Answering Questions about Higher Dimensions, Magnetic Poles & Mercury’s Core

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

Kicking things off with a question about mapping the universe using gravitational waves, Neil explains how LIGO helped detect them and how pulsars might one day let us track their movement across space. Chuck gives us a taste of his best impressions—galactic gumbo and a budget-cutting politician—as the discussion shifts to NASA’s funding and the surprising truth about how little of the federal budget goes to space exploration.

What if the universe is a four-dimensional sphere? Neil breaks down the geometry of our cosmos and why a closed universe would look a lot different. Then we discuss the concept of higher dimensions: could our universe be falling into another like a cosmic waterfall? We explore if matter ever touches and what role does dark matter play in gravitational interactions.

We explore whether we ever truly touch anything, why dark matter doesn't clump into planets, how we understand the interiors of other worlds, and what happens when black holes collide. Neil and Chuck tackle magnet poles, planetary spins, and whether the universe is hiding life beyond Earth.

Finally, Neil explores why the James Webb Space Telescope is rewriting our understanding of the early universe and shares what he thinks the biggest breakthrough in astrophysics will be in the next 50 years.

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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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