The science guy
Bill Nye wants us to prevent a 390-meter wide asteroid from destroying Earth in 2036. The asteroid Apophis, named for an ancient Egyptian demon that attempted to create eternal darkness, is scheduled to collide with Earth in 2036. Currently NASA has no solutions.
‘So…you guys have to do that,’ Nye told the 1,500 audience members in Goldstein auditorium Wednesday night. ‘It’s a problem I want you to solve.’
The famed ‘man who made science cool’ came to the Syracuse University campus to discuss critical world issues our generation faces, including global warming, space exploration, energy consumption and the possible destruction of Earth by Apophis.
Brought by The Society of Physics Students, Nye spoke for nearly two hours and then opened it up for questions from the audience – including area high school and elementary school students.
‘Everything he talked about was easy to understand,’ said Sierra Fox, a freshman vocal performance major. ‘He didn’t treat us like kids, but he made it so that even the real kids in the audience could understand. He makes science accessible – he got me interested.’
Nye, a Cornell University grad who became famous for his ‘Bill Nye the Science Guy’ TV show in the late 90s, attempted to include everyone in the audience, from science-based majors (who cheered loudly upon hearing that the Second Law of Thermodynamics is Nye’s favorite physics phenomena) to ‘metal heads’ and ‘gear heads.’
Because after all, as he exclaimed, ‘Who doesn’t love physics?’
In between cracking rock jokes and explaining how he came to wear a bow tie (he learned it from his grandfather, who rented tuxes and bowties for every event), Nye focused his discussion on global warming.
‘The Earth is my favorite planet, but things are changing,’ he said. ‘The world is getting warmer on our watch.’
Nye showed several charts similar to those in Al Gore’s ‘An Inconvenient Truth,’ and even admitted he was skeptical at first about the true existence of climate change. Nye told the audience that as ‘a thinking mind’ he confronted the issue, traveling to The Ice Core Lab in Glendale, Colo. to view lab samples of atmosphere captured in bubbles preserved in ice.
Nye added that this next election is the most important election in the history of the United States in terms of changing the current condition of the earth. The U.S. president affects every species on earth, from humans to jellyfish, he said.
‘Although the world has been this warm in the past,’ Nye said. ‘It’s never been this warm, this fast.’
The much warmer Mars was also discussed Wednesday night. Nye told the audience about his father, who was stationed on an island bombed along with Pearl Harbor and later occupied by the Japanese. During a four-year time period, while Nye’s father was held prisoner, clocks were confiscated and from there, an interest in sundials developed. Years later, it was Nye himself who persuaded NASA to allow him to build and place a sundial on the Mars rover, where it remains to this day.
Nye and some colleagues even included a message around the sundial, stating ‘To those who visit here, we wish a safe journey and the joy of discovery.’ That, he added for the audience, is the essence of science.
This passion for science and discovery Nye hopes to bring back in the coming years. He is currently working on a new show with a branch of The Discovery Channel called ‘Stuff Happens’ and is in discussion with a new Disney executive to create ‘Solving for X,’ an online algebra program to assist young math students.
Leaning in, almost whispering, Nye added ‘he hopes to convince Disney to upgrade the old show.’ When asked what his favorite episode of ‘Science Guy’ is though, Nye refused to answer, saying only that he watched the ‘Heart’ episode last week and still cracked up.
The comedian, scientist, explorer and inventor told the audience that while he feels like nothing more than a big grain of sand in the world, anyone can change that world.
‘You can imagine all of this world,’ he said. ‘You can know the passion, beauty and joy of science and you can do something about it.’
Published on March 19, 2008 at 12:00 pm
