DANA HAN-KLEIN: Hi, everyone.
I'm Dana, and this, more
importantly, is Bill Nye.
We are very excited to have
him here for Talks at Google.
He's published a book recently
some of you might have read
or will be purchasing very
soon at the back of the room.
It's "Undeniable: Evolution
and the Science of Creation."
BILL NYE: That's right.
There's 20 books in a carton.
DANA HAN-KLEIN:
Survival of fittest.
Whoever is the fittest
enough to get to them first.
BILL NYE: No, I'm
just saying you
should think about buying
a carton, that's all.
No, it's all good.
Lead on.
DANA HAN-KLEIN:
Let's have a seat.
BILL NYE: Which side am I on?
DANA HAN-KLEIN: I think
you're on that side.
BILL NYE: Oh, where the hat is.
Yes, in case I forget.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: Just in case.
BILL NYE: Are there any
questions on what we've covered
so far?
DANA HAN-KLEIN:
Everyone good with that?
OK.
Great.
So welcome back to Google.
You've been to our
offices before.
BILL NYE: Couple times, yes.
Love it.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: Thank
you for being here.
This is ridiculously
exciting for me
because I've been a fan--
BILL NYE: I love you, man.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: So
I wanted to start
by talking about education,
because that's how many people
sort of got introduced to you.
You are Bill Nye,
the science guy.
BILL NYE: Yes.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: We
know you, we love you.
We watched your specials
and your shows growing up.
And now you're an educator on
evolution, which is awesome,
because we need more of that.
BILL NYE: Because I'm
a mechanical engineer.
So evolution is--
DANA HAN KLEIN:
Clearly in the realm.
BILL NYE: I'm an
expert on evolution.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: Right,
but so clearly there
were certain outside
factors that inspired you
to write a book on evolution.
But it takes somebody
with real passion
to go out there and
actually do the research
and take the time
to write and edit
something that's not
necessarily immediately
in your field of expertise.
BILL NYE: Yeah, but
I'm a science educator,
and so I consider this
book a primer on evolution.
Fundamentals.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: Very much so.
And written in a
very interesting way,
which was enjoyable to read.
BILL NYE: Oh, you read it?
DANA HAN-KLEIN: I did.
BILL NYE: Whoa, whoa.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: Right?
Oh my goodness.
BILL NYE: No, because
most of the time
the interviewer doesn't have--
oh, you know, I mean to.
I'm going to get to it.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: I loved it.
It reminded me of my
environmental science
class in the best way
possible, all the things
I loved out of that
condensed down into a book.
BILL NYE: Can I ask you-- I
know we're supposed to be me.
You're supposed to ask,
I'm supposed to answer.
What is environmental
science, exactly?
DANA HAN-KLEIN: At the time I
took it, it covered evolution.
It covered a little bit
of biochemistry stuff.
BILL NYE: What chemistry?
Paleo?
DANA HAN-KLEIN: Bio.
BILL NYE: Biochemistry.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: A little bit.
Touched on it.
It was high school, so
it wasn't-- we didn't get
detailed.
BILL NYE: So there's water.
There's a lot of water.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: There's a
lot of water involved, lots
of bathroom passes and-- no.
No.
But it was an attempt
to kind of introduce us
to evolution and biodiversity,
and we had a unit [INAUDIBLE]
at one point.
BILL NYE: Good, good.
Like the environment.
The science of the environment.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: The science of
the environment, if you will.
BILL NYE: Brilliant.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: Yes.
But so it's not something
that's in your immediate field.
And I feel like you took it
upon yourself as an educator
to go out and do this.
So can you tell me about
some of the highlights
of your own education
that brought you
to this point in time
where you're like,
I am on a mission to educate.
BILL NYE: That's
very good, Bill.
I had Carl Sagan for astronomy.
I just took one class from him.
I was by no means
his star student.
I was just like some guy.
But he had a huge effect on me.
Is there anybody here--
it's fine-- have you never
heard of Carl Sagan?
That's remarkable.
DANA HAN KLEIN:
We are at Google.
BILL NYE: Yeah, yeah.
But people are from other
parts of the world and so on.
So he was a very
influential guy.
And my high school physics
teacher was hugely influential,
George Lang.
And I had a fabulous
sixth grade teacher.
And these people just--you know,
you spend more time with them
than you do with your parents.
And so this is why
teaching as a profession
is an important thing.
Nobody wants to pay for it,
but it's an important thing.
DANA HAN-KLEIN:
What would you say
makes a great teacher,
and maybe in particular
a great science teacher?
BILL NYE: Passion.
Passion.
No, that's what it is.
What did you like about
your favorite teacher?
It was he or she was excited
about whatever the hell it was,
right?
Whatever the heck it was, sorry.
So you want to have
passion, and you also
want the person to
be knowledgeable.
It's very troubling
when you show up
and you feel like,
he doesn't really
know what he's talking about.
Sort of story of my life.
But it's the passion
and the subject matter
that interests you.
That's what makes
a good teacher.
DANA HAN-KLEIN:
Is there something
you think we can do as
a society in general
to encourage the next generation
of passionate teachers?
Because they're the ones
sort of leading the way
for the future of our future.
BILL NYE: I just tell you guys,
and this is not rocket surgery,
you just have to pay teachers.
No way.
Sorry.
If a person coming out
of engineering school
could get a job as
a physics teacher
instead of writing code here,
he would think twice, right?
Well, what do you make, four,
five times as much money
at Google as you do
teaching in high school?
So it just makes people
make different choices.
And apparently-- this is
anecdotal-- but apparently
in my parents' day
that wasn't the case.
And so teaching was
considered a profession
and people were well paid.
But since so many
public school systems
are tied to property
taxes, you end up
with the people who need the
best teachers getting the worst
teachers, or the least qualified
teachers of the teachers who
are into it.
And so on and so on.
But this is the United States.
And so I was born here.
I don't know any better.
I want the United
States to be the world
leader in all this stuff.
You can't help it.
Any Canadian people?
Right on.
See?
It's an example
of some socialism
that works very well, right?
Seems to work very well.
So seems like solvable problems.
I ramble.
Imagine.
Weird.
DANA HAN-KLEIN:
It's still on topic.
BILL NYE: A little bit.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: So would you
say you value most in education
is the passion?
And obviously the
ground-level knowledge
that's required to teach this
information to other people.
Are there other parts
of it that you value?
BILL NYE: Well, the
other thing is, you
know-- does anybody have kids?
You've met people with kids.
Some of you were kids.
And kids, after a fashion,
respond well to rules.
And I would say they respond
well to expectations.
And as a friend of mine
says, there are no rules.
There are traditions
and understandings.
So yeah, if you screw
up, we have a tradition
of you being punished.
I think that-- you know
that feeling where you
want to do well for a teacher?
You want to achieve
something for a teacher?
That's because he or she
has set out expectations.
We're going to have this many
quizzes or homework assignments
or term papers or
whatever the heck it is.
