There are a lot of issues that require us all to put on our game faces for the next four years, but one of the many concerns is the fact that the Trump administration does not plan to fight against climate change, and our new President-elect (I’m still nauseated about having to type that) believes that climate change is a “hoax.” It’s not a great time to be a scientist in America; the government usually picks up the tab when it comes to funding scientific progress, and the great scientific minds of our generation are desperately needed for ongoing, pressing concerns across the planet.
One of those great minds is Neil deGrasse Tyson, who has made it his personal mission to make science accessible and understandable for more people. He’s also normalized the idea of a more diverse picture of what scientist looks like; he’s spoken out against sexism and racism in STEM communities and advocated against the assumption that it’s considered normal for the field to be dominated by white men. It’s not normal, and it means something needs to change. Respect for the sciences needs to increase, and diversity in the sciences needs to increase, and Neil deGrasse Tyson has been on the forefront of increased accessibility in ways both big and small.
He’s back again to discuss the issue head-on at The Late Show, where he advocates openly that in the next four years, we should “Make America Smart Again,” with an eye towards scientific education and accessibility. He then goes on to blow Stephen Colbert’s mind (and his own mind) by telling a story about the discovery of gravitational waves–a story that has been thousands of years in the making, and could never have happened without support for scientific research and development.
In the course of his explanation of the discovery, Tyson also talks about the process of evolution, and the dinosaurs going extinct before humans showed up on this planet–yet another piece of history that I’m happy to see normalized on TV, since it doesn’t even get taught in some schools. (Fun fact: Trump wants to make Ben Carson the Secretary of Education, and Carson is a Creationist. Sorry, I lied, that fact wasn’t actually “fun” at all.)
Evolution is real, y’all. Gravitational waves are real. Climate change is real. Science is real, and cool, and Neil deGrasse Tyson is here to remind us all of that. He’ll continue to do so for the foreseeable future, thank goodness.
(via HuffPo, image via screencap)
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