Tyson says tidal forces would eventually snap a person falling into a small black hole in two, likely at the base of the spine.
“Eventually, you'll snap into two pieces, likely separated at the base of your spine.”
Person
Neil deGrasse Tyson
1 episodes · 25 quoted claims
Tyson says the elements in the human body were forged in stars that exploded.
“the elements in our body were forged in stars that exploded”
Neil deGrasse Tyson says the observable universe began in an infinitesimal point about 13.8 billion years ago.
“you see and interact with in this universe began in an infinitesimal point.”
Tyson says Albert Einstein developed E equals mc squared in 1905.
“But Einstein came up with this in 1905, and it m made so much to the universe make sense at that point.”
Tyson says dark matter and dark energy together account for about 95 percent of what drives the universe.
“If you add up dark matter and dark energy, it's 95 of what's driving the universe.”
Tyson says the discovery that the universe's expansion is accelerating won a Nobel Prize in 1998.
“The universe is accelerating. That won a Nobel Prize 1998 Nobel Prize.”
Tyson says his book 'Take Me To Your Leader' was released on May 12, 2026, the same month the Pentagon released UFO files.
“my book was released in May, on May 12th.”
Tyson says life on Earth began within about 100 million years of the earliest time it possibly could have.
“life got underway within 100 million years of as early as it possibly could have.”
Tyson says astronomers' catalogs now contain about 6,000 exoplanets.
“our catalogs now have 6,000 exoplanets in them, and that's just in a tiny little area.”
Tyson says Galileo Galilei used a telescope to resolve the Milky Way into individual stars.
“Galileo did this. He said, I wonder what that Milky Way is. Is that just a cloud? Took his telescope, put it on the Milky Way, he saw individual stars.”
Tyson says Nicolaus Copernicus proposed that the sun, not Earth, is at the center of the known universe.
“Copernicus, a religious man, comes up with an idea that maybe the sun is in the center of the known universe and not Earth.”
Tyson says Earth's escape velocity is about seven miles per second.
“That's called the escape velocity for Earth. How fast is that? It's really fast, really fast. Uh, seven miles per second.”
Tyson says black holes were worked out mathematically in the 1960s and first discovered in the 1970s as the X-ray source Cygnus X-1.
“We would learn about black holes mathematically in the 1960s, make our first discovery of one in the 1970s, a famous uh source of X-ray energy called Cygnus X-1.”
Tyson says a probe as fast as New Horizons would take about 50,000 years to reach Alpha Centauri.
“directed it to the nearest star, the Alpha Centauri system, instead of going to Pluto at those speeds, direct to the nearest star, take you 50,000 years to get there”
Tyson says SpaceX had 10,510 satellites in orbit by the time of the recording in mid-2026.
“The last number I saw, SpaceX had 10,510 satellites.”
Tyson says the US Space Force grew out of the existing Air Force Space Command, and was made official during Donald Trump's first term.
“There already was a space force, they didn't call it that, it was called the Air Force Space Command.”
Tyson says Kessler, a physicist and mathematician, warned around 1978 that enough satellites in orbit could cause a runaway collision chain.
“He's a physicist and a mathematician named Kessler, who saw the increase in satellite launches that had been going on.”
Tyson says orbital speed is about 17,000 miles an hour, so small satellite fragments can be more destructive than a rifle bullet.
“orbital speed is is 17,000 miles an hour. That's way faster than a rifle bullet, so little pieces of satellite can be far more devastating than a high-powered rifle bullet”
Tyson says China, India, Russia and the United States have each destroyed one of their own satellites with a missile.
“Uh, China's done it, India's done it, Russia's done it, and we've done it four times.”
Tyson says NASA's Artemis moon program began under the first Trump administration, prompted by China's lunar plans.
“Happened under the first Trump administration, so the Artemis mission gets birthed.”
Tyson says the United States created NASA within a year of Sputnik's launch.
“No different, really, from when Russia first launched the satellite Sputnik, put a flame under our ass. Within a year, we created NASA.”
Tyson says NASA has an In Situ Resource Utilization branch, and that the Moon's South Pole is thought to hold water.
“NASA has an entire branch of itself called In Situ Resource Utilization ISRU. You go there, we think there's water at the South Pole, so you go get the water.”
Tyson says the lowest-energy trip to the Moon takes about three days.
“so you can get there quicker, but to the minimum energy to do so will take you three days.”
Tyson argues humanity cannot yet simulate a universe, so we would be either the first or last in any simulation chain.
“We humans on Earth do not yet have the power to create an entire other universe with people in it who have what they believe is free will.”
Tyson says the Horace Mann quotation he wants on his tombstone is 'Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity.'
“Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity.”