And you want to meet
those expectations.
But you don't want rules for
the sake of rules, right?
So part of it, part of
being a good teacher
or a successful
educator is to set
achievable goals, expectations.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: Would you say
that setting achievable goals
and expectations is
something that we,
more in the current fields,
that we sort of need
to step up and become
leaders in again,
with engineering and science
fields and mathematics?
Or do we need to make
it more accessible?
BILL NYE: Well,
as I say, you have
to do everything all at once.
So you have to make it
achievable and accessible.
But it's really
easy to set goals
that the students can't meet.
It's really easy.
And if you set the bar
too low as an educator,
you're frustrated.
I should have asked
more of these people.
So how many people
are a product of STEM?
STEM.
Science, Technology,
Engineering, and Math.
How many people got out
of school before all that?
Yeah.
So for people my
age, we didn't have
that sort of background
noise of STEM, STEM, STEM,
because we had
the space program.
And everybody was just
expecting that people
would go to the moon, that
cars would have fins on them
and look like rockets.
And everybody expected that
great things would be achieved.
But after that, after the Cold
War sort of resolved itself,
then that emphasis fell off.
So the big challenge now
is not going to the moon.
It's going to be climate change.
And so I want you all to be
the next great generation.
Both of my parents are
buried, or interred,
at Arlington Cemetery.
They were both in World War II.
By the way, if you get a chance
to spend four years in prisoner
of war camp, don't do it.
Don't do it.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: Sound advice.
Sound advice.
BILL NYE: If it's an opportunity
that you're confronted with.
Then ladies, I just
gotta tell you.
So how many people have seen
"Imitation Game?" right?
It's got your very good-looking
Benny Bob Cumberbatch there.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: Something
along those lines.
BILL NYE: I mean, I have no
problem with Keira Knightley.
I'm good.
I'm good.
The whole thing there took
place in Britain in that movie.
Well, my mother was graduated
from Goucher College
back when we had such things.
It was the sister
school to Johns Hopkins
in Baltimore, Maryland.
And so the dean of
students was a woman
named Dorothy
Stimson, who happened
to be the first cousin
of Henry Stimson, who
was the Secretary of War.
This was back before it was
called Secretary of Defense.
It was called war, like
that's what we're doing here.
And I often wonder if
things would be different,
how things would be different,
if we went back to calling it
the Department of War.
Like this is, no, it's war.
That's what we're doing.
Yeah.
It's not defense.
Defending our oil fields on
the other side of the world.
So anyway, she worked
on the enigma code,
my mom, because apparently
Henry Stimson said
to Dorothy Stimson, do you
have any girls, any women that
can come work on this thing?
I can't tell you what it is.
So my whole life,
people-- there's
people of that generation,
they would ask each other,
what did you do during the war?
Like you would say,
where were you on 9/11?
Oh, I can't talk about it.
Ha ha ha ha.
Can't talk about it.
And so to the women here,
I reflect on this story
quite a bit recently.
I remember my mother could
not get an American Express
card because she was married.
She was Mrs. Nye.
Even though she had a
master's degree and she
went on to get a
doctorate, my mom.
And I remember her
slamming the phone down,
cussing at those people
with just the D word.
She wasn't dropping
F bombs back then.
And it wasn't that long ago.
So we have climate change.
And so my parents would
be-- we would call it
from the greatest generation.
We have climate change.
And we're going to need
scientists and engineers
like never before
to address this.
And half of the humans
are girls and women,
so half the scientists
and engineers should
be girls and women, right?
DANA HAN KLEIN: I
completely agree.
BILL NYE: You can
change the world.
And so you guys are--we're
living at an exciting time,
and of course, as I understand
it, it's a Chinese proverb,
it's an interesting time, which
the nuance or the connotation
is, interesting
means kind of sucks.
Like you can't relax.
So let's change the world.
Yes.
Go on.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: Well,
actually, you beat me to it.
I was going to ask you about
sort of women bringing--
BILL NYE: Well, I was
brought up with this stuff.
But my mother would also tell
you-- keep in mind, everybody--
my mom would tell you when you
could wear a floor-length gown
and when you had to
wear a cocktail dress.
This was important to her.
DANA HAN-KLEIN:
Important, very important.
BILL NYE: White tie, black tie.
Does anybody know?
OK, so it's tie, women wear
cocktail dresses and the men
wear tuxedos with black ties.
And I recommend, guys,
you do what you want.
Course I recommend a bow tie.
But also, I think you
should wear a shirt.
DANA HAN-KLEIN:
Also sound advice.
BILL NYE: Yes.
I mean, there's
probably a few guys here
that could pull if off,
but I just think about it.
Then if it's white tie-- I was
brought up with this, you guys.
This is the same woman with
the doctorate, all right?
White tie, women
have to wear gloves,
and the gown has
to reach the floor.
And the guys have to wear
white ties, and shirts.
And shirts.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: Always shirts.
BILL NYE: Yeah, that's steady.
Yeah.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: Well,
clearly your mother's
an inspiring figure, an
academically impressive one
as well.
Who would you say are some
of your favorite women
scientists, contemporary
or otherwise?
BILL NYE: Well, are
there any members
of the Planetary Society here?
Right on.
Yes.
I love you, man.
So the Planetary Society
was started by Carl Sagan
back in 1980, as disco
music was giving way
to new wave and the important
work of Sid Vicious and the Sex
Pistols.
DANA HAN-KLEIN:
Punk is something
I'm sort of familiar with.
BILL NYE: You wouldn't
know it to look at you.
Surprise.
Shocking.
You knocked me over
with a feather.
No, it's all good.
But Carl Sagan started the
Planetary Society because he
and a couple other
guys-- Bruce Murray
was the head of the Jet
Propulsion Lab, JPL,
at that time, and
Lou Friedman was
an engineer there-- felt
that public interest in space
exploration was very high,
but government support of it
was not especially high.
And so I joined The
Planetary Society.
I was alive in 1980, people, OK?
I joined The Planetary
Society, and I've
been a member since 1980.
Then at Carl Sagan's
memorial service
I was asked to be on the board.
Then I became vice
president, which
is sort of a thing
you put on stationary.
And you guys know Neil
deGrasse Tyson, right?
So he's a dear friend of mine.
I spend a lot of
time with that guy.
I was at his place
for Thanksgiving.
Anyway, there's a lot of wine.
He's really into wine.
He's an expert.
I don't know if you guys
know this about him.
He's really quite
the oenologist.
So now I'm the CEO.
I just don't really
know what happened.
It was a party, and
he's pouring wine.
And so now I'm the CEO
of The Planetary Society,
and we work to advance space
science and exploration so
that citizens of earth will know
the cosmos our place within it.
So you should all join.
And we feel we're at
another crossroads, where
public interest in
space is very high
but government support
of it is not especially.
So one of the scientists
I admire a lot is Emily
Lackdawalla, , , who works
for The Planetary Society,
full disclosure.
And she is a geologist
who is just remarkable.
