Full Transcript for Neil deGrasse Tyson Confronts Andy Weir on the Science of Project Hail Mary

00:03:13.919 Wow. 87 00:03:13.939 --> 00:03:15.800 So that's a quick turnaround between the men. 88 00:03:15.819 --> 00:03:17.280 Yes, it was very fast. It was lightning fast. 89 00:03:17.319 --> 00:03:18.639 Congratulations on that. Thank you. 90 00:03:18.659 --> 00:03:21.009 Was the book that popular that it was like a 91 00:03:21.120 --> 00:03:22.930 meteoric rise through the rankings? 92 00:03:22.990 --> 00:03:24.629 And they were like, boom, let's make it big. It's 93 00:03:24.650 --> 00:03:26.689 like a movie. I see what you did there, meteoric. Meteoric, yeah. 94 00:03:26.710 --> 00:03:27.629 I see what you did there. 95 00:03:27.650 --> 00:03:29.110 Meteors usually go down, not up. 96 00:03:29.129 --> 00:03:30.490 Right, that's true. That's not true. 97 00:03:30.509 --> 00:03:32.050 They also just go around. 98 00:03:32.069 --> 00:03:33.129 It's not like you hang out with them. 99 00:03:33.150 --> 00:03:33.270 No, no. 100 00:03:33.270 --> 00:03:34.370 No, that's asteroids. 101 00:03:34.389 --> 00:03:34.650 No, no, no. 102 00:03:34.669 --> 00:03:35.169 It's obvious. 103 00:03:35.289 --> 00:03:35.689 You're right. 104 00:03:35.710 --> 00:03:38.189 Correct. The moment they break the atmosphere, right. A meteor 105 00:03:38.650 --> 00:03:40.560 is doomed. Is doomed. 106 00:03:41.030 --> 00:03:41.530 Right. 107 00:03:41.590 --> 00:03:44.280 See, because inaccurate fun is not fun, you understand. 108 00:03:44.680 --> 00:03:48.500 So anyway- You have been hanging out with the wrong people, okay? 109 00:03:49.280 --> 00:03:52.840 So The Martian, you also bagged a marquee director for that. 110 00:03:53.319 --> 00:03:54.120 Yes, Ridley Scott. 111 00:03:54.139 --> 00:03:55.710 Ridley Scott, yeah. Ridley Scott, yeah. 112 00:03:55.810 --> 00:03:56.129 Yeah. 113 00:03:56.169 --> 00:03:58.210 Fantastic. And he did Blade Runner. I mean, the guy's 114 00:03:58.430 --> 00:04:01.810 pedigree in this space. Alien 1, not Alien 2, because 115 00:04:01.849 --> 00:04:02.409 that was. 116 00:04:03.310 --> 00:04:03.969 That was James Cameron. 117 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:06.099 James Cameron. Right. Congratulations on that. 118 00:04:06.120 --> 00:04:06.719 Thank you, thank you. 119 00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:07.400 Yeah. 120 00:04:07.500 --> 00:04:07.639 Yeah. 121 00:04:07.699 --> 00:04:10.699 And so then that was followed by Artemis. 122 00:04:10.719 --> 00:04:14.469 Artemis, which is the only one of my books not 123 00:04:14.509 --> 00:04:16.750 to be made into a movie. Yes, but it will be. 124 00:04:16.769 --> 00:04:18.269 Mark my words, I will make it happen. 125 00:04:18.310 --> 00:04:19.410 It is now a space program, though. 126 00:04:19.670 --> 00:04:21.750 Yes, that's true. That's true. What more do you want? 127 00:04:21.790 --> 00:04:22.889 I want a movie. 128 00:04:23.009 --> 00:04:23.829 I want a movie. 129 00:04:26.100 --> 00:04:26.819 That's a good answer. 130 00:04:27.040 --> 00:04:28.240 Thank you. Wait, wait. 131 00:04:28.259 --> 00:04:29.680 So how many total books do you have? 132 00:04:29.920 --> 00:04:30.480 Just three. 133 00:04:30.600 --> 00:04:33.250 But yeah, so that sentence, it's the only one of 134 00:04:33.310 --> 00:04:36.209 my books not to be made into a movie. You 135 00:04:36.230 --> 00:04:38.629 only wrote three damn books, dude. 136 00:04:38.850 --> 00:04:40.529 The plural is correct in this case. 137 00:04:40.589 --> 00:04:40.949 Yeah. 138 00:04:41.449 --> 00:04:44.019 I have had books made into movies. 139 00:04:45.579 --> 00:04:48.839 True. So we brought you here because of your latest project. 140 00:04:49.279 --> 00:04:49.980 I see what you did there. 141 00:04:50.100 --> 00:04:52.480 See what I did there? Project Hail Mary. 142 00:04:52.500 --> 00:04:53.019 Yeah. 143 00:04:53.120 --> 00:04:55.290 Another best-selling book. It's still on the shelves. I see 144 00:04:55.329 --> 00:04:59.649 it wherever I go. And that's now a film starring Ken. 145 00:05:00.420 --> 00:05:01.759 That's right. Right. 146 00:05:01.879 --> 00:05:03.019 I didn't realize that. 147 00:05:03.079 --> 00:05:03.459 Yeah. 148 00:05:03.579 --> 00:05:06.220 Also known as Ryan Gosling. Oh, is that his name? 149 00:05:06.259 --> 00:05:06.939 Yeah, that's right. 150 00:05:07.199 --> 00:05:09.139 He was such a good Ken. He was a great Ken. 151 00:05:09.240 --> 00:05:10.310 Hard for me to shake that. 152 00:05:10.319 --> 00:05:10.439 Yes. 153 00:05:10.699 --> 00:05:13.110 We're not worried about spoilers in this because the book 154 00:05:13.170 --> 00:05:14.029 predates the movie. 155 00:05:14.269 --> 00:05:14.470 Right. 156 00:05:14.550 --> 00:05:16.670 So the storyline is out there. 157 00:05:16.810 --> 00:05:16.990 Yeah. 158 00:05:17.050 --> 00:05:17.970 It's not some secret. 159 00:05:18.189 --> 00:05:18.370 Right. 160 00:05:18.430 --> 00:05:22.430 But spare the viewer, listener, the ending. 161 00:05:22.449 --> 00:05:22.889 The finale. 162 00:05:22.910 --> 00:05:24.170 The finale. Right. 163 00:05:24.250 --> 00:05:27.629 But catch us up on just the most important plot. 164 00:05:28.220 --> 00:05:30.160 development of that story. You know, for the people who 165 00:05:30.199 --> 00:05:30.779 don't read. 166 00:05:32.100 --> 00:05:35.250 Well, the idea is that an alien microbe that they 167 00:05:35.290 --> 00:05:36.529 later named Astrophage. 168 00:05:36.930 --> 00:05:37.689 Astro is star. 169 00:05:37.850 --> 00:05:38.089 Yeah. 170 00:05:38.209 --> 00:05:38.750 Phage is? 171 00:05:39.089 --> 00:05:39.170 Eat. 172 00:05:39.269 --> 00:05:39.449 Eat. 173 00:05:39.990 --> 00:05:40.189 Yeah. 174 00:05:40.329 --> 00:05:41.170 So it eats stars. 175 00:05:41.509 --> 00:05:43.250 Well, that's what they named it. That's what they named it, okay. 176 00:05:43.269 --> 00:05:44.069 It's more like- They. 177 00:05:44.689 --> 00:05:45.050 They. 178 00:05:45.110 --> 00:05:46.170 Not like he had anything to do with it. 179 00:05:46.209 --> 00:05:48.600 No, I- The captors just went on their own and 180 00:05:48.620

--> 00:05:49.180 named it. 181 00:05:49.439 --> 00:05:49.879 Okay. 182 00:05:50.019 --> 00:05:54.680 Yeah. And they called it Astrophage. What it does is 183 00:05:54.759 --> 00:05:56.800 it lives on the surface of the sun. And it 184 00:05:56.839 --> 00:05:59.500 absorbs energy and turns it into mass. It uses that 185 00:05:59.560 --> 00:06:02.800 mass to create light as propulsion so that it can 186 00:06:02.839 --> 00:06:05.980 migrate to a nearby planet with carbon dioxide so that 187 00:06:06.019 --> 00:06:08.500 it can get the heavier elements it needs to reproduce. 188 00:06:08.939 --> 00:06:11.579 And then that and its sister cell, or sorry, the 189 00:06:11.620 --> 00:06:15.170 two daughter cells return back to the star Earth. and 190 00:06:15.209 --> 00:06:20.089 the cycle continues. And it spores out away from stars 191 00:06:20.389 --> 00:06:22.769 to go infect other stars. It's just basically like mold 192 00:06:22.790 --> 00:06:27.350 or algae. The problem is that it grows exponentially, and 193 00:06:27.389 --> 00:06:31.000 there's now so much astrophage on our sun that it's 194 00:06:31.310 --> 00:06:34.220 going to dim it. And it is dimming it already, 195 00:06:34.399 --> 00:06:36.079 and it'll dim it to the point where Earth is 196 00:06:36.120 --> 00:06:42.939 no longer habitable by anything. But they notice all of 197 00:06:42.980 --> 00:06:45.540 the stars in our local cluster have the same problem. 198 00:06:45.560 --> 00:06:49.399 They've all dimmed and except Tau Ceti. So they're like, 199 00:06:49.500 --> 00:06:51.720 why didn't Tau Ceti have any dimming? So they're like, 200 00:06:51.740 --> 00:06:55.259 we're going to make an interstellar spacecraft to find out how. And, 201 00:06:55.279 --> 00:06:56.860 you know, it's like, how do we make an interstellar 202 00:06:56.879 --> 00:07:00.540 spacecraft with modern day technology? You use astrophage as the fuel. 203 00:07:00.740 --> 00:07:01.100 Of course. 204 00:07:01.120 --> 00:07:02.839 Because it does mass conversion propulsion. 205 00:07:03.060 --> 00:07:03.279 Right. 206 00:07:03.639 --> 00:07:09.170 And that is the the principal conflict of the story. Now, 207 00:07:09.189 --> 00:07:11.209 do you want me to Talk more about it. 208 00:07:11.209 --> 00:07:14.360 By the way, let me just say, were you high 209 00:07:14.399 --> 00:07:15.319 when you thought of this? 210 00:07:15.459 --> 00:07:15.660 No. 211 00:07:15.699 --> 00:07:15.939 No? 212 00:07:15.959 --> 00:07:16.899 Like. 213 00:07:19.290 --> 00:07:20.910 Because first- You all just rolled off his tongue. 