New Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey 2014 TV Series

[Physics_UG]

I will be watching this tonight. Thanks.

 

[TumblingDice]

News indicates the Nat Geo broadcasts include additional behind-the-scenes and bonus footage. Going to check tonight to see what that's all about. :)

 

[hypatia]

I enjoyed the second show with 8. & 10 year old kids. Any show that inspires people, yes even young ones, to discuss science, is fantastic.

 

[DennisN]

I've just seen the second episode, and I think it was excellent, I really enjoyed it! It's a about life; evolution, artificial/natural selection, the eye as an example, life on Earth, thoughts about extraterrestrial life and the question of abiogenesis. If the rest of the episodes continue in this way, I will not be disappointed. It's an inspiring celebration of science for a time (ours) when it's probably much needed.

 

[Routaran]

The 2nd episode was fantastic. NDTyson did a great job of explaining the process of selection, how it can improve the reproductive success of one type or organism and drastically alter it in the process. Plus! provided examples that people relate to in everyday terms.
Plus ending the episode with that direct quote from Sagan was just pure class.

 

[DennisN]

Just stumbled upon this interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson on the new Cosmos series (I'm about to watch it):

The previous clip I posted with with Neil deGrasse Tyson was apparently only a part of a longer interview. Here's the full interview (about an hour long):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRgh_LGugS8

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I really like NDT's speaking style, but sometimes the audio of the show is hard to hear because his voice is low and kind of muffled.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

New episode in 1 hour!

 

[Cosmobrain]

Wow. By far this episode is the best one. It had lots of information and it was the first time I actually learned something new in the series. Also, they didn't exaggerate on the special effects. What did you guys think?

cb

 

[PhysicoRaj]

The music could've been better. I simply liked everything else.

 

[collinsmark]

I may use that as a future negotiation tool, "if you can't pay me in cash, I will reluctantly accept payment in the form of fish-history books."

 

[Evo]

Episode 3 is awesome, just finished watching it. Best episode so far.

Unfortunately 'Cosmos' doesn't seem to be sitting well with creationists and religious groups.

Creationists Demand Airtime On Neil deGrasse Tyson's 'Cosmos'

Appearing on "The Janet Mefferd Show" on Thursday, Danny Faulkner of Answers In Genesis voiced his complaints about "Cosmos" and how the 13-episode series has described scientific theories, such as evolution, but has failed to shed light on dissenting creationist viewpoints.

Tyson recently addressed providing balance when it comes to discussing science. In an interview with CNN, the astronomer criticized the media for giving "equal time" to those who oppose widely accepted scientific theories.

"I think the media has to sort of come out of this ethos that I think was in principle a good one, but doesn't really apply in science. The ethos was, whatever story you give, you have to give the opposing view, and then you can be viewed as balanced," Tyson said, adding, "you don't talk about the spherical Earth with NASA and then say let's give equal time to the flat-earthers."

Go Neal.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/...ime-cosmos-neil-degrasse-tyson_n_5009234.html

 

[phinds]

Episode 3 is awesome, just finished watching it. Best episode so far.

Evo, are you sure you are not talking about the 2nd episode ... the one pretty much completely about evolution?

I thought that was TERRIFIC, but I was not especially impressed with the 3rd episode.

 

[phinds]

Go Neal.

Indeed ! I've heard him make this point a couple of times in various talks. Too bad the media seems to REQUIRE stupidly to seem "balanced".

 

[Evo]

Evo, are you sure you are not talking about the 2nd episode ... the one pretty much completely about evolution?

I thought that was TERRIFIC, but I was not especially impressed with the 3rd episode.

The third episode was about Newton, Halley, etc... The article addresses evolution, but the third episode was excellent in talking about misguided beliefs, IMO, and I feel the article expresses my concerns that many children might be prevented from watching this series.

 

[DennisN]

Unfortunately 'Cosmos' doesn't seem to be sitting well with creationists and religious groups.

I'm sadly not the least surprised. But I hope the series will have a good impact. IMHO, if "creationist groups" are becoming annoyed, the Neil is doing a good job, and a needed job.

Go Neal.

Yes, go Neal.

Regarding evolution, well :

 

[phinds]

I'm sadly not the least surprised. But I hope the series will have a good impact. IMHO, if "creationist groups" are becoming annoyed, the Neil is doing a good job, and a needed job.

Indeed. You are known by your enemies.

 

[Routaran]

Just finished watching the newest episode.
I knew that NDT would be the best choice for hosting the show but each episode he's managing to reach new heights on just how brilliantly he's able to draw me in and evoke such a powerful emotional response to what I'm seeing.
Absolutely brilliant homage he paid to Sagan at the end of the episode. I'm loving every second of this show.

 

[Evo]

Just finished watching the newest episode.
I knew that NDT would be the best choice for hosting the show but each episode he's managing to reach new heights on just how brilliantly he's able to draw me in and evoke such a powerful emotional response to what I'm seeing.
Absolutely brilliant homage he paid to Sagan at the end of the episode. I'm loving every second of this show.

This is so much more than what I expected. It's not a re-hash of the old Cosmos, they are telling stories of great moments in the history of science. I'm loving this! I wish they had explained this in the beginning, I think more people with a background in science would watch just for the stories and enjoy it.

 

[Routaran]

This is so much more than what I expected. It's not a re-hash of the old Cosmos, they are telling stories of great moments in the history of science. I'm loving this! I wish they had explained this in the beginning, I think more people with a background in science would watch just for the stories and enjoy it.

Plus!

Spoiler

The choice to have Patrick Stewart be the voice for William Herschel, I jumped up and screamed Captain Picard lol

It was brilliant

I have to agree, even if you are familiar with the concepts put forth, there's still plenty of stuff to learn about and enjoy.

