO, how they work, and what’s going on up there. Timestamps: 00:00 – Introduction: Earth Orbits 1:06 – Isaac Newton Discovering Orbits 2:25 – Low Earth Orbit 4:37 – Geosynchronous Orbit 7:23 –…
From StarTalk. The discussion highlights how exploring other planets, like Venus, helps us better understand Earth’s climate and conditions through comparative planetology, stressing the scientific and societal value of space missions. The conversation also underscores how physics underlies these discoveries, from atmospheric studies to heat transfer. From ‘Neil deGrasse Tyson and Bill Nye Catch Up’:…
From StarTalk. In this interview, Neil deGrasse Tyson and Professor Ebrahimi discuss the future of plasma energy and propulsion technologies. They estimate fusion energy centers could emerge within 5 to 10 years and explore how plasma propulsion could enable sustainable space travel, particularly to the Moon and eventually Mars. They touch on neutron-free fusion, helium-3…
From StarTalk. What happens to gravity when matter converts to energy? Neil deGrasse Tyson and co-host Paul Mecurio dive into fan questions about the speed of light, time machine mistakes, and what Neil would do if he were an alien. Could a time machine land you in empty space because the solar system wasn’t “there”…
From StarTalk. 🚀 The conversation revolves around plasma rocket propulsion as a revolutionary alternative to traditional chemical rockets. The speakers explain how plasma rockets function using magnetic energy to generate high-velocity exhaust, which allows for efficient, long-term acceleration in the vacuum of space. Although unsuitable for launch from Earth, plasma propulsion is ideal for deep-space…
From StarTalk. The discussion centers around plasma, described as the fourth state of matter and the most abundant form in the observable universe. The conversation explains plasma as a soup of freely moving charged particles and explores its connection to fusion energy, such as that generated in the sun. The speakers clarify that while plasma…
From StarTalk. The conversation focuses on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, its purpose, technological improvements over its predecessor (Compton Gamma Ray Observatory), and its role in detecting high-energy gamma rays from space. The discussion dives deep into how it helps locate gamma-ray sources like pulsars, especially those previously undetectable, by stacking signals to improve signal-to-noise…
From StarTalk. Go to https://ground.news/startalk to stay fully informed on the latest Space and Science news. Save 40% off through our link for unlimited access to the Vantage plan this month. Could the Higgs field vary across space and time? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice answer fan questions on cosmic inflation, quantum…
From StarTalk. The interview discusses the interplay between theoretical physics and experimental validation, referencing George Gamow’s imaginative way of simplifying complex physics concepts through storytelling. It transitions into how concepts like the Big Bang, quantum field theory, and entanglement—once theoretical—have gained credibility through data. They delve into the plausibility and challenges of quantum entanglement, particularly…
From StarTalk. How do you recreate a brain circuit in a dish, and what can it unlock about our minds? Neil deGrasse Tyson, Chuck Nice, and Gary O’Reilly explore the frontier of neuroscience with Stanford neuroscientist Sergiu Pașca, to break down stem cells, how the brain forms itself, and assembloids: self-organizing brain circuits. What exactly…
From StarTalk. In this interview, Neil deGrasse Tyson and Richard Dawkins explore themes from Dawkins’ upcoming book “The Genetic Book of the Dead”, where Dawkins explains how organisms are living archives of evolutionary history—each trait a reflection of ancestral environments. They also reflect on natural selection’s precision versus human judgment, and discuss the challenges of…
From StarTalk. Go to https://ground.news/startalk to stay fully informed on the latest Space and Science news. Save 40% off through our link for unlimited access to the Vantage plan this month. What do we lose with the proposed budget cuts to NASA? Neil deGrasse Tyson breaks down the US government’s history of funding the sciences…
From StarTalk. Neil, Chuck, and astrophysicist Tim Paglione discuss the fascinating nature of muons—subatomic particles that paradoxically reach Earth’s surface despite their extremely short lifespans. The explanation lies in Einstein’s theory of relativity, specifically time dilation. The conversation then broadens to explore cosmic phenomena such as supernovae and hypernovae, highlighting their staggering energy scales and…
From StarTalk. Go to https://ground.news/startalk to stay fully informed on the latest Space and Science news. Save 40% off through our link for unlimited access to the Vantage plan this month. How did Einstein’s work influence the world we know today? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Harrison Greenbaum team up with astrophysicist Janna Levin, PhD, to…
From StarTalk. In this conversation, host Neil deGrasse Tyson and guest Richard Dawkins reflect on philosopher Daniel Dennett’s view that Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection is the greatest idea ever conceived. They explore why this insight took so long to arise in human history, despite centuries of philosophical reasoning. Dawkins points to cultural…
From StarTalk. Neil deGrasse Tyson and Brian Greene discuss why string theory demands more than four dimensions, based on a mathematical constraint requiring ten dimensions for internal consistency. Brian Greene explains that our inability to perceive these extra dimensions is due to the limitations of our senses. The conversation explores the idea of parallel universes—or…
From StarTalk. How did galaxies form in the early universe? Neil deGrasse Tyson and astrophysicist Charles Liu sit down to discuss the evolution of our timeline of the universe and how JWST findings are upending our understanding of galaxies. Will we have to rethink what a galaxy is? Timestamps: 00:00 – Introduction: The Most Distant…
From StarTalk. Neil deGrasse Tyson and Terry Crews discuss the evolutionary significance of muscles, touching on their social and biological roles. They explore how muscular strength once symbolized survival and attractiveness in tribal societies, but today may serve more symbolic or specialized purposes. They also contrast different types of physical builds for different survival tasks,…