214 00:07:20.970 --> 00:07:21.470 I mean, yeah. 215 00:07:21.490 --> 00:07:23.910 You see how, I mean, and by the way, it's actually, 216 00:07:24.009 --> 00:07:29.509 it's completely feasible. It's circular and feasible all at once. Like, 217 00:07:29.730 --> 00:07:31.410 I mean, that's pretty wild. He said, like, yeah, of course, 218 00:07:31.430 --> 00:07:33.439 this is how that would have gone down. Yeah. 219 00:07:33.500 --> 00:07:33.860 Yeah, yeah. 220 00:07:34.079 --> 00:07:34.600 Very cool. 221 00:07:34.779 --> 00:07:37.819 Yeah. So, Andy, what we love and deeply respect about 222 00:07:37.860 --> 00:07:40.600 you is how much attention you give to the scientific 223 00:07:40.639 --> 00:07:43.079 detail infused within your storytelling. 224 00:07:43.100 --> 00:07:43.259 Yeah. 225 00:07:43.800 --> 00:07:46.529 Because most stories don't get that level of attention. 226 00:07:46.550 --> 00:07:48.589 I always imagine you looking over my shoulder, Neil. 227 00:07:48.829 --> 00:07:49.930 No, I have that quote. 228 00:07:50.009 --> 00:07:50.230 Yeah. 229 00:07:50.470 --> 00:07:52.850 I have the exact quote. I would quote it now. 230 00:07:53.329 --> 00:07:53.649 Here it is. 231 00:07:53.649 --> 00:07:54.209 Go ahead. 232 00:07:54.889 --> 00:07:57.360 Okay. This was like 10 years ago or so. 233 00:07:57.360 --> 00:07:59.060 10 years ago. Here it was. 234 00:07:59.079 --> 00:07:59.579 Okay. 235 00:08:00.019 --> 00:08:04.620 Whenever I was tempted to use hand wavy physics or 236 00:08:04.660 --> 00:08:08.910 take a shortcut and not be accurate. I honestly thought 237 00:08:08.949 --> 00:08:12.829 to myself, what if Neil deGrasse Tyson reads this? 238 00:08:13.680 --> 00:08:13.819 Wow. 239 00:08:14.220 --> 00:08:15.439 That's true. Man. 240 00:08:15.519 --> 00:08:17.170 Because he'd know I'd be tweeting about it. 241 00:08:17.300 --> 00:08:22.459 Exactly. I imagine you looking over my shoulder while I'm typing. That's, yeah. 242 00:08:23.000 --> 00:08:26.120 That would creep me out. That's not what he means 243 00:08:26.180 --> 00:08:26.839 by that. 244 00:08:27.300 --> 00:08:30.420 Oh, okay. 245 00:08:30.439 --> 00:08:33.120 Don't worry, man. He doesn't have to be over your shoulder. 246 00:08:33.139 --> 00:08:35.669 He's got cameras in your house. 247 00:08:36.169 --> 00:08:38.250 So the astrophase, we spent a little bit of time 248 00:08:38.710 --> 00:08:42.929 on your last visit talking about that fascinating organism. And 249 00:08:43.830 --> 00:08:47.629 in this one, it's one of the few sci-fi films 250 00:08:47.649 --> 00:08:50.159 where there's more than one kind of alien in it. 251 00:08:50.669 --> 00:08:52.840 And so let's spend some time on the other alien 252 00:08:53.340 --> 00:09:00.879 who the lead character befriends. And this other alien, it 253 00:09:00.919 --> 00:09:03.429 kind of looks like a pile of rocks. But it 254 00:09:03.509 --> 00:09:04.990 moves like a crab. 255 00:09:05.009 --> 00:09:05.769 A little bit. 256 00:09:05.990 --> 00:09:06.210 Yeah. 257 00:09:06.250 --> 00:09:08.129 So what's your thinking behind that life form? 258 00:09:08.789 --> 00:09:11.389 Well, I started off with the exoplanet that he's from. 259 00:09:12.049 --> 00:09:14.230 which was at the time believed to be a real 260 00:09:14.289 --> 00:09:17.250 exoplanet and has since been proven to be nothing more 261 00:09:17.289 --> 00:09:20.450 than like solar

flare activity from Forti Aridani, which is 262 00:09:20.490 --> 00:09:22.759 a bummer. But within the context of when I wrote it, 263 00:09:22.789 --> 00:09:24.879 I started with what was known about that exoplanet. 264 00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:27.759 For those who were never amateur astronomers, because they're the 265 00:09:27.799 --> 00:09:28.519 ones who know the sky. 266 00:09:28.539 --> 00:09:29.200 They know everything. 267 00:09:29.220 --> 00:09:32.539 They know everything about the night sky. The way we 268 00:09:32.620 --> 00:09:36.600 label stars and constellations that are sort of visible stars, 269 00:09:37.169 --> 00:09:42.590 easily we sequence them by greek letter and it's followed 270 00:09:42.610 --> 00:09:45.899 by the genitive form of the constellation name so the 271 00:09:45.960 --> 00:09:49.980 brightest star in the constellation cetus which means the whale 272 00:09:50.259 --> 00:09:53.279 the brightest will be alpha seti okay okay the second 273 00:09:53.299 --> 00:09:57.009 brightest would be beta seti beta seti third whatever comes after. 274 00:09:56.809 --> 00:10:00.350 That gamma seti gamma SETI. 275 00:10:00.429 --> 00:10:00.610 Right. 276 00:10:00.629 --> 00:10:02.789 Okay. So you move on your way down. So Tau 277 00:10:02.840 --> 00:10:04.799 SETI is not one of the brighter stars in the 278 00:10:04.840 --> 00:10:05.679 constellation Cetus. 279 00:10:06.259 --> 00:10:06.460 Okay. 280 00:10:06.539 --> 00:10:06.740 Okay. 281 00:10:07.019 --> 00:10:10.070 And the genitive name for Cetus would be SETI. Then 282 00:10:10.429 --> 00:10:13.129 there are certain people who catalog stars going much deeper 283 00:10:13.190 --> 00:10:16.480 than naked eye and binoculars. And then they just number 284 00:10:16.529 --> 00:10:19.669 the stars. And it's not as romantic, but it's very 285 00:10:19.740 --> 00:10:21.399 precise in cataloging. Okay. 286 00:10:21.440 --> 00:10:21.679 Yeah. 287 00:10:21.879 --> 00:10:22.919 So what star system is this? 288 00:10:23.700 --> 00:10:25.279 Well, this would be in 40 Eridani. 289 00:10:25.559 --> 00:10:27.259 Eridani. So that would be Eridonis. 290 00:10:27.460 --> 00:10:27.919 Eridonis. 291 00:10:28.080 --> 00:10:29.059 Which is the river. 292 00:10:29.139 --> 00:10:29.519 The river. 293 00:10:29.679 --> 00:10:31.659 Okay. So there's a non-living thing in the sky. 294 00:10:31.899 --> 00:10:32.259 Yes. 295 00:10:32.340 --> 00:10:34.460 Well, there's several actually, but this is a river. And 296 00:10:34.580 --> 00:10:37.440 I've always disappointed with the river. Okay. Because I think 297 00:10:37.519 --> 00:10:43.600 it's just... leftover stars that didn't fit into other constellations. 298 00:10:43.860 --> 00:10:46.139 Because it's just kind of there, you know, let me 299 00:10:46.179 --> 00:10:48.210 grab a couple of these stars, a couple of those, 300 00:10:48.230 --> 00:10:56.000 and now call me something, Eridanus. So this other life form, Rocky. Rocky-like. Yeah. 301 00:10:56.379 --> 00:11:01.659 Well, Iridian is what they, is what his species is. 302 00:11:01.799 --> 00:11:03.490 Iridian species, yeah. 303 00:11:03.610 --> 00:11:07.970 Yeah, so 40-era Donnie had, it was believed at the time, 304 00:11:08.029 --> 00:11:11.840 an exoplanet. around 40 Eridani A. If you'd like to 305 00:11:11.919 --> 00:11:14.779 describe the details of the trinary star system, you can now, 306 00:11:14.940 --> 00:11:16.110 or we can just skip over it. 307 00:11:16.200 --> 00:11:16.860 Skip over it, go on. 308 00:11:16.860 --> 00:11:18.899 Skip over it, okay. So 40 Eridani A is the 309 00:11:18.919 --> 00:11:22.899 primary star, and 40 Eridani AB is the planet closest 310 00:11:22.940 --> 00:11:25.860 to that star. And that was an exoplanet that was 311 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:29.570 eight Earth masses, took about 46 Earth days to orbit 312 00:11:29.590 --> 00:11:32.320 the star. very, very close to the star. Turns out, 313 00:11:32.480 --> 00:11:35.370 doesn't exist at all. It was a mistake made and 314 00:11:35.490 --> 00:11:40.570 our more accurate methods of exoplanet detection have disproven it. 315 00:11:40.690 --> 00:11:42.049 But at the time- Wait, so he's not describing the 316 00:11:42.070 --> 00:11:42.669 plot of the film. 317 00:11:42.850 --> 00:11:46.490 He's describing the actual science behind- Which misled him initially 318 00:11:46.509 --> 00:11:46.929 to- Yes. 319 00:11:47.370 --> 00:11:50.110 To believing that it was there. Anyway, so starting from 320 00:11:50.149 --> 00:11:52.169 that planet, I said, well, It's going to be really 321 00:11:52.210 --> 00:11:54.409 hot because it's very close to its star. It's closer 322 00:11:54.450 --> 00:11:57.450 to its star than Mercury is. Then I said, but 323 00:11:58.029 --> 00:12:00.710 because all life in the story was caused by a 324 00:12:00.740 --> 00:12:03.889 panspermia event that radiated out from Tau Ceti, including all 325 00:12:03.960 --> 00:12:06.779 life on Earth, including all life on Erid, which is 326 00:12:07.220 --> 00:12:10.820 the nickname of the planet, everything has to be water-based. 327 00:12:11.360 --> 00:12:13.019 How do we have liquid water on a planet that's really, 328 00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:15.539 really hot? The answer is have a really, really high 329 00:12:15.700 --> 00:12:20.519 atmospheric pressure because water won't boil. Like their oceans are 330 00:12:20.659 --> 00:12:21.899 over 200 degrees Celsius. 331 00:12:22.100 --> 00:12:26.320 Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius at atmospheric pressure. 332 00:12:26.440 --> 00:12:30.590 At our atmospheric pressure, yeah. So they have 29 atmospheres 333 00:12:30.789 --> 00:12:33.690 at their surface. And so water, even 200 degrees Celsius 334 00:12:33.730 --> 00:12:34.370 water won't boil. 335 00:12:34.389 --> 00:12:34.809 Wait a minute. 336 00:12:34.850 --> 00:12:40.990 So you backed into these alien properties from... What would 337 00:12:41.049 --> 00:12:43.090 have to be the properties of a planet

