StarTalk Radio

Are seed oils really that bad? Are people getting enough protein? Neil deGrasse Tyson, Paul Mecurio, & Gary O’Reilly cut through the noise on health myths, food misinformation, and the forces making it harder than ever to eat well with nutrition scientist, Jessica Knurick, PhD.

Could the ingredients for life have arrived on asteroids? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice unpack what the sample collected from asteroid Bennu is teaching us about the origins of life itself with Harold Connolly, geologist and mission scientist for OSIRIS-REx.

How did the universe get to be this way? On this episode of StarTalk, Neil DeGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice sit down with theoretical cosmologist, Janna Levin, to help us break down the building blocks of the universe and how it started. Originally Aired March 8, 2021.

What if a microscopic alien lifeform was slowly eating our sun? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice sit down with Andy Weir, the bestselling author of Project Hail Mary, for a deep dive into designing aliens, science fiction, and science behind the book (and the movie.)

What happens when scientists are right and nobody wants to hear it? Neil deGrasse Tyson, Chuck Nice, and Gary O’Reilly explore the frustrating history of brilliant minds who were ignored, mocked, and punished for telling the truth with science writer Matt Kaplan.

Is our universe an inevitable outcome of the laws of physics? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice sit down with theoretical physicist Brian Greene to discuss the Many-Worlds Interpretation, the structure of the multiverse, levels of infinity, and respond to cosmic queries Neil couldn’t answer.

Where does the wind come from? What is a sonic boom? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice explain things you thought you knew about sonic booms, daily temperatures, and how wind works.

Are we living inside a computer simulation? Is artificial intelligence truly conscious? And what happens to us when we die? Neil deGrasse Tyson and cohost’s Chuck Nice and Gary O’Reilly tackle more questions from inside the StarTalk team.

What are the main candidates for dark matter? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice sit down with theoretical physicist Katherine Freese to tackle fan questions about dark matter, dark energy, and the dark universe at large.

How can you get away with murder? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice explore forensic pathology, autopsies, and crime scene science with medical examiner and author Jonathan Hayes, featuring an interview with crime writer and author of Autopsy, Patricia Cornwell. Originally aired January 11, 2022.

What if we took Earth… and pushed it somewhere else? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice answer grab bag fan questions about gravitons, hyperspeed, saving the sun, and more!

Does the universe need observers to exist? Neil deGrasse Tyson and co-hosts Chuck Nice and Gary O’Reilly explore questions about entropy, spontaneous symmetry breaking, spectroscopy and more with astrophysicist Charles Liu.

How much energy would it take to make a warp drive? Neil deGrasse Tyson joined by Sasheer Zamata & Pete Holmes explore the science in TV shows from antimatter annihilation to tachyons to warp bubbles with astrophysicist & science advisor for Star Trek, Erin Macdonald, and particle physicist & advisor for The Big Bang Theory and Oppenheimer, David Saltzberg.

Do we need new math to explain dark matter? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Paul Mecurio explore unsolved problems in math, simulation theory, base systems and more with mathematician Terence Tao.

How did we go from digital computers to AI seemingly everywhere? Neil deGrasse Tyson, Chuck Nice, & Gary O’Reilly dive into the mechanics of thinking, how AI got its start, and what deep learning really means with cognitive and computer scientist, Nobel Laureate, and one of the architects of AI, Geoffrey Hinton.

What’s more terrifying: finding alien life or finding out we are alone in the universe? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice dive into fan questions about optics, religion, communicating with entanglement, and life on Earth after humans.

Is your consciousness a quantum phenomenon? Is the universe one predetermined block? Neil deGrasse Tyson and cohosts Chuck Nice and Gary O’Reilly answer grab bag questions about quantum theory, the cosmological constant, and retrocausality with astrophysicist Charles Liu.

How small is a molecule? What is the color of light? How can quantum physics spoil food? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice visualize a molecule’s actual size, break down the different colors of light, and the physics of what’s going on in your fridge.

What is infinity? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Negin Farsad explore whether we are in a finite universe, the issues with infinity, string theory, and more with theoretical physicist Stephon Alexander.

