Real astrophysicist reacts to Netflix's Don't Look Up

00:00 - Mining a comet
37:30 - Introduction
01:39 - Control desk in the telescope dome
02:43 - Lasers and adaptive optics
03:44 - Subaru Telescope & Planet 9
04:49 - Discovery using blink vs static images
05:43 - Display screens and FITS images
07:16 - What would Carl Sagan do?
08:32 - Planetary Defence Coordination Office
09:10 - Sizes of dangerous asteroids/comets
09:43 - Is 6 months warning realistic?
11:05 - Can this information be "classified"?
12:14 - Science is a different language
12:57 - Could the government hide something like this?
14:57 - Supernova searches
16:46 - The nuclear option for destroying dangerous comets
18:34 - "Don't Look Up" frustration boils over
20:20 - A comet with two tails
21:51 - It actually happened?!
22:19 - THAT ending
23:02 - Final thoughts
25:10 - Bloopers

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👩🏽‍💻 I'm Dr Becky Smethurst, an astrophysicist at University of Oxford (Christ Church). I love making videos about science with an unnatural level of enthusiasm. I like to focus on *how* we know things, not just what we know. And especially, the things we still don't know. If you've ever wondered about something in space and couldn't find an answer online - you can ask me! My day job is to do research into how supermassive black holes can affect the galaxies that they live in. In particular, I look at whether the energy output from the disk of material orbiting around a growing supermassive black hole can stop a galaxy from forming stars.

[chrisallen]

I imagine this film started when someone said "people would take climate change seriously if it was an asteroid heading towards them in 6months" and then somebody replied "are you sure they would?"

[andyking]

The scariest part of this wasn't even the comet, it was society.

[michaelsommers]

I think the townspeople of Springfield had the right idea: after Springfield was almost wiped out by a comet, they decided to burn down the observatory to make sure that never happened again.

[noneofyourbusiness]

This movie was genuinely chilling in a way. It almost felt like a horror movie, where you watch the main characters just helplessly running up against sheer incompetence of people in positions of power.

[toddharvey]

The tragic irony of the whole scenario was summed up so perfectly when the Leonardo character said, at the table with family and friends gathered around, "we really did have everything, didn't we?"

[Jaymzmiller]

That Brontoroc gag at the end had me laughing for an entire day. The setup to the joke just being slipped in like 40 minutes earlier, then the punchline to end the film, was just glorious.

[CountDaddy]

I love how your video opens with you rubbing your temple like this is the most frustrating thing you've ever watched, LOL.... priceless!

[zdiegi]

Probably the most unrealistic part of the movie was when all the "Don't look up"-people started to believe in the comet and panicked as soon as they could see it in the night sky....there's no way in hell that 90% of those people wouldn't just immediately come up with a conspiracy theory to not have to believe in what they were seeing😅🙈!

[DaveLH]

The most depressing thing about this film was the idea that the only survivors are uber-wealthy idiots. But then, I guess it's just a reverse variation on Douglas Adams' idea in his "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series that the entire human race is descended from the occupants of an alien spaceship that crashed on Earth millennia ago, all of whom were the home planet's rejected brainless middle-men.

[woooster]

As I watched this movie, the amount of frustration I felt almost made me stop watching.. but, that was the point. By the end I thought ‘wow, this was probably far to close to reality’ (if we were ever facing an ELE), the whole political, social media world cross over was scarily accurate

[collincutler]

This movie gave me SO MUCH anxiety because I believe this is exactly how something like this would happen...and for the record, this movie WAS about climate change. Writer said it was.

[solartyrant]

Possibly one of the best modern sci-fi/sociopolitical movies. Handled the subject and themes really well

[davidgermain]

this is an underrated film for many reasons. the over politicisation of science is a real issue, and us and them of that.

[CJLloyd]

Watching this film made me more aware than ever (and I've never been particularly unaware) of the value of science education and science communicators. Academic communicators of all kinds are vital to the society, now more than ever. So, let me say thank you, Dr. Becky, for taking the time to make this content, and be a part of the solution we so sorely need!

[Tone]

I kept expecting the Bash drilling drones to malfunction in some way, I was expecting more of an ED-209 kinda thing though. Think my favourite line was from where people were coming up with conspiracy theories, and Kate says "Guys the truth is way more depressing, they're not even smart enough to be as evil as you're giving them credit for". Lots to enjoy in this film in any case.

[transplantman]

THIS is what I always want when a video title says “[expert in relevant field] reacts to [media relevant to their expertise]”: full on detailed explanations of lots of stuff that helps clarify what’s reality and what’s fabricated for good storytelling. Thank you, loved it!!

[reinux]

This movie was cowritten by a journalist who does a lot of climate change stuff, and it was intended to be a direct parable to climate change. Apparently then covid happened as they were working on it, and they had to amp up the crazy to try to keep it comedic... but then it stopped being much of a comedy 😂

[oscardiggs]

The reaction to the movie from movie reviewers, particularly the one from the Wall Street Journal, was so perfect to see from the same people who have driven our science denial misinformation complex. My favorite response was the guy that said "I'm so glad you reviewed this and let me know that this movie wasn't worth my time." It was either a depressing meta statement on the message of the movie, or a brilliant bit of comic irony. I'm still not sure which.

[esthykechan]

it was the kind of satire that falls flat in terms of humor and instead makes you feel absolutely infuriated with how people can be. it definitely did a great job at that. I felt that it was relatable a lot with the whole covid situation out there as well

[ivanpetrov]

I love that Dr. Becky can identify telescopes in just a glance.