Neil deGrasse Tyson Explains the Space-time Continuum

What are the consequences of playing with the SPACE-TIME CONTINUUM? On this explainer, Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice break down the space-time continuum in real life and in pop culture.

Find out about Einstein's special theory of relativity and our four dimensions. Neil and Chuck make lunch plans as they navigate space and time. What critiques does Neil have of The Terminator and Back to the Future? What are some unintended complications of time travel? Discover the concept of worldliness, getting unstuck from time in Slaughterhouse 5, and how time travel is just a changing of dimensions.

About the prints that flank Neil in this video:

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About StarTalk:
Science meets pop culture on StarTalk! Astrophysicist & Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, his comic co-hosts, guest celebrities & scientists discuss astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe. Keep Looking Up!

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[DCul]

Neil: I'll meet you at 12 noon tomorrow.
Chuck: When?
Neil: I JUST SAID WHEN.

[christian_heretic]

Chuck is basically the perfect cohost for this. His commentary and engagement keep us audience with the conversation

[marcosassis]

Chuck is why I see these videos. Besides being so fun, his insights are intelligent and his excitement about learning is inspiring.

[jamesb]

You guys are magical together. Been a fan of Neil's for years, but Chuck takes it up a notch.

[danbrownlee]

Check out the movie Adjustment Bureau. It shows peoples "World Lines" as you discuss them. It is very interesting from that perspective.

[Blate]

Even if you went back in time on an anniversary, you’d still end up in outer space cuz the sun is flying around the galaxy and the galaxy is flying in some direction through space.

[dancingdazetz]

This is probably my favourite episode so far, not just for the concepts but also for the fact that Chuck was at his absolute best here! Kudos!

[FedePerusset]

"we didn't think this through Marty!" lol

[DollarBillYall]

4:27 Neil sounded a little angry there, made me sit up straight lol

[shakirali]

I am so jealous of Chuck... Got the best gig ever... Free knowledge from a great teacher while having no exam pressure and also being super funny...

[srirangdhawale]

Interstellar portrays this PERFECTLY. He even elegantly saw the ‘Spaghetti’ as straight lines..

[victorrutledge]

When i first tried to understand Space/Time, I learned the word inexplicable. I was all of twelve, and the math left me breathless. I realize your explanation of it is much easier to grasp, but the problem is that I had this secondary problem of wondering how we can observe these four dimensions, if we are "inside" them. I mean, if you are in a two dimensional space, you can't see in three dimensions, and if you are in a three dimensional space, you can't see in four dimensions. We can, in effect, "See" all four dimensions around us. Does that put us in five dimensions? A kid could develop a complex trying to resolve this.

For "Back to the Future", a little knowledge is just that. The protagonist only knew that he wanted to change the smallest amount of history. For the Arnold franchise, with Terminators, they were unable to hypothesize concerning history, they could only look m
In the subject of "World Lines" let's get crazier. Dr Who had the entire "World Line" depicted, and how it was multi-faceted and curved in ways that you could not even see. "Timey-Wimey, and expressions even less scientific, were used to explain how time and history can change, even though time might not 'move'. Points which could not change, without altering the future, did exist, but were not every moment.
In my Science Fiction Multiverse, Every action has an equal and simultaneous explosion of results. If you get up from your chair, it's one universe, and if you don't, BANG! another Universe arises.

[Dj_Nizzo]

Except the “World Line” is only relative to the sun, which is spinning around the Milky Way, which is rotating and expanding with the entirety of the universe. And who knows if our universe is one of billions rotating and expanding throughout the multiverse. I don’t think we will ever be advanced enough to target a specific “location” since, locations are so theoretical and relative.

[Sol-funm]

This is exactly the explanation I needed. I clicked on this video because its a simple fact that Neil Tyson is the best person in the world at explaining things.

[MarkSashegyi]

McConaughey's character in True Detective briefly described what Neil does at the end, when he mentions time is processed linearly to us, but would appear as a flat circle to higher dimensional being unconstrained by our 3 spatial dimensions.

[stevo]

Isn't interstellar the movie in a higher dimensions looking "down"?

[knifetoucher]

9:23 wouldn't the entire solar system be many millions of miles away too if you go back 50 years? It's not just Earth's orbit you have to keep track of, it's solar system, milky way, local cluster, universe expanding distances too which will all be different.

[Squeesher]

Donnie Darko had a simple visual of world lines extending from people, strange movie but I love it anyway :)

[Synster]

The proper phrasing for Doc Brown after realizing he's forgot about the 4th dimension would be, , , , "Great Scott, Marty!"

[desireer]

Thank you so much for these Star Talk videos! These are AMAZING! I LOVE them, I've learned so much already! 😄