Is there life in the Venusian Clouds? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice are joined by planetary astrobiologist David Grinspoon to discuss NASA’s return to Venus, our space future, and whether we’ll find life in our solar system.

What do astrophysicists mean when they talk about “information”? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice dive into questions about the black hole information paradox, moon moons, wormholes between black hole universes, and more!

What happens when everyone knows what everyone knows? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice dive into human psychology and how recursive common knowledge is the invisible glue holding civilization together with cognitive scientist and author, Steven Pinker.

What does Hawking radiation look like falling into a black hole? Will we ever find a theory of everything? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Chuck Nice answer questions about invisible fields, many worlds, entropy, the theory of everything, and more with theoretical physicist and philosopher Sean Carroll.

Terraforming mars? How do black holes die? On this episode, Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice answer questions about the moon, periodic table of elements, light photons, black holes and more! Originally Aired August 3, 2021

Is time dilation just the data loading in a cosmic simulation? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice answer grab bag questions about saving the Sun, generation spaceships, bubble universes, and more!

Is time fundamental to the universe or a human construct? Neil deGrasse Tyson, Chuck Nice, and Gary O’Reilly explore our brain’s relationship with time, how we remember the past, and project the future with Dean Buonomano, Professor of Neurobiology and Psychology at UCLA.

Can quantum tunneling occur at macroscopic scales? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Chuck Nice sit down with John Martinis, UCSB physicist and 2025 Nobel Prize winner in Physics, to explore superconductivity, quantum tunnelling, and what this means for the future of quantum computing.

What’s the true color of the sun? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice discuss things you thought you knew about the color of the Sun, the sound of weather, and why friction is our friend.

What’s the deal with the strong nuclear force? Neil deGrasse Tyson answers the burning questions Chuck Nice, Gary O’Reilly, and the StarTalk Team have been saving all year about gravity as a force, cosmic rays, free will, emergence, and how physicists decide which equations to apply.

What’s a supervolcano? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Matt Kirshen discover all types of volcanoes in the solar system with cosmochemist and author of Fire and Ice: The Volcanoes of the Solar System, Natalie Starkey. Is there such a thing as an ice volcano? Originally Aired October 5, 2021.

Are we in a simulation? On this episode, Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice take a deep dive into simulation theory, consciousness, and free will with Oxford theorist Nick Bostrom. Is this The Matrix? Originally Aired December 21, 2021.

How did scientists discover evidence for dark energy? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Paul Mecurio explore dark energy, Hubble tension, and the beginning and end of the universe with astrophysicist and Nobel laureate, Adam Riess.

Are our parts replaceable? Neil deGrasse Tyson, Chuck Nice, & Gary O’Reilly sit down with bestselling author Mary Roach, who discusses her newest book, Replaceable You, and the quest to grow organs, build parts, and engineer the human body.

What if our universe is the inside of a black hole… inside another black hole? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Paul Mecurio answer a grab bag of fan questions about black hole mergers, the misconception about gravity assists, and if there’s such a thing as laws of physics.

What is truly foundational to the universe? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice welcome particle physicist Brian Cox for a discussion about emergence, particles, consciousness, and the very fabric of spacetime.

Are we making science fiction a reality? Is that a good thing? Neil deGrasse Tyson, Chuck Nice, & Gary O’Reilly and guest Adam Becker, science communicator and author of More Everything Forever, discuss sci-fi dreams, tech-bro promises, and the real science shaping our tomorrow.

Can you listen to a picture of the universe? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice welcome back Chandra X-ray Observatory data-sonification expert Kim Arcand of the to explore how translating cosmic data into sound lets us sense the universe in entirely new ways.

Albert Einstein was, well, Albert Einstein. But was he right? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice investigate what it took to prove Einstein right, with theoretical physicist Dr. Jim Gates. Originally Aired October 19, 2020.

Do you feel the need… the need for speed?! Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice break down things you thought you knew about force vs. pressure, heat vs. temperature, and speed vs. acceleration.

Why can’t we run through walls if atoms are mostly empty space? Neil deGrasse Tyson, Chuck Nice, Gary O’Reilly, and astrophysicist Charles Liu explore force fields, warp drive, invisibility, and quantum physics behind superhero powers.

