StarTalk Podcast: Cosmic Queries about Cosmic Phenomena, with Neil deGrasse Tyson and Godfrey

Teacher or professor: StarTalk
Subject: Astronomy
Content of the Lesson: Neil deGrasse Tyson welcomes comedian Godfrey as first time co-host to take us through fan-submitted Cosmic Queries about cosmic phenomena. First up, Godfrey finally gets a chance to ask Neil about his relationship with Carl Sagan. Next, it’s time to talk about Einstein and tachyons: their ability to travel at the speed of light, how they live backwards in time, and the possibilities of sending tachyon text messages. Explore the passage of time and what timelines would look like from a higher dimension. Neil also contemplates meditation, and how humans might be a pathway for the universe to understand itself. Go beyond the event horizon to discuss Hawking radiation, and how much space might be inside of a black hole. Discover what alien civilizations might be seeing when they look at Earth, depending on where they are in the universe. You’ll also hear what Earth would look like if the moon were destroyed, and why Saturn would’ve looked different to the dinosaurs. Find out why early astronauts needed ice water in their veins, especially during moon landings. Pull back the curtain on the naming process of stars, planets, asteroids, moons – did you know we once had a Planet George? All this plus Neil avoids falling for a classic joke and tackles questions in the Lightning Round ranging from “How does life come from non-life?” to “If the universe were finite, what would we see at the edge?” This episode originally aired January 27, 2017.


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