From StarTalk. What can gamma rays reveal about supernovae and galaxy formation? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice team up with astrophysicist Tim Paglione to explore the universe’s most extreme events. Discover how gamma rays, born from powerful explosions and shockwaves, help scientists unlock the secrets of high-energy physics and the cosmic forces shaping galaxies.…
From StarTalk. What are chemical reactions like in space? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice team up with Kate the Chemist to explore how cesium helps us tell time, the elusive quest for the periodic table’s “island of stability,” how AI is revolutionizing chemistry, and more! We kick things off with a bang as we…
From StarTalk. Could we create an atmospheric sun shield to halt the effects of global warming? Should we? Neil deGrasse Tyson, Chuck Nice, and Gary O’Reilly are joined by climate scientist Daniele Visioni and sociologist Holly Jean Buck to explore the science and ethics of deliberately altering Earth’s climate. Is geoengineering science fiction, or the…
From StarTalk. Neil deGrasse Tyson and Kip Thorne discuss the theoretical physics behind wormholes and time travel, exploring whether such a concept could allow someone to meet their younger self. Their conversation traces the origins of these ideas—from a pivotal phone call with Carl Sagan that sparked Thorne’s work on wormhole time machines, to the…
From StarTalk. Go to https://ground.news/startalk to stay fully informed on the latest Space and Science news. Save 40% off through our link for unlimited access to the Vantage plan this month. Did we find life on a distant exoplanet? Neil deGrasse Tyson and astronomer David Kipping discuss the discovery of biosignatures found on K2-18b, how…
From StarTalk. Neil deGrasse Tyson and Brian Greene delve into dark energy and the cosmological constant from Einstein’s equations and how the failure of quantum theory to accurately predict dark energy reveals a profound gap in our understanding of gravity, suggesting that gravity and quantum mechanics may require a fundamentally new, unified approach. This challenge…
From StarTalk. What happens when two black holes’ event horizons overlap? Neil deGrasse Tyson and co-host Chuck Nice answer fan questions about the north side of the magnet, the internal structure of other planets, dark matter, and more. Kicking things off with a question about mapping the universe using gravitational waves, Neil explains how LIGO…
From StarTalk. Sean Carroll and Neil deGrasse Tyson dive deep into the nature of reality through the lens of quantum field theory, exploring whether particles like electrons actually “exist” or are just vibrations in invisible fields. They trace the evolution of the idea of fields from Newton and Faraday to modern quantum physics, ultimately questioning…
From StarTalk. What makes photons fall? In this mind-bending exchange, Neil deGrasse Tyson and Terry Crews dive deep into how gravity interacts with light itself — and whether higher-energy photons like gamma rays “fall” differently than lower-energy ones like radio waves. They explore the mass-energy equivalence of photons, Einstein’s equivalence principle, and why even massless…
From StarTalk. Is there a limit to how small life can be? Or how big? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice break down scaling in physics, explain why small animals are so strong relative to their size, and why you can’t have a being the size of a galaxy. Timestamps: 00:00 – Introduction: Size Matters…
From StarTalk. In this mind-bending conversation, Neil deGrasse Tyson and theoretical physicist Sean Carroll unpack the strange reality of quantum mechanics — from entangled particles and wavefunctions to Schrödinger’s legendary cat. What does it really mean for a cat to be both awake and asleep? And how does that tie into the idea that the…
From StarTalk. A big thanks to FUTURE of SPACE and their talented team of cinematographers for the additional footage from this voyage! Cinematographers: – Brendan Hall – Gabriella Canal – Tyler Brower Follow or Subscribe to FUTURE of SPACE @FUTUREofSPACE_official Website: https://futureofspace.io/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/futureofspace.io/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61566710741346 About FUTURE of SPACE: FoS is a media company…
From StarTalk. Why do particles have mass? What’s the real story behind the Higgs boson and the mysterious Higgs field? In this mind-blowing conversation, theoretical physicist Brian Greene breaks it down with Neil deGrasse Tyson, using vivid analogies and explosive insights into particle physics. From the moment particles gain mass by “burrowing through” the Higgs…
From StarTalk. Are plants more aware than we think? Do they have feelings? Neil deGrasse Tyson, Gary O’Reilly, and Harrison Greenbaum explore the intelligence of plants with astrobotanist Simon Gilroy. From venus flytraps to space farming, we dig deep into the secret world of plants. We start by looking at plant awareness—do plants know they’re…
From StarTalk. What does it take to truly thrive on Mars? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Terry Crews tackle grab bag questions about Mars colonization and magnetic fields. They explore whether we could develop technology to generate an artificial magnetic field to shield future Martians from deadly radiation. Would living underground defeat the dream of life…
From StarTalk. 🔬 Is the universe stitched together by wormholes? New theories suggest that the fabric of space-time might not be a smooth field but a web of quantum-entangled wormholes connecting virtual particles. In this mind-bending discussion, we explore the Casimir Effect, how quantum entanglement could equal wormholes and why cutting these "threads" could unravel…
From StarTalk. How do we detect ripples in spacetime? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Harrison Greenbaum explore black hole collisions, quantum tricks, and how gravitational waves can help us uncover the early universe with MIT physicist and LIGO researcher Nergis Mavalvala. What are gravitational waves, and how do they stretch and squeeze spacetime? We break…