WEBVTT 00:00:02.080 --> 00:00:09.140 Welcome to StarTalk, your place in the universe where science and pop culture collide. 00:00:10.360 --> 00:00:12.740 StarTalk begins right now. 00:00:21.508 --> 00:00:26.788 Hello, hello, Bill Nye, the Science Guy here, sitting in for Neil deGrasse Tyson. 00:00:26.808 --> 00:00:32.728 I'm your guest host for this week's StarTalk Radio, and our guest this week, everybody, is none other than Chuck Nice. 00:00:32.888 --> 00:00:34.468 Hey, how are you, Bill? 00:00:34.488 --> 00:00:37.268 Well, now that I'm here with you, I'm fabulous. 00:00:37.288 --> 00:00:40.128 You know what, Bill, you had me at, I'm Bill Nye. 00:00:41.708 --> 00:00:43.648 So, it's great to see you. 00:00:43.668 --> 00:00:48.828 It's great to, of course, the word see is something you have to imagine on the radio, the most visual medium. 00:00:48.848 --> 00:00:50.308 But my understanding, Chuck. 00:00:50.328 --> 00:00:50.588 Yes. 00:00:51.008 --> 00:00:54.188 Is you have some questions that our listeners have provided. 00:00:54.308 --> 00:00:59.868 Absolutely, this is what we call our cosmic queries and you do not know the questions. 00:01:00.008 --> 00:01:03.468 I have them here in front of me on my little tablet device. 00:01:04.168 --> 00:01:05.168 I'm feeling the drama. 00:01:05.268 --> 00:01:13.028 And what we do here is we just allow our listeners to submit any question that they would like. 00:01:13.068 --> 00:01:16.628 And when I say any, I mean indeed any. 00:01:16.688 --> 00:01:17.348 I believe you. 00:01:17.368 --> 00:01:24.788 And my understanding now, these questions are submitted on the electronic internet, on those computer machines that the kids are using. 00:01:24.948 --> 00:01:27.268 And so they've not only, you got a Twitter handle. 00:01:28.148 --> 00:01:29.128 You have a photo. 00:01:29.248 --> 00:01:30.768 You have sort of a visual. 00:01:30.788 --> 00:01:40.408 Yeah, you know, what's funny is this is the first time I've actually used my tablet to access the questions, which means that I am able to see not only the questions, but I'm able to see the Twitter handle, their profile pictures. 00:01:40.628 --> 00:01:42.708 Some of them are coming in from Google Plus. 00:01:42.728 --> 00:01:43.908 Some of them from Facebook. 00:01:44.108 --> 00:01:51.508 So I literally have either an avatar or a picture of the person who's asking me the question. 00:01:51.528 --> 00:01:53.608 You have a picture that they've chosen to send you. 00:01:53.628 --> 00:01:58.408 Yes, a picture like, I'm pretty sure this cat didn't ask our first question. 00:01:59.668 --> 00:02:00.208 You never know. 00:02:00.228 --> 00:02:01.088 A cosmic cat. 00:02:01.108 --> 00:02:02.628 Yes, so try the first question. 00:02:02.648 --> 00:02:04.348 All right, let's jump right into this, Bill. 00:02:04.648 --> 00:02:09.068 This one is from Google Plus, and this is Michelle Rivera. 00:02:09.468 --> 00:02:10.648 And Michelle wants to know this. 00:02:11.168 --> 00:02:13.588 What's the closest that any comment has come to Earth? 00:02:13.868 --> 00:02:15.128 And what was it named? 00:02:15.508 --> 00:02:16.968 And when did it come close? 00:02:17.388 --> 00:02:20.568 Also, what's your favorite ice cream? 00:02:21.368 --> 00:02:23.468 Well, we'll finish with the ice cream. 00:02:24.248 --> 00:02:28.768 But I think that my understanding, the closest comment would have been Comet Holly. 00:02:29.088 --> 00:02:30.148 Comet Holly. 00:02:30.168 --> 00:02:39.208 Yeah, back in 1910, I believe that people thought that you could read at night by the light of the comet. 00:02:39.228 --> 00:02:40.408 Yeah, so it is reported. 00:02:41.148 --> 00:03:02.508 And so then you could argue if you want to, which is fun, that perhaps the impactor that became the Chelyabinsk bolide, the glowing thing in the sky over Russia last year, or maybe you could say, what about the Tunguska event, blowing down trees for hundreds of kilometers in every direction? 