So she's on our website.
Check her out.
And then last night I was
on stage-- check me out.
I look like nobody.
I was on stage with Sue
Strecker and Abby Allwood.
And these are two--
let's see, one
is a-- she's not a geologist,
no, she's a geophysicist.
Yeah, she's a geophysicist.
And the other one's
not a geologist.
She is an astrobiologist.
And just an anecdote, if I may.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: Please.
BILL NYE: I was in a
meeting with Bruce Murray,
who was one of the guys who
started the Planetary Society.
And I said, well, we should
contact that guy in France.
You know, he's a geologist.
He's like, he's not a geologist.
He's a geochemist.
Whoa.
Whoa.
Sorry, man.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: An
important distinction.
BILL NYE: I guess.
Yeah.
So anyway, these women,
they have come of age
at a time when it was
really difficult to get
a PhD in geology.
And yet they're ruling
the freakin' world.
Well, it's actually Mars.
They're ruling Mars.
And it's cool.
So I admire those people.
But you want to get
to a point, I think,
where you're not that concerned,
is it a man or a woman.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: That's the goal.
BILL NYE: But we're
not to that point.
DANA HAN KLEIN:
We're working on it.
We're working on it.
BILL NYE: The longest journey.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: Well,
actually, speaking
of folks like Carl
Sagan and Neil
deGrasse Tyson and
yourself, and greats like,
let's say, Sir
David Attenborough.
BILL NYE: Sure.
Bill, David.
We're like that.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: Bill,
David, Neil, Carl.
BILL NYE: Carl, Bill.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: The Beatles.
BILL NYE: But the thing
about the Beatles,
they were all about the same age
and they were working together.
Yeah, but go ahead.
DANA HAN KLEIN: We'll call
you all scientific rock stars.
BILL NYE: Yes.
Check me out.
Here's my card.
DANA HAN KLEIN: You
should change it.
BILL NYE: Scientific rock star.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: CEO and
scientific rock star.
BILL NYE: Scientific rock star.
Or we'll put it the
other way around.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: Your choice.
But you were all sort of
masters at making science
accessible and entertaining.
BILL NYE: I love you, man.
Yes.
DANA HAN KLEIN: You
know, Carl Sagan did it
with his version of "Cosmos,"
and now Neil with his.
And you had "Bill
Nye the Science Guy"
and all your specials.
And you've just sort of been
at the forefront and sort
of leading the way with
this scientific edutainment.
BILL NYE: It's hip now.
DANA HAN-KLEIN:
It's hip, it's cool.
How do we make it
more hip and cool?
Because you have a
global audience now.
BILL NYE: Thanks to YouTube.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: Yeah, what's
up, our YouTube friends?
But we watched it on
VHS in a classroom.
BILL NYE: VHS, yes.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: It
was back in the day.
BILL NYE: Yes.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: Pre-DVD, folks.
But now you have this
sort of global audience.
So how do you
capitalize on that?
BILL NYE: Well,
briefly, I wrote a book.
That was the next step.
So just to talk
some more about me,
because it's is so interesting,
I was a kid show host.
And it was hard to get
respect as a kid show host.
You're a clown, you know,
you fall on your empennage.
DANA HAN KLEIN: Your
words, not mine.
BILL NYE: And you get
buckets of water to the face.
And by the way, if
you ever are going
to get a bucket of water thrown
on you, untuck your shirt.
You wouldn't think it wouldn't
make that much difference.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: Is this
for science reasons,
or is this just cold reasons?
Or a combo?
BILL NYE: Yeah, I mean,
one's a result of the other.
Yeah.
The cold water in
the crotch is--
DANA HAN-KLEIN:
Something to avoid.
BILL NYE: Yeah.
Your mind goes right to it.
But so it's taken me
years to get respected
in this other way, which
I think, to your point,
expands my influence.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: And sort
of leading off that,
do you-- again, you started
as a mechanical engineer.
Do you feel that now, because
you are in the public eye,
that you sort have to beef up
your knowledge of-- I mean,
you wrote an entire
book on evolution.
Clearly you felt you had to
beef up your knowledge on that.
BILL NYE: Oh, yeah.
I'm continually-- disclosure.
How many people read IFLS?
It's good, yeah.
But I read "Science News."
"Science News" is really good.
I mean, I don't get a
plug for that or anything.
What is your magazine about?
It's called "Science News."
How many people
read "Space News?"
Oh, man, that's a party.
You read "Space News?"
Yeah.
This week Eutelsat is going
to get MR Sat to reckon
a new K-band radio frequency.
Cool.
Whatever that is.
Yeah.
So I work hard to
stay current, I guess,
is the answer to your question.
But it's the process.
That's what I
emphasize to everybody.
It's the process, it's the way
we know that's so important.
And this is, frankly, what's
so troubling about the guy
in Kentucky, is he and
his followers, I mean,
they seem to be conventional
brains and everything.
But they use them in a
really different way.
And they just deny,
deny, deny everything
they can see in nature.
And I don't know if you
followed this fascinating aspect
of my life, but I sent him
a book, a copy of my book.
Here's hoping you have a
revelation, a real one.
DANA HAN KLEIN: Did you give
him some ice for that burn, too?
BILL NYE: No, no.
He doesn't take it that way.
No, instead he prays for me
and quotes New Testament stuff
that's supposed to enhance me.
And he's just checked out.
It's really amazing.
And it wouldn't
matter except he's
raising a generation of
kids that are checked out.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: And by
the way, just so you
know, as of at
least this morning,
or recently, you were the
number one best seller book
under creationism on Amazon.
BILL NYE: I know, I know.
Check me out.
DANA HAN-KLEIN:
Score one for Bill.
BILL NYE: But here's the thing.
There is a thing.
And you can hyphenate
that, the thing.
People are interested in it.
As of sort of day
before yesterday,
there's almost four million
YouTube views of that debate.
So why would four million
people watch this thing
that I figure guys and gals like
you kind of know the answer to?
, Except, like, it's fun to
watch a car wreck, I guess.
Or not fun, I didn't mean fun.
Fascinating.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: You
can't look away.
BILL NYE: You can't
look away, yeah.
So it really says that we
have something going on
in our society that
you wouldn't expect,
that people are still
interested in questioning
the fundamental idea in biology.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: But also
watching the debate, I think,
helped sort of as a platform
to-- if you ever do have
to have this conversation
with your friends or family
or something like that--it gives
you solid arguments to provide,
because of the rest of us
aren't necessarily experts
in evolution.
BILL NYE: Well, I spent
a little time, yeah.
DANA HAN KLEIN: Yeah.
Just a little more than
maybe some of the rest of us.
Not all of us.
But it gave sort of a
valuable way to be like,
well, no, look at the XYZ.
Dinosaurs.
Ark.
Ate everyone.
Wouldn't work.
BILL NYE: That's right.
So do you know that at
the creationism place
they have done-- no, I say that
because they call it a museum.
They do.
But there are no artifacts.
There's no thing.