What would a four-dimensional being see if it looked at us? In this episode, Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice answer fan questions covering higher-dimensional surgery, space elevators, alien intelligence, and colliding galaxies. Could spacetime itself be a cosmic crystal?

How do you know what you know? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Chuck Nice explore issues with quantum mechanics and objectivity, the history of physics, and how scientists ask questions on the edge of our understanding with philosopher of physics Elise Crull.

What does loneliness do to our brains? Neil deGrasse Tyson, Chuck Nice, and Gary O’Reilly explore how the loneliness epidemic impacts our minds, bodies, and even our lifespan with neuroscientist Ben Rein, author of Why Brains Need Friends: The Science of Social Connection.

How can we build a new Moon program while slashing science funding? Bill Nye takes the host’s chair alongside Chuck Nice to tackle one of the most urgent issues facing our future in space with Casey Dreier, Chief of Space Policy at The Planetary Society, who’s been tracking and analyzing NASA’s funding for years.

Which Alien movie would be easiest to survive? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice answer Cosmic Queries about aliens in film alongside Jake Roper, host of the YouTube channel Vsauce3 and their series “Could You Survive The Movies?” Originally aired January 13, 2020.

Would Godzilla be structurally sound or too big for its own weight? Neil deGrasse Tyson, with co-host Matt Kirshen and “Geek-in-Chief” Charles Liu, takes a look at the monsters that have terrified us and the scary speculative science behind them.

Is there anything real left on the internet? Neil deGrasse Tyson and co-hosts Chuck Nice and Gary O’Reilly explore deepfakes, scams, and cybercrime with the Director of Threat Research at Bitdefender, Bogdan Botezatu.

What is nothing? Could a dying back hole cause the Big Bang? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice answer fan questions about a black hole’s dying gasp, lunar eclipses, and the meaning of nothing.

What happens when you fall into a black hole? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice give us the step-by-step on spaghettification, explain Schrodinger's cat, and explore quantum tunnelling… Or do they?

Is social media rewiring childhood and fueling a mental health crisis? Neil deGrasse Tyson, Chuck Nice, and Gary O’Reilly explore the costs of growing up online and how to take back childhood with social psychologist Jonathan Haidt.

What will the future of space look like? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice explore the engineering challenges and scientific questions shaping the next era of aerospace with aerospace engineer Jeff Thornburg.

Can anything survive a black hole? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice are answering an eclectic set of fan-submitted questions covering topics from all across the spectrum of science. Originally Aired July 19, 2020

Can we resolve the crisis in cosmology? Neil deGrasse Tyson and co-host Matt Kirshen take on Hubble Tension, the difference between the estimated ages of the universe, and how to solve it with legendary astronomer Wendy Freedman.

What happens to your brain when you use AI? Neil deGrasse Tyson, Chuck Nice, and Gary O’Reilly explore current research into how large language models affect our cognition, memory, and learning with Nataliya Kosmyna, research scientist at the MIT Media Lab. Is AI good for us?

Could LISA detect primordial black holes or gravitational waves from the Big Bang? Neil deGrasse Tyson and co-host Chuck Nice explore LISA and the future of gravitational wave astronomy with astrophysicist Kelly Holley-Bockelmann.

Are we closer in size to an atom or the universe? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Paul Mecurio answer grab-bag questions about Hawking Radiation, power on the moon, and whether our universe is inside a black hole.

What would happen if the speed of light were infinite? Neil deGrasse Tyson, joined by co-hosts Chuck Nice, Gary O’Reilly, and astrophysicist Charles Liu, answers questions about quantum entanglement, qubits, higher dimensions, grabby aliens, and more!

What is the origin of life in the universe? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Matt Kirshen explore how life got its start, the Miller-Urey experiment, and synthetic biology with molecular biologist Kerstin Göpfrich. Could the first alien life we find be the one we make?

Why are we here? Who are we? What is the meaning of life? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice answer fan-submitted Cosmic Queries on a range of topics that stem from the deepest thoughts, ideas, and feelings we share about our place in the universe. Originally Aired September 27, 2019.

Why don’t rockets fly straight up? What’s really happening when you make toast? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice break down the science of making toast, boiling water, and the Brachristochrone problem.

