August 2, 2020 9:00 pm

Monday, Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice Answer Questions From Teachers Across the Map

This Monday, we’re continuing our partnership with PocketLab by Myriad Sensors to bring you another round of Cosmic Queries! A few weeks ago, Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice answered Cosmic Queries at the Science is Cool 2 conference and they’re back to answer more!

It’s no surprise that the questions are educationally oriented given the fact that the audience for the Science is Cool conferences are thousands and thousands of science teachers. We start with a question on everyone’s mind: how do we encourage curiosity in students given the limited resources in the coming year? Neil shares his thoughts on the manifestation of curiosity and how to stimulate curiosity no matter the circumstance.

With anti-science movements present in society, how do we make sure science remains a driving force for good? We discuss advertising science through public service announcements. We also tackle changing the curriculum to incorporate “querying nature.”

Next, we turn our attention to the solar system. Will we colonize the Moon or Mars within our lifetime? Neil tells us why he thinks we won’t, but not because we don’t have the resources available. We talk about easy, space-related activates to do with children to spark their interest in the universe. Get our own personal astrophysicist’s recommendations on how to get started in stargazing, and find out what astrophysics concepts are most important for everyone to know. You’ll also discover Neil’s idea of a perfect field trip in space.

We explore bringing science into other classrooms. In our last segment, PocketLab co-founder Dave Bakker joins Neil and Chuck to ask some final questions. We ponder whether there are any silver linings that might come from staying connected during the pandemic. All that, plus, Neil ends with some final reflections on being scientifically literate and the influence teachers can have on the next generation.

Please join us tomorrow for Cosmic Queries – Science is Cool 3 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.

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