The Physics of Sci-Fi Monsters, with Charles Liu

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, like the zombies in The Last of Us or Godzilla, and the scary speculative science behind them. Are black holes cosmic cookie monsters?

Charles shares his favorite creature, Godzilla, as Japan’s way of processing nuclear trauma. What does it mean that the monster came from radiation? Neil recalls his childhood fascination with Rodan’s supersonic flight and asks: could any creature that big actually move? We put monster physics to the test. What would happen if Godzilla really walked the Earth? Would his bones shatter under his own weight?

From King Kong’s tragic fall to Frankenstein’s electric creation, we trace how monsters evolved alongside scientific discovery. How did Benjamin Franklin’s experiments with electricity inspire Mary Shelley? Why are we drawn to the undead like zombies in The Last of Us to infected humans in Body Snatchers? Could climate change or fungi actually create a real-life zombie apocalypse?

And what if the scariest monsters… are humans themselves? From Finding Nemo to The Twilight Zone, Neil, Matt, and Charles examine how fear of the unfamiliar drives us to monstrous behavior. Can understanding physics and biology make the terrifying beautiful? Do monsters endure because they hold up a mirror to our imagination, our fears, and the edges of our humanity?

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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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