00:03:02.888 --> 00:03:05.508 That's coming real close when you actually hit us. 00:03:05.528 --> 00:03:07.428 Let's go back to that one, okay? 00:03:07.448 --> 00:03:11.048 Because the other stuff I've heard, now go back to Tenduska. 00:03:11.068 --> 00:03:11.728 Tunguska. 00:03:11.768 --> 00:03:12.448 Tenguska. 00:03:12.468 --> 00:03:16.248 That was a party, 1908, June 30th, is reckoned in the modern calendar. 00:03:16.848 --> 00:03:31.548 You know, back then, even Russia, because of their historical affiliations with certain religious organizations, they didn't agree on what calendar to use, but in the modern calendar is the 30th of June, 1908. 00:03:32.508 --> 00:03:35.688 Something hits the Earth's atmosphere so hard, how hard did it hit? 00:03:35.768 --> 00:03:40.228 So hard that it blew up, knocked down trees, hundreds of kilometers. 00:03:40.248 --> 00:03:40.968 Just like Chelyabinsk. 00:03:40.988 --> 00:03:41.688 Just a shockwave. 00:03:41.948 --> 00:03:43.088 Yeah, only more so. 00:03:43.108 --> 00:03:47.728 And I remind you, last year in Chelyabinsk, there's so much insurance fraud. 00:03:47.848 --> 00:03:49.648 How much insurance fraud is there? 00:03:49.668 --> 00:03:51.948 There's so much, people have dashboard cameras, right? 00:03:51.968 --> 00:03:52.868 That is correct. 00:03:53.408 --> 00:03:57.268 So there were dozens, hundreds of videos of this thing streaking through the sky. 00:03:57.288 --> 00:04:00.788 Everybody runs up to the window to watch it, and then three minutes later, whack! 00:04:01.108 --> 00:04:02.828 The sonic booms hit the ground. 00:04:02.828 --> 00:04:04.548 Yeah, and all the windows shattered. 00:04:04.568 --> 00:04:09.108 And yeah, you had a lot of documentation, because you're right, everybody does use dashcam. 00:04:09.128 --> 00:04:10.528 Now hold it, there was one more part of that. 00:04:10.768 --> 00:04:11.908 Then here's the other part. 00:04:12.468 --> 00:04:13.868 What's your favorite ice cream? 00:04:13.888 --> 00:04:14.488 It's vanilla. 00:04:14.988 --> 00:04:16.228 Vanilla is genius. 00:04:16.608 --> 00:04:17.888 People say vanilla is boring. 00:04:17.908 --> 00:04:18.908 I go, you kidding? 00:04:19.448 --> 00:04:21.868 Vanilla is perfect. 00:04:22.568 --> 00:04:23.728 It's a perfect flavor. 00:04:23.748 --> 00:04:25.008 It doesn't get any better than vanilla. 00:04:25.008 --> 00:04:25.708 Not for me. 00:04:25.728 --> 00:04:28.848 Right, and you know most flavors are nothing but vanilla with something added to it. 00:04:28.868 --> 00:04:32.068 My point, I was about to bring up my point. 00:04:32.068 --> 00:04:33.608 What is strawberry ice cream? 00:04:34.048 --> 00:04:35.808 It's just vanilla with strawberries. 00:04:35.828 --> 00:04:38.228 Well, the word just vanilla, I gotta remind you. 00:04:39.428 --> 00:04:41.968 Please, by no means did I mean to diminish vanilla. 00:04:41.988 --> 00:04:45.848 But I'm not gonna get in a fist fight in the ice cream flavor bar. 00:04:46.088 --> 00:04:52.588 If you want to enjoy your chocolate, chocolate chip, if you want your mint chocolate chip, if you want your peppermint stick, knock yourselves out. 00:04:53.628 --> 00:04:54.668 Cause it's more for me. 00:04:56.028 --> 00:04:57.328 It's more vanilla for me. 00:04:57.928 --> 00:04:59.428 All right, fantastic, man. 00:04:59.668 --> 00:05:03.168 Let's move on and let's grab another question here. 00:05:03.348 --> 00:05:07.648 And this one is from, he calls himself Red King. 00:05:08.488 --> 00:05:10.008 All right, coming to us from Google. 00:05:10.808 --> 00:05:11.208 Mr. 00:05:11.228 --> 00:05:21.348 Nye, which occupation would best fit for a student majoring in aeronautical engineering and minoring in music theory? 00:05:21.928 --> 00:05:25.168 What a weird and not weird combination at all. 00:05:25.228 --> 00:05:26.368 Well, it depends what you want to do. 00:05:26.388 --> 00:05:40.828 If you really dig rockets, I gotta point out that the biggest, the biggest a significant problem in rocket launching are the acoustic waves, the acoustic energy in the flame tunnel, the flame duct. 00:05:41.748 --> 00:05:48.328 And so to me, acoustics and sound music theory are related, intimately are smoochifying. 