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Quarks, Space Explosions, & Comparing Holes | Cosmic Queries #110

2026-05-26 Science & Technology
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T-Mobile 5G Home Internet. https://T-Mobile.com/HomeInternet No payment- just pure discovery. See what’s landing on Pluto TV! Stream Now. Pay Never. Order Take Me to Your Leader here 👇 https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Take-Me-to-Your-Leader/Neil-deGrasse-Tyson/9781668249970 Can we influence the strong nuclear force? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Paul Mecurio answer grab bag questions about sci-fi laser guns, the Roche Limit, how we interact with the fundamental forces, and more! What's the difference between a black hole and a wormhole? And could wormholes ever form naturally? Neil breaks down why a hole is a misleading 2D concept, why "what goes up must come down" is complete nonsense, and why white holes would require negative gravity that nothing in the universe appears to produce. How quietly would a singer have to whisper to affect only a single quark? And why can't you do anything without moving electrons? Neil maps out all four fundamental forces and which ones we can interact with. Why don't you feel squeezed underwater until you put on a wetsuit? What happens to the human body if you go deep enough? We break down the Roche limit and why it matters for asteroid deflection. Neil works through pressure, tidal forces, and the critical difference between a solid rock and a rubble pile hurtling toward Earth. Which sci-fi tropes need to die? We talk about the visibility of laser guns and audible space explosions. Plus, why do we assume aliens are intelligent? Can multiple time travelers create conflicting timelines in the same universe? What's stopping us from outrunning an expanding universe? And could black holes be topological scars in the fabric of spacetime quietly encoding information? All that and more on another Grab Bag Cosmic Queries! Thanks to our Patrons Gladys Strickland, Jonathan Marino, Petri Rajama, Benjamin Cross, Smooth, Cecelia Linley, John Burgin, Elizabeth Shope, Barrett Mayes, Paweł Szczypa, Ivan Ocampo, Angelo Rios, Luisangel Araujo, B-RO RTR, Sebastian Poehlmann, Kendra, Charles, LateGame, Stephanie, Denis, Joseph Hodge, Daniel Smith, Matt Sutton, Ziyod Yusupov, TheAceIsHere _, Robert Baughman, Patricia Weaver, Scott Jones, Luis Figueroa, TheJosh, Justin Garrity, J. Michael Mastro, Andreas Sorteberg Vik, Christian Di Patria, Steve Kingan, Martha, Nick, Jeff Ferren, Louise Keyte, Ann Hosler, Darren, Roni Gi, Salacious B Crumb, Tero Tommola, Dhaval, Andy Roberts, Brian Simmons, Toney, Remedy, Terry Melman, David Smith, Andrew M Gross, Conan, Raz, Joseph Watkins, Joe, Dom WB, Mike Bertuccio, Deepak Mani, Adam Dockerty, Mike, Habib Hassan, Exercise Enlightenment, Everett, Twisted Universe, Jason Prechtl, Luis Antonio Leon, SwillisBolt, Switchblade91, Linda Hall, Bo J, Megan Marler, Dalton, Jim, Chris Brown, Krisztian Unpronounceable, Donce, Jay, Jacob, Suzan Wallace, Ted, Steve James, TERP Radio, Sublimis, Alexander Casian, Onlymeami, Zack Blankenship, John Perez, Specter, DJ, Kristian Jeremiassen, Adam Flores, Dan Herman, Zef Correal, Maddie, Adam, Mark, Mary, Andrew494, and Matthew Grieve for supporting us this week. Check out our second channel, @StarTalkPlus Get the lates StarTalk book, 'To Infinity and Beyond: A Journey of Cosmic Discovery' on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3PL0NFn Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/startalkradio FOLLOW or SUBSCRIBE to StarTalk: Twitter: http://twitter.com/startalkradio Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StarTalk Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/startalk About StarTalk: Science meets pop culture on StarTalk! Astrophysicist & Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, his comic co-hosts, guest celebrities & scientists discuss astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe. Keep Looking Up! #StarTalk #NeildeGrasseTyson

Top Comments (10)

@StarTalk 2026-05-26

Order Take Me to Your Leader here 👇 https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Take-Me-to-Your-Leader/Neil-deGrasse-Tyson/9781668249970

27 13 replies
@AddicusOfficial 2026-05-29

Miss you, Chuck.

35 3 replies
@JavierFernandez-k9b 2026-05-26

im here as an impartial judge for the hole comparison. 😎

101 4 replies
@ridethelightning7979 2026-05-26

(2:55) From Monopoly World: What are the differences and similarities between a wormhole and a black hole? • (10:46) From Natasha Shaw Davis: How quietly should a singer whisper to affect a single quark or atom? • (17:56) From an unnamed viewer: Why do I feel disturbingly squeezed when submerged, and does rigid material change that sensation? • (22:56) From Lee Robertson: What determines if an object is affected by the Roche Limit, and how do we stay intact while in orbit around Earth? • (29:39) From Bev: If you could delete one overused sci-fi movie trope, what would it be? • (33:37) From Kurt Guy: What is the atomic common thread that proves we are all part of the same human constellation? • (42:16) From Alan Ryer: If space is expanding faster than light, what is stopping us from outrunning the universe? • (44:16) From Diego Calderon: If humans could develop one extra sense to better discover the universe, what would it be? • (48:08) From Bob W.: How would the universe handle multiple time travelers from different perspectives attempting to alter the same events? • (51:03) From Patrick: Could space-time behave like a super solid, and could black holes be long-lived topological defects that encode information?

35 4 replies
@MarcThePublicist 2026-05-27

Neil is the best audience and that laugh is contagious.

33
@josetafoya6101 2026-05-26

Interesting title 🤔

196 27 replies
@MattproThe 2026-05-27

30:00 - I was really happy when watching Alien Romulus on cinema and the exterior shots of space explosions and such were completely mute! it made sense finally and also lets not forget the main marketing quote of Alien back in 1979 was "In space, no one can hear you scream"

6
@cooc32 2026-06-03

Just a show idea thought. when filming in the home location take 10 mins and do a spot on one of the items that are behind on the shelves and give a story on why it is there. love the shows and as always "Keep looking up" i love that statement. works for this show and for life in general.

0
@steezymiguel2393 2026-05-29

One thing that has also always bothered me in space battles is that every spacecraft/ship all somehow agree on what facing “up” is.

4
@Panama_Red 2026-05-26

29:57 one of the best space battles in any movie ever is in Serenity. It starts in outer space and you can't hear anything, then as they descend into the atmosphere it gets louder and louder.

37 4 replies

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