that we 338 00:12:43.129 --> 00:12:44.269 would later show doesn't exist. 339 00:12:44.350 --> 00:12:45.029 Yes, that's right. 340 00:12:45.529 --> 00:12:46.090 Unfortunate. 341 00:12:46.110 --> 00:12:46.179 Wow. 342 00:12:46.470 --> 00:12:47.850 Anyway, I mean, if I was going to make up 343 00:12:47.870 --> 00:12:49.590 a fake planet, if it was going to be an 344 00:12:49.629 --> 00:12:52.039 imaginary planet in the first place, I didn't have to 345 00:12:52.080 --> 00:12:53.679 constrain myself. 346 00:12:53.720 --> 00:12:58.759 Well, constraints is the soul of creativity to all engineers. 347 00:12:59.039 --> 00:13:01.240 Yes. So anyway, I decided it would have to have 348 00:13:01.259 --> 00:13:03.330 a thick atmosphere. How do you have a thick atmosphere 349 00:13:03.370 --> 00:13:05.710 when you're that close to the sun? A star is 350 00:13:05.730 --> 00:13:08.970 like sandblasting your atmosphere off. So you got two things 351 00:13:09.009 --> 00:13:10.409 you can do. You can do what Venus does or 352 00:13:10.429 --> 00:13:12.149 you can do what Earth does. You can do what 353 00:13:12.169 --> 00:13:14.929 Venus does, which is have really heavy molecules that are 354 00:13:14.970 --> 00:13:17.970 hard to knock out of the planet's gravity well. Venus 355 00:13:18.009 --> 00:13:21.429 has carbon dioxide. I decided 40 Eridani has ammonia. There's 356 00:13:21.450 --> 00:13:23.789 ammonia everywhere in our system, so why not? And then 357 00:13:23.840 --> 00:13:25.220 the other thing you can do is have a really 358 00:13:25.250 --> 00:13:28.700 powerful magnetic field like Earth does. So I decided 40 Eridani, 359 00:13:28.919 --> 00:13:32.799 I've decided Erid rather, has a tremendous magnetic field. The 360 00:13:32.820 --> 00:13:36.759 way you get a magnetic field is, Neil, spin, baby spin, 361 00:13:36.879 --> 00:13:38.419 as a mambo king. 362 00:13:39.009 --> 00:13:41.529 No, you need a conducting core. 363 00:13:41.570 --> 00:13:44.789 Yeah, you need like a mold iron core with convection, 364 00:13:44.809 --> 00:13:47.429 but then also spin to make a dynamo. So their 365 00:13:47.470 --> 00:13:50.169 magnetic field is about 25 times as powerful as ours, 366 00:13:50.220 --> 00:13:51.799 and they rotate once every six hours. 367 00:13:52.039 --> 00:13:52.240 Wow. 368 00:13:52.259 --> 00:13:54.620 So that planet spins like crazy. But with those two 369 00:13:54.659 --> 00:13:56.440 things combined... Rocky's dizzy. 370 00:13:56.460 --> 00:13:57.000 Maybe. 371 00:13:57.179 --> 00:13:59.500 With those two things combined, I figured that's enough to 372 00:13:59.539 --> 00:14:02.279 protect the atmosphere. So now finally I have liquid water 373 00:14:02.360 --> 00:14:03.379 on this exoplanet. 374 00:14:03.559 --> 00:14:04.659 That was a long way to go. That was a 375 00:14:04.700 --> 00:14:06.460 long way to go. 376 00:14:06.620 --> 00:14:09.120 And then with those constraints, I'm like, well, I'm not 377 00:14:09.159 --> 00:14:11.399 sure light would make it to the surface through that 378 00:14:11.470 --> 00:14:14.610 thick an atmosphere. Ammonia has a color at large scales. 379 00:14:15.009 --> 00:14:17.950 So I decided that no light gets to the surface. 380 00:14:18.409 --> 00:14:21.429 And so the biosphere works kind of like an ocean. 381 00:14:21.509 --> 00:14:25.360 There's There is photophilic life up top that absorbs the 382 00:14:25.379 --> 00:14:28.610 sunlight and reproduces that way. Then beneath that, there's life 383 00:14:28.620 --> 00:14:30.250 that eats it. Beneath that, there's life that eats it, 384 00:14:30.309 --> 00:14:30.970 just like our ocean. 385 00:14:30.990 --> 00:14:32.529 Right, like our ocean. Yeah. 386 00:14:32.570 --> 00:14:36.370 Then so the apex predators are things that are the iridians, 387 00:14:36.409 --> 00:14:38.970 which are the intelligent species. They live on the surface. 388 00:14:39.250 --> 00:14:41.149 There's no light down there. There's no reason for them 389 00:14:41.169 --> 00:14:42.090 to evolve eyes. 390 00:14:42.590 --> 00:14:42.850 Of course. 391 00:14:43.090 --> 00:14:45.700 And they do everything through echolocation, et cetera, et cetera. 392 00:14:45.720 --> 00:14:47.879 So bit by bit, I put it together. There's also 393 00:14:47.940 --> 00:14:50.059 no free oxygen in the air. So they have to 394 00:14:50.100 --> 00:14:53.960 have an enclosed body that deals with the carbon dioxide, oxygen, 395 00:14:54.340 --> 00:14:56.700 back and forth reactions. So they have different kinds of 396 00:14:56.720 --> 00:14:58.980 cells within their body. Everything's fine as long as they 397 00:14:59.000 --> 00:15:00.970 keep adding energy to the system. So they need to 398 00:15:01.070 --> 00:15:03.629 eat food that's found on the ground. That's why they're 399 00:15:03.669 --> 00:15:06.299 obligate predators. It's kind of like some. 400 00:15:06.220 --> 00:15:09.600 Of the animals that live near volcanic vents here on Earth. 401 00:15:09.779 --> 00:15:13.419 Well, for their biosphere, they're not really extremophiles. This is 402 00:15:13.450 --> 00:15:19.230 the normal thing for them. But they are obligate carnivores. 403 00:15:19.570 --> 00:15:21.809 And so if you imagine things that live on the seafloor, 404 00:15:22.110 --> 00:15:25.080 like crabs or things like that, so far down that 405 00:15:25.120 --> 00:15:27.200 the light isn't even reaching them, but there's still plenty 406 00:15:27.240 --> 00:15:27.980 to eat. 407 00:15:28.279 --> 00:15:31.620 When science fiction gets the science right, it doesn't just 408 00:15:31.799 --> 00:15:35.850 entertain people. It reshapes how we think about what's possible. 409 00:15:36.279 --> 00:15:39.789 That's Andy Weir's lane. From The Martian to Project Hail Mary, 410 00:15:39.830 --> 00:15:42.549 his stories are built on real physics, real constraints and 411 00:15:42.710 --> 00:15:46.470 clever problem solving. In this episode, we dive into the book, 412 00:15:46.690 --> 00:15:50.049 the

film and how Weir turns hard science into something 413 00:15:50.350 --> 00:15:53.690 deeply human. But once stories like this hit the mainstream, 414 00:15:53.730 --> 00:15:57.710 the conversation can start to fracture. Take this article, for example, 415 00:15:57.769 --> 00:16:01.970 which has over 200 sources covering this story. Look at 416 00:16:02.029 --> 00:16:05.710 how the headlines themselves frame it. Instead of one clear narrative, 417 00:16:05.970 --> 00:16:09.690 you're seeing completely different versions of the same story. And 418 00:16:09.710 --> 00:16:12.899 beyond traditional media, you can even compare that coverage from 419 00:16:12.960 --> 00:16:16.840 different scientific sources like science daily office dot org, where 420 00:16:16.860 --> 00:16:20.480 the emphasis is on the data, not the drama. That's 421 00:16:20.519 --> 00:16:24.000 why we rely on Ground News, who was recently recognised 422 00:16:24.059 --> 00:16:27.559 by the Nobel Peace Centre for their role in strengthening 423 00:16:27.679 --> 00:16:32.159 critical news consumption. Ground News' website and app pulls reporting 424 00:16:32.210 --> 00:16:36.090 from thousands of sources worldwide, so you can compare the 425 00:16:36.149 --> 00:16:40.809 coverage and see where key perspectives are either underreported or missing. 