 

[Bandersnatch]

Hmmm, a bit too much on the speculative side, this latest one.

 

[micromass]

Hmmm, a bit too much on the speculative side, this latest one.

Only the last five minutes. And: they told us it was going to be speculative. So it's ok in my book.

 

[WannabeNewton]

Hmmm, a bit too much on the speculative side, this latest one.

Most of it wasn't speculative actually-what it did do was incorrectly blur the line between math and physics. If they had just explained the difference between an eternal black hole and a realistic black hole resulting from gravitational collapse, and reserved their discussions about black holes connecting different asymptotically flat space-times to the former then it would have been fine-they would just be talking about the maximal (Kruskal) extension of Schwarzschild space-time. IIRC they did not make this distinction so that took away from the accuracy of their discussion-but really I doubt anyone who watched even cares about such details.

 

[Algr]

The Carl Sagan hero worship is getting to be a bit much. It felt right in the first two episodes, but he is overdoing it now.

 

[Bandersnatch]

Anyone who watches will get from it that the universe is a black hole, black holes are in fact wormholes, and multiverse is as good as fact.
I know they gave caveats of it all being a big 'perhaps', but I'm pretty sure that's going to be lost on most of the audience.

What I'm saying is I think they went for the Michio Kaku approach with this one, and as with Kaku it's going to do more harm than good.

And yeah, I mean the last few minutes only. The rest was great.

 

[Evo]

The Carl Sagan hero worship is getting to be a bit much. It felt right in the first two episodes, but he is overdoing it now.

Since the original Cosmos was Carl Sagan's and his wife is involved with this show, I think we can expect to see tributes to him in the series.

 

[phinds]

Since the original Cosmos was Carl Sagan's and his wife is involved with this show, I think we can expect to see tributes to him in the series.

Well, it isn't JUST that, Evo, it's also that

(1) Tyson has a strong personal admiration for Sagan, based on an experience meeting Sagan when he, Tyson, was about 17, and

(2) It isn't just that Sagan was on the original show, it is that the original was an absolutely outstanding presentation that would deserved kudos even if Tyson had never met Sagan.

I'm sure you know this, but I'm stating it to remind/inform members who may not know it.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

What did everyone think of tonight's Cosmos?

 

[Routaran]

Just finished watching it. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Will watch it again tomorrow evening, I'm sure there's more for me to learn in there lol

I'm really glad that Tyson is spending time in each episode going over the scientific method, keeping it simple and explaining how and why it works coupled with examples, it's something that everyone needs to understand.

"There can be no stronger test of an idea than it's predictive power." -Tyson, Cosmos 2014.
He used an orchid flower and a moth from Madagascar this time around. Darwin had seen the flower, the pollen is stored down a long thin tube, and then speculated that an insect must exist with a tongue long enough to reach the goodies hidden deep inside. It took 50 years but the prediction was confirmed.
I had read about this a long time ago but had completely forgotten about it. Won't be forgetting about this again any time soon :)

I however did not know about the reason why the neutrinos from the 1987 Supernova arrived earlier than the light. I knew they had arrived earlier but I never dug deeper to find out why. My first guess as I watched the show was that the neutrinos didn't travel faster than light but just left earlier, that perhaps there was a process going on in the star that produced them slightly before the star went supernova.
NDT's explanation made WAY more sense. Neutrinos interact very poorly with matter so they just got out of the star a lot faster than the light and the shockwave were able to and we saw them first.

There's also a reverberating sentiment I find in everything NDT says, the interconnectedness of everything, and not the new age mumbo jumbo type. IIRC, one of the first times I saw him may have been in the season 1 finale of History channel's The Universe, where he talks about how we're connected to each other biologically, to the Earth chemically and to the rest of the universe atomically. There was another talk he gave at Beyond Belief '06 where he goes over the common origin of the iron in a meteorite and the iron in our blood.

In today's episode it's how we are all breathing the same carbon and oxygen, stuff that probably has been inside every single one of our ancestors. I'm not too sure about this one though, they are all exactly identitcal so to me it felt a little like saying 'you used the number 5 and it's the same one that Newton used!' It's a bit of a meh moment, but I get what he was trying to do.

His delivery has a very unique way of not only teaching you about your true place in the cosmos but also connecting with you on an emotional level that doesn't leave you feeling insignificant. I've had my girlfriend watch some other popular science shows/talks and after watching a show about how the Sun may at the end of it's life swallow up the Earth or how the end of our universe may play out in a big rip, she always says, "that's so sad." But I haven't heard that yet with NDT. Perhaps she's starting off with the misconception of what our place in the cosmos is but the point is that the delivery here is disarming.

Good teachers not only know their subject but also know how to communicate it. Dawkins was one of the first that I ever listened/watched and I loved every second, but he's not everyone's cup of tea. NDT's on the other hand got it in spades, especially the communication.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Tonight's show is on supernovas!

 

[collinsmark]

Just watched Season 1, episode 8. I loved it. So far I'm incredibly impressed. All the spirit of the original Cosmos, and I'm still learning good stuff. Just wonderful. I love it.

 

[Enigman]

It reminded me of:

 

[micromass]

Just watched Season 1, episode 8. I loved it. So far I'm incredibly impressed. All the spirit of the original Cosmos, and I'm still learning good stuff. Just wonderful. I love it.

Yeah, it's a really good series so far. I really enjoy the focus on the history of science. Many science enthousiasts already know most of the facts, but rarely know the history involved.

 

[Algr]

Lately the series is moving more into new material that I didn't already know. It's getting PERSONAL!

:)

 

[ZombieFeynman]

I think they are doing a really excellent job.