00:05:48.828 --> 00:05:51.588 So I encourage you. 00:05:52.448 --> 00:05:53.068 Smoochifying. 00:05:53.308 --> 00:05:55.108 A little nighbonic coinage. 00:05:55.868 --> 00:06:05.328 I recommend that you pursue aerospace professionally and you keep playing music for kicks because we need you. 00:06:05.928 --> 00:06:09.328 We want you to take us this, what's his name? 00:06:09.348 --> 00:06:09.988 Red King. 00:06:10.008 --> 00:06:10.488 Red King. 00:06:10.808 --> 00:06:16.888 Red King, and I say he, Red King, he or she, want you to take us to Mars. 00:06:17.248 --> 00:06:18.508 Well, Red King is a guy. 00:06:18.528 --> 00:06:19.508 Well, he has a guy. 00:06:19.528 --> 00:06:22.508 Has a guy, it's a male designation king. 00:06:22.968 --> 00:06:23.308 Yeah. 00:06:23.308 --> 00:06:24.848 Red Queen could go either way though. 00:06:24.868 --> 00:06:25.608 I'm glad you said it. 00:06:25.628 --> 00:06:25.928 Yes. 00:06:25.988 --> 00:06:26.848 I'm glad you said it. 00:06:29.348 --> 00:06:29.728 Okay. 00:06:30.248 --> 00:06:36.588 Not that there's anything wrong with it. 00:06:36.668 --> 00:06:37.368 You started it. 00:06:37.388 --> 00:06:38.688 I did start it, but you know what? 00:06:38.708 --> 00:06:39.708 That's quite all right, man. 00:06:39.728 --> 00:06:41.448 There was no goalie on that punch line. 00:06:41.468 --> 00:06:42.008 There you go. 00:06:43.268 --> 00:06:45.368 Let's move on to Aaron W. 00:06:46.148 --> 00:06:47.048 A-A-R? 00:06:47.068 --> 00:06:48.248 No, not Aaron. 00:06:48.248 --> 00:06:48.728 E-R-I-N. 00:06:49.008 --> 00:06:49.808 E-R-I-N. 00:06:49.828 --> 00:06:50.648 E-R-I-N. 00:06:50.688 --> 00:06:51.648 Aaron W. 00:06:52.488 --> 00:06:54.548 And Aaron wants to know this. 00:06:54.748 --> 00:07:01.108 What if any is the best way to present scientific fact in the way that won't make people super defensive? 00:07:01.508 --> 00:07:10.508 I'm thinking specifically of anti-vaccination crowd, but anyone can have irrational beliefs and fake science. 00:07:11.088 --> 00:07:13.248 Basically, how do you not get people PO'd? 00:07:13.648 --> 00:07:15.328 Well, in the face of science fact. 00:07:15.348 --> 00:07:18.928 The thing about vaccinations is they are proven to work. 00:07:19.588 --> 00:07:21.968 Everybody enjoys his or her pasteurized milk. 00:07:22.048 --> 00:07:35.948 And the other thing to remember, not only are vaccinations designed to protect your kid from diseases, but they're designed to protect my kids from your kids. 00:07:36.088 --> 00:07:37.368 Vaccinations work. 00:07:37.668 --> 00:07:49.268 And that this very well-known woman associated spuriously her kid's vaccination with autism, but the same time he or she was diagnosed with autism, is wrong, is bad science. 00:07:49.288 --> 00:07:50.368 It's been disproven. 00:07:50.388 --> 00:07:52.588 And I hope her views are discredited soon enough. 00:07:52.908 --> 00:07:54.968 Meanwhile, Chuck will be back after this. 00:08:13.306 --> 00:08:15.926 Welcome back, welcome back to StarTalk Radio. 00:08:15.946 --> 00:08:35.586 Bill Nye here, guest hosting for my beloved good buddy, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and I'm here being interrogated by none other than Chuck Nice, who's got your questions submitted on that electronic computer internet with the electric computer machines that the kid's using, and he can see your avatar. 00:08:35.606 --> 00:08:36.966 Yes, for the first time. 00:08:36.986 --> 00:08:40.186 When you put in a question, we know what you wanna look like. 00:08:40.206 --> 00:08:48.466 That's right, we know who you are now, and we actually know who Mark Siegert is, or Seigert, I'm not particularly sure. 00:08:48.706 --> 00:08:49.826 Don't wanna mess that up, Mark. 00:08:49.986 --> 00:08:52.286 But he's got a pretty cool question here for you, Bill. 00:08:53.346 --> 00:08:55.986 With the majority of stars in the universe being- 00:08:56.006 --> 00:08:57.086 The majority of stars. 