426 00:16:41.269 --> 00:16:45.110 It also breaks down bias, credibility and ownership, so you're 427 00:16:45.129 --> 00:16:49.090 not just reading the news, you're understanding it. You can 428 00:16:49.110 --> 00:16:53.480 get the same unlimited Vantage plan we use for 40% 429 00:16:53.480 --> 00:16:59.019 off at ground.news.com or by scanning the QR code on 430 00:16:59.039 --> 00:17:04.029 the screen. That's 40% off at ground.news.com to make sense 431 00:17:04.109 --> 00:17:07.809 of the headlines and see how the complete story takes shape. 432 00:17:08.369 --> 00:17:11.279 It looks like a pile of rocks. An animated pile 433 00:17:11.299 --> 00:17:15.309 of rocks, but the appendages move in a crab-like way. 434 00:17:15.690 --> 00:17:19.769 Well, he has five legs or arms. They can use 435 00:17:19.789 --> 00:17:23.500 them interchangeably that each end in three claws. And so 436 00:17:23.519 --> 00:17:30.450 it's pentagonally symmetrical, you might say. And he doesn't actually 437 00:17:30.490 --> 00:17:33.109 move specifically like a crab. He walks on those legs, 438 00:17:33.150 --> 00:17:36.640 but he can walk on three of them while holding 439 00:17:36.660 --> 00:17:38.619 stuff with two of them, or he can walk on 440 00:17:38.660 --> 00:17:39.859 two of them even if he needs to. 441 00:17:39.880 --> 00:17:44.839 I learned in the Wiki fan page of your book. Oh, excellent. 442 00:17:45.200 --> 00:17:47.640 An undeniable source of absolute truth. 443 00:17:47.799 --> 00:17:51.339 Oh, yeah. And I hadn't thought about it, and I 444 00:17:51.380 --> 00:17:54.420 read this before I saw a preview of your film. 445 00:17:54.940 --> 00:17:57.920 The creature does not have a front or a back. 446 00:17:58.609 --> 00:18:01.710 Right, because it has, so the way it does its 447 00:18:01.769 --> 00:18:04.430 echolocation is it has, I call them oracles, but they're 448 00:18:04.589 --> 00:18:08.750 basically like all over his body, just like we have 449 00:18:08.789 --> 00:18:11.490 nerve endings for touch, he has nerve endings for sound. 450 00:18:11.950 --> 00:18:16.230 And so his brain untangles all that information. Like an octopus. 451 00:18:16.250 --> 00:18:16.869 You know, his body shape. 452 00:18:17.349 --> 00:18:20.730 And yeah, he knows his body shape and his position. 453 00:18:20.769 --> 00:18:22.990 Like an Iridian might reach out his arm to get 454 00:18:23.069 --> 00:18:25.150 a better view of something. 455 00:18:25.430 --> 00:18:28.170 He's like, wait, let me, let me hear this a 456 00:18:28.210 --> 00:18:29.450 little better. 457 00:18:29.750 --> 00:18:30.970 Yeah. 458 00:18:31.430 --> 00:18:33.230 And also wouldn't it be neat if you could just 459 00:18:33.250 --> 00:18:36.519 go like this and the room gets brighter for a second, 460 00:18:36.910 --> 00:18:40.599 you can be like, you know, because that's, that's how 461 00:18:40.619 --> 00:18:44.509 that works because of that. They have a constant. input 462 00:18:44.690 --> 00:18:47.650 of their 3D environment. Constantly going on in all directions. 463 00:18:47.670 --> 00:18:49.650 There has to be some sound somewhere for that to 464 00:18:49.690 --> 00:18:50.089 be the case. 465 00:18:50.130 --> 00:18:52.170 That's true, but there's always ambient sound. 466 00:18:52.190 --> 00:18:52.650 Yes, okay. 467 00:18:52.670 --> 00:18:55.039 There's wind or whatever, and if they don't have any, 468 00:18:55.099 --> 00:18:56.059 they can make some, right? 469 00:18:56.119 --> 00:18:56.339 Right. 470 00:18:56.579 --> 00:19:01.480 But so, they have this constant input of their 3D environment, 471 00:19:01.519 --> 00:19:03.369 so they don't have the part of their brain that 472 00:19:03.380 --> 00:19:07.950 we have that maintains cognition of what's around us. So 473 00:19:07.990 --> 00:19:09.869 you're looking at me, but you know what's behind you. 474 00:19:10.029 --> 00:19:11.789 In your brain, you don't have to think about it. 475 00:19:11.789 --> 00:19:13.450 Your brain's just keeping track of that. You know there's 476 00:19:13.470 --> 00:19:15.829 a bookshelf there. In a way, you can see it 477 00:19:15.869 --> 00:19:17.470 in your mind. You know where it is. And if 478 00:19:17.529 --> 00:19:19.069 I turn around and it's not there, I'll notice it's 479 00:19:19.109 --> 00:19:21.089 not there. You'll notice it's not there. They don't have 480 00:19:21.130 --> 00:19:23.269 that part of a brain. They don't have to track 481 00:19:23.329 --> 00:19:27.339 that because they constantly have 360-degree input. It's like if 482 00:19:27.359 --> 00:19:28.740 you had eyes all the way around your head. 483 00:19:28.759 -->

00:19:29.420 That's pretty brilliant. 484 00:19:29.440 --> 00:19:32.579 Now, if they suddenly can't hear anything, They will lose 485 00:19:32.619 --> 00:19:35.359 all of that information. If you close your eyes, you 486 00:19:35.400 --> 00:19:37.920 still know pretty much everything that's going on. 487 00:19:37.940 --> 00:19:38.440 Well, no. 488 00:19:38.859 --> 00:19:41.029 But in addition to that, just close your eyes. You 489 00:19:41.069 --> 00:19:43.150 know where everything is in the room. I mean not 490 00:19:43.269 --> 00:19:45.490 precisely and you probably bump into stuff. But you know 491 00:19:45.509 --> 00:19:49.970 there's a table there, a microphone here, a chair here, bookshelves, meals, desks, meetings. 492 00:19:50.210 --> 00:19:51.990 But why wouldn't they be able to do the same 493 00:19:52.029 --> 00:19:55.150 thing we do? Because when we close our eyes, we 494 00:19:55.210 --> 00:19:58.740 have lost the input. But what we're doing is recreating 495 00:19:58.819 --> 00:19:59.819 it in our mind. 496 00:19:59.839 --> 00:20:03.559 But your mind has a whole system of maintaining a 497 00:20:03.920 --> 00:20:06.900 3D model of your environment because you can't look at 498 00:20:06.940 --> 00:20:07.339 it all the time. 499 00:20:07.400 --> 00:20:08.539 I understand what you're saying. 500 00:20:08.559 --> 00:20:13.750 Because our minds are acclimated to always tracking what's around us. 501 00:20:14.589 --> 00:20:17.250 And persisting it. 502 00:20:17.569 --> 00:20:19.809 If we didn't have that, when that would be taken away, 503 00:20:19.829 --> 00:20:22.730 we'd be lost immediately because they don't need to do that. 504 00:20:22.750 --> 00:20:24.289 Basically, they don't have object permanence. 505 00:20:24.309 --> 00:20:28.289 Yeah, there's that famous test with infants. It's a famous test. 506 00:20:28.549 --> 00:20:30.529 The object's still there. 507 00:20:30.380 --> 00:20:33.299 When it goes behind the wall. And until a certain age, 508 00:20:33.680 --> 00:20:35.140 it goes behind the wall and then they just look 509 00:20:35.240 --> 00:20:35.700 somewhere else. 510 00:20:35.759 --> 00:20:36.259 It's gone. 511 00:20:36.579 --> 00:20:38.680 And then after a certain age, they'll look and they'll 512 00:20:39.039 --> 00:20:40.440 anticipate it coming out the other side. 513 00:20:40.460 --> 00:20:40.579 Yeah. 514 00:20:41.119 --> 00:20:44.380 That's why peekaboo is so effective with infants. You vanished 515 00:20:44.400 --> 00:20:45.119 from reality. 516 00:20:45.160 --> 00:20:48.109 I was going to say, I still like it. Chuck's 517 00:20:48.130 --> 00:20:51.849 still working on object permanence. Well, they do have object permanence. 518 00:20:51.869 --> 00:20:54.390 It really is if something leaves their sensory input. But 519 00:20:54.410 --> 00:20:57.329 they don't have that spatial map in their heads. 520 00:20:57.490 --> 00:21:03.130 Richard Dawkins thinks that bats that use echolocation, being mammals, 521 00:21:03.490 --> 00:21:06.450 that means they're structurally similar to us in important ways. 522 00:21:06.690 --> 00:21:12.789 He thinks they might use echolocation and map colors onto it. Interesting. 523 00:21:12.970 --> 00:21:15.859 Because they have the capacity to think of color. Why 524 00:21:15.900 --> 00:21:19.019 not add color to equilateral objects? I mean, why not? 525 00:21:19.099 --> 00:21:19.519 Why not? 526 00:21:19.700 --> 00:21:22.460 Yeah. I mean, you know, the only way we'll know 527 00:21:22.539 --> 00:21:23.500 is to ask a bat. 528 00:21:23.599 --> 00:21:25.480 Ask a bat. 529 00:21:25.539 --> 00:21:28.079 What color is this? Exactly. 