Scientific Martyrs, Life Beyond Our Planet & More! | Cosmic Queries #106

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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.

Neil explains why the speed of light doesn’t always go as fast as the speed of light. You’ll learn about evanescent waves, the index of refraction, and why light behaves like a focused New Yorker navigating a sidewalk full of tourists when passing through molecules. We explore how anti-reflective coatings work, how total internal reflection keeps photons trapped, and why visible light can’t get through a brick wall while other wavelengths pass through with ease.

Chuck shares his theory on whether the expansion of the universe is caused by pressure bleeding in from the outside, while Neil discusses the upcoming Europa Clipper mission and our search for life in the solar system. What if there’s life elsewhere in the universe? What if we’re alone? We reflect on Chuck’s experience with religion and Giordano Bruno, the 16th-century monk who was martyred for suggesting the stars were suns with their own planets, and how religion often requires the world to be smaller.

How do you detect a gravitational wave if the instrument you’re using to measure also warps with the spacetime? Neil explains how LIGO was designed to fix this issue. Learn about the possibility of using quantum entanglement to communicate from inside a black hole, and why special relativity means that to a passenger on a train, it's actually Grand Central Station that is moving. Does Neil care about time capsules? We take a look at a post-human Earth. Finally, find out why Neil believes the only cure for the existential blues is the sound of bagpipes playing "Amazing Grace."

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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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