00:08:57.106 --> 00:08:57.846 That's what he says. 00:08:57.866 --> 00:09:11.206 The majority of stars in the universe being red dwarfs, and the majority of planets revolving around red dwarfs, is there any chance of life on those particular planets? 00:09:11.646 --> 00:09:15.146 And if yes, will it be completely different? 00:09:15.786 --> 00:09:22.246 Will plants or microorganisms be able to use the much weaker solar energy? 00:09:22.266 --> 00:09:25.546 So a different take on photosynthesis, basically. 00:09:25.626 --> 00:09:26.386 Would there be? 00:09:27.246 --> 00:09:28.266 I say there have to be. 00:09:28.726 --> 00:09:29.506 That's what I would say. 00:09:29.526 --> 00:09:32.966 And the reason I would say that is there's so many stars. 00:09:32.966 --> 00:09:40.906 When people throw around the expression billions and then billions and billions, it's really beyond imagining for most people. 00:09:40.946 --> 00:09:48.686 Now, you know, when I was young, people speculated that there would be a planet around every hundred stars, one in a hundred stars. 00:09:48.706 --> 00:09:51.086 Just one planet for every hundred stars. 00:09:51.466 --> 00:09:53.986 Then of those, how many of those would be Earth-like? 00:09:54.006 --> 00:09:54.926 You take another fraction. 00:09:54.946 --> 00:10:03.306 Well, it turns out Kepler Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, apparently every star is a star system with planets. 00:10:03.866 --> 00:10:16.326 Now, just a quick aside, why would the assumption be made that one planet for every hundred stars, when our sun is a star and we clearly have eight planets around our sun? 00:10:16.346 --> 00:10:18.506 Well, we were just dealing with it, man. 00:10:20.766 --> 00:10:21.666 Nobody knew. 00:10:22.246 --> 00:10:25.026 You didn't have a Kepler Space Telescope. 00:10:26.026 --> 00:10:26.926 We were jamming. 00:10:26.946 --> 00:10:30.906 I'm talking about Frank Drake and Carl Sagan and our predecessors. 00:10:30.926 --> 00:10:31.526 Predecessors. 00:10:31.526 --> 00:10:32.286 Okay, go ahead. 00:10:32.306 --> 00:10:32.786 So continue. 00:10:32.926 --> 00:10:40.126 The chances of there not being life when you have billions of planets, just seems extraordinarily low. 00:10:40.146 --> 00:10:44.846 That is to say the chance of there not being anything just got to be vanishingly small. 00:10:44.866 --> 00:10:46.286 There has to be something out there. 00:10:46.326 --> 00:10:46.846 Absolutely. 00:10:46.866 --> 00:11:07.266 Just because we have green plants, which reflect green light mysteriously, that doesn't mean somebody else who hasn't had asteroid impacts, who didn't have all this sulfur or whatever the heck, cadmium, whatever else we might have on the iridium after the impact from the kill the ancient dinosaur, who knows what plants came up with or what living things came up with. 00:11:07.286 --> 00:11:08.626 There's gotta be something out there. 00:11:09.066 --> 00:11:15.466 And if you meet somebody who says he or she has never wondered if there's anything out there, they're lying to you. 00:11:15.926 --> 00:11:16.446 They're lying. 00:11:16.466 --> 00:11:17.506 Just straight, we already know. 00:11:17.586 --> 00:11:18.566 We don't need a test. 00:11:18.586 --> 00:11:19.866 We just know you're a liar. 00:11:20.326 --> 00:11:20.886 So you know what? 00:11:20.906 --> 00:11:27.446 If I ever encounter anyone who says, eh, I've never really thought about it, I'm just gonna call them a bald-faced liar, right? 00:11:27.466 --> 00:11:27.806 Yeah. 00:11:27.946 --> 00:11:28.446 Right out. 00:11:28.466 --> 00:11:29.026 Just call them out. 00:11:29.046 --> 00:11:30.446 What else can I not trust you about? 00:11:31.966 --> 00:11:32.486 All right. 00:11:32.506 --> 00:11:33.266 So that's cool. 00:11:33.366 --> 00:11:34.466 So there you have it. 00:11:34.486 --> 00:11:36.766 What a great answer because yes and yes. 00:11:37.146 --> 00:11:39.286 There'll be life there. 00:11:39.286 --> 00:11:43.586 And are those organisms out there wondering about you and me? 00:11:43.766 --> 00:11:45.306 Now that's a different story. 