NEWSLETTER: STARTALKER, ISSUE 53, OCTOBER 31, 2013

Issue 53, October 31, 2013

Meet Neil deGrasse Tyson Backstage at StarTalk Live Town Hall, NYC Nov. 4th at 8 PM     Neil deGrasse Tyson and Eugene Mirman have been joined on the stage at StarTalk Live by moonwalkers, physicists, musicians, actors and comedians. But now you have a chance to make StarTalk Live history and be the first StarTalk Radio fan to ask Neil a question from the audience and then meet Neil backstage after the show. And how will we decide which audience member gets a once-in-a-lifetime meet and greet with everyone’s own personal astrophysicist? Actually, your fate is in your own hands. All you have to do is... Read more.    Photo Credit: © 2013 Jeffrey Simons. All rights reserved.  This Week's New Podcast Cosmic Queries: UFOs    November 3, 2013, 7:00pm ET/4:00pm PT     This week Neil deGrasse Tyson and Eugene Mirman turn a scientific eye on UFOs. Find out why the laws of physics and the conservation of angular momentum make the spinning flying saucers from old Sci-Fi movies a bad idea, and how aerodynamic drag and weight considerations influence the design of real spaceships. Neil speculates on what we might learn from UFOs if we ever found one, like alien technology, new materials made from undiscovered elements, and how they keep their anti-matter from annihilating their matter if they use antimatter drives. Plus organic biological spaceships, aliens made of pure light, transporters, and aliens from the future or other dimensions. Listen Sunday, Nov. 3rd at 7:00pm ET on our website, iTunes, SoundCloud and Stitcher.    Catch Up on Last Week's Podcast A Conversation with Dan Aykroyd (Part 2)    October 27, 2013    In the conclusion of their conversation, Neil and Dan use movies – Ghostbusters, The Coneheads, and The Blues Brothers – for a sober, grounded discussion about ghosts, aliens and cars on “a mission from God.” Dan, who attended family séances as a kid but has never seen a ghost, describes how an article about quantum physics and parapsychology led to Ghostbusters. He tells the story of the Ghost of Flight 401, after which Neil and co-host astrophysicist Charles Liu discuss psychological research into group hallucinations and physical causes of paranormal events. One thing they agree on: the best way to approach the supernatural is through the lens of scientific experimentation. Listen now. Photo Credit: Columbia Pictures. All rights reserved.  Best of the Blog Revisiting Storms of Our Century a Year After Sandy    Posted October 30, 2013      One year ago, here in the Northeast we woke up to the devastation that Sandy left in its wake. Most of the StarTalk team live in and around NYC. We woke up without power, without water, without heat, and, for some of our neighbors, without our homes. In the aftermath of Sandy, many of us felt powerless and vulnerable, with many questions to be answered. Could this happen again? Did global warming cause Sandy, or was it just the luck of the draw that had high tide hit at the peak of the massive, hurricane driven storm surge during the highest tides of the month? Was this the start of a new normal? Read more. Photo Credit: NASA/NOAA Suomi NPP/University of Wisconsin-Madison.  Have You Seen Our New "Behind the Scenes" Video?    Neil deGrasse Tyson: How to Blow Up a Planet      When a fan asks Neil deGrasse Tyson what would happen if the Death Star from Star Wars blew up Mars, Neil explains to Eugene Mirman the physics of how you might actually go about blowing up a planet. (If you're an evil genius, you may want to take notes.) Watch now. Don't miss any of our StarTalk Radio videos on YouTube. Subscribe to the StarTalk Radio YouTube Channel.  Keep in touch Facebook Twitter YouTube Google + Pinterest Homepage iTunes Shows (RSS) Blog (RSS) Subscribe to The StarTalker - click here! Join Our Cosmic Community! If you represent an academic or scientific organization that would like to join our Cosmic Community, just click on the following link to complete and submit a short application form and we'll be in touch. Cosmic Community Sign-Up Become a StarTalk Satellite! Add the StarTalk Radio widget to your website or blog and let your friends listen to the show right from your site. Get the widget now. StarTalk Radio is now accepting corporate sponsors.If your company shares our mission and would like to support StarTalk Radio, please email: Laura Berland

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PRESIDENTIAL SPEAKER SERIES: NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON AT KENT STATE SEPTEMBER 25, 2013

           

Presidential Speaker Series > Presidential Speaker Series: Neil deGrasse Tyson
 

 

 

Wednesday, September 25 at 7 p.m.
Kent Student Center Ballroom

DIRECTIONS

Neil deGrasse Tyson, Ph.D., is an astrophysicist and the Frederick P. Rose director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History. Tyson’s professional research interests include star formation, exploding stars, dwarf galaxies and the structure of our Milky Way. In The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America’s Favorite Planet, he chronicles his experience at the center of the controversy over Pluto’s planetary status.



In February 2012, he released his 10th book, containing every thought he has ever had on the past, present and future of space exploration: Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier. Currently, Tyson is working on a 21st-century reboot of Carl Sagan’s landmark television series COSMOS, to air in 13 episodes on the FOX network in the spring of 2014.


Learn More About Neil deGrasse Tyson

NEIL deGRASSE TYSON ASTROPHYSICIST

African Americans (and others) are disheartened with our educational system.  "No Child Left Behind" has been described as a disaster, and the focus on passing tests (some feel) effectively hinders creativity and critical thinking, and doesn't  really equip a person with the necessary skills needed to survive and have a successful life.

With that in mind, and continuing with our tribute to African American heroes and heroines and focus on African American history ... Today's focus and hero is Neil deGrasse Tyson the astrophysicist.

Born the second of three children to Sunchita Feliciano Tyson (a gerontologist) and Cyril deGrasse Tyson (a sociologist) in Manhattan October 5, 1958, Dr. Tyson "attended the Bronx High School of Science (1972–1976, astrophysics emphasis) where he was captain of the wrestling team, and editor-in-chief of the school's Physical Science Journal, and went on to earn his BA in Physics from Harvard and his PhD in Astrophysics from Columbia."

Tyson from "2006 to 2011 hosted the educational science television show NOVA ScienceNow on PBS" and is currently the "Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space and a research associate in the department of astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History."


On August 5, 2011, it was announced that Dr. Tyson would be hosting a new sequel to Carl Sagan's Cosmos: A Personal Voyage television series.^[2]

Dr. Tyson's radio show, StarTalk Radio, airs weekly on Sunday, and according to his website, is slated to speak at Kent State University on September 25, 2013 (cost is free to the public).

<sup>Related:

About Neil deGrasse Tyson


Neil deGrasse Tyson [Wikipedia]


Neil deGrasse Tyson Home Page


Astrophysics


Are African Americans Afraid of Science? by Alan Hughes (June 30, 2011)


Problems with "No Child Left Behind" (truth and false)


One Teacher's Cry: Why I Hate "No Child Left Behind" by Susan J. Hobart (August 2008)


The Problem With No Child Left Behind by Timothy Siegel (4/2/2011)


No Rich Child Left Behind by Sean F. Reardon (April 27, 2013)</sup>

A Teacher Speaks Out About The Erosion Of Real Teaching by Susie Madrak (May 28, 2013)