Neil deGrasse Tyson on Photons and Relativity

Catch up with StarTalk Radio around the web:

[StarTalk]

*Last for Einstein's Birthday*
Neil deGrasse Tyson blows Chuck Nice's mind mind when he discusses photons, time and relativity:

[jackwright]

Thanks to my astronomy degree (as far back as junior high school, actually) I've been aware of most of the things Neil talks about in these videos, but sometimes forget that most people aren't and will lose them in conversations. Neil is practiced in speaking at the layman's level - without the slightest hint of condescension - and gets the essentials across beautifully, far better than practically any other scientist could, and this makes him invaluable to the country. I almost envy those who hear these things for the first time and the rush of wonder they must feel!

[IndyTheGreat]

Chuck is my favorite co-host. He always seems actively interested in the show and he knows exactly what to say and how to react. Eugene doesn't seem interested and all and his attempts to be funny come off as pretty lame. Leighann is pretty cool, too.

[StarTalk]

sgthunter09, there is no "whole episode" video for this Cosmic Queries episode. It is a "Behind the scene" video snippets shot at a recording session for our radio show/podcasts. As for what the future holds and the possibility that we'll start videoing the entire CQ, we shall see...

[MihirGore]

Even I needed to smoke some weed to understand what he meant. Trippy.

[rorajoey]

"Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so." --Douglas Adams, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

[mussonman]

hmm. I always pictured Chuck Nice as an older, fatter guy for some reason

[humanperson]

Neil: If you HIT the speed of light (which we don't know how to do yet), but if you ever HIT the speed of light, time STAHPS!
Chuck: STAHPS!?

[EnDSchultz]

I really love the episodes with Chuck Nice; he and Neil really seem to have a nice chemistry that makes their talks very enjoyable. I mean, every talk with Neil is enjoyable but even more when he's got a good layman to bounce off.

[diphenhydramine]

Relativity is my favorite physics subject.

[MrBlackychan]

It's nice after listening to the podcast I can watch the video, thanks Nerdist!!

[Imperiused]

This was great! The host seems like a really cool guy.

[drjasonfreeman]

Love that vest that Dr. Tyson is wearing.

[GGoAwayy]

I love his instant reaction beautiful”

[dwayne_draws]

So does light (the photon I guess), slow down, say, when it passes through thick glass or an atmosphere, or is it continually absorbed and re-emitted at the speed of light?

[ibrahimmalik]

After 11 years, this video is still adorable 😢

[bawlsdeepp]

Neil says that the slowing of time doesn't just apply to clocks, that it applies to metabolism, aging, and more. He also says that this is well known and has been measured. Where can I read about the experiments that have made this information well known? Specifically, the part about biological processes and more slowing down as an entity approaches the speed of light?

[Mohachedachamalamo]

Question: gonna try in my best english. What i find confusing: how can you define speed in the universe? Since the universe has no boundaries (that we know of) there are no reference points to REALLY define speed. Isn't it possible that for example the whole galaxy (including the so called vacuum) that we know today is already moving at half the speed of light? How can you know for sure that your speed in the galaxy is 0?
Maybe a weird question but i was pondering on this for a while.

[gforce]

In theory yes, in practice you'd need so much energy to accelerate a spaceship with humans to the speed of light that it's not clear if it can be done. Plus by the time you get back everyone you know would be dead and Apes would have taken over the world :P

[SkinnyEastBro]

So.. in theory in the centre of the sun time is a little bit more slowly then in the surface of the earth??