Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson gave the Mount Union community just a sneak-peek of his wisdom at the Schooler Lecture on March 24.
In his speech, “10 Things You Should Know About the Universe,” Tyson recited some of the facts that he finds most important about not just the world, not just the galaxy, but about everything in space.
10 ) The Universe has a shipload of stars.
Tyson tried to illustrate the number of stars in the universe for the audience. The number one-sextillion is hard to imagine, but Tyson’s explanation painted a picture in everyone’s minds.
9) The Universe is bad for your ego.
Some people fail to realize the size of the universe. He explained the earth’s size in comparison to sun spots, the solar system, the universe and he went as far as to describe the “multiverse” it is all a part of.
8) The universe is like a time machine.
“The farther away you look,” stated Tyson, “the farther back in time you see.” He then elaborated to let the crowd understand that the speed of light travel affects when the eye can see it.
7) The Universe is big; molecules are small.
It is hard to imagine the true size of the universe. Tyson’s breakdown of the universe gave the audience a glimpse of the reality of everything’s true size.
6) Earth wants to kill you; The Universe wants to kill you.
After shocking the audience with this point, he calmed everyone down by explaining that there are always going to be natural disasters. Luckily, mankind has learned how to cope with these happenings and technology is only helping.
5) Earth might not be the origin of life.
As more and more research is being conducted, scientists are finding other means of life to add on to the question, “where did we come from?”
4) Carbon: life as we know it; life as we don’t know it.
Contrary to the common belief that oxygen is the most important element, Tyson reassured the audience that carbon comes first. The earth has carbon-based life, for it is the most fertile element of them all.
3) Life is of The Universe.
2) The Universe is of life.
Two of the points Tyson made went hand in hand with each other. The elements on earth, such as carbon and oxygen, are just as important as the elements in the universe.
1) The Universe is alive within us.
Tyson ended with a strong point where he explained that the universe is indeed everywhere.
His friendly personality and sense of humor fit alongside perfectly with his knowledge of the universe. While some facts may have been hard to comprehend at first, Tyson’s witty comments made each subject entertaining and easy to understand.
The standing ovation Tyson received following the lecture proved that the audience found the evening to be an incredible experience.
