Neil deGrasse Tyson & Matt O’Dowd Discuss Their Favorite Scientific Discoveries

Is space infinitely stretchable? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Chuck Nice explore fan grab bag questions about supermassive black holes, Planck lengths, and the gravitational wave background with extragalactic astrophysicist and host of PBS Space Time, Matt O’Dowd.

Neil and Matt compare notes on science communicating on the internet. Learn why Neil would choose death by black hole and how falling into a supermassive black hole would be different from falling into a regular one. Could you communicate what happens on the inside?

Learn about the discovery of gravitational lenses, quasars, The Einstein Cross, and whether dark energy is changing over time. Will we find out what dark energy is in our lifetime? Could we zoom in on matter indefinitely? Is there such a thing as the smallest particle? We break down a Planck length, cosmological inflation, and whether space is infinitely stretchy. What happens to all the gravitational waves? Discover the gravitational wave background, how to find it, and what it could tell us about the universe.

Is there a correlation between the space compressed by black holes and the rate of expansion? We also discuss the mystery of the early universe uncovered by JWST. How do supermassive black holes form? Do we have any black hole clusters? Learn how NuSTAR will help us track the movements of black holes. Plus, does every object have an event horizon?

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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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00:00 - Introduction: Matt O’Dowd
02:40 - Neil & Matt Compare Science Communicator Notes
7:12 - What Could You Learn From Falling Into a Black Hole?
14:51 - The Discovering Gravitational Lenses
18:38 - What Will We Discover in the Future?
21:32 - Is The Universe Infinitely Stretchy?
26:08 - Gravitational Wave Background: Can Gravitational Waves Explain Expansion?
32:15 - Is There a Correlation Between Black Holes and Expansion?
35:29 - What Is Filling in the Gaps of Expansion?
38:35 - How Could Massive Galaxies Formed So Early?
41:48 - What Happens at the Event Horizon?