The Big Bang Dilemma with Neil deGrasse Tyson

Are we rethinking the Big Bang? On this episode, Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice explore features of the James Webb Space Telescope, magnetism and how the aurora borealis works, and if the Big Bang is being debunked.

Learn how the JWST is more than just its pictures. What bands of the electromagnetic spectrum can the it see in? Find out about William Herschel and his discovery of infrared light. How does the JWST avoid detecting itself? Learn about features to keep the JWST cool and infrared-free.

Will Earth’s poles flip? We discuss Earth’s precession (wobble), bob, and flip. Learn about the magnetic poles. Does your compass actually point to the magnetic north pole? Are the north pole and the magnetic north pole the same thing? Why do we even have a magnetic field? Discover Earth’s molten core, creating a dynamo, and why dead planets like Mars don’t have one. How often do Earth’s magnetic poles flip? Find out what magnets and aurora borealis have to do with each other. Will something bad happen if the poles do flip?

We explore the frontier of scientific research and what ideas are being contested. We walk through the scientific process and experimentations. What are the core tenets of the Big Bang Theory? Could the Big Bang just be a small piece of a bigger theory? Learn about Vulcan, the hypothetical planet pulling on Mercury that was invented to save Newton’s Laws. When Einstein’s relativity came along, why didn’t Newtonian physics go away? All that and more on another episode of StarTalk!

NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can watch or listen to this entire episode commercial-free.

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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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[StarTalk]

Could the Big Bang just be a small piece of a bigger theory?

[LeilaKincaid]

When I'm feeling depressed, watching a Star Talk episode with Neil and Chuck makes me feel much better. Thank you!

[edmikhael]

You can’t imagine how much education I got from you sir.
Please don’t lose sight of your main mission of educating the public, not the scientists.
Continue to simplify so that the like of me digest the hard scientific facts.
Thanks a million

[AndreS-ycgb]

“I went searching for the Universe and all I found was me”. Love these guys and the Startalk team!

[mthonyamampetsheni]

"Let me tell you something Casendra, your hypothesis!? Your hypothesis is trash..TRASH!!" 😂😂

[valentinrafael]

Just to be clear for anyone wondering. North and south polarity are naming conventions.

Historical South magnetic pole = north polarity

Historical north magnetic pole = south polarity

However, if you have a compass needle that points to the Historical North Magnetic Pole ( which is the South Polarity Pole ) you could arbitrarily say that the needle is of south polarity and thus it is pointing to a north polarity pole, therefore the Historical North Magnetic Pole becomes of North Magnetic Polarity. All these are arbitrary naming conventions.

[Bowie_E]

Chuck killed me at "You gon pay what you owe, Santa!" I gotta go watch that again now 😂

[RandomMusingsOfLowMelanin]

The third best thing about these youtube videos, apart from Dr.Tyson and Lord Nice is that the breaks are just a few seconds for us. Let the knowledge flow <3

[KappoJK]

Chuck’s Boondocks reference… *chef’s kiss* @24:56

[nanettil]

That Chuck is a brilliant comedian sometimes hides how brilliant and profound his intellect is. "You still see the hubris of human existence...". Oh, boy. That's the take-home sentence of the episode - without disrespect to dr Tyson, of course! His Herschel tale about thermometers was superb. Thank you a lot, great people.

[omniblaster]

I can only imagine the things that will be discovered in the next 1000 years. What's nearly impossible for us will be quite simple for those humans. Great episode also 👍. History will remember your work

[colinubeh]

What I love about the frontier of knowledge is, we have questions. Once that question is answered after we developed instruments to find out the answer, another question pops out of that answer.

[rambomumbai]

Chuck was awesome with his humour on this episode... syncing beautifully with NDT's science.

[donnakay]

I love how Chuck just accepts that every day is a learning day...no matter how much he's learned Neil is gonna blow his mind on something or everything

[thelonejedi]

I think part of the reason I love startalk so much is Neil is super casual, and saying whatever he wants because it is his show.

If you muted Chuck, and just had the Neil audio it would basically sound exactly like some of the ridiculously long voicemails I used to randomly leave friends when super drunk as an astronomy undergrad

[jeffs]

Two astrophysicists enter. Only one will leave victorious.
Though, they fight in a tesseract, not an octagon.

[KwstantinosNtenezakos-udir]

Dr tyson and chuck you make my day
when im down thank you❤❤❤

[Castorx]

Dear Startalk, love your show please do keep up, way more worthy than another 100th "reality" shows and it cold be a long list of those. A couple of thoughts from me though, The Big bang Theory TV series I believe brought people closer to science that is after all not that boring but instead can be very exciting. Question here, I know I'm not an exclusive member just yet (though considering), regarding the Big Bang that was confirmed and widely accepted, in the process, has it been "investigated" what caused it in the first place? If you could tell in percentage points at what percentage scientists "focus" on answering the how and the why, such as 50-50? The reason I'm asking is that I've worked in improving in many different fields and surely the first step to understand the how, but my favourite is still the 5 Why, to find any root cause for any plausible cause. Shall we focus on the why the big bang happened? What chemical or other actions-reactions resulted to we all be here today? Being an Atheist myself this could probably clear the GOD question as well for many people. Thanks and Peace

[sandpapertears]

As an earth scientist its my duty to rebut two things that Neil said.
1- the outer core is liquid while the inner core is solid.
2- the pole reversals are not symmetric by any means and it does not flip every 1/2 million years, quite a few have been much longer than this.

[joeh.]

Our world needs many more Neils, I love everything about this man.