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confusedtree: deathbydestiny: bradofarrell: This year at E3 during the Xbox panel during a scripted “trash talk” bit someone made a scripted rape joke (male gamer to girl gamer who sucks at a game: “just wait, it’ll all be over soon.”) and then they acted like it wasn’t a big deal and then they released an expensive, anti-consumer (DRM on physical games) piece of hardware. And then Sony just released the PS4 which is just the PS3 but better graphics and $100 cheaper than the Xbox. So THAT happened. But then Nintendo just quietly released a bunch of great looking sequels for all of it’s major franchises (Mario, Pikmin, Donkey Kong, and Smash Bros.) and every single one of those games interestingly features playable female characters who haven’t been seen in decades like Dixie Kong and Princess Peach - and Pikmin now has a new female hero. One of my favorite things about Peach in the new Mario game is that one of the power ups is a literal “cat suit” and Peach’s “cat suit” doesn’t sexualize her at ALL. You can’t even see her boobs. She just looks like she’s wearing over-sized footie pajamas it’s so cute. Also they added a pink letter to the Mario logo just to accommodate Peach’s re-inclusion into the franchise as a character with actual agency! So at the end of the presentation they tell you to go to the Smash Bros website to find out about new characters. And then they announced this character, Wii Fit Trainer, on the site. And in an interview the director said he gets thousands of requests for almost every video game character under the sun and he’s gotten absolutely zero requests for this character and he put her in the game to be funny and defy fan expectation. This character is literally “hey fuck you we’re the ones making the games around here, and we’ll be goofy and funny if we want to and also check it out another female character in Smash.” Also the inclusion of the Animal Crossing villager is interesting because Animal Crossing is VERY popular with girls and even though the villager is male I’m 100% certain his alternate costumes will include the girl default villager character. So that’s neat. The three Smash characters they announced were two girl(ish) characters from two girl(ish) games and then Mega Man. Also in the new Animal Crossing game boys are allowed to cross dress and all of the animals are explicitly genderqueer in the dialog. Characters say stuff like “Boys can ware make up if they want to, I mean, it’s 2013, who cares?” and just today a jock rhino was looking deeply into my eyes and asking me to hike a football and I asked him if he loved me (which was one of the option out of other options about sports) and he was like “Oh I guess a lot can happen when you look into someone else’s eyes like that, huh?” He didn’t even care that we’re both guys. Also in the new Pokemon game you can be black. Basically what I’m saying is Nintendo is quietly and systematically making their games more socially progressive and Microsoft made a rape joke and then said “what? it was a joke.” This is filled with nothing but falsehoods. Dixie Kong has been in every multi character DK game since her debut, there was never a “rape” joke made at any Microsoft panel, and Princess Peach has been in EVERY SINGLE MARIO GAME SINCE HER DEBUT. Get the facts you fucking morons, because im getting sick and tired of seeing you try to shove your morals down gamers’ throats. Its fucking sickening.  Okay but Dixie hasn’t been a playable character in a Donkey Kong game since Donkey Kong Country 3 and that was released in1996 Yes it very much was a rape joke, you’re just an apologist Princess Peach has only been a playable character in a Mario adventure (as opposed to Tennis, MarioKart, etc.) a handful of times? Like, Super Mario Bros 2, Paper Mario, and Super Princess Peach, a game which had its own problems regarding gender norms and in general she hasn’t had a lot of agency especially in recent years Why on earth is the concept of being happy about game devs not being shitty people sickening to you? Are you that unpleasant My favorite video game character (ever) is a female character from Nintendo: Samus Aran from the game series Metroid (pictured in the top picture to the left). I’ve always liked how Ninetendo made her into such an epic video game character. She’s smart, incredibly strong and agile, has an awesome suit with a freakin arm cannon, killer instincts, and was incredibly courageous. I also liked how they didn’t sexualize her…most of the time. While it’s true that 99.99% of the time she was in her power or zero suit, the latter a sort of tight fitting jumpsuit she used when not in her armor, the other 0.01% they made the player very aware that she was in fact a female. This came in the form of images of her without her power suit (as she was rarely seen without it in earlier games) that would be featured as a reward at the end of the game if you accomplished certain goals. Sometimes it would just be her with her helmet off, other times she would be in some two piece type clothing (idk what to call it, just google it and you’ll see what I’m talking about). It was never crazy over the top but it was still there. So just be wary when praising Nintendo for embracing nonsexualized female characters. They still do it, albeit not nearly as often as other developers. Also it’s important to remember that games like Mario and Super Smash Bros are geared towards a much broader audience that includes little kids so in those games they’re not likely to do anything too explicit. However, with games like Metroid which is geared towards a more mature audience, it’s not surprising to see a scantly clad female character.