What would it take to actually read someone’s mind? Neil deGrasse Tyson and co-hosts Chuck Nice and Gary O’Reilly explore the science and ethics of decoding thoughts with Jean-Rémi King, a neuroscience researcher at Meta’s Paris lab.

Are we alone in the universe? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Matt Kirshen sit down with one of the founders of the SETI Institute, Jill Tarter, to explore the search for intelligent life beyond Earth, technosignatures, The Drake Equation, and more.

If you crunched the asteroid belt into one object, would it make a planet? Neil deGrasse Tyson and cohost Chuck Nice answer fan questions about the shape of the universe, the origin of matter, the Casimir Force, pizza toppings, and more!

What is life? What is intelligence? What is… complexity? Neil deGrasse Tyson, Chuck Nice, and Gary O’Reilly learn how complexity science, chaos theory, and emergence help us understand our place in the universe with David Krakauer, president of the Santa Fe Institute.

What’s really going on with UAPs? Neil deGrasse Tyson and co-host Paul Mecurio get to the bottom of identifying the unidentifiable with Jon Kosloski, Director of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO).

“Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.” Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice chat with Jeff Goldblum about Jurassic Park, science, and more—joined by Bill Nye, a paleomammalogist and other experts.

Will the Rubin Observatory prove Einstein wrong? Neil deGrasse Tyson & Chuck Nice answer queries about the new observatory, the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), and our next big tool to uncover the universe with Zeljko Ivezic, Director of Rubin Observatory Construction.

What’s the science of what makes humans special? Neil deGrasse Tyson, Chuck Nice, and Gary O’Reilly explore how we evolved to be different from eachother, what's up with Neanderthal DNA, and humanity's superpower with evolutionary anthropologist, Herman Pontzer.

Could a new telescope one day spot city lights on exoplanets? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Matt Kirshen answer questions about the frontiers of exoplanet science with astrophysicist and NASA Exoplanet Science Ambassador, Anjali Tripathi.

What’s up with the fourth dimension? Can anything travel faster than light? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice explore things you thought you knew about dimensions, tachyons, and isotopes.

Why do we die? Do we have to? Neil deGrasse Tyson, Chuck Nice, and Gary O’Reilly explore the paradox of death, the science of aging, and the search for immortality with Nobel Prize-winning structural biologist Venki Ramakrishnan.

How much do we actually know about the universe? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Chuck Nice answer fan questions from plasma propulsion to quantum gravity to black hole escape plans.

Are advanced civilizations doomed to destroy themselves? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice explore the Cold War, The Drake Equation, and nuclear winter hypothesis with producer of Cosmos and Carl Sagan’s widow Ann Druyan and atmospheric scientist Brian Toon.

When will the last supernova be? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice explore types of novas, freaky binary star systems, core collapse, standard candles, and the explosive future of Betelgeuse with astrophysicist Michael Shara.

Are we addicted… to revenge? Neil deGrasse Tyson, Chuck Nice, and Gary O’Reilly break down the neuroscience behind revenge-seeking, what motivates violence, and how science can help stop it with James Kimmel Jr., lawyer, psychiatry lecturer at Yale School of Medicine, and author of “The Science of Revenge.”

What happens when physics meets the big questions of philosophy? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice sit down with Elise Crull, philosopher of physics at CUNY and author of The Einstein Paradox, to explore physics, philosophy, and how thought experiments shape real science.

Can we fix the news? On this minisode, Neil deGrasse Tyson and co-host Gary O’Reilly sit down with Harleen Kaur, former space engineer and founder of Ground News, to explore our current media landscape, navigating bias, and fixing the internet.

What is string theory, really? Why does it need extra dimensions? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Chuck Nice welcome theoretical physicist and mathematician Lara Anderson to guide us through string theory, higher dimensions, and finding a unifying theory of everything.

Is the whole universe actually a jinn particle? Neil deGrasse Tyson and cohosts Chuck Nice and Gary O’Reilly hang out with astrophysicist Charles Liu to answer questions about the nature of gravity, dark matter, and why we don’t actually know how the solar corona gets hot.

Can you measure time without something moving? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Chuck Nice tackle your cosmic questions, from the Silurian Hypothesis to singularities to the edge of the known universe.