530 00:21:28.400 --> 00:21:31.349 Well, one thing I thought, interestingly, is they took a thing, 531 00:21:31.390 --> 00:21:35.809 you know, how the cones in your eye react to 532 00:21:35.829 --> 00:21:38.609 different wavelengths. So there's red and green and blue cones, 533 00:21:38.650 --> 00:21:40.809 and there's overlap and stuff like that. Well, there were 534 00:21:44.789 --> 00:21:49.750 some activations that never happen because like any wavelength that's this, 535 00:21:49.910 --> 00:21:52.119 you know, any wavelength in this range will activate your 536 00:21:52.160 --> 00:21:54.099 greens a little bit and your blues a little bit. 537 00:21:54.519 --> 00:21:55.900 And he did stuff like that. And so what they 538 00:21:55.940 --> 00:21:58.200 did for the hell of it, I think, was they 539 00:21:58.220 --> 00:22:01.890 took somebody, they took human test subjects and shined lasers 540 00:22:01.950 --> 00:22:06.690 into their eyes to just activate the blue cones. And 541 00:22:07.009 --> 00:22:10.349 so now their brain is getting a signal that has 542 00:22:10.710 --> 00:22:14.359 just blue cone activation and no green cone activation. And 543 00:22:14.390 --> 00:22:17.930 that makes a new color. because they have never experienced 544 00:22:17.950 --> 00:22:20.210 that in their life. And they have a hard time 545 00:22:20.250 --> 00:22:22.950 describing it. They say it's like this really, really brilliant 546 00:22:23.450 --> 00:22:26.650 bright blue, which should surprise no one. But it's interesting. 547 00:22:26.950 --> 00:22:29.059 Imagine being able to go in and have somebody shoot 548 00:22:29.079 --> 00:22:30.400 a laser in your eye and see a color you 549 00:22:30.420 --> 00:22:32.680 have never seen, nor will you ever see again, because 550 00:22:32.700 --> 00:22:35.599 you can only be done by specifically activating those. We 551 00:22:35.660 --> 00:22:38.980 are way off topic. I love you some color. 552 00:22:39.009 --> 00:22:40.109 Color is good. 553 00:22:41.589 --> 00:22:45.670 No, I love me some color. So through your pen, 554 00:22:45.710 --> 00:22:49.690 through your mind, the main character names this life form Rocky. 555 00:22:49.880 --> 00:22:50.890 Rocky, because he looks like a rock. 556 00:22:50.910 --> 00:22:52.259 He looks like a bunch of rocks. A bunch of

rocks. 557 00:22:52.299 --> 00:22:53.059 Very imagine. 558 00:22:53.180 --> 00:22:57.220 Okay. Then it took me a half second. I want 559 00:22:57.299 --> 00:23:00.420 to alert people of this so that they don't lose 560 00:23:00.440 --> 00:23:04.000 this half second. He asks Rocky, is there someone back 561 00:23:04.019 --> 00:23:05.680 at home? Yeah. Okay. 562 00:23:06.119 --> 00:23:07.440 And Rocky goes, Adrian. 563 00:23:08.700 --> 00:23:08.920 Well? 564 00:23:09.339 --> 00:23:10.769 And you can't understand him. 565 00:23:10.779 --> 00:23:11.220 So, okay. 566 00:23:11.329 --> 00:23:12.150 I'll call you, Rocky. 567 00:23:12.170 --> 00:23:12.269 Okay. 568 00:23:17.410 --> 00:23:24.829 And I'll call your mate Adrian. But that's very pop culture. 569 00:23:24.849 --> 00:23:25.650 Very pop culture. 570 00:23:25.670 --> 00:23:26.430 Retro. 571 00:23:26.710 --> 00:23:28.190 Decade. Decades. 572 00:23:28.339 --> 00:23:30.059 I'm from Philly. It's totally fine. 573 00:23:30.079 --> 00:23:30.490 We love it. 574 00:23:30.799 --> 00:23:32.900 It's 50 years ago. I am decades retro. 575 00:23:32.920 --> 00:23:33.740 Yes. Wow. 576 00:23:34.019 --> 00:23:34.640 Yeah, so am I. 577 00:23:34.839 --> 00:23:39.400 I am also from 50 years ago. As for Philly, 578 00:23:39.720 --> 00:23:41.579 here's the thing. I wanted to do this as part 579 00:23:41.599 --> 00:23:43.529 of the publicity, but I came up with the idea 580 00:23:43.589 --> 00:23:45.190 too late. Everyone agrees it would have been a great idea. 581 00:23:45.529 --> 00:23:47.210 We didn't say what's going on in case you don't know. 582 00:23:47.890 --> 00:23:48.930 Rocky the movie. 583 00:23:49.759 --> 00:23:50.039 Oh, yeah. 584 00:23:50.059 --> 00:23:51.339 With Sylvester Stallone. 585 00:23:51.480 --> 00:23:51.819 Yes. 586 00:23:52.200 --> 00:23:53.779 And he's from Philadelphia. Correct. 587 00:23:53.819 --> 00:23:54.980 And his wife's name is Adrian. 588 00:23:55.019 --> 00:23:56.799 And his wife's name is Adrian. We all know that 589 00:23:56.819 --> 00:23:57.759 because there's a big scene. 590 00:23:57.779 --> 00:23:59.539 Adrian! 591 00:23:59.720 --> 00:24:00.799 Adrian! 592 00:24:01.119 --> 00:24:03.579 But I wanted, from the marketing, I wanted them to 593 00:24:03.599 --> 00:24:06.569 either CG render or have the puppeteers do it to 594 00:24:06.609 --> 00:24:09.289 show Rocky from Project Hail Mary running up the steps. 595 00:24:09.450 --> 00:24:11.309 Of the art museum in Philadelphia. 596 00:24:11.349 --> 00:24:12.849 Yeah, the art museum in Philadelphia. That would have been great. 597 00:24:12.869 --> 00:24:13.349 Put his little. 598 00:24:13.390 --> 00:24:16.009 Put his appendages up, you know. And everything like that. 599 00:24:16.130 --> 00:24:16.190 No. 600 00:24:17.009 --> 00:24:19.009 Because I came up with it, it would have been, 601 00:24:19.089 --> 00:24:20.769 it would have taken too long and cost too much 602 00:24:20.950 --> 00:24:22.009 at the point that I came up with it.

603 00:24:22.009 --> 00:24:23.950 And it would have been stupid, okay? 604 00:24:24.130 --> 00:24:27.660 It would have been stupid. What are you talking about? 605 00:24:28.380 --> 00:24:30.079 That's the first thing people do when they go to 606 00:24:30.119 --> 00:24:31.799 Philly is run up those damn stairs. 607 00:24:31.880 --> 00:24:33.599 How are you getting Rocky to Philly? 608 00:24:33.960 --> 00:24:34.539 How you get what? 609 00:24:34.599 --> 00:24:36.299 Through astrophase propulsion. 610 00:24:37.680 --> 00:24:38.180 Stupid. 611 00:24:38.349 --> 00:24:39.529 Come on, man. 612 00:24:39.549 --> 00:24:39.950 Duh. 613 00:24:42.069 --> 00:24:44.650 They did little things where they, you know, CGI put 614 00:24:44.710 --> 00:24:46.890 like Rocky on the red carpet for the London premiere 615 00:24:46.910 --> 00:24:48.150 and he's like signing autographs. 616 00:24:48.369 --> 00:24:49.549 Oh, okay. 617 00:24:49.630 --> 00:24:50.430 That's cool. 618 00:24:50.450 --> 00:24:54.059 You got it. So one thing that I didn't quite 619 00:24:54.619 --> 00:24:59.680 follow precisely, how, by what means and mechanism was the 620 00:25:00.119 --> 00:25:02.839 Lee character, of course played by... Ken. Ken. 621 00:25:03.380 --> 00:25:03.619 Ken. 622 00:25:06.019 --> 00:25:06.460 You know what? 623 00:25:06.480 --> 00:25:10.480 I can't think of his name now. By Ryan Gosling. 624 00:25:10.509 --> 00:25:15.809 Thank you. So he sets up his computer to, there's 625 00:25:15.970 --> 00:25:19.410 initially a shared vocabulary. They start with science and symbols 626 00:25:19.470 --> 00:25:23.990 and things. And then that rapidly becomes full on exchange 627 00:25:24.710 --> 00:25:29.630 of translated knowledge. So I didn't quite follow how that 628 00:25:29.690 --> 00:25:31.119 got so effective so quickly. 629 00:25:31.299 --> 00:25:35.410 Well, it's just, he had his computer like, be able 630 00:25:35.450 --> 00:25:39.029 to analyze the waveforms. And so Rocky would say a word. 631 00:25:39.049 --> 00:25:40.150 The acoustic waveforms, yeah. 632 00:25:40.170 --> 00:25:43.359 The acoustic waveforms that Rocky's making. And it would say 633 00:25:43.390 --> 00:25:46.980 a word, and then he'd put that in his program 634 00:25:47.019 --> 00:25:49.619 and say this, and this is the word, like, hello. 635 00:25:50.140 --> 00:25:53.019 And then when the computer heard something close enough to that, 636 00:25:53.059 --> 00:25:57.019 it would then have a synthesizer voice say hello to 637 00:25:57.039 --> 00:26:02.279 be Rocky's voice. So and Rocky is not speaking, you know, poetic, 638 00:26:02.400 --> 00:26:07.619 very high end. He's talking like real simple words for 639 00:26:07.640 --> 00:26:10.569 dumb human. You know, he's speaking sort of a pigeon, 640 00:26:11.009 --> 00:26:14.650 you know, Iridian English hybrid thing to try to keep 641 00:26:14.710 --> 00:26:17.910 the word simple and keep the sentence structure simple so 642 00:26:17.930 --> 00:26:19.170 that