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confusedtree: deathbydestiny: bradofarrell: This year at E3 during the Xbox panel during a scripted “trash talk” bit someone made a scripted rape joke (male gamer to girl gamer who sucks at a game: “just wait, it’ll all be over soon.”) and then they acted like it wasn’t a big deal and then they released an expensive, anti-consumer (DRM on physical games) piece of hardware. And then Sony just released the PS4 which is just the PS3 but better graphics and $100 cheaper than the Xbox. So THAT happened. But then Nintendo just quietly released a bunch of great looking sequels for all of it’s major franchises (Mario, Pikmin, Donkey Kong, and Smash Bros.) and every single one of those games interestingly features playable female characters who haven’t been seen in decades like Dixie Kong and Princess Peach - and Pikmin now has a new female hero. One of my favorite things about Peach in the new Mario game is that one of the power ups is a literal “cat suit” and Peach’s “cat suit” doesn’t sexualize her at ALL. You can’t even see her boobs. She just looks like she’s wearing over-sized footie pajamas it’s so cute. Also they added a pink letter to the Mario logo just to accommodate Peach’s re-inclusion into the franchise as a character with actual agency! So at the end of the presentation they tell you to go to the Smash Bros website to find out about new characters. And then they announced this character, Wii Fit Trainer, on the site. And in an interview the director said he gets thousands of requests for almost every video game character under the sun and he’s gotten absolutely zero requests for this character and he put her in the game to be funny and defy fan expectation. This character is literally “hey fuck you we’re the ones making the games around here, and we’ll be goofy and funny if we want to and also check it out another female character in Smash.” Also the inclusion of the Animal Crossing villager is interesting because Animal Crossing is VERY popular with girls and even though the villager is male I’m 100% certain his alternate costumes will include the girl default villager character. So that’s neat. The three Smash characters they announced were two girl(ish) characters from two girl(ish) games and then Mega Man. Also in the new Animal Crossing game boys are allowed to cross dress and all of the animals are explicitly genderqueer in the dialog. Characters say stuff like “Boys can ware make up if they want to, I mean, it’s 2013, who cares?” and just today a jock rhino was looking deeply into my eyes and asking me to hike a football and I asked him if he loved me (which was one of the option out of other options about sports) and he was like “Oh I guess a lot can happen when you look into someone else’s eyes like that, huh?” He didn’t even care that we’re both guys. Also in the new Pokemon game you can be black. Basically what I’m saying is Nintendo is quietly and systematically making their games more socially progressive and Microsoft made a rape joke and then said “what? it was a joke.” This is filled with nothing but falsehoods. Dixie Kong has been in every multi character DK game since her debut, there was never a “rape” joke made at any Microsoft panel, and Princess Peach has been in EVERY SINGLE MARIO GAME SINCE HER DEBUT. Get the facts you fucking morons, because im getting sick and tired of seeing you try to shove your morals down gamers’ throats. Its fucking sickening.  Okay but Dixie hasn’t been a playable character in a Donkey Kong game since Donkey Kong Country 3 and that was released in1996 Yes it very much was a rape joke, you’re just an apologist Princess Peach has only been a playable character in a Mario adventure (as opposed to Tennis, MarioKart, etc.) a handful of times? Like, Super Mario Bros 2, Paper Mario, and Super Princess Peach, a game which had its own problems regarding gender norms and in general she hasn’t had a lot of agency especially in recent years Why on earth is the concept of being happy about game devs not being shitty people sickening to you? Are you that unpleasant My favorite video game character (ever) is a female character from Nintendo: Samus Aran from the game series Metroid (pictured in the top picture to the left). I’ve always liked how Ninetendo made her into such an epic video game character. She’s smart, incredibly strong and agile, has an awesome suit with a freakin arm cannon, killer instincts, and was incredibly courageous. I also liked how they didn’t sexualize her…most of the time. While it’s true that 99.99% of the time she was in her power or zero suit, the latter a sort of tight fitting jumpsuit she used when not in her armor, the other 0.01% they made the player very aware that she was in fact a female. This came in the form of images of her without her power suit (as she was rarely seen without it in earlier games) that would be featured as a reward at the end of the game if you accomplished certain goals. Sometimes it would just be her with her helmet off, other times she would be in some two piece type clothing (idk what to call it, just google it and you’ll see what I’m talking about). It was never crazy over the top but it was still there. So just be wary when praising Nintendo for embracing nonsexualized female characters. They still do it, albeit not nearly as often as other developers. Also it’s important to remember that games like Mario and Super Smash Bros are geared towards a much broader audience that includes little kids so in those games they’re not likely to do anything too explicit. However, with games like Metroid which is geared towards a more mature audience, it’s not surprising to see a scantly clad female character.
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confusedtree:

deathbydestiny:

bradofarrell:

This year at E3 during the Xbox panel during a scripted “trash talk” bit someone made a scripted rape joke (male gamer to girl gamer who sucks at a game: “just wait, it’ll all be over soon.”) and then they acted like it wasn’t a big deal and then they released an expensive, anti-consumer (DRM on physical games) piece of hardware. And then Sony just released the PS4 which is just the PS3 but better graphics and $100 cheaper than the Xbox. So THAT happened.

But then Nintendo just quietly released a bunch of great looking sequels for all of it’s major franchises (Mario, Pikmin, Donkey Kong, and Smash Bros.) and every single one of those games interestingly features playable female characters who haven’t been seen in decades like Dixie Kong and Princess Peach - and Pikmin now has a new female hero.

One of my favorite things about Peach in the new Mario game is that one of the power ups is a literal “cat suit” and Peach’s “cat suit” doesn’t sexualize her at ALL. You can’t even see her boobs. She just looks like she’s wearing over-sized footie pajamas it’s so cute. Also they added a pink letter to the Mario logo just to accommodate Peach’s re-inclusion into the franchise as a character with actual agency!

So at the end of the presentation they tell you to go to the Smash Bros website to find out about new characters. And then they announced this character, Wii Fit Trainer, on the site. And in an interview the director said he gets thousands of requests for almost every video game character under the sun and he’s gotten absolutely zero requests for this character and he put her in the game to be funny and defy fan expectation. This character is literally “hey fuck you we’re the ones making the games around here, and we’ll be goofy and funny if we want to and also check it out another female character in Smash.”

Also the inclusion of the Animal Crossing villager is interesting because Animal Crossing is VERY popular with girls and even though the villager is male I’m 100% certain his alternate costumes will include the girl default villager character. So that’s neat. The three Smash characters they announced were two girl(ish) characters from two girl(ish) games and then Mega Man.

Also in the new Animal Crossing game boys are allowed to cross dress and all of the animals are explicitly genderqueer in the dialog. Characters say stuff like “Boys can ware make up if they want to, I mean, it’s 2013, who cares?” and just today a jock rhino was looking deeply into my eyes and asking me to hike a football and I asked him if he loved me (which was one of the option out of other options about sports) and he was like “Oh I guess a lot can happen when you look into someone else’s eyes like that, huh?” He didn’t even care that we’re both guys. Also in the new Pokemon game you can be black.

Basically what I’m saying is Nintendo is quietly and systematically making their games more socially progressive and Microsoft made a rape joke and then said “what? it was a joke.”

This is filled with nothing but falsehoods. Dixie Kong has been in every multi character DK game since her debut, there was never a “rape” joke made at any Microsoft panel, and Princess Peach has been in EVERY SINGLE MARIO GAME SINCE HER DEBUT. Get the facts you fucking morons, because im getting sick and tired of seeing you try to shove your morals down gamers’ throats. Its fucking sickening. 