00:11:46.866 --> 00:11:48.746 Wouldn't they wonder the same things? 00:11:48.806 --> 00:11:50.006 Where did we come from? 00:11:50.286 --> 00:11:51.106 Are we alone? 00:11:51.266 --> 00:11:52.406 Those two questions. 00:11:53.006 --> 00:11:53.986 Maybe they're not wondering. 00:11:54.006 --> 00:11:55.626 Maybe they already know the answers. 00:12:00.686 --> 00:12:01.346 Could be. 00:12:01.846 --> 00:12:03.866 Chuck, that's not my strongest material. 00:12:04.746 --> 00:12:05.826 That was good stuff though. 00:12:05.846 --> 00:12:06.366 I like it. 00:12:06.446 --> 00:12:06.926 I like it. 00:12:07.126 --> 00:12:09.126 You're silly and I didn't know that about you. 00:12:09.806 --> 00:12:10.846 Looks aren't everything. 00:12:10.866 --> 00:12:16.626 All right, let's move on and get to Richard Moller. 00:12:16.806 --> 00:12:18.266 And Rich. 00:12:18.326 --> 00:12:18.706 Rich. 00:12:18.866 --> 00:12:19.326 Moller. 00:12:19.686 --> 00:12:20.586 Richard Moller is. 00:12:21.166 --> 00:12:22.746 What's his avatar look like? 00:12:23.186 --> 00:12:24.566 Just a son of my business. 00:12:24.686 --> 00:12:25.506 You know what, here's. 00:12:25.526 --> 00:12:27.126 He looks like an accountant. 00:12:27.306 --> 00:12:29.526 Nope, I tell you, Rich is a family man. 00:12:29.546 --> 00:12:32.646 He's in the picture with his son or a child. 00:12:32.666 --> 00:12:33.386 I was gonna say. 00:12:33.526 --> 00:12:36.846 A child, because I have made assumptions with facts not in evidence. 00:12:36.866 --> 00:12:38.866 So he is with a child. 00:12:38.886 --> 00:12:40.246 It's not your kid, not of your kids. 00:12:40.266 --> 00:12:40.946 It's not my kid. 00:12:41.306 --> 00:12:41.886 Yeah, clearly. 00:12:41.946 --> 00:12:43.926 Yeah, I don't take pictures with my kids. 00:12:44.666 --> 00:12:45.466 That you know of. 00:12:46.906 --> 00:12:49.406 All right, so here's what Richard wants to know. 00:12:49.686 --> 00:12:57.326 Since people at the equator go faster, relative to people closer to the poles, do they age more slowly? 00:12:57.346 --> 00:13:00.886 It seems to me, I've done this calculation in physics class. 00:13:00.906 --> 00:13:01.306 For real? 00:13:01.366 --> 00:13:01.706 Yeah. 00:13:02.426 --> 00:13:04.426 They do, but it's not much. 00:13:04.566 --> 00:13:05.866 So it's insignificant. 00:13:05.886 --> 00:13:07.166 Oh, it's insignificant, for sure. 00:13:07.186 --> 00:13:12.886 But when you get into these thousands of billionths, things do not add up. 00:13:13.526 --> 00:13:14.666 Right, gotcha. 00:13:14.926 --> 00:13:16.026 But it's a cool question. 00:13:16.046 --> 00:13:20.446 And astronauts age ever so slightly more slowly than you and I do. 00:13:20.946 --> 00:13:22.086 Just by being up there. 00:13:22.086 --> 00:13:23.046 By being in orbit. 00:13:23.066 --> 00:13:23.866 By being in orbit. 00:13:24.066 --> 00:13:25.286 Okay, fantastic. 00:13:25.306 --> 00:13:40.306 Now, the astronauts of the very near future, if we can use this term, who will go into where the sky is dark, 100 kilometers, the Karman limit, the Karman limit, they're gonna go up and down without going in orbit. 00:13:40.966 --> 00:13:42.446 They will be slightly younger. 00:13:42.466 --> 00:13:49.186 By the way, when you're in a jet airplane flying around the continent, around the world, your time is passing ever so slightly more slowly. 00:13:49.206 --> 00:13:49.946 Slightly more slowly. 00:13:49.966 --> 00:13:56.126 And for those of you who take physics and have not computed that, I encourage you to do that, because it's fun. 00:13:56.146 --> 00:14:09.566 And then the other thing that's just used to rivet me was there was a question, what is the attraction, but, and then in parentheses, gravitational, between a 70 kilogram boy and a 60 kilogram girl. 00:14:09.886 --> 00:14:11.826 In parentheses, gravitational. 00:14:12.806 --> 00:14:16.886 Boy, that was a titillating science problem right there. 00:14:18.246 --> 00:14:23.246 The gravitational constant times the mass one, mass two over the distance between them squared. 