When you go to museum
you expect to see--
what do you expect to see?
The Wright brothers
airplane or something.
Spirit of St. Louis.
The rock hammer that Lyell
used to discover deep time,
or I don't know.
But there's nothing
from the past.
It's all robots and
animatronic stuff.
And along with that is
this very, how to say,
logically complete
robo-dinosaur-- like I
think it's a
pachycephalasaurus, if you're
into it-- eating a
coconut, because they
were all vegetarians
until the fall,
until stuff went
wrong 6,000 years ago.
I know.
There you go.
She's speechless.
That's what I'm talking about.
DANA HAN-KLEIN:
That's-- I don't know.
That's hard to compete with.
But you did it.
Sounds like something out
of, like, a sci-fi movie.
BILL NYE: Exactly.
But so when you
bring kids there,
if you're a person who lives
in the Cincinnati area--
I don't know how many
people are from that area--
but you probably think of
Cincinnati as an eastern town
result of the steel industry.
And it is-- gosh, if you ever--
I don't work for Hilton, OK?
But the Netherland Hotel in
Cincinnati, it's amazing.
It's this Italian marble columns
in the lobby or atrium area.
And have you ever
seen "Citizen Kane,"
and they have the fireplace.
It's like, that's the fireplace.
It's like two stories high.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: The
exact fireplace?
BILL NYE: Wouldn't surprise me.
It was amazing.
Anyway, but across the river
from there is Kentucky.
And it's a whole nother
notherness on the other side.
And he calls it the
Creation Museum,
but there are no artifacts.
And another irony, the Creation
Museum is made of limestone
and built on limestone.
Kentucky-- you ever been
to Mammoth Cave-- no,
I mean the Mammoth Cave is
just amazing, spectacular place
in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
And they don't
really acknowledge
how it all got there.
It's really something.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: So they have a
theme, amusement park museum.
BILL NYE: Oh yeah,
they're trying
to build an amusement park.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: Yes.
That didn't quite--
BILL NYE: The Ark Park.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: Yes.
So-- terrible punnery.
BILL NYE: No, that's
what they called it.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: No, I know.
That's the worst part.
BILL NYE: By the way, at
least as of a few days ago,
they had not backed down.
To be an employee at
the new Ark Park, which
is to get tax breaks or
some sort of revenue stream
from the Commonwealth of
Kentucky for tourism--
in order to work at the
Ark Park, which is supposed
to be for tourism, you have to
write something about your walk
with Christ, and you
can't be homosexual.
You can't be gay to work there.
So that is against
the law of the US.
So we'll see what happens.
I don't know how that's
going to shake out.
But if you're into it, it's
like a cool thing to watch.
It's the legal system at work.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: Doing its job.
Well, clearly they've gone with
a sort of entertainment value
in their own direction.
But yours, I feel,
is more legitimate.
BILL NYE: Well, I'd
say it's more self--
DANA HAN-KLEIN: And at
least grounded in science.
Yes.
One thing I thought
that was great
that you did that sort of
distilled evolution down,
in addition to
writing this book that
was very fast and snappy and
great for the current age we're
in, is the emoji evolution.
BILL NYE: Emoji evolution.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: Emoji evolution.
And it was great,
and I thought it
was great sort of use of
current textual lingo iconery.
BILL NYE: Hey, what's
the plural of emoji?
Is it emoji?
DANA HAN KLEIN: I
think it's just emoji.
BILL NYE: Like deer or fish.
You can tell them apart.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: But do you find
that to be an effective method
of communication?
You know, I'm sure it got
hundreds and thousands of hits.
Do you think it's millions?
BILL NYE: Well, I
mean, it's cool.
So you guys, the
hardest thing for me
as an educator, the
thing that I work on,
is to work to get things
understandable in short things.
And grownups like me--
ah, these kids today.
Attention span is so short.
Dammit, when I was
young-- it's the same.
People are the same.
People used to just thumb
through the book, the magazine.
Now we do this about
the same speed.
So condensing it
is the challenge.
I always talk about
the discipline
in the vocabulary, DIV.
Gotta have that.
Can't define the
word with the word.
I mean, we all tend to do it.
Well, bats eco-locate.
So they use eco-location.
What?
You just said that.
And so you have to really
pay attention to the writing.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: And I
suppose a limited medium
like that sort of forces you.
Or--
BILL NYE: Get'er done.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: Exactly.
Or, you know, having the show
and communicating to a younger
audience forces you to--
BILL NYE: So fourth grade.
So we had these very
compelling studies
back in the 1990s
that 10 years old is
as old as you can be to get a
lifelong passion for science.
And it may be-- I mean,
I will claim anecdotally,
or in a related
story, it's as old
as you can be to get a
lifelong passion for anything.
What do you guys-- you
guys are all coders?
What do we do?
We're software designers?
We're artists?
You wanted to be an artist
before you were 10, right?
Or maybe it's 12.
But it ain't 17.
And so we aimed the show
at people in fourth grade,
at 10-year-olds.
It turns out to be a pretty
good grade for everybody.
It turns out to a very
good level for most people.
About half the
viewers were grownups.
DANA HAN KLEIN:
Maybe it was parents
watching with their kids.
BILL NYE: That's what it was.
Yes.
Yes.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: But it's clearly
an entertaining show for all
ages, then, as opposed to--
BILL NYE: It's got
to be funny, people.
If it's not funny,
just don't even bother.
No, really.
DANA HAN KLEIN:
Everyone quit now.
BILL NYE: No.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: I'm going
to switch gears completely.
I'm going to talk
about space more.
BILL NYE: We love space.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: Yes.
BILL NYE: I'm kooky for space.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: Yes.
Space is awesome.
And I think last
time you were here
you said, if you guys
all weren't here,
where would you be?
SpaceX.
We just invested in SpaceX.
BILL NYE: No, I
said that at lunch.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: Yes.
BILL NYE: There's like two--
when young engineers coming out
of school, there's like two
places you want to go right
now, Google or SpaceX, right?
How about Microsoft?
This is recorded, right?
DANA HAN-KLEIN: Yep.
What's up, buddies?
BILL NYE: I mean,
I'm not joking,
but now I will
tell it as a joke.
Some of my best friends
work at Microsoft.
I lived in Seattle,
and the most people,
they're either at
Boeing or Microsoft.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: So with
all love to Microsoft--
BILL NYE: But I got a laugh.
It got a laugh.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: It's the
right audience for it.
So we believe in
SpaceX, and we've
contributed a sizable
amount of funding to them.
If you were in charge,
where are you going with it?
BILL NYE: If I'm
in charge, there's
two things we're going to do.
This is our mission is
to send humans to Mars
and to look for signs of
life in the solar system.
To look for signs
of life writ large,
but the solar system especially.
So I have very
good relationships
with people at the
European Space Agency,
very cool guys and gals who
work at the Japanese Aerospace
Exploration Agency, JAXA.
Have a pretty close friend who
works at ISRO, Indian Space
Research Organization.
