Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson tackles everything from moon explosions to Superman’s time-traveling tricks in his new book, “Just Visiting This Planet, Revised and Updated for the Twenty-First Century: Further Scientific Adventures of Merlin from Omniscia,” introducing readers to Merlin, an alien character he created early in his career.
“Back then, you could have a simple question, but you couldn’t get an easy answer,” Tyson said on “CBS Mornings” on Friday. “Now, you can type anything into Google, into ChatGPT. If you have ever seen those replies that come in from AI, it’s got no soul. It’s got no personality.”
He says the questions he gets today are more playful and imaginative.
“People are now asking questions that are a little more fun, rather than, ‘How hot is the sun?’ Stuff you can just look up.”
One example he highlights: “If aliens came and exploded the moon, what effect would that have on us?”
Tyson notes that while the moon might not be crucial now, it may have helped early life by creating isolated tide pools. “Without the moon, astronomers would be very happy, because the sky would be dark all the time,” he said.
Likelihood of life elsewhere
On the topic of aliens, Tyson is clear about the science and the skepticism.
“Everyone that studied the question of life in the universe… would not deny the likelihood of life elsewhere,” he said. But he doubts they have visited Earth.
“We all grew up when no one had cameras, so everything was an eyewitness testimony. Everybody has got a high resolution camera video, and nobody’s got some alien walking off their flying saucer.”
The book also dives into quirky scientific curiosities, like how leap years actually work.
“So someone said, ‘How accurate is the leap year correction?’ Because one day every four years, you have a leap day. Turns out, that over corrects. So every 100 years, you have to take away a leap day that would otherwise be there. And that under corrects. Now you have to add a leap day back every 400 years to correct for the other two leap days.”
He even addresses the famous “Superman” scene where reversing Earth’s rotation supposedly turns back time. Tyson’s verdict is blunt: impossible.
“Your time is not linked to the rotation of the Earth, they have nothing to do with each other,” he explained. “But if he did that, the oceans, which are not attached to the Earth, would have kept moving … he would have killed a billion people in North and South America.”
His brother, an artist, did the illustrations for the book.
“It’s a romp through the universe, celebrating people’s curiosity,” Tyson said.
“Just Visiting This Planet, Revised and Updated for the Twenty-First Century: Further Scientific Adventures of Merlin from Omniscia,” goes on sale Tuesday.
