October 10, 2019 9:00 pm

Friday, StarTalk is Live from New York Comic Con 2019!

There comes a time every year when mass amounts of geeks, nerds, wizards and witches, Avengers, Resistance fighters, Klingons, and more pack New York City for the annual New York Comic Con. And once again, StarTalk joins in on the fun on the main stage opening night. This week’s episode of StarTalk was recorded live last Thursday at NYCC 2019 featuring Neil deGrasse Tyson, comic co-host Chuck Nice, and astrophysicist and StarTalk geek-in-chief Charles Liu, PhD.

In tomorrow’s podcast, we dive into some of the most intriguing and exciting science behind some of your favorite comic books, sci fi, and pop fiction. I mean, it’s Comic Con, so, why wouldn’t we? We start with investigating fictional elements. What role do fictional elements play in the world of comics? You’ll find out more about Thor’s hammer, Mjölnir. Neil does some calculations about how much it would actually weigh if it was forged in the heart of a dying star. However, are his calculations correct? Also, what are the best manufacturing elements that come from stars?

Discover more about Wonder Women’s bracelets. You’ll hear the reasons why metal is so strong. We look at the palladium core that powers Tony Stark’s Iron Man suit, and Charles lets us in on the controversial history of palladium that impacts the science behind the suit. You’ll also find out more about vibranium and its first appearance in the Marvel universe.

Then, we move on to traveling around the universe and how to do it as fast as possible. We explore the warp drives from Star Trek: how they work, why the ship is actually traveling in a “bubble,” and how the inclusion of a warp drive added to the scientific authenticity of the series. Then we flip over to Star Wars. Neil and Charles air out their grievances with the scientific inaccuracies found throughout the films. Be warned, if you’re an aspiring X-wing pilot or TIE fighter…you might have your dreams crushed.

Lastly, we dive further into Star Wars and its portrayal of alien life found throughout the galaxy. Why does every alien have a humanoid form? If there was no visual human connection would the audience care about what’s happening to them? Lastly, you’ll hear why E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial might actually be a vegetable. All that, plus, Neil caps the night off with a moving reading from his latest book, Letters from an Astrophysicist.

Please join us tomorrow night for StarTalk Live at NYCC 2019 with Neil deGrasse Tyson at 7pm ET right here on our website, as well as on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, SoundCloud, Spotify, Stitcher, and TuneIn. If you’re a StarTalk+ Patron or an All-Access subscriber, you can watch or listen to this episode ad-free at 7pm, too. (Warning: Adult Language)

That’s it for now. Keep Looking Up!
-Ian Mullen