But NASA is still the
biggest space agency
in the world, still
the biggest deal.
And as they like to say,
don't come running to me.
Russian space agency,
Roscosmos now-- used
to be Soviet Space--
has landed on Venus,
has put balloons in
the clouds of Venus.
They made the first robotic
sample return mission
from the moon.
You may not know this.
Just a few months after the
humans walked on the moon,
the Soviet Union brought back
rocks by robot from the moon.
They did all that, but
they're 0 for 21 at Mars.
Landing on Mars is
really difficult.
There's just some
physics problems
that are hard to solve.
They're not impossible,
there just difficult.
So it's been estimated that
what our very best rovers do--
Mars rovers-- do in a week a
human geologist could do in
about a minute.
So if you could
get a human there
you could really
get something done.
And you guys, I
just try to remind
everybody what's at stake here.
If we found evidence of life
on Mars, or evidence of life
on Europa-- Europa is
the moon of Jupiter
that has twice as much seawater,
or maybe more than that times
as much seawater as the earth.
More than that times, yes.
More than twice as much
seawater as the earth.
If we found living things
there, it would change history.
It would revolutionize the
way everybody in the world
thinks about his or her place in
space, as they like to call it.
And so this is a
very small investment
for robotic exploration.
So it's Planetary Society.
Did I mention The
Planetary Society?
Did I say that earlier?
Yeah.
We want one and a half
billion dollars a year
at NASA for planetary
exploration.
And then we would like the human
space flight people to focus
on sending people to Mars.
What's happened is, people in
this congressional district,
that congressional district,
they want their space thing
done, they want
their rocket built,
they want their capsule built.
And then it just
gets to be diffused.
It's about building hardware
instead of going someplace
and doing something.
So the NASA budget during
the Apollo era was almost 10%
of the federal budget.
Now it's 0.4%.
And then planetary science
is in turn 9% of that.
So less than .04% of
the federal budget
goes to planetary exploration.
And that is yet where we make
all the crazy discoveries.
And this is the places where
we would, dare I say it,
change the world.
And so we advocate for that.
But if we were to put humans
on Mars and find life,
it would be-- I mean,
I say it all the time,
we would still drive
on the right in the US,
like, let's not
change everything.
But just think how your
life would be different
if we didn't know the
earth went around the sun,
if we didn't know that
the moon had craters.
These are Copernicus
and Galileo.
These discoveries in
astronomy changed history,
changed all of humankind.
Now we take out a phone,
if it doesn't tell you
which side of the street
you're on, this sucks, man.
This weather report
is off 10 minutes.
I have an app that
tells you, says
it's gonna rain in 18 minutes.
What the--?
And it's right.
It's cool.
So all that comes from space.
That's what I'm saying.
No, without space exploration
you wouldn't have that stuff.
And so, like I'm
telling you, did
you hear about Google Earth?
Have you heard about this?
Sorry.
Go ahead.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: OK.
I'm going to get a little
ridiculous with space now.
BILL NYE: Oh, bring it on.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: Yes.
This is going to go a little
sci fi, a little, what
does Bill Nye think about?
What is a technology
that you would
like to see in your lifetime
that hasn't been invented yet,
without the
constraints of realism?
Something like the holodeck,
like a light saver.
Do you want a hoverboard?
Anything you want.
BILL NYE: Really?
DANA HAN-KLEIN: Yeah.
Let's go for it.
Why not?
Not saying we're going
to make it for you.
BILL NYE: If what I
really want got recorded--
DANA HAN-KLEIN:
Within PG reason.
BILL NYE: --it
would end my career.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: Within
YouTube broadcastable reason.
BILL NYE: There's two
things that I really
want somebody to figure out,
and these are not easy things.
The better battery.
Or I'm calling it a battery--
better electrical storage
system.
You guys at Google, how
much electricity do you use?
Most of the US's output.
Like enormous, right?
DANA HAN-KLEIN: I'm not going
to take responsibility for it,
but probably.
BILL NYE: But it's an enormous
amount of electricity,
which we all benefit from.
If I'm going to use
electricity, it's
a fabulous thing to use-- I
mean, there's nothing better.
A better battery would
change the world.
And then if you guys, if
somebody could come up
with a way to desalinate
seawater much more economically
than we can right now, that
would just be freaking cool.
These are really difficult
engineering problems, I think,
but what's not to love
about engineering problems?
As I say, engineers use science,
solve problems and make things.
That's our business people.
The world owes us a living.
No, whatever.
I'm kidding, kidding, kidding.
So but as far as the
extraordinary space stuff,
I would love to be able to fly
in orbit at a reasonable cost
safely.
So have you heard
about Mars One?
People claim they want
to go to Mars one way.
I don't want to go one way.
I want to come back.
I mean, I think that's sort
of part of the-- if I'm going
to sign on, I'd like--
DANA HAN-KLEIN: You want
the option of returning.
Yeah.
Reasonable.
BILL NYE: Yeah.
I want also a pretty solid
plan, not just the option, not
just a checkbox.
DANA HAN-KLEIN:
Just drop you there.
Good luck.
BILL NYE: So that would be cool.
But we still, we're
constrained by physics.
To get into orbit still right
now takes a lot of energy.
I'm not saying it can't be done.
The costs can't be lowered,
but it does take energy.
And you've got to do that
right now by burning something.
You know, space elevator.
After we invent nanotubes.
Cool.
You guys use nanotubes that
are 50 nanometers long?
We need them like
50 kilometers long.
Then we'll take a meeting.
So I'm not saying it can't be
done, but it's a long way off.
So yeah, those things.
But is that short term?
The other thing The
Planetary Society's involved
is solar sailing.
So I don't know how much
physics you're into,
but it is a surprising result
that light, although it
has no mass, has momentum.
Photons have momentum.
So if you have a
spacecraft out there
in the icy blackness of space
and sunlight's falling on it,
it gets a push, a very
gentle, gentle push.
But unlike a chemical
rocket, the push
is there all the
time, day and night.
Wait, there's no night.
Ha ha!
So The Planetary Society,
this goes back to Carl Sagan.
Carl Sagan talked romantically
about a solar sail mission
to catch up with Comet Holley.
If you know Comet
Holley, it used
to be called Halley's Comet.
But they found people-- they,
people from the Holley family
stepped forward and said,
we pronounce it Holley, not
Halley.
But I don't know if you know
"Rock Around the Clock,"
Bill Haley and the Comets.
They're not going
to change that, OK?
It's Comet Holley.
Let's see, Bill and
the Comet Holleys.
That's not going to happen.
So I guess that's
an older reference.
So it's a rock and
roll song, you guys.
Sorry.
Anyway, that
mission got canceled
when the space shuttle was
decided to be built instead.
And it was disappointing.
Nobody caught up
with Comet Holley.
And people from time to
time build solar sails.
And the last really cool
one was IKAROS, which was--
is anybody Japanese
here, like from Japan?
So the Japanese space
agency always creates
an English acronym.