Okay but

  1. Dixie hasn’t been a playable character in a Donkey Kong game since Donkey Kong Country 3 and that was released in1996
  2. Yes it very much was a rape joke, you’re just an apologist
  3. Princess Peach has only been a playable character in a Mario adventure (as opposed to Tennis, MarioKart, etc.) a handful of times? Like, Super Mario Bros 2, Paper Mario, and Super Princess Peach, a game which had its own problems regarding gender norms and in general she hasn’t had a lot of agency especially in recent years
  4. Why on earth is the concept of being happy about game devs not being shitty people sickening to you? Are you that unpleasant

My favorite video game character (ever) is a female character from Nintendo: Samus Aran from the game series Metroid (pictured in the top picture to the left). I’ve always liked how Ninetendo made her into such an epic video game character. She’s smart, incredibly strong and agile, has an awesome suit with a freakin arm cannon, killer instincts, and was incredibly courageous. I also liked how they didn’t sexualize her…most of the time. While it’s true that 99.99% of the time she was in her power or zero suit, the latter a sort of tight fitting jumpsuit she used when not in her armor, the other 0.01% they made the player very aware that she was in fact a female. This came in the form of images of her without her power suit (as she was rarely seen without it in earlier games) that would be featured as a reward at the end of the game if you accomplished certain goals. Sometimes it would just be her with her helmet off, other times she would be in some two piece type clothing (idk what to call it, just google it and you’ll see what I’m talking about). It was never crazy over the top but it was still there. So just be wary when praising Nintendo for embracing nonsexualized female characters. They still do it, albeit not nearly as often as other developers. Also it’s important to remember that games like Mario and Super Smash Bros are geared towards a much broader audience that includes little kids so in those games they’re not likely to do anything too explicit. However, with games like Metroid which is geared towards a more mature audience, it’s not surprising to see a scantly clad female character.

quantumaniac: Three Reasons Why Voyager I Is Badass As of this writing, Voyager I is over 18,000,000,000 km away from Earth - for comparison, that’s about the distance one would travel if one went from California to New York about four million times.  When Voyager I was initially launched, it was only expected to survive for four years - it’s been active for over 35 years. Currently, the craft is travelling in a region of space that may well be beyond our solar system - although this is unclear at the moment.  Quantumaniac on Twitter
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quantumaniac: Three Reasons Why Voyager I Is Badass As of this writing, Voyager I is over 18,000,000,000 km away from Earth - for comparison, that’s about the distance one would travel if one went from California to New York about four million times.  When Voyager I was initially launched, it was only expected to survive for four years - it’s been active for over 35 years. Currently, the craft is travelling in a region of space that may well be beyond our solar system - although this is unclear at the moment.  Quantumaniac on Twitter
Zoom

quantumaniac:

Three Reasons Why Voyager I Is Badass

  • As of this writing, Voyager I is over 18,000,000,000 km away from Earth - for comparison, that’s about the distance one would travel if one went from California to New York about four million times. 
  • When Voyager I was initially launched, it was only expected to survive for four years - it’s been active for over 35 years.
  • Currently, the craft is travelling in a region of space that may well be beyond our solar system - although this is unclear at the moment. 