What will life be like on other planets? On this episode, Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice explore the origins of life on alien planets and extremophiles right here on Earth with astrobiologist Kennda Lynch. (Originally Aired February 22, 2022)

Why three dimensions? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedians Chuck Nice and Hasan Minhaj celebrate 100 years of quantum physics and everywhere it’s taken us, joined by theoretical astrophysicists Brian Greene and Janna Levin.

Can AI help us model biology down to the molecular level? Neil deGrasse Tyson, Chuck Nice, and Gary O’Reilly learn about Nobel-prize-winning Alphafold, the protein folding problem, and how solving it could end disease with AI researcher, Max Jaderberg.

How empty is space? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice break down things you thought you knew about asteroid belts, the sun’s highest point in the sky, and what the real danger is in a zombie apocalypse.

Why can’t you divide by zero? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice discuss higher dimensions, dividing by zero, and math’s unsolved questions with math YouTuber Grant Sanderson (3blue1brown).

Can you trust medical information on the internet? Neil deGrasse Tyson, Chuck Nice, and Gary O’Reilly team up with pharmaceutical scientist and social media “medfluencer” Morgan McSweeny (aka Dr. Noc) to break down common internet medical myths from Big Pharma to raw milk to vaccine hesitancy. Plus a discussion with filmmaker Scott Hamilton Kennedy from Shot in the Arm.

What happens to gravity when matter converts to energy? Neil deGrasse Tyson and co-host Paul Mecurio dive into fan questions about the speed of light, time machine mistakes, and what Neil would do if he were an alien.

Is there life on other planets? On this episode of StarTalk, Neil deGrasse Tyson and co-host Matt Kirshen dig into the search for extraterrestrial life with exoplanet expert and author of the memoir, “Smallest Lights in the Universe,” astrophysicist Sara Seager. Originally Aired March 15, 2021

Could the Higgs field vary across space and time? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice answer fan questions on cosmic inflation, quantum fluctuations, and the earliest moments after the Big Bang with cosmologist Brian Keating.

How do you recreate a brain circuit in a dish, and what can it unlock about our minds? Neil deGrasse Tyson, Chuck Nice, and Gary O’Reilly explore the frontier of neuroscience with Sergiu Pașca, to break down stem cells, how the brain forms itself, and assembloids: self-organizing brain circuits.

How did Einstein’s work influence the world we know today? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Harrison Greenbaum team up with astrophysicist Janna Levin, PhD, to explore Einstein’s physics and its resulting discoveries, from Walmart laser pointers to black holes and wormholes.

What are chemical reactions like in space? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice team up with Kate the Chemist to explore how cesium helps us tell time, the elusive quest for the periodic table’s “island of stability,” how AI is revolutionizing chemistry, and more!

Could we create an atmospheric sun shield to halt the effects of global warming? Should we? Neil deGrasse Tyson, Chuck Nice, and Gary O’Reilly are joined by climate scientist Daniele Visioni and sociologist Holly Jean Buck to explore the science and ethics of deliberately altering Earth’s climate.

What happens when two black holes' event horizons overlap? Neil deGrasse Tyson and co-host Chuck Nice answer fan questions about higher dimensions, the north side of the magnet, the internal structure of other planets, and more.

Could it be that another universe’s gravity is bleeding into our universe? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice answer grab bag questions ranging from dark matter to the end of the universe. (Originally Aired February 8, 2021)

Why are there different types of clouds? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Chuck Nice break down things you thought you knew about twilight, how clouds are made, and why Earth’s coastlines change.

Are plants more aware than we think? Do they have feelings? Neil deGrasse Tyson, Gary O’Reilly, and Harrison Greenbaum explore the intelligence of plants with astrobotanist Simon Gilroy. From venus flytraps to space farming, we dig deep into the secret world of plants.

How do we detect ripples in spacetime? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Harrison Greenbaum explore black hole collisions, quantum tricks, and how gravitational waves can help us uncover the early universe with MIT physicist and LIGO researcher Nergis Mavalvala.

How likely is an asteroid to impact Earth? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice sit down with planetary scientist Rick Binzel, the creator of the Torino Scale, to discuss asteroid hazards, the results of the asteroid sample return, and the search for Planet 9.