Neil deGrasse Tyson and Janna Levin Discuss the Shape of the Universe

Where is the center of the universe? Friend of show, Janna Levin, explains to us why we're using the wrong coordinates to locate the center. What do a balloon and the Big Bang have in common? What is T=0? All these questions and more are answered eloquently by Levin.

Is the universe infinite? Is there an edge to the universe? Perhaps the universe loops back on itself, and we're seeing reflections of ourselves from an earlier state.

What do the hot and cold spots in the Cosmic Microwave Background tell us about the shape of the universe? Is the process through which the universe got its spots similar to that of a leopard's?

How do we know what our Milky Way galaxy looks like if we've never seen it directly? Levin and Tyson discuss advanced mapping techniques and insights we've gleaned from looking at other galaxies to arrive at our current understanding.

What's going to happen when the Milky Way collides with the Andromeda Galaxy? Neil breaks the bad news that it isn't going to be as exciting as we think.

FOLLOW or SUBSCRIBE to StarTalk:

0:00 - Where is the Center of the Universe?
03:03 - What is the Shape of the Universe?
5:19 - How Do We Know What the Milky Way Looks Like?
6:10 - Colliding with the Andromeda Galaxy

[katethegrape]

I think the discussions with Jenna, Chuck and Neil some of my favorites. I love her input, and the visuals just add to it. Thanks for your work to everyone who helped put this together.

[ilaphroaig]

Jenna is my favorite guest on Startalk.

[michaeltrower]

Janna is amazing. I love how she explains stuff.

[よしとん-zp]

This conversation over the universe is perfect to finish my day; it’s fun, exciting and relaxing. I sleep well after watching this 😆 Thank you!

[rafaelbrazpiano]

Always a pleasure to listen to a high-level conversation like this. It's very inspiring and exciting for those who love science. Thank you for the scientific dissemination, folks. A thousand times better to consume enriching and scientific content than frivolous videos on TikTok and the like.

[ZenRyoku]

Janna Levin...
is absolutely the most intelligent woman that lives today....possibly ever....💯❤️

[LizbethOT]

Always a pleasure to listen to these three amazing people!

[BenjySparky]

Neil, Chuck, and Janna, y'all rock! Love this stuff. Peace ❤

[KingCobbones]

4:00 *A dodecahedron has 12 sides, and an icosahedron has 20 sides.

[AnarchoReptiloidUa]

Listening to those talks is always such a great pleasure.

[xpndblhero]

This sounds exactly like a black hole ripping itself apart and expanding into the space around it.... 😮

[loisrossi]

Always glad to hear what Janna ha to say, of course I love you all!

[nick_john]

Dodecahedron is a 12-sided shape. A 20-sided shape is an icosahedron.

[athanatic]

This is interesting! More of the "Internet Edit" style than the other channel, but a tight remix with beats, kinda, and music on them.

This is channel may be a great source to link for explainers!

[skipsch]

There's the problem of, if the universe has no edge, then it must loop back on itself at some point or something, unless there simply is an infinite amount of space & stuff in the universe. My gut tells me that we will find some paradox like with measuring information around black holes, and we'll discover that we can never find out and measure around [or at least not travel to and find out] where any possible looping back point of the universe might be, because perhaps we'll have to transit extra dimensions in order to do it, and perhaps accessing those hidden dimensions would require going back in time toward the beginning of the big bang

[MrJim]

Jan Eleven is my favorite super hero!!! ❤

[mariahbrown]

This whole discussion of the genetic variation of the spots and the comic relief of Black Panther, is actually a lived experience of being able to know how another said group is going to react to a situation, based on their “spots”. It is not pre-judging, it is self-knowing what my own “spots” are telling me and it’s generalized action across time and space.

[Imavideo]

She is close to my thinking but not close enough. Very clever Lady.

[ronin]

hold on, gotta roll one real quick for this.

[KansasCatfish]

Recently I had a dream I was digging in a cliffside and I pull from the dirt a dodecahedron and it was clear and it fit in the palm of my hand, when I looked closer at it it appears to me that the cosmo fit within this dodecahedron, now what’s weird about this is I don’t ever think of such shapes on the daily or does it even cross my mind, but I start saying dodecahedron in my dream over and over.