It's like, OK, cool.
So IKAROS means interplanetary
kite-craft acceleration.
So it's cool.
I mean, it's cool.
So it was a good solar sail.
But it was tested and it worked.
But now it's in this really
long orbit around the sun.
It's not really flying a useful
or intended mission right now.
But The Planetary Society--
did I mention them?
We're building our
own solar sail.
It's built.
Yesterday it got put
in the ultrasat, which
is a combination
of small satellites
that will launch the
first week of May.
If you've got
nothing to do, we'll
see you at Cape Canaveral.
It's gonna be crazy.
So this thing is
a CubeSat, so it's
10 centimeters by 10
centimeters by 30 centimeters.
This is a NASA standard.
And the sails, which are made
of this crazy, shiny mylar--
brrrrr, they kind of--
except you're in space,
so it just goes-- they
will be pushed by the sun.
So this thing is this big,
and the sails are a little bit
bigger than this
first green patch
here, just a little
bit bigger than that
when they are fully deployed.
And so CubeSats are a
very popular standard.
You can go to websites and
buy solar panels and stuff.
And this thing was
built by people
around the world, our
46,000 members who
just think it's cool.
And we're going to try
this, and it would greatly
lower the cost of
many, many missions.
And it would be part of the word
that everybody that everybody
loves now is
democratizing space,
where small organizations,
universities and so on,
could participate in
interplanetary missions or SIS
lunar, from here to the
moon kind of missions.
Mission is jargon
for spaceship thing,
spaceship things between
here and Venus or Mars.
And as the saying goes, you
can trade money for time.
If you have time, the solar
sail will take you anywhere.
And so people sit around--
what we need, OK, we're
going to build a
solar sail and then
we're going to put
a laser on the moon.
And then we're going to shoot
at the solar sail for 10,000
years.
And it will go to
Proxima Centauri.
It's gonna be brilliant.
But it's the only technology
that anybody's thought of
to go to another star system.
Just, you know, if
you get around to it.
10,000 years.
Let's see, the Roman
Empire was pretty good.
Went 750, like 800 years?
DANA HAN-KLEIN:
They had a good run.
BILL NYE: A good run.
So we need to go 10 times that
long with an electronic thing
on the far side of the moon.
OK.
All right.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: Clearly
there's an impetus out there
to come up with a
better plan, possibly.
BILL NYE: That's right.
Yes.
DANA HAN KLEIN:
Let's work on that.
BILL NYE: But there's two
questions that get us all.
Where did we come from, and
are we alone in the universe?
And if you meet
somebody who says,
oh, I've never wondered that.
They're lying.
Of course.
Come on.
Of course you have.
Are we alone?
That's why I want to
go to Mars and see.
Does it have DNA or
the Martian microbes?
Are they like us?
Are they some other alien?
Ah, ha ha ha.
Sorry.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: I was gonna
say, do they [INAUDIBLE]?
BILL NYE: That's right.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: So let's say
someday, you're still around,
we're all still around,
humankind survives,
and for whatever reason we meet
maybe not cellular alien life,
but full formed alien life, and
whatever hypothetical reason,
we are able to communicate.
What would you say to them,
and conversely, what would you
want them to say to you?
BILL NYE: Do you have any food?
Sorry, that was my inner dog.
It was just, when I meet dogs
that's what it seems like
they're-- are you another dog?
Do you have any food?
So I guess I would say, what
are you passionate about?
Why are you here?
We came here because
we just wanted
to see what was going on.
What are you doing here?
I guess that would
be the question.
And they might say, well, we
were just wandering around.
And then, you know, in some
science fiction stories--
DANA HAN-KLEIN: [INAUDIBLE].
BILL NYE: Right.
We wanted to see if the
spaceship would work.
Actually, we didn't
mean to come here.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: Do
you have directions?
That's the real question.
BILL NYE: Well, let
me get out my phone.
So I grew up with a
lot of science fiction.
And people who are members
of The Planetary Society
grew up with science fiction.
There's a tremendous
amount of crossover
between science fiction
people and real space people.
But right now-- I guess it's
not new-- is this apocalyptic,
everything is going to suck
in the future science fiction.
And what is so compelling
to me about "Star Trek" is
it's this optimistic view,
that the problems are solved,
that people just get along.
And they don't have
material problems.
They have just human
to human problems.
And I mean, you could say the
same is true in Shakespeare.
They're not worried
about food and shelter.
There's who said what to whom.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: No impending
Romulan attack in Shakespeare.
BILL NYE: Well, yeah.
Right.
There's no Romulans
in Shakespeare.
That was a great episode.
It was really good.
What's the title of that one?
Oh, shoot.
What's the title of the
first Romulan episode?
Oh well, I failed.
But anyway, I was sitting there
with some other Googlians--
what are they called?
Googlians?
DANA HAN-KLEIN: Googlers?
BILL NYE: Googlers.
Googlists.
And they had never
seen "The City
on the Edge of
Forever," which is
the generally regarded as
the best original "Star Trek"
episode.
And it's about people.
With all the technology that
goes on, it's about people.
So that's still
what interests us.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: I think that's
part of the reason a lot
of people-- the
actual space programs,
yes-- but that sort of
surge of "Star Trek" on TV
and "Star Wars" in
the '70s and '80s.
I think it keeps
people inspired.
But there's also
the grounded science
that people sort of strive to
achieve the things that they
see in science fiction.
BILL NYE: Technetic
field, subspace.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: I think
QuickTime came about
because of a "Star Trek"
episode, is my understanding,
the ability to play
multiple audio streams.
So people are inspired
by stuff like that.
BILL NYE: We are.
It's about your imagination.
I mean, I'm not telling
you guys anything.
The whole place is imagination.
DANA HAN-KLEIN:
So I think we are
going to take some questions.
If folks would line up,
we have a microphone.
BILL NYE: Oh, wow.
I love you guys.
Thanks for coming,
everybody, by the way.
Thank you.
Lead on.
Dana, lead on.
AUDIENCE: Great.
My question is about
artificial intelligence.
In recent news reports
Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk
have mentioned their
thoughts about it.
I wonder if you could
speak about yours,
and especially how it
relates to evolution.
BILL NYE: So everybody's
concerned about the singularity
when computers will
be as smart as humans,
able to not only win at
"Jeopardy," but other stuff.
And I'm all for it, you guys.
And you all may be right
that when a computer is built
that's every bit as screwed
up as a human brain,
it'll be really great.
But 20%, a fifth of
the people on earth,
have no electricity, have
never made a phone call.
I'm not talking about never
made a cellphone call.
Never made a phone
call of any kind.
And the thing I
always wonder about in
these apocalyptic artificial
intelligence scenarios,
which Elon Musk and
Stephen Hawking-- this will
be the end of humankind, when
humans build a computer smarter
than we are.
What if they stop
shoveling the coal
and the electricity shuts off?
What are these
machines going to do?
They'll build their
own nuclear reactors
and force you to feed
them electricity.
