FOLKS, MY NEXT GUEST IS THE
CHRIS PRATT OF ASTROPHYSICS, PLEASE WELCOME THE DIRECTOR OF
THE THE HAYDEN PLANETARIUM RIGHT HERE IN NEW YORK, NEIL DEGRASSE
TYSON. (APPLAUSE)
. >> Stephen:. >> IT'S BEAUTIFUL, SO RYAN
AND-- YEAH, IT IS BEAUTIFUL, THE SHOW IS ROCKIN' TONIGHT. OH MY GOSH. (CHEERS AND APPLAUSE). >> Stephen: I THINK, HERE IS
THE THING, I THINK OF YOU AS STAR LORD. >> YEAH, NO, NO, I'M JUST HUMAN,
YES. >> Stephen: JUST HUMAN. >> I'M JUST STAYING HUMAN, YEAH. >> Stephen: NOW BIG SPACE NEWS
THESE PAST COUPLE OF WEEKS. SPEAKING OF BEAUTIFUL, LOOK AT
THIS PHOTOGRAPH. THIS IS THE CASSINI SPACE CRAFT. >> YOU DIDN'T MISS ANYTHING. >> Stephen: WHAT AM I LOOKING
AT. >> OH, YEAH, YEAH, THIS IS NOT
DUST HERE. THIS, THIS IS EARTH SEEN THROUGH
THE RINGS OF SATURN. EARTH AND JUST A REMINDER, WE
ARE A SPEK IN THE MIDDLE OF AS COULD MICK VOID. OCCUPYING WHAT WE CALL EARTH. BUT IN FACT, IF YOU COME UPON
OUR SOLAR SYSTEM FROM OUTSIDE, YOU KNOW, IF YOU ARE AN ALIEN
FIRST COMING UPON OUR SOLAR SYSTEM, EARTH WOULD BE BARELY
NGHTSED BUT YOU. YOU WILL NOTICE SATURN AND
JUPITER AND YOU WILL SAY WHAT ARE THESE-- THESE BALLS OF ROCK
ORBITING CLOSER TO THE SUN. AND THIS IS CARL SAGAN MADE A
POINT OF THIS BACK IN 1990 WHEN HE TALKED ABOUT THE PALE BLUE
DOT. HE CONVINCED VOI YAJER, NASA, TO
HAVE VOYAGER WHEN IT PASSED NEPTUNE, THE LAST PLANET IN THE
SOLAR SYSTEM, TO TURN-- I JUST TELL IT IT LIKE IT IS. HE CONVINCED VOYAGER TO TURN ITS
CAMERA BACK TOWARDSth AND IT BASICALLY AMOUNTS TO EARTH'S
FIRST EVER SELFIE. AND THAT PICTURE WAS TAKEN. AND THERE WAS THESE PALE BLUE
DOT SITTING IN THIS VOID. AND HE WROTE A WHOLE BOOK ON
THIS. SO THESE PICTURES FROM SATURN
WITH EARTH IS SORT OF THE MODERN COUNTERPART TO THE PALE BLUE
DOT. >> Stephen: THERE'S GOING TO
BE A SERIES OF 13 FLY BYES OF CASSINI GOING INSIDE THE RINGS. >> CASSINI HAS BEEN THERE FOR 12
YEARS. AND IT'S NOW IN ITS FINAL DEATH
SPIRAL TO HE DESCEND INTO SATURN NEVER TO BE HEARD OF AGAIN. >> Stephen: WE'RE GOING TO GET
SOME CLOSE SHOTS ALONG THE WAY. THIS IS THE TOP OF. >> YES, WE WILL. >> Stephen: THAT IS THE TOP OF
A HURRICANE. >> YOU KNOW, YOU GET THIS SIGH
CLONIC ENERGY WHEN YOU ROTATE FAST. AND EARTH, WE GET STORMS ON
EARTH AND WE ROTATE ONCE A DAY. SATURN, WHICH BIGGER THAN EARTH
ROTATES ONCE EVERY TEN HOURS OR SO. SO THE CORIOLIS FORCE IS SEVERE
ON BOTH SATURN AND JUPITER. YOU ZOOM IN ON THE CLOUD TOPS
AND IT IS A TURBULENT MAELSTROM. >> Stephen: THE WEATHER
CHANNEL IS GETTING STIFFED. ALL RIGHT, NOW TELL IT IT LIKE
IT IS, BABY. NOW YOU'VE GOT A NEW BOOK, ONE
OF YOUR GREAT BOOKS. IT'S ASTROPHYSICS FOR PEOPLE IN
A HURRY. WE'RE IN A HURRY. WE'RE HAD IN A HURRY RIGHT NOW. HIT ME WITH SOME ASTROPHYSICS I
NEED TO KNOW B NEIL. >> IN THERE, THERE ARE A DOZEN
CHAPTERS. AN THANKS FOR ASKING ABOUT THIS. BECAUSE I-- MY SOUL IS IN THAT
BOOK. IT IS AN EXPLORATION OF ALL THE
FRAGMENTS OF THE COSMOS YOU HAVE HEARD ABOUT IN NEWS HEADLINES
AND YOU CHANNEL SURF A DOCUMENTARY. AND YOU HEARD XO PLANET, DARK
MATTER, DARK ENERGY, MULTIVERSE, BUT YOU NEVER QUITE PUT IT
TOGETHER. SO I THINK OF THIS AS THE CON