they can each talk to each other. 643 00:26:19.190 --> 00:26:19.630 Oh, cool. 644 00:26:20.450 --> 00:26:23.460 But there had to be some starter exchange of vocabulary. 645 00:26:24.420 --> 00:26:27.319 And they started with, I think, the number one. Yeah, 646 00:26:27.460 --> 00:26:30.240 this is my number one. 647 00:26:30.519 --> 00:26:30.680 One. 648 00:26:30.799 --> 00:26:31.799 So what do you say for one? 649 00:26:31.960 --> 00:26:32.460 Okay, cool. 650 00:26:32.799 --> 00:26:33.059 Two. 651 00:26:33.559 --> 00:26:36.579 Okay. That's cool. That works. 652 00:26:37.000 --> 00:26:39.200 Oh, and by the way, since you're talking about Rocky 653 00:26:39.220 --> 00:26:41.700 and Adrian, I'm surprised. Did you notice that the name 654 00:26:41.720 --> 00:26:44.470 of the ship is the Hail Mary and it's full of? 655 00:26:45.029 --> 00:26:45.690 It better be Grace. 656 00:26:45.910 --> 00:26:46.210 Grace? 657 00:26:46.329 --> 00:26:46.549 Yeah. 658 00:26:46.849 --> 00:26:51.309 The main character's name is Dr. Ryland Grace. The Hail 659 00:26:51.329 --> 00:26:53.359 Mary is full of grace. I could not resist it. 660 00:26:53.849 --> 00:26:54.509 I am weak. 661 00:26:54.670 --> 00:26:55.170 I'm weak, Neil. 662 00:26:55.829 --> 00:26:58.539 I'm weak. But is the Lord with thee? 663 00:27:00.160 --> 00:27:02.779 Well, the writer would be the Lord, right? In this case. 664 00:27:02.880 --> 00:27:09.279 Okay. I guess so. But are you blessed art thou? 665 00:27:09.980 --> 00:27:13.500 I don't want to know anything about the fruit of 666 00:27:13.539 --> 00:27:18.480 your womb. That's all I'm saying. 667 00:27:19.000 --> 00:27:21.220 Let me ask you this though, because you seem to 668 00:27:21.259 --> 00:27:27.160 have this theme of alone in space. What is it 669 00:27:27.900 --> 00:27:32.400 that fascinates you about alone in the cosmos? 670 00:27:32.910 --> 00:27:36.299 Well, to be fair, Ryland is not alone, right? He's 671 00:27:36.319 --> 00:27:39.700 got his brother from a rocky mother with him, right? Okay. 672 00:27:39.740 --> 00:27:45.180 But failing that, it's just a very convenient method of storytelling. 673 00:27:45.500 --> 00:27:50.299 Your hero is, like, completely isolated. When they're out in space, 674 00:27:50.740 --> 00:27:53.500 it's like, even if all of humanity wanted to help him, 675 00:27:53.660 --> 00:27:55.819 which was the case in The Martian, there's very little 676 00:27:55.859 --> 00:27:56.400 they can do. 677 00:27:56.640 --> 00:28:01.920 So the lead character in this story is... he's kind 678 00:28:01.960 --> 00:28:04.579 of a reluctant hero. To say the least. He's kind 679 00:28:04.599 --> 00:28:08.789 of a selfish coward. I wouldn't say selfish. He doesn't 680 00:28:08.809 --> 00:28:11.170 want to save the world. He doesn't want, and yet 681 00:28:11.569 --> 00:28:15.509 he's cast into this spot kind of against his will. 682 00:28:16.190 --> 00:28:18.769 Reminding me of the great Shakespearean line. 683 00:28:19.539 --> 00:28:19.859 Yes? 684 00:28:20.480 --> 00:28:27.150 Some people are born great. Some people achieve greatness. Other 685 00:28:27.190 --> 00:28:29.630 people have greatness thrust upon them. 686 00:28:29.829 --> 00:28:31.089 He had it thrust into him. 687 00:28:31.349 --> 00:28:33.210 It was not a good spirit. 688 00:28:33.740 --> 00:28:36.460 He had greatness just absolutely injected into him. 689 00:28:36.480 --> 00:28:39.119 Injected into him. He was a reluctant participant in this mission. 690 00:28:39.259 --> 00:28:39.500 Right. 691 00:28:39.539 --> 00:28:42.380 But everyone knew they needed him. So they just drugged 692 00:28:42.400 --> 00:28:43.119 him and put him on. 693 00:28:43.380 --> 00:28:45.460 Yeah. That's a pretty big spoiler, by the way, for 694 00:28:45.480 --> 00:28:48.160 the movie. So you might want to make an extra warning. 695 00:28:48.180 --> 00:28:50.359 Okay. And the book also. 696 00:28:50.400 --> 00:28:53.769 But yes, he was there against his will. And I 697 00:28:53.809 --> 00:28:57.500 wanted to make a likable protagonist. And it's I think 698 00:28:57.539 --> 00:29:00.920 we can all feel like we've all felt at times 699 00:29:00.940 --> 00:29:05.220 that we are like unqualified, unwilling and scared. 700 00:29:05.240 --> 00:29:06.619 I don't know. 701 00:29:06.640 --> 00:29:07.180 Maybe not you. 702 00:29:08.119 --> 00:29:09.500 You just radiate confidence. 703 00:29:09.539 --> 00:29:11.980 But for the rest of us. But that's not interesting 704 00:29:12.039 --> 00:29:15.390 to a viewer. You want the person to overcome his weaknesses. 705 00:29:15.410 --> 00:29:15.950 Which he does. 706 00:29:16.109 --> 00:29:17.250 And then triumph. Yeah. 707 00:29:17.410 --> 00:29:17.650 Yeah. 708 00:29:18.029 --> 00:29:18.509 Which he does. 709 00:29:18.569 --> 00:29:20.019 Yeah. Okay. 710 00:29:20.220 --> 00:29:20.599 All right. 711 00:29:20.880 --> 00:29:24.079 I mean, that always redeems a character, too. He can 712 00:29:24.119 --> 00:29:28.839 start off scared, cowardly, but then overcomes that to do 713 00:29:29.220 --> 00:29:29.960 heroic feats. 714 00:29:30.259 --> 00:29:30.460 Right. 715 00:29:30.480 --> 00:29:33.009 You know, especially if they're selfless heroic feats. 716 00:29:33.230 --> 00:29:33.450 Right. 717 00:29:33.529 --> 00:29:36.210 I mean, the first time he was willing to really 718 00:29:36.250 --> 00:29:38.210 risk his neck was because of the friendship he had 719 00:29:38.230 --> 00:29:38.869 made with Rocky. 720 00:29:38.970 --> 00:29:39.509 Oh, okay. 721 00:29:39.690 --> 00:29:39.829 So. 722 00:29:40.279 --> 00:29:40.910 Cool, man. 723 00:29:41.559 --> 00:29:43.799 That's cool. So he didn't want to save humanity, but 724 00:29:43.819 --> 00:29:47.339 he put his ass on the line for some Rocky-ass alien. 725 00:29:47.599 --> 00:29:49.200 Yeah, yeah. 726 00:29:49.700 --> 00:29:50.539 Now I'm pissed off. 727 00:29:51.420 --> 00:29:52.359 Now I'm angry. 728 00:29:52.400 --> 00:29:55.400 Within the context,

saving humanity was a guaranteed death sentence. 729 00:29:56.299 --> 00:29:57.420 It was a suicide mission. 730 00:29:57.599 --> 00:29:58.119 Gotcha. 731 00:29:58.220 --> 00:30:02.779 Saving Rocky was high risk of death. It was a 732 00:30:02.779 --> 00:30:03.240 little different. 733 00:30:03.299 --> 00:30:03.759 Okay. 734 00:30:04.019 --> 00:30:07.089 That's an interesting distinction. I like the distinction. Yeah. High 735 00:30:07.119 --> 00:30:11.049 risk of death or certain death. I'm taking the high risk. 736 00:30:11.349 --> 00:30:14.470 T-Mobile 5G home internet has some big news you should 737 00:30:14.490 --> 00:30:17.950 know about. They now have the fastest 5G home internet, 738 00:30:17.970 --> 00:30:21.309 according to the experts at Ookla Speed Test. Now, in 739 00:30:21.470 --> 00:30:27.029 practical terms, it means... Photo backups happen faster. Streaming a 740 00:30:27.130 --> 00:30:34.190 documentary doesn't stall halfway through. The physics of waiting reduced. 741 00:30:34.470 --> 00:30:37.250 What's also notable is that this jump in speed doesn't 742 00:30:37.390 --> 00:30:41.119 come with added complexity. Setup is simple. You plug it 743 00:30:41.230 --> 00:30:44.839 in and you're online in less than 15 minutes. And 744 00:30:44.859 --> 00:30:47.220 the value side of the equation holds up too, with 745 00:30:47.279 --> 00:30:52.019 a planned price that's backed by a five-year price guarantee. So, 746 00:30:52.579 --> 00:30:56.180 If you want the fastest 5G home intranet with a 747 00:30:56.319 --> 00:31:01.910 simple setup and savings that stick, get T-Mobile 5G home intranet. 748 00:31:02.349 --> 00:31:08.430 Just visit t-mobile.com slash home intranet to check availability today. 749 00:31:08.769 --> 00:31:13.470 Price guarantee, exclusions like taxes and fees apply. Fastest based 750 00:31:13.529 --> 00:31:17.930 on Ookla SpeedTest intelligence data, second half 2025. 751 00:31:17.930 --> 00:31:21.349 All rights reserved. So I want to just compliment you. 752 00:31:22.430 --> 00:31:26.269 on conceiving of aliens that are not just actors in 753 00:31:26.309 --> 00:31:30.359 a suit. So therefore, you have the freedom for them 754 00:31:30.410 --> 00:31:34.759 to not be humanoid, which is one of the weakest 755 00:31:34.839 --> 00:31:36.779 points of all Hollywood aliens. 756 00:31:37.259 --> 00:31:41.160 Well, to be fair, Hollywood aliens are usually not in 757 00:31:41.160 --> 00:31:43.960 $ 200 million movies, right? And so you've got to be realistic. 758 00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:44.859 Is that what the movie cost? 759 00:31:45.119 --> 00:31:46.509 Yeah. 760 00:31:46.509 --> 00:31:46.809 $ 200 million? 761 00:31:47.069 --> 00:31:49.490 Actually closer to $ 250 million, but we got tax rebates 762 00:31:49.529 --> 00:31:50.690 from the UK for shooting there. 763 00:31:51.069 --> 00:31:52.369 Yeah. 764 00:31:52.430 --> 00:31:54.109 We better make a lot of money on this. 765 00:31:54.130 --> 00:31:55.730 That's why he's got an expensive Panama hat. 766 00:31:55.869 --> 00:32:00.430 That's why I've got this expensive. So half of that 767 00:32:00.450 --> 00:32:06.039 budget went to this. But yeah, most of the time, 768 00:32:06.059 --> 00:32:07.759 you know, for if you're going to write a science 769 00:32:07.779 --> 00:32:09.519 fiction story and you want to tell it in a 770 00:32:09.819 --> 00:32:13.269 reasonable budget, like. an episode of Star Trek or something 771 00:32:13.289 --> 00:32:13.650 like that. 772 00:32:13.809 --> 00:32:14.750 You get the rubber costume. 