OK.
We'll see.
So I just don't think
it's as apocalyptic
as those guys assert.
But I can easily
imagine a situation
where we all get increasingly
dependent on something
that controls our sewer
systems, our electrical grid,
our education system.
So many people get classes,
for example, electronically.
And everything falls apart.
That I can easily imagine.
But I think it's not the same
as having the robots take over.
That's my feeling on it.
Thank you.
It's a cool question.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: It's
a relief to know.
BILL NYE: Well,
but I may be wrong.
I mean, I'm the first guy
to say I may be wrong.
Maybe it will be the
end of the world.
So did you ever see-- you guys
are too young-- "Colossus:
The Forbin Project?"
So they have computers--
because of the danger of humans
screwing up and killing
everyone with nuclear weapons
accidentally launched,
they're going to have
a computer control it all.
Then the Soviet Union
has the same deal.
Oh, I know.
We'll hook them together.
And they can be in
touch to prevent
a worldwide nuclear catastrophe.
But you know, stuff goes wrong.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: As it does.
BILL NYE: Yeah.
I mean, you get
two supercomputers
controlling nuclear weapons.
Could've seen that coming.
That's all I'm saying.
Yes.
Sorry.
AUDIENCE: My name's Harrison
and I'm super nervous right now.
BILL NYE: Bring it on, Harris.
That's so flattering, man.
Thank you.
I'm just some guy.
AUDIENCE: So recently Ted
Cruz became the chairman
for the Subcommittee on Space,
Science, and Competitiveness.
And he's habitually tried
to cut funding to NASA.
And this past week the Senate
voted on whether or not
they thought climate
change is a hoax.
And overwhelmingly they said
that it wasn't, but they
came back and said, we can't
be so arrogant to think
that it's caused by humans.
So in your opinion,
what would you say
is the best way to influence
policymakers to kind
of embrace science more?
BILL NYE: OK.
First of all, everybody,
you have to vote.
All right?
You can run around, well,
my vote doesn't count,
it's just one vote.
I'm not going to vote.
It's all you get.
And for those of you
who don't want to vote,
would you just shut up
and let the rest of us
do what little what we can.
So voting is usually popular.
And then these people
really respond to letters.
And emails are effective,
but the letters
are really-- I've
been several times
to the Senate
Acceptance Office, which
is like an airstream
trailer-- it iis-- right
by the US Capitol.
And they take the
letters and they
take them to
someplace in Maryland
and irradiate them to kill any
anthrax and stuff like that.
But they open every one of them.
And so if you write to
those guys, they'll get it.
But we have Jim
Inhofe, James Inhofe,
who's written a book saying
climate change is a hoax,
as the head of the
Senate committee.
Oh, god.
Dude.
And so we have to--
it's going to be
a near-run thing for humankind.
I say this all the time.
If United States were leading
the world in climate change,
there would not be this
whining about, well,
India's burning more coal than
they were allowed according
to the 1990 of the thing with
the stuff in paragraph seven.
None of that would matter if the
US were out in front on this.
So we gotta stay optimistic,
and just write letters and vote
to influence those people.
And let us, in California,
for example, lead the way.
We can pass laws
locally that will
be a model for the
rest of the country.
You know, whatever
California does
with cars everybody follows.
People in Ohio drive Futuras--
what else do we drive?
Malibus?
They drive places with
California place names
because California has this
reputation of not just cars,
but being, like,
free, like, wild.
So if we--
DANA HAN-KLEIN:
Mother earth, man.
BILL NYE: That's right.
If we pass local laws
here, we will lead the way.
So let's do all that.
Let's do everything all at once.
Did I mentioned
the better battery
and desalination at
extremely low cost?
That's a great question.
AUDIENCE: Science education is
something that's clearly tricky
and that you've kind of set
the bar on in a lot of ways.
So how can the average person
be a more effective advocate
of science and
science education?
BILL NYE: Do everything.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: All at once.
BILL NYE: All at once.
Yeah, exactly.
Just embrace science.
And if you meet students that
have questions, if you can,
take time to answer them.
And of course don't
be a know-it-all.
I mean, it's easy to say.
Hard for me.
I kid.
I kid.
But embrace students, I guess.
We were all young once,
and the young people today
are the future.
And we want to encourage them.
And you know, another
thing, you guys--
and you guys were probably
all these people--
but there's a big emphasis,
often, on nowadays
what's called gifted kids.
You guys are probably
all gifted kids.
Gifted kids are
going to be fine.
It's everybody.
We want to get
everybody to embrace
scientific method
and these discoveries
that our ancestors made,
and this process by which we
know nature.
So I would say celebrate
it in everything you do.
Now I'm a bit of a maker,
gearhead, tinkerer.
I got a feeling the
people in this room
sort of kick my ass at that.
But it is fun.
I have solar panels on my house.
It's just fun to get an
electric bill for $10.
It's just fun.
I mean, whether you hate
it or not, it's just fun.
So try stuff like that,
and you get your neighbors
talking about it.
And then you can engage people.
So I'm thinking out loud, man.
It's a tough question.
I don't have an easy answer.
The longest journey,
single step.
Yes.
No, it does.
AUDIENCE: Hello, Bill Nye.
My name is Tien.
My question is, do you think
that mankind will eventually
move to space, where kids
are born and raised in space?
And if so, how much longer
do you think it will take?
BILL NYE: Now when you say
mankind, you mean humankind.
I'm looking at you.
I don't know you, but I think
you want to go humankind.
So this is a great question.
It leads to a bigger, higher
idea that I'm all into right
now.
We grew up-- especially in the
US, we grew up with this idea
that you just keep going.
You just keep moving.
In fact, humankind--
everybody's from East Africa.
Everybody.
Let's go, we'll
go to Mesopotamia.
Hey, we found some plants
that grow every year.
Let's eat those.
Cool.
Wheat and corn and
all this stuff.
OK.
Cool.
We'll stay here for awhile.
It's nice here, but
I'm going to go.
I hate you.
I'm going east.
And then people
go across Eurasia,
and they end up in India.
They get so out of hand they
end up in Alaska and then all
down North America, kicking
mammal butt all the way down,
eating everything.
But we're not going to be
able to do that forever.
We're going to run out of earth.
And so I think
it's going to take
a change in our world view.
Living and dying in space
sounds cool and romantic and
consistent with this,
let's spread out,
let's take over the
world, the universe,
I mean the solar system.
I think it's really difficult.
I mean, I'll give
you that humans
live in extraordinary places.
But everywhere-- I
mean, by our standards
here in northern California.
Does everybody know the
motto of California?
The state motto, my
fellow Californians?
DANA HAN-KLEIN: Eureka.
BILL NYE: Eureka.
Yeah, I found it.
So these European guys
come over the hill.
Orange trees are like weeds and
the salmon are in the river.
They're like in the
Sacramento River like this.
It's all the protein
you'd ever want, right?
And it's so out of hand.
In California the
rocks are made of gold.