00:14:23.586 --> 00:14:24.726 And that's gravitational. 00:14:24.886 --> 00:14:27.106 Because the other computation is boobs. 00:14:27.966 --> 00:14:29.066 I am shocked. 00:14:30.546 --> 00:14:31.666 Absolutely shocked. 00:14:34.306 --> 00:14:35.586 And fascinated. 00:14:35.666 --> 00:14:36.306 Absolutely. 00:14:36.646 --> 00:14:40.706 All right, let's move on to Vardhan Narazey. 00:14:40.986 --> 00:14:41.706 Oh man. 00:14:42.126 --> 00:14:43.326 Well, just do your best. 00:14:43.346 --> 00:14:46.586 Vardhan, I'm really sorry that I'm about to butcher your name like this. 00:14:46.606 --> 00:14:48.606 I'm not a native speaker of Hindi or Urdu. 00:14:48.666 --> 00:14:49.026 Right. 00:14:49.046 --> 00:14:55.546 So it's Nazretian, Nazretian, Nazretian. 00:14:55.566 --> 00:14:56.646 But Vardhi is our buddy. 00:14:56.666 --> 00:14:57.126 That's right. 00:14:57.586 --> 00:15:12.866 So what is the best way to utilize an asteroid deflecting tech without actually having to use a spacecraft if possible, like something, a space station on the moon that will deflect asteroids. 00:15:13.006 --> 00:15:14.886 There'll maybe a tractor beam. 00:15:15.246 --> 00:15:16.146 A tractor beam. 00:15:16.166 --> 00:15:17.566 Some type of similar technology. 00:15:18.026 --> 00:15:21.566 So is Vardhi just kind of watching too much? 00:15:21.586 --> 00:15:22.606 He or she is jamming. 00:15:23.486 --> 00:15:25.646 Watching too much Star Trek or is this? 00:15:25.966 --> 00:15:28.146 I don't think you can watch too much Star Trek. 00:15:28.186 --> 00:15:29.146 That's so true. 00:15:29.406 --> 00:15:30.786 I think you're right about that. 00:15:30.866 --> 00:15:31.606 I've tried. 00:15:31.626 --> 00:15:33.646 I haven't overdosed yet. 00:15:33.666 --> 00:15:34.726 The thing, I'm fine. 00:15:34.746 --> 00:15:35.766 I could quit if I wanted. 00:15:35.966 --> 00:15:47.206 The thing is, as soon as you say we're gonna have something on the moon to deflect it, that's gonna involve a spacecraft, yeah, so the question's trickily worded. 00:15:47.886 --> 00:15:53.346 But I think having a tractor beam is technology beyond us right now. 00:15:54.406 --> 00:16:00.166 However, you may recall Tom Swift and his repelletron Skyway, Tom Swift Jr. 00:16:00.746 --> 00:16:06.246 He had repelletrons, which would be beams that would repel objects. 00:16:06.386 --> 00:16:26.866 Instead of that, taking it one step less farther into the future, you could use Earth or moon-based lasers to zap the asteroid, if you could find it, and aim it with such precision and keep the beam narrow enough, and cause the material on the asteroid to volatize, to ablate, to burn off, to eject. 00:16:27.686 --> 00:16:40.986 Then the momentum of the ejected material, fabulous Latin word, the ejecta, would then have you potentially, hypothetically, imaginationally, would have enough momentum to deflect the asteroid. 00:16:41.006 --> 00:16:47.606 We only need to change, typical asteroid might be going 20 kilometers a second. 00:16:47.766 --> 00:16:48.946 20 kilometers a second. 00:16:48.966 --> 00:17:01.106 We got it deflected about 2 millimeters a second, about a 10 millionth of its momentum, a 10 millionth of its delta, of its V has to be changed, of its velocity and direction, speed and direction has to be changed. 00:17:01.786 --> 00:17:05.586 So that's not a bad, insightful, thoughtful insight. 00:17:05.966 --> 00:17:09.766 However, the problem is going to be an international one. 00:17:09.786 --> 00:17:12.406 Just finding the asteroids is a huge deal. 00:17:12.906 --> 00:17:19.506 And it is, Chuck, the only, as far as anybody can reckon, the only preventable natural disaster. 00:17:20.206 --> 00:17:23.026 I am delighted that Vardy is out there thinking about this. 00:17:23.106 --> 00:17:23.686 Go get them. 00:17:23.706 --> 00:17:25.146 Vardy is doing a great job thinking about it. 00:17:25.166 --> 00:17:25.446 Go get them. 00:17:25.846 --> 00:17:33.506 So you're saying basically it would be more, is it more feasible to repulse than it is to guide? 