Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson | The Most Astounding Fact

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Astrophysicist Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson was asked in an interview with TIME magazine, “What is the most astounding fact you can share with us about the Universe?” This is his answer…

[Question]
What is the most astounding fact you can share with us about the Universe?

[Neil deGrasse Tyson, Ph.D. (October 5, 1958)] Source: LYBIO.net
“The most astounding fact is the knowledge that the atoms that comprise life on Earth the atoms that make up the human body are traceable to the crucibles that cooked light elements into heavy elements in their core under extreme temperatures and pressures. These stars, the high mass ones among them went unstable in their later years they collapsed and then exploded scattering their enriched guts across the galaxy guts made of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and all the fundamental ingredients of life itself. These ingredients become part of gas cloud that condense, collapse, form the next generation of solar systems stars with orbiting planets, and those planets now have the ingredients for life itself. So that when I look up at the night sky and I know that yes, we are part of this universe, we are in this universe, but perhaps more important than both of those facts is that the Universe is in us. When I reflect on that fact, I look up – many people feel small because they’re small and the Universe is big – but I feel big, because my atoms came from those stars. There’s a level of connectivity. That’s really what you want in life, you want to feel connected, you want to feel relevant you want to feel like a participant in the goings on of activities and events around you That’s precisely what we are, just by being alive.”

Special thanks to:
Reid Gower http://saganseries.com/
Carl Sagan http://www.hulu.com/cosmos
Neil deGrasse Tyson http://www.facebook.com/neiltyson
NASA http://www.nasa.gov/

CREDITS
Narration: TIME Magazine’s “10 Questions for Neil Degrasse Tyson”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiOwqD…
Music: “To Build a Home” by the Cinematic Orchestra feat. Patrick Watson
http://www.cinematicorchestra.com/

Video (in order of appearance):
IMAX: Hubble 3D (Orion)
imax.com/hubble/
Animal Planet: Safari
movies.netflix.com/Movie/Animal_Planet_Safari_The_Last_Lion_of_Liuwa/70153174?trkid=438403
Yellowstone: Battle for Life (Waterfall)
bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00jcdml
Supernova to Crab Nebula
spacetelescope.org/videos/heic0515a/
BBC: Wonders of the Solar System (formation of the solar system)
bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00qyxfb
Accretion and First Eukaryotes from the 2011 film “Tree of Life” directed by Terrence Malick
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accretion_(astrophysics)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_life
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_evolutionary_history_of_life
wired.com/wiredscience/2009/05/ribonucleotides/
twowaysthroughlife.com/
BBC: Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life
wellcometreeoflife.org/
“Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia” by Ayrton Orio (Model: Xharon Kendelker)
vimeo.com/9505354
BBC: Wonders of the Solar System (Brian Cox w/ telescope)
“Afghanistan – touch down in flight” by Augustin Pictures
vimeo.com/31426899
lukasugustin.de
“mongolia!” by wiissa
vimeo.com/27876709
wiissa.com

Excerpt from “Outside In”, Copyright Stephen van Vuuren/SV2 Studios
outsideinthemovie.com
IMAX: Hubble 3D (Inside Orion Nebula)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_Nebula
Shuttle Launch from 1985 IMAX film “The Dream is Alive”
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dream_Is_Alive
“Earth — Time Lapse View from Space, Fly Over — NASA, ISS” by Michael Konig
youtube.com/watch?v=ls9yJTphLxg
koenigm.com
Excerpt from “The Island” – La Palma Time Lapse Video by Christoph Malin
vimeo.com/27539860
christophmalin.com
Galaxy Map and Galaxy Formation by NCSA’s Advanced Visualization Lab
avl.ncsa.illinois.edu/
“Mars sunset” captured by NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Spirit (from BBC: Wonders of the Solar System)
nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_347.html

Edited by Max Schlickenmeyer

Neil goes on to say…

“For me, that is the most profound revelation of 20th century astrophysics and I look forward to what the 21st century will bring us, given the frontiers that are now unfolding.”

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