SUMATION OF YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE COSMOS. YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT-- A WHOLE
CHAPTER DARK MATTER AND WE END WITH AS COULD MICK PERSPECTIVE
WHICH ANYBODY, YOU SHOULD NOT BE WALKING THE STREETS WITHOUT A
BAPTISM OF AS COULD MICK PERSPECTIVE. >> Stephen: WHAT DO YOU MEAN,
BAPTISM. >> YOU NEED TO BE IMMERSED. IF YOU LOOK UP IN THE UNIVERSE
AND FEEL SMALL IT IS BECAUSE YOU STARTED OUT WITH AN EGO
UNJUSTIFIABLY TOO HIGH TO BEGIN WITH. SO WHAT YOU-- SO YES, IT IT IS
EGO BUSTING. YES, TO LEARN, NO EARTH, IS NOT
THE MIDDLE OF THE YEURS, NEITHER IS THE SUN. NOORT IS OUR GALAXY AND ARE YOU
SMALL, YOU IN TIME AND IN SPACE, THAT IS ALL TRUE. BUT THES COULD MICK PERSPECTIVE
TAKES A STEP BEYOND THAT. AND IT IT ALLOWS YOU TO SAY, TO
REALIZE THAT, YOU KNOW, THE ATOMS IN YOUR BODY, THE
MOLECULES THAT COMPROMISE LIFE ARE TRACEABLE TO STARS THAT
MANUFACTURE THOSE ELEMENTS IN THEIR CRUISE I BELIEVES OF THEIR
CORE. AND THEN EXPLODE SCATTERING THAT
ENRICHMENT ACROSS THE GAL OOKSY-- GALAXY ENABLING NEXT
GENERATIONS OF STARS TO FORM PLANETS. AND AT LEAST ON ONE PLANET LIFE. AND AT LEAST AT THIS TIME,
PEOPLE. SO WE ARE PARTICIPATES IN THE
GREAT UNFOLDING OF THISES COULD MICK STORY. SO PEOPLE LIKE TO THINK, I'M
SPECIAL BECAUSE I'M DIFFERENT. BUT THERE IS A WHOLE OTHER WAY
TO LOOK AT IT. MAYBE YOU ARE SPECIAL BECAUSE
YOU ARE THE SAME. MAYBE-- MAYBE-- WE'RE SPECIAL
BECAUSE OUR INGREDIENTS ARE TRACEABLE ACROSS THE UNIVERSE. THAT'S ALMOST SPIRITUAL IN ITS
MEANING AND SIGNIFICANTS ON WHAT IT IS TO BE HUMAN. AND THE FACT THAT OUR THREE
POUNDS OF GRAY MATTER FIGURED THIS OUT. AND SO, SO, THIS LITTLE VOLUME
THAT YOU ARE NOW COVERING UP WITH YOUR HAND--
(LAUGHTER) SO I'M JUST SAYING, IT'S GOT MY
SOUL OF CURIOSITY, MY-- IT'S A CUR RATED OFFERING OF THE
COOLEST MIND-BLOWING THINGS IN THE UNIVERSE, WHICH IF YOU ARE
IN A HURRY AND YOU DON'T HAVE TIME TO READ A WHOLE VOLUME,
IT'S HERE FOR YOU. BY THE WAY, IT'S NOT DUMBED
DOWN, IT'S REAL ASTROPHYSICS BUT IT IT IS A HAND PICKED SELECTION
OF WHAT I THINK IS AT THE CENTER OF PEOPLE'S CURIOSITY ABOUT OUR
PLACE IN THE UNIVERSE. >> Stephen: I JUST WANT TO
SAY, I'M LUCKY ENOUGH TO HAVE BECOME FRIENDS WITH THIS MAN,
AND THIS IS WHAT IT IS LIKE ALL THE TIME. (LAUGHTER)
ASTROPHYSICS IN A HURRY. ASTROPHYSICS PR PEOPLE IN A
HURRY IS AVAILABLE NOW. NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON, EVERYBODY.
Gonna pick that book up, sounds excellent.
Best part:
"I'm lucky enough to become friends with this man, and this is what it's like all the time."
What's interesting about this funny line from Colbert, is that most people aren't concerned with these kinds of questions, the search for knowledge, and the incorporation of the results into our everyday life.
Tyson's comment about spirituality and religion might rub some people here the wrong way, but his observation holds true for me. The highest spiritual truths come from understanding our relationship to the universe and how reality works.
Linked the wrong video earlier, don't know how that happened......