00:17:35.706 --> 00:17:37.386 But still, great that you're thinking about it. 00:17:37.406 --> 00:17:39.946 But they're co-interrelated together between themselves. 00:17:40.006 --> 00:17:40.486 I got you. 00:17:40.506 --> 00:17:42.086 That is to say, puns intended. 00:17:43.986 --> 00:17:49.406 In that deflecting one is gonna involve changing its velocity, changing its speed and direction somehow. 00:17:49.486 --> 00:18:01.846 Either you smack into it, or you get something with mutual gravity to tow it off course, or what we at the Planetary Society are all hot for is volatizing the surface with space-based lasers. 00:18:02.226 --> 00:18:04.286 And our laser bees spacecraft. 00:18:04.306 --> 00:18:07.546 I gotta tell you, that's the first time I've ever heard that and I think it's fantastic. 00:18:07.566 --> 00:18:08.086 That's good. 00:18:08.286 --> 00:18:11.206 You keep thinking about that and we'll be back right after this. 00:18:30.293 --> 00:18:31.333 Welcome back. 00:18:31.453 --> 00:18:37.393 Bill Nye here, guest hosting on StarTalk Radio for my beloved buddy, Neil deGrasse Tyson. 00:18:37.713 --> 00:18:41.513 I don't want you all to be jealous, but I'm sitting here with Chuck Nice. 00:18:42.073 --> 00:18:42.993 Oh, Bill. 00:18:43.473 --> 00:18:44.693 Eat your hearts out, people. 00:18:45.313 --> 00:18:51.593 But you can join us by audio, by sound, because Chuck has some thoughtful insights that you have provided him. 00:18:51.613 --> 00:18:53.613 That is to say some questions, some cosmic queries. 00:18:53.633 --> 00:18:55.053 Some cosmic queries. 00:18:55.333 --> 00:19:01.233 And we have taken questions from all over the internet, whatever source that we are a part of, and our listeners. 00:19:01.253 --> 00:19:02.333 Now, as far as you know. 00:19:02.473 --> 00:19:03.173 As far as we know. 00:19:03.273 --> 00:19:04.413 All of these questions. 00:19:04.433 --> 00:19:04.753 Yes. 00:19:04.933 --> 00:19:05.853 All over the internet. 00:19:05.853 --> 00:19:06.633 All over the internet. 00:19:06.653 --> 00:19:07.973 Are from Earth, is that right? 00:19:08.153 --> 00:19:09.353 As far as I know. 00:19:09.693 --> 00:19:12.153 And I cannot confirm nor deny that. 00:19:12.573 --> 00:19:18.893 Except in my limited understanding of where they, from where they come, which would be, from what I know, the internet. 00:19:20.073 --> 00:19:20.393 Let's. 00:19:20.413 --> 00:19:20.673 On Earth. 00:19:20.833 --> 00:19:22.113 On Earth, that's all I know. 00:19:22.313 --> 00:19:23.053 But it could be. 00:19:24.153 --> 00:19:26.773 Let's move on to Madison Barnes. 00:19:27.433 --> 00:19:29.973 And Madison has also included a picture. 00:19:30.213 --> 00:19:38.853 Now, I'm pretty sure this is his child because it's an infant and he's laying on the bed with it and he looks really happy. 00:19:39.853 --> 00:19:43.453 Then again, by that description, maybe it's not his child. 00:19:44.373 --> 00:19:48.093 I was gonna say, is that, are you associating with that or is that? 00:19:48.113 --> 00:19:49.233 I was just, I was. 00:19:49.233 --> 00:19:52.133 Is it completely unrecognizable to you as a parent? 00:19:52.393 --> 00:19:53.393 As a parent, you're right. 00:19:53.413 --> 00:19:55.193 It's completely unrecognizable to me. 00:19:56.013 --> 00:19:57.473 16 miserable years. 00:19:57.493 --> 00:19:58.613 Yes, there you have it. 00:19:58.653 --> 00:20:00.813 And most of them, because of the children, Bill. 00:20:01.093 --> 00:20:02.053 I know, I know. 00:20:02.073 --> 00:20:05.853 They, it's a, what is it? 00:20:06.013 --> 00:20:08.273 Insanity is hereditary, you get it from your kids. 00:20:08.873 --> 00:20:09.453 Yes, lead on. 00:20:09.473 --> 00:20:11.473 All right, here we go from Madison Barnes. 00:20:11.493 --> 00:20:12.773 And Madison wants to know this. 00:20:13.573 --> 00:20:18.293 Finding the Higgs boson with the LHC was an amazing achievement. 00:20:18.713 --> 00:20:21.713 What are we looking for next with the LHC? 00:20:22.413 --> 00:20:27.053 And is there a bigger and better accelerator being built to succeed it? 00:20:27.273 --> 00:20:28.713 Wow, interesting. 