The thing is so crazy.
But in zero gravity
on Mars, places
like that, it's not like that.
Like when you open the
spacecraft door on Mars,
you're going to
notice right away.
Really cold, and
you can't breathe.
You'll notice that, right?
That not breathing part.
You'll really be
focused on that.
So it sounds
romantic, but I think
what our future is going to
be is exploring these places,
but nurturing, taking care
of ecosystems here on earth.
This could be Bill the Hippie
talking, who's lost his way,
is an old curmudgeon.
But living in space and having
babies in space-- making
babies, I think,
is probably cool.
But having babies--
you know, there
was a couple on
the space shuttle,
and NASA's all, no comment.
You've got to think, though.
You've got to think.
DANA HAN-KLEIN:
Off-the-record experiments.
BILL NYE: So far.
But maybe there'll be a "now
it can be told" someday,
some book.
And I imagine there's
some complexities.
I've spent a lot
of time imagining.
DANA HAN-KLEIN:
But back to humans.
BILL NYE: But I think it's
a lot harder than it looks.
It is a cool thing to
ponder, what would it
be like to live in space?
And I'll just tell you from
a science fiction standpoint,
"2001" is still a
cool movie where
they create a little bit
of artificial gravity.
When we go to Mars, I think
we're going to need to do that.
Well, you can take
pills and everything
and exercise eight hours a day.
I know, but I think we're
going to want to have something
that spins sooner or later.
It's a great question.
I don't know, man.
Wo-man.
AUDIENCE: Thank you.
BILL NYE: Tien, right?
I don't know, Tien.
Yes.
MALE SPEAKER: So
we have a question
from Googlers on
the live stream.
Kathleen is
wondering, as a child
I participated in Mad
Science and really enjoyed
that experience, but didn't
find any programs like this
after middle school years.
What are some ways
you think science
can gain more participation
from high schoolers and beyond?
BILL NYE: You at Google
ought to have a program, man.
I don't know, except
I do a job every year
for Toshiba and the National
Science Teachers Association.
I'm not saying
this is a panacea.
This is something
to think about.
It's a scholarship program
called ExploraVision
where you have to come up
with an idea for an invention
that you think will come into
existence in the next 20 years.
And what's cool about it,
there are high school awards
akin to the Intel
Science Awards and so on.
But it starts in kindergarten.
So a program like
Mad Science that
starts in kindergarten
through second grade,
then third through fifth, and
sixth through eighth, and then
high school, it's consistent
all the way through.
So I guess here's
what I think, is
we should find ways to build
on existing things like Mad
Science.
And I guess I would call on
a corporation like Google
to lead the way.
I mean, heck, I had
sushi in the lunchroom
today, for crying out loud.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: In a boat?
BILL NYE: In a boat.
Yes, a miniature boat.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: The sushi was
in a boat, not the people.
BILL NYE: Yeah.
Yeah, we weren't in a boat.
No, it was solid ground.
Yeah.
I mean, I get a little dizzy,
but it wasn't in a boat.
But there's a miniature
boat on the table
with a miniature fishing net
with miniature fishing weights.
It was cool.
It was really cool,
and thank you.
Really appreciate it.
It was cool.
And what do you do
now when someone
serves you a meal like
that, what do you do?
Take a picture.
I did.
I took a picture.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: You
gotta keep hip, you know.
BILL NYE: Yeah,
well, I do my best.
I do my best.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: But I think
that people like yourself,
we're grateful for you
coming to places like Google.
BILL NYE: Well, thank
you for inviting me.
I love you guys.
It's so great.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: Speaking
about the joys of education,
so I have two final questions.
BILL NYE: Two final questions.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: You talk
about how we all have
30,000 or so days on earth.
BILL NYE: Yeah.
Oh, man.
You read the book.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: I read the book.
What do you want your
legacy from that to be?
Do you want it to be
combating climate change, or--
BILL NYE: Yeah.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: OK.
All right.
Answered.
BILL NYE: I want you guys
to cure cancer, I mean,
at some reasonable level.
I don't think you can
cure every cancer.
There's some failure
modes out there.
And then I'd like you to invent
a better battery, the water
desalinization.
I would like you to raise
the standard of living
of women and girls.
And the way to do that
is through education
so that the human population
naturally starts to go down.
And you guys, I mean,
this is so sweet.
Anyway, we're all playing
the hand we're dealt, right?
So I was born at a
time, in the 1950s,
and one of the things
that's very troubling when
you get to be my
age is you realize
that you're going to die.
I went through many
years pretty sure
that everybody else was getting
older and was going to die,
but I was fine.
But is anybody familiar
with the game of rugby?
Rugby football?
Yeah, so unlike US
football-- which we can all
have a whole nother discussion
about whatever they're
doing-- but can't throw
the ball forward in rugby.
So I often think of
this metaphor as,
what you do is you
run with the ball.
You try to get as many defenders
to come after you as possible,
and then throw it to
the next guy in the line
so that he's got an open field
and can advance the ball.
So I'm doing my best
to throw the ball
of scientific discovery and
understanding to you guys
so that you can advance
it down the field of life.
Wow, man.
And with that I
just have to add,
as a guy who got a job at
Boeing out of engineering school
and lived in Seattle for 26
years, I just have to say,
go Seahawks.
I'm sorry, people.
So did you see the game?
You don't have to know anything
about-- what is going on?
DANA HAN-KLEIN: Some
sloppy football.
Some sloppy football.
BILL NYE: 19 to nothing, and the
guy, I'll throw it like this.
And some guy catches it.
And we're going to kick a
field goal like Charlie Brown
and Lucy.
And then no, we're
going to-- what?
That's not fair.
Well, I'm sorry.
And then how many people
have ever caught an onside
kick ever in foot-- ever?
Then they did that too.
It was a cool game, you guys.
You can hate football,
you can hate me,
you can hate everything.
But it really was exciting.
And I know the Packers--
it's a team from-- there's
a team from Wisconsin.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: They
play American football.
BILL NYE: Named after
guys who slaughter meat,
the Green Bay meat packers.
That's what it came from.
They have a huge franchise.
But the kooky little
backwater Seattle Seahawks
beat them in crazy fashion,
and it was exciting.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: I don't know if
it's fair to call the Seahawks
backwater anymore.
They're pretty successful now.
BILL NYE: There's a company
called Microsoft up there.
You guys, I just want to remind
you as an old Boeing employee,
airplanes are big and
they cost a lot of money.
At least when I worked
there, the Boeing
payroll in the Seattle
area, in King County,
Boeing payroll was
bigger than Microsoft.
Not the Boeing profit, but
it's sobering to think.
I mean.
I love my software as
much as the next guy.
But big things that do
stuff are cool also.
Well, you guys,
thank you so much.
Is it time to wrap and
go sit and sign books?
DANA HAN KLEIN:
I think so, yeah.
BILL NYE: Thank you so much.
DANA HAN-KLEIN: Thank you
so much for being here.