773 00:32:14.869 --> 00:32:17.380 Yeah, you get the forehead prosthetics. You have the alien 774 00:32:17.390 --> 00:32:20.259 be in the same environment. You're good. But yeah, with 775 00:32:20.279 --> 00:32:21.819 the luxury of being able to do whatever you want, 776 00:32:22.079 --> 00:32:25.779 we can have our alien require, you know, Xenonite barriers, 777 00:32:25.799 --> 00:32:29.960 you know, and stuff like that and be completely non-humanoid. 778 00:32:30.579 --> 00:32:34.920 Tell me about the barriers because your alien requires a different... 779 00:32:34.539 --> 00:32:36.420 29 atmospheres of ammonia. 780 00:32:36.420 --> 00:32:39.599 29 atmospheres. A lot of pressure and ammonia. 781 00:32:39.779 --> 00:32:40.500 And a lot of heat. 782 00:32:40.680 --> 00:32:45.940 Yeah, that's right. Hot, high pressure, and poisonous gases. Yep. 783 00:32:45.980 --> 00:32:46.180 So. 784 00:32:46.640 --> 00:32:48.420 Sounds a lot like me and Melania. 785 00:32:49.079 --> 00:32:51.960 Anyway, sorry. Go ahead. So, how do you. 786 00:32:52.420 --> 00:32:53.450 After a lot of tacos. 787 00:32:53.490 --> 00:32:53.609 How. 788 00:32:53.630 --> 00:32:54.440 The boundary between the. 789 00:32:59.859 --> 00:33:03.119 Regular spaceship and the alien in the spaceship. What was 790 00:33:03.140 --> 00:33:04.339 that about? It was transparent. 791 00:33:04.400 --> 00:33:07.960 It was made of Xenonite, which is a material that 792 00:33:08.400 --> 00:33:12.559 is somehow one of the main components of it is Xenon. 793 00:33:13.150 --> 00:33:15.210 a noble gas that doesn't normally react with things. 794 00:33:15.710 --> 00:33:17.490 What I wanted- It makes super bright headlights. 795 00:33:17.930 --> 00:33:18.349 Yes. 796 00:33:18.829 --> 00:33:22.019 So Ryland has no idea how that stuff works or. 797 00:33:22.000 --> 00:33:24.220 How it's made. Oh, so it's a rocky alloy. 798 00:33:24.279 --> 00:33:26.480 Yeah, it's Iridian technology. 799 00:33:26.779 --> 00:33:26.980 Okay. 800 00:33:27.059 --> 00:33:31.029 And so what I wanted was, I didn't want either 801 00:33:31.200 --> 00:33:34.630 species to be like completely scientifically more advanced than the others. 802 00:33:35.029 --> 00:33:36.710 From the Iridians' point of view, we're kind of the 803 00:33:36.750 --> 00:33:39.609 advanced aliens because we have computers, we have better technology 804 00:33:39.650 --> 00:33:44.029 across the board, but Iridians

have much better materials technology. 805 00:33:44.049 --> 00:33:45.890 So they're material scientists, basically. 806 00:33:45.930 --> 00:33:50.299 Yeah, their material science is far better than ours. But our, like... 807 00:33:50.480 --> 00:33:53.859 Like they didn't understand relativity. The Eridians didn't. Those idiots. 808 00:33:53.900 --> 00:33:58.660 They didn't understand. We've only known it for about 120 years, 809 00:33:58.700 --> 00:34:03.009 so don't get so high on my knee. So why 810 00:34:03.049 --> 00:34:04.910 was it important that they didn't know relativity? We figured 811 00:34:04.930 --> 00:34:06.890 out flight before we figured out relativity. 812 00:34:08.090 --> 00:34:10.570 Why was it important that they did not know relativity 813 00:34:10.949 --> 00:34:11.679 as a storyteller? 814 00:34:11.909 --> 00:34:14.800 Because it gave me an excuse to, if you calculate, 815 00:34:15.119 --> 00:34:19.360 if you assume Newtonian physics, which they did, They calculated 816 00:34:19.380 --> 00:34:21.710 how much fuel they would need to get from their 817 00:34:21.750 --> 00:34:25.349 home star, Fortier Donny, to Tau Ceti and for a 818 00:34:25.369 --> 00:34:27.030 trip back. It was supposed to be a round trip thing. 819 00:34:28.489 --> 00:34:30.369 And you calculate that fuel, you get a certain number. 820 00:34:30.929 --> 00:34:32.820 The real amount of fuel you need to use is 821 00:34:32.860 --> 00:34:36.099 considerably less due to the time dilation and the relativistic 822 00:34:36.139 --> 00:34:38.539 effects you have when you're going there. So he ended 823 00:34:38.579 --> 00:34:41.760 up with a whole bunch of excess fuel, which enables him. 824 00:34:42.280 --> 00:34:45.510 I didn't catch that. There it is. Yeah. So that's 825 00:34:45.550 --> 00:34:47.760 the evidence they didn't know relativity, otherwise they would have 826 00:34:47.780 --> 00:34:49.360 done the proper calculation. 827 00:34:49.440 --> 00:34:49.639 Right. 828 00:34:50.179 --> 00:34:50.719 Right. 829 00:34:50.739 --> 00:34:52.739 And Rocky, it's in the book, but not in the movie, 830 00:34:52.780 --> 00:34:56.840 Rocky says they were very confused. It's like, okay, the 831 00:34:56.880 --> 00:34:59.099 planet was, you know, the other star was closer than 832 00:34:59.139 --> 00:35:00.869 it should be, so we slowed down, but then it 833 00:35:00.929 --> 00:35:01.690 got further away. 834 00:35:01.710 --> 00:35:05.210 Oh, so they're experiencing relativity, not knowing what the hell's 835 00:35:05.230 --> 00:35:05.630 going on. 836 00:35:05.710 --> 00:35:07.050 They're like, what is going on? 837 00:35:07.070 --> 00:35:07.710 Wow. 838 00:35:07.769 --> 00:35:09.869 So do you regret that that wasn't in the movie? 839 00:35:10.010 --> 00:35:11.639 No, you had to cut things out. 840 00:35:11.780 --> 00:35:12.360 Yeah, so what's, okay. 841 00:35:13.619 --> 00:35:13.760 What? 842 00:35:13.780 --> 00:35:16.219 Because you don't have final edit control, I presume, because 843 00:35:16.239 --> 00:35:17.119 you're just the author. 844 00:35:17.139 --> 00:35:19.500 Well, I'm also a producer, so I had to say. 845 00:35:19.659 --> 00:35:20.780 What were you, executive producer? 846 00:35:21.500 --> 00:35:22.500 No, I was a real producer. 847 00:35:22.739 --> 00:35:25.480 Oh! Wow. 848 00:35:25.579 --> 00:35:29.639 So is there a scene you felt should have been 849 00:35:29.659 --> 00:35:30.079 in the movie? 850 00:35:30.380 --> 00:35:32.639 Yeah, my only regret, and Drew and I both fought 851 00:35:32.659 --> 00:35:35.360 for this. Drew wrote the adaptation for Drew Goddard. 852 00:35:35.420 --> 00:35:38.019 He credited him for that. Drew with the full name? 853 00:35:38.260 --> 00:35:38.800 Drew Goddard. 854 00:35:38.920 --> 00:35:39.360 Drew Goddard. 855 00:35:39.380 --> 00:35:41.889 Drew Goddard wrote the adaptation, did a fantastic job. And 856 00:35:41.929 --> 00:35:43.690 he and I both wanted this one scene, and we 857 00:35:43.730 --> 00:35:45.469 just didn't have time for it because the runtime was 858 00:35:45.489 --> 00:35:47.780 going so long. But there's a scene in the book 859 00:35:47.800 --> 00:35:51.880 where they nuke Antarctica. They basically put— Back on Earth, yeah. 860 00:35:51.940 --> 00:35:52.739 On Earth. 861 00:35:52.800 --> 00:35:55.320 They set off a bunch of nuclear explosions in Antarctica 862 00:35:55.340 --> 00:35:57.539 to make an entire ice shelf fall into the ocean 863 00:35:57.960 --> 00:36:00.179 so that it will melt and release all the methane, 864 00:36:00.550 --> 00:36:03.210 which is greenhouse gases, so that Earth will retain more 865 00:36:03.250 --> 00:36:05.449 of the heat that it is getting from the sun. 866 00:36:06.769 --> 00:36:10.789 Because the astrophase is eating the sun. 867 00:36:11.070 --> 00:36:11.769 Dimming the sun. 868 00:36:12.070 --> 00:36:13.630 So, wow. 869 00:36:13.750 --> 00:36:15.539 So they're like, we need some global warming. 870 00:36:15.940 --> 00:36:16.840 Wow. 871 00:36:17.500 --> 00:36:18.219 And that's why. 872 00:36:18.239 --> 00:36:21.260 Are you doing Trump? 873 00:36:21.300 --> 00:36:23.730 Is that it? 874 00:36:24.309 --> 00:36:24.929 And that's why. 875 00:36:26.110 --> 00:36:28.050 There's something between Trump and Fat Albert. 876 00:36:28.150 --> 00:36:31.369 It's like, hey, hey, hey, man. I think there's something 877 00:36:31.389 --> 00:36:32.530 wrong with your ears. 878 00:36:32.570 --> 00:36:35.210 You have a pretty gravelly Trump, my friend. 879 00:36:35.269 --> 00:36:38.570 No, if you've listened to him now, that's how he talks. 880 00:36:38.590 --> 00:36:41.409 So I'm not doing rally Trump. I'm doing the Trump 881 00:36:41.429 --> 00:36:45.340 that talks in front of the cameras and wants you 882 00:36:45.360 --> 00:36:48.219 to know that's great, frankly. 883 00:36:48.699 --> 00:36:51.260 So that's something that was not in the film where 884 00:36:51.579 --> 00:36:56.039 we don't see Earth descending into....

