You're watching...
Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson tells Tom the U.S. is in imminent danger of meteor strikes like the most recent scare in Russia and the funding of ...
Also in this playlist...
Auto-advance: ON
Auto-advance
This transcript is automatically generated
-- joining me -- director of the Hayden Planetarium and the author up.
Space chronicles facing the ultimate frontier doctor -- -- Tyson Neil let's start with the space rocks.
But let's start with those of those bloggers out there and again everybody can't let unrest that no in this it okay here's -- thing is gonna go -- -- -- gonna be close but -- really not that close.
And then all of a sudden things -- hit the earth all over the place and -- -- all the scientists said no this isn't connected I'm going come on it's gotta be.
Yeah -- -- who's quite the coincidence and we know it's not connect well.
It might have been connected and there would have been evidence to tell us that for example after the first one and hit it to work are the ones that we're hitting between.
That first impact band.
The big passage of the one -- -- -- had been expecting yeah because asteroids are not always one solid piece occasionally to get broken up as they could.
-- -- -- Orbit too close to Jupiter -- gravity can stress -- structurally.
They break into multiple pieces that you have a train of pieces.
Going through the solar system -- up there on a collision course still hit.
One right after another and so.
We were looking we -- monitoring the world closely to see if anything was happening in between when we had enough data we were able to show -- restaurant -- complete.
Different but we have the wonder -- that hit in Russia had been in the Euro did you hear injured people broke things I mean yes pretty scary looking yet you know what's scarier is the fact that that asteroid.
Which came through but it just to get the vocabulary straight in space it's an asteroid.
While it's moving through the atmosphere this -- rendered a -- yes it's a meteor.
OK if it hits the ground and you pick up there media -- OK just get that student just other processed so and so you go to Russia.
It had.
That that -- exploded about twenty miles -- it's energy it was 2.5.
Times more powerful than the a bomb that hit Hiroshima.
So -- -- what how come people didn't die when -- clearly people died in Hiroshima purpose because this exploded twenty miles up.
And when you explode that high up.
The the energy gets diluted through all -- space and has to move through to the by the time it hit that poor little town.
It was simply just a blast that took out windows and cut people.
But it didn't flattened buildings -- otherwise would have done had headed penetrated a little more deeply into the atmosphere before explode.
But there were reports within the next day or two of a sighting over San Francisco whole another world over I think Atlanta the -- yet you know why because now people know what to look okay and a lot of to step -- think just think about it.
Think about how many people.
Are not compelled to look up.
-- you're running your day is what -- you you don't wanna get hit by car you wanna step and so -- history nobody's looking up this thing happens over Russia everybody's looking up.
I -- -- do you more people looked up.
That day that had ever looked up before well the best part is there something going on in Russia about everybody over there is is a big fan of -- dashboard camera guys so we're just so we're getting YouTube videos of everything.
Including and this.
Meteor yeah yeah.
Meteor and another point to make here is of course -- itself doesn't have.
Explosives.
Right right yet it exploded so the way that works is it comes in with so much energy.
And it's -- twenty something miles per second you -- forty plus thousand miles an hour suspect goes through the atmosphere.
It when it sees the atmosphere it's like running -- -- brick wall.
We think you think there is just you move you know what if -- -- and it's for a debt woes likely bought if you -- water faster break all you can bring every -- in -- body yet -- -- this same same problem.
And except its higher speeds with a thinner medium but you still get the same effect so -- -- -- -- essential explodes on impact.
We've been hit before though we didn't and we got little places you go down -- New Mexico under the got a little sign off the highways -- go see where the media or your media cratered in India Arizona is there yeah yeah yeah and end but you've also got the dinosaurs.
Question yeah.
Did the debt is that what did the dinosaurs and if you ask astrophysicist.
-- you have to.
So that they're so quick if you if you speak to paleontologists in some geologists knew they finally conceded that there was in fact a bad asteroid that hit.
In -- 65 million years ago but they also are citing very heavy volcanic activity.
Around that time.
