Neil deGrasse Tyson on the 10th Annual Asimov Debate

[cockthisfucker]

If only we had people like him running the world. By the way does anyone know the music in the background during the interview?

[jessyjessy4]

interesting video and very informative

[SuperDogbrown]

very interesting video thanks

[MediumNothinFull]

Dr. Tyson, I need to talk to you.

[GreatNorthWeb]

whenever i see a video of someone speaking in front of their bookshelf, I always look carefully at the book titles and the trinkets behind the orator. look very carefully behind neil's right shoulder on the shelf beneath the mask. is that a male bondage doll? is neil hiding some dark secret? ;)

[bary1234]

All this marvellous science and knowledge, and yet we still have religions. Damn, thats embarassing and disgusting. Primitive barbaric bronze-age superstitious cults are still holding humanity down.

We have to make indoctinating children in to religions illegall. If religious people cant brainwash defenceless children anymore, organised superstition will die in one generation. And this world will be so much brighter and better place for it.

[88Flashback]

I wish Neil could be on the final shuttle mission........he sure deserves to be.

[g0tcadaver]

We must remember how the human mind works. With the moon landing came a new public understanding of space. People were given evidence to an awestriking event and were inspired by it.

Maybe getting humans to Mars and other planets provides nothing toward hard science and sheer data. This is debatable. However, a human first landing on Mars would be of iconic, inspirational and humane importance. Every scientists, and even human, likes to see results of their work. A human on Mars is a must.Soon.

[lee8264]

@g0tcadaver To think we could send humans to mars?.Sadly with todays technology of propulsion systems it would seem that a six month voyage in space will take to long for a human to be able to perform in any functioning mannor.I saw some astronauts after extended trips on the International Space Station and they had to have wheelchair assist them because they could not walk.In my opinion they need to get there faster or create space craft with it's own gravity so humans can perform simple tasks.

[g0tcadaver]

@lee8264 They are actually very close to coming out with technology that will get us there in 40 days.

[lee8264]

@g0tcadaver Thank you for the update where do i find this information .Nasa has an advanced propulsion testing facility do you Know the link or should i check it out for myself.Peace

[g0tcadaver]

@lee8264

Google search, "mars 40 days", and click the first result.

[lee8264]

@g0tcadaver Cheers

[lee8264]

@g0tcadaver This sounds a lot like some of the research that HAARP is doing .Two space shuttle missions experimented with plasma based payloads ejected behind the shuttle into the ionosphere where it was charged by ionized gas and a from a tether from behind the shuttle.Norway sent a radio signal to the tether to measure the effect of heating in the magnetosphere.That's a little out league of understanding of physics

[7j8i9m]

@lee8264 We could do the Mars and back right now, as a passenger voyage, if we weren't afraid of nuclear power being turned to nefarious purposes.

[lee8264]

@7j8i9m Have you heard about the Los Almos Labaoratory new plans to remove thorium from all the nuclear waste from the stockpiles of nuclear weapons?.They have found a way to remove what they term as green nuclear energy this thorium and have 3,200 metric tons of it.This is equivalent to 3,500,000 of coal or 200 tons of uranium.They call it green energy because it can't meltdown in reactors like the one in Japan.In the US 1out of 10 bulbs are already powered by nuclear waste go green.Peace

[metalmilitia1977]

Agree!

[SecondMarlowe]

When we DO have to leave this planet, we must be ready. We can't make that journey until we make these small steps, which includes going to Mars.

It's a long way off, but it requires a lot of work. We have to start now.

[sbergman27]

Just to put the record straight, Neil, dear Isaac Asimov, whom I consider a personal friend despite the fact that we never met (yes, he was just that kind of writer) died on April 6 1992, in the *early* 1990's and not the late 1990s.

[henik9]

Anyone know if the debate is posted somewhere?

[Joshbuckler]

@henik9 the debate is now posted as an audio podcast on the AMNH website. Click the link in the video description on the right to get to the main page of AMNH. It took me a little bit of searching to find the file.

[DrLeroyGreen]

He's right about privatizing tho.

[DrLeroyGreen]

Once again I find myself in disagreement and taking umbrage with some of Dr Tyson's ideas. NASA's future need to continue to be science, science, science. The idea that they don't have a catchy program for the media to latch onto is untrue and not the fault of NASA but the fault of the media itself. Hubble, the ISS, the Mars rovers give us so much data.

It should be doing more and given more money but I contest that the organization chooses to "just go around the block" as Tyson suggests.

[johnnylightning258]

Go back to the Moon, then plan for Mars. We need to go to Mars.

[blurglide]

The real exciting stuff these days are the unmanned missions. Hubble, the Mars rovers (not so much the lander though), Cassini. What they really need to work on is the terrestrial planet finder telescope(s), the Titan balloon, boat, and maybe a lander, and a Europa drill/melter/nuclear submarine. In the mean time, we need to work on propulsion that could take people to these places in a reasonable time (VASMIR, NERVA). Moon landing v2.0 seems pointless and expensive. Go to discover the new.

[kaishininjou]

to some extent, i totally agree; eventually, humans will and must explore the cosmos, but the focus now should in fact be on unmanned explorations and on better telescopic technology and imaging. the only practical thing i could see about going back to the moon would be to build a lunar-based telescope of immense proportions in order to better-observe the cosmos and perhaps aid Kepler and James Webb in their endeavours

[edotuxly]

i'll be there

[keeperkai999]

or even do stuff like google earth or sky, letting people to pay(monthly) to access what the space telescopes are filming right now.

[keeperkai999]

and everytime they have a big event like going to the moon( or mars...etc) they put logos on the spacecraft or just buy the entire time of the news showing the launch, and make money by commercials.

just think about it, when appolo made it to the moon almost everybody was watching, that's the best advertisement you could ever get.

[spenceII]

Or we could just reduce the defence budget. There is something I don't like about turning space into one giant billboard.

[g0tcadaver]

@spenceII

Well think about it like this: Privatization breeds competition. Competition deploys productivity. They come hand in hand. If we want to discover and create at a much quicker rate, this could be the best way of doing so. Every scientist is euphoric to discovery; let's accelerate the speed at which it is made.

[GhostInTheShell29]

@spenceII "Human behavior is economic behavior. The particulars may vary but competition for limited resources remains a constant. Need as well as greed has followed us to the stars and the rewards of wealth still await those wise enough to recognize this deep thrumming of our common pulse."

CEO Nwabudike Morgan, "The Centauri Monopoly"

[thetenthfetter]

@spenceII He's not talking about selling add space in outer space, he's talking about projects like Virgin Galactic.

[keeperkai999]

I think they should do that and get sponsors, i bet there are a shxt load of rich people that would sponsor them, and sending rich people into outer space too.

and use that money to explore more.

[grimwatcher]

We NEED to send a probe to Jupiter's moon Europa and find out if there's anything like life in it's internal sea.

 Also we need new telescopes that can replace the Hubble telescope

[spenceII]

Hubble will have a successor. It's called the James Webb Space Telescope.