00:20:28.733 --> 00:20:32.633 The Large Hadron Collider, as far as I know, there is not one being built. 00:20:32.833 --> 00:20:39.173 If I were king of the footies, we would build a bigger one. 00:20:39.253 --> 00:20:45.133 Because these people, the atom smashing people, my physics colleagues, they cannot get enough of smashing. 00:20:45.153 --> 00:20:48.913 They love smashing and they learn something every time they smash. 00:20:49.113 --> 00:20:58.953 So what I guess everybody wants to do is reproduce those results of the Higgs boson finding, which gives everything, apparently, gives everything mass. 00:20:59.253 --> 00:21:10.353 And then what I want to know, what we want in science is to find laws or rules or theories that make predictions that are true. 00:21:10.553 --> 00:21:14.193 The things they predict are true here on earth and they're true deep in the cosmos. 00:21:14.953 --> 00:21:29.673 So if there's all this dark energy and dark matter flying around out there, six times the mass of everything we can observe, well, isn't some of that stuff here and would we find it by smashing things with even more smashness, perhaps? 00:21:30.333 --> 00:21:39.653 And so yes, I would like to build a bigger collider and look deeper, but this is a civilian, you know, as a mechanical engineer, I took a lot of physics. 00:21:40.253 --> 00:21:41.093 I know what you're thinking. 00:21:41.153 --> 00:21:42.033 Did you put it back? 00:21:43.653 --> 00:21:49.533 No, so that aside, it just seems to me what we see deep in the cosmos, we should observe here. 00:21:49.553 --> 00:21:56.493 And I'm pitching right now here on StarTalk Radio or with a circle, copyright Bill Nye, darkons. 00:21:56.993 --> 00:21:57.753 Darkons. 00:21:57.793 --> 00:21:58.953 Particles of dark. 00:21:59.573 --> 00:22:00.573 Particles of dark. 00:22:00.593 --> 00:22:03.533 Physics people, they love their particles. 00:22:03.553 --> 00:22:04.853 They can't get enough of particles. 00:22:04.873 --> 00:22:06.473 They got their neutrons, their protons. 00:22:06.633 --> 00:22:07.793 Are they really particles? 00:22:08.093 --> 00:22:10.433 Or we just imagine them that there's photons. 00:22:10.453 --> 00:22:11.333 Are they really particles? 00:22:11.353 --> 00:22:15.233 Are these sort of a way of thinking about things? 00:22:15.253 --> 00:22:28.113 And so maybe there are particles of dark energy that interact with dark matter, that interact with our darkons, that interact with everything we know and see, and that discovery would, dare I say it, Chuck, change the world. 00:22:28.253 --> 00:22:29.613 That would change the universe. 00:22:29.653 --> 00:22:30.653 It would change our perception of it. 00:22:30.673 --> 00:22:31.973 Our understanding of the universe. 00:22:31.993 --> 00:22:34.093 Actually, the universe would remain exactly the same. 00:22:34.113 --> 00:22:34.693 As far as we know. 00:22:34.713 --> 00:22:40.893 Unless there's that extraordinary chance that we could build a collider big enough to change things. 00:22:40.913 --> 00:22:41.193 Yes. 00:22:41.533 --> 00:22:43.793 Like they do in the movies. 00:22:44.033 --> 00:22:46.673 Well, that was an insightful question, I have to say. 00:22:46.753 --> 00:22:47.313 Nice job. 00:22:47.333 --> 00:22:48.733 You don't have to sound so surprised. 00:22:48.753 --> 00:22:49.313 Well, you know. 00:22:50.213 --> 00:22:52.833 Just cause the guy's got a kid doesn't mean he can't think. 00:22:52.993 --> 00:22:53.753 You know what? 00:22:54.593 --> 00:22:57.753 Okay, I had a joke there that I certainly cannot say. 00:22:58.033 --> 00:23:01.213 Well, you said just cause he's got a kid doesn't mean he can't think, but. 00:23:02.613 --> 00:23:04.373 They're saying it about you, don't worry. 00:23:04.393 --> 00:23:04.753 That's right. 00:23:04.773 --> 00:23:05.913 I'm saying it about myself. 00:23:05.933 --> 00:23:07.413 It's a little late for the thinking part. 00:23:08.653 --> 00:23:09.193 Here we go. 00:23:09.213 --> 00:23:09.793