And both of them would be bad for the ecosystem sure so we're kind of -- troops all right we'll say -- maybe both contributed to a but there's no doubt about it.
But asteroid the size of Mount Everest hit what is now Mexico in the Yucatan peninsula but -- hundred mile diameter crater.
And there was a day when we we see that today what's underground beautifully found it from the oil guys who are looking for oil deposits -- on the -- that while they found the sort of a -- -- on in the Gulf of Mexico.
And -- so what's that ridge doing there and -- -- was or oil.
Oil dri explorers.
So if they wiped out the dinosaurs may be partially.
When taken happen again guess what everybody's ask hidden.
But but but it's so.
So but to consider the following there was a day when we imagine you would be dead if you -- we're the -- -- the -- got made right.
If you really think hit your vaporize right what we learned in the 1980s -- we -- we'll bring computer models to that problem.
We found that when it hits it can actually ignite nearby forests -- -- so later that goes -- -- in the atmosphere could cloak.
The -- Take out someone it.
Knock out the base of the food chain which requires some -- right through from the photo synthesis and as that happens a wave of extinction.
The -- it's across the tree of life.
And when that happens in it in other words you can get the other side of the world and eventually die -- -- species can go extinct.
Because of what happened on the other side of the world the dinosaur wants to eat a plant to plant doesn't live example he has no food so he does exactly so -- whether or not you were hit by the but by the asteroid.
The the consequence of this would affect you badly.
And so we we can't begin to learn about this in the eighties so that's -- something so small as Mount Everest.
Compared with earth.
Could render back then 70%.
Of the species of life -- went -- how -- the birds survive.
The -- I don't know the full story.
By the way meant nothing bigger than like a suitcase survived.
On earth -- smaller than that you can hide you can borrow you can.
You can discovery you know so a lot of smaller creatures survived including our mammal ancestors so.
Big it was bad for big big animals if if -- -- so.
You're you're such as spoke US -- -- -- was gonna come yes.
-- the date yet thank you cut cut cut cut cut back at a nearby estate plan you know -- to -- -- we have a pretty good track double the big ones that could renders extinct.
That's the good part about the big ones that we can track them.
Right the little ones like the one over Russia you don't know that's coming until it's too late.
So the big ones there's nothing and with our name on it for awhile but the little ones -- could -- -- -- -- that's -- dangerous -- we will have a -- -- -- well you've -- Are always a strong.
Opinion about NASA and then I looked at NASA and I know we'll -- -- at least.
Financial -- in the country.
But is there some way for them to focus on nor are they working on some waited stop or in her.
You know -- to interfere with some asteroid.
On the day after the asteroid.
That -- that hit Russia I tweeted the following two facts and sequence one NASA's budget.
Is one half.
Of 1%.
Of the federal budget.
The asteroid detection group.
Within NASA.
Is 120.
Of 1%.
Of -- but -- So now you're getting a sense of the prior participation.
What we're doing about the results -- -- -- part time employee is the one looking for -- just but but but but at.
-- -- -- -- obvious how many people would rafters and you know a couple of dozen.
There are funded to do this and given that.
High consequence of these things -- hitting us by the way it's wanting to look for them find them.
And in what sort of map to -- into the future -- you consider 100 years that's gonna hit.
So you can -- than you can.
-- you with your state planning.
When you learn this but just knowing it's gonna come.
There's not really the solution you want you wanna build deflect effect yes we can we have solutions on how to deflect -- we do on paper.
But they're completely unfunded there's no there's no agency that is funded this and that -- brings in an interest in international question from an asteroid is headed toward vornado.
And NASA has the capacity to deflected do American taxpayers paid to -- to save -- mail.
Right what you really need here is it is an inter governmental agencies we have you sort of tap.
The countries but some fraction of their GDP just to be fair and that is a pot of money ready to save the world and when we find an asteroid -- hit no matter where it's gonna hit.
You -- that out to whatever countries have the space capabilities to accomplish this none -- that's in play right.