885 00:36:56.849 --> 00:36:57.070 Right. 886 00:36:57.110 --> 00:36:59.170 And that's also not in the book. We see in 887 00:36:59.250 --> 00:37:01.829 the beginnings of it in the book, there's issues. They're 888 00:37:01.849 --> 00:37:03.820 starting to have problems. And a lot of their problems 889 00:37:03.860 --> 00:37:08.719 are caused by the amelioration techniques they're proactively doing. So 890 00:37:08.760 --> 00:37:10.940 they nuke in. Things are going to get worse, but 891 00:37:10.960 --> 00:37:12.000 then we're going to need that heat. 892 00:37:12.840 --> 00:37:15.079 So we have a mouse problem. Well, let's get a 893 00:37:15.099 --> 00:37:20.119 bunch of hawks. Now we have a hawk problem. Exactly. 894 00:37:20.159 --> 00:37:20.760 That's the deal. 895 00:37:20.780 --> 00:37:21.269 All right. 896 00:37:21.670 --> 00:37:24.869 And it was a stretch for me, if I may. 897 00:37:24.889 --> 00:37:24.969 Yeah. 898 00:37:26.050 --> 00:37:27.269 You and I are enemies now. 899 00:37:27.429 --> 00:37:34.210 It was a stretch for me as an academic to 900 00:37:34.289 --> 00:37:40.639 completely embrace the idea that the entire world of biochemists 901 00:37:41.940 --> 00:37:49.400 is insufficient to handle this mission. And they need the 902 00:37:49.900 --> 00:37:53.369 one guy who has the expertise that no one else has. 903 00:37:53.889 --> 00:37:56.820 And he's a middle school chemistry teacher. 904 00:37:57.039 --> 00:38:01.500 Right. So to be fair, he was a speculative xenobiologist. 905 00:38:01.960 --> 00:38:06.159 He is a PhD astrobiologist. So he had done that, 906 00:38:06.239 --> 00:38:07.780 and then he'd left that field. 907 00:38:07.800 --> 00:38:08.639 He'd written papers. 908 00:38:08.800 --> 00:38:10.610 But he wrote papers, so the papers are out there, 909 00:38:10.809 --> 00:38:12.210 and other people are still active. 910 00:38:12.269 --> 00:38:12.369 Right. 911 00:38:12.389 --> 00:38:13.650 And he's no longer active. 912 00:38:13.730 --> 00:38:13.909 Right. 913 00:38:14.070 --> 00:38:15.849 So why does he still become the guy? 914 00:38:16.070 --> 00:38:18.769 Because he's been part of the mission and the mission 915 00:38:18.809 --> 00:38:21.639 planning team. the whole time. So he understands all the 916 00:38:21.719 --> 00:38:24.219 other aspects of the mission as well. He knows all 917 00:38:24.260 --> 00:38:27.039 about the Hail Mary itself. And they don't have time 918 00:38:27.059 --> 00:38:29.179 to train someone else up on all the other stuff. 919 00:38:29.860 --> 00:38:32.940 And he's as well trained as any of the other 920 00:38:32.980 --> 00:38:36.119 biologists in the field that they need him to be. 921 00:38:36.500 --> 00:38:39.579 Okay. Does that work for you? He got out of 922 00:38:39.619 --> 00:38:39.940 that one. 923 00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:41.019 I got wriggled out of that one. 924 00:38:41.260 --> 00:38:42.440 So again, congratulations. 925 00:38:42.460 --> 00:38:43.039 Thanks so much. 926 00:38:43.539

--> 00:38:47.590 Some of your books getting turned into movies. 927 00:38:47.610 --> 00:38:48.670 Two out of three. 928 00:38:48.730 --> 00:38:51.469 Some of your books getting turned into movies. And it's 929 00:38:51.489 --> 00:38:55.650 a delight anytime you come visit us here. And for 930 00:38:55.690 --> 00:38:58.309 whatever might be your next book still, we want to 931 00:38:58.329 --> 00:39:01.150 stay on your tour. Okay. Your tour list. 932 00:39:01.269 --> 00:39:01.610 Always. 933 00:39:01.949 --> 00:39:02.389 All right. 934 00:39:02.610 --> 00:39:03.010 All right. Cool. 935 00:39:03.369 --> 00:39:03.690 Excellent. 936 00:39:03.710 --> 00:39:03.969 Thank you. 937 00:39:03.989 --> 00:39:06.489 Thanks for having me. And any last just bits of 938 00:39:06.530 --> 00:39:09.380 wisdom or advice for us all? How about aspiring writers? 939 00:39:09.719 --> 00:39:10.119 What might you say? 940 00:39:10.139 --> 00:39:10.699 Aspiring writers? 941 00:39:11.199 --> 00:39:13.300 I've got three bits of advice for aspiring writers. One, 942 00:39:13.320 --> 00:39:16.260 you have to actually write. Ideating and imagining and world 943 00:39:16.280 --> 00:39:19.280 building is not writing. You need to type. Number two 944 00:39:19.380 --> 00:39:20.159 is resist the urge. 945 00:39:20.219 --> 00:39:21.050 Execute the idea. 946 00:39:21.139 --> 00:39:23.510 Yeah. Number two is resist the urge to tell your 947 00:39:23.550 --> 00:39:26.610 friends and family your story. It satisfies your need for 948 00:39:26.650 --> 00:39:28.309 an audience and saps your will to write. 949 00:39:28.849 --> 00:39:29.949 Oh, very nice. 950 00:39:30.320 --> 00:39:33.000 So you can give them a chapter at a time 951 00:39:33.059 --> 00:39:34.980 as you write it to satisfy that need. 952 00:39:35.059 --> 00:39:35.679 Don't tell them. 953 00:39:35.840 --> 00:39:36.639 Don't tell them. 954 00:39:36.679 --> 00:39:38.400 And then the third one is there's never been a 955 00:39:38.400 --> 00:39:41.289 better time in human history to self-publish. There's no old 956 00:39:41.329 --> 00:39:44.300 boy network between you and the readers anymore. You can, 957 00:39:44.400 --> 00:39:47.639 for absolutely zero financial risk, you can put your book 958 00:39:47.699 --> 00:39:49.590 out there and millions of people have access to it. 959 00:39:49.590 --> 00:39:51.590 Says the man who published with Penguin Random House. 960 00:39:51.690 --> 00:39:52.769 I was going to say. 961 00:39:52.789 --> 00:39:54.809 Who initially published on Kindle Direct Publishing. 962 00:39:55.210 --> 00:39:55.269 Oh. 963 00:39:55.269 --> 00:39:55.340 Oh. 964 00:39:57.360 --> 00:40:00.119 But for all of you who aren't this talented, don't 965 00:40:00.159 --> 00:40:02.760 quit your job. I didn't quit my. 966 00:40:02.679 --> 00:40:06.800 Job until I had a traditional publishing deal. 967 00:40:07.019 --> 00:40:07.420 All right. 968 00:40:07.460 --> 00:40:11.929 All right. We're done here. That was Project Hail Mary. 969 00:40:12.030 --> 00:40:12.340 Nice. 970 00:40:12.489 --> 00:40:13.170 Full of grace. 971 00:40:13.710 --> 00:40:14.210 Yeah. 972 00:40:14.230 --> 00:40:17.809 The Lord was with thee. Well, Phil Lord was. 973 00:40:19.570 --> 00:40:21.869 Chuck, always good to have you, man. Always a pleasure. 974 00:40:22.070 --> 00:40:26.269 And Andy, thanks for being high up on my compliment list. Oh, 975 00:40:26.289 --> 00:40:28.800 thank you. And let me give you the highest compliment 976 00:40:28.880 --> 00:40:33.760 I could ever give. Don't stop moving the needle in 977 00:40:33.800 --> 00:40:39.929 your storytelling for Hollywood because it was looking like same shit, 978 00:40:39.949 --> 00:40:43.630 different day for so many years. And with your stories 979 00:40:44.210 --> 00:40:48.320 out there, It gives us something fresh to embrace and imbibe. 980 00:40:48.440 --> 00:40:48.960 Thanks so much. 981 00:40:49.000 --> 00:40:49.519 It means a lot to me. 982 00:40:49.539 --> 00:40:53.599 In the genre. Neil deGrasse Tyson, your personal astrophysicist. Do 983 00:40:53.679 --> 00:40:54.300 keep looking up.