Quantumaniac on Twitter

scienceyoucanlove: Neil deGrasse Tyson, MA ’83, is the public face of science. But he says his success has nothing to do with UT. “Hey, aren’t you the scientist?” The voice calls out on a bustling Manhattan sidewalk. Neil deGrasse Tyson—celebrity astrophysicist and director of New York City’s Hayden Planetarium—whirls around, looking for its source. He sees a disheveled homeless man with a piercing stare. “Yes, I guess I am,” says Tyson, MA ’83. “What can I do for you?” “I’ve seen you on TV,” the man replies. “I just want to know—how exactly would a black hole kill a person?” So Tyson launches into a quick account of spaghettification, or the way extreme gravitational forces near a black hole would stretch a human body from head to toe—like a skinny pasta noodle—until its very atoms would be wrenched apart. “A black hole is a one-way trip,” he is fond of saying. “You ain’t coming out.” Perhaps no other scientist in the world is so famous that even someone lacking basic shelter stops him on the street to ask a technical question. But Neil deGrasse Tyson, 53, is like no other scientist. More than anyone else living today, he is the public face of his entire field. You may not know his name, but you’ve seen him on CNN, ABC, The Colbert Report, The Tonight Show, Jeopardy!, or even Stargate Atlantis. TIME named him one of the 100 most influential Americans; People gave him the inimitable title of “Sexiest Astrophysicist Alive.” And when his new show debuts on FOX next year, Tyson will be exposed to his widest audience yet. “People stop me on the street all the time,” Tyson says. “Taxi drivers, janitors, businessmen. It doesn’t matter who you are—it’s human nature to ask deep questions about the universe. To look up and wonder what’s out there. And I’m happy to talk about it.” Connecting with such a prominent alumnus could be huge for The University of Texas. This is even truer because Tyson is African-American, and UT has long had a troubled relationship with the black community. But Tyson is not exactly UT’s biggest fan. That’s because he and the University had a bad break-up—one that prompts tricky questions about how academia defines success. As we’ll see, his time at UT is the one thing Tyson doesn’t like to talk about. read more about Neil’s journey and struggles 
Zoom Info
scienceyoucanlove: Neil deGrasse Tyson, MA ’83, is the public face of science. But he says his success has nothing to do with UT. “Hey, aren’t you the scientist?” The voice calls out on a bustling Manhattan sidewalk. Neil deGrasse Tyson—celebrity astrophysicist and director of New York City’s Hayden Planetarium—whirls around, looking for its source. He sees a disheveled homeless man with a piercing stare. “Yes, I guess I am,” says Tyson, MA ’83. “What can I do for you?” “I’ve seen you on TV,” the man replies. “I just want to know—how exactly would a black hole kill a person?” So Tyson launches into a quick account of spaghettification, or the way extreme gravitational forces near a black hole would stretch a human body from head to toe—like a skinny pasta noodle—until its very atoms would be wrenched apart. “A black hole is a one-way trip,” he is fond of saying. “You ain’t coming out.” Perhaps no other scientist in the world is so famous that even someone lacking basic shelter stops him on the street to ask a technical question. But Neil deGrasse Tyson, 53, is like no other scientist. More than anyone else living today, he is the public face of his entire field. You may not know his name, but you’ve seen him on CNN, ABC, The Colbert Report, The Tonight Show, Jeopardy!, or even Stargate Atlantis. TIME named him one of the 100 most influential Americans; People gave him the inimitable title of “Sexiest Astrophysicist Alive.” And when his new show debuts on FOX next year, Tyson will be exposed to his widest audience yet. “People stop me on the street all the time,” Tyson says. “Taxi drivers, janitors, businessmen. It doesn’t matter who you are—it’s human nature to ask deep questions about the universe. To look up and wonder what’s out there. And I’m happy to talk about it.” Connecting with such a prominent alumnus could be huge for The University of Texas. This is even truer because Tyson is African-American, and UT has long had a troubled relationship with the black community. But Tyson is not exactly UT’s biggest fan. That’s because he and the University had a bad break-up—one that prompts tricky questions about how academia defines success. As we’ll see, his time at UT is the one thing Tyson doesn’t like to talk about. read more about Neil’s journey and struggles 
Zoom Info
scienceyoucanlove: Neil deGrasse Tyson, MA ’83, is the public face of science. But he says his success has nothing to do with UT. “Hey, aren’t you the scientist?” The voice calls out on a bustling Manhattan sidewalk. Neil deGrasse Tyson—celebrity astrophysicist and director of New York City’s Hayden Planetarium—whirls around, looking for its source. He sees a disheveled homeless man with a piercing stare. “Yes, I guess I am,” says Tyson, MA ’83. “What can I do for you?” “I’ve seen you on TV,” the man replies. “I just want to know—how exactly would a black hole kill a person?” So Tyson launches into a quick account of spaghettification, or the way extreme gravitational forces near a black hole would stretch a human body from head to toe—like a skinny pasta noodle—until its very atoms would be wrenched apart. “A black hole is a one-way trip,” he is fond of saying. “You ain’t coming out.” Perhaps no other scientist in the world is so famous that even someone lacking basic shelter stops him on the street to ask a technical question. But Neil deGrasse Tyson, 53, is like no other scientist. More than anyone else living today, he is the public face of his entire field. You may not know his name, but you’ve seen him on CNN, ABC, The Colbert Report, The Tonight Show, Jeopardy!, or even Stargate Atlantis. TIME named him one of the 100 most influential Americans; People gave him the inimitable title of “Sexiest Astrophysicist Alive.” And when his new show debuts on FOX next year, Tyson will be exposed to his widest audience yet. “People stop me on the street all the time,” Tyson says. “Taxi drivers, janitors, businessmen. It doesn’t matter who you are—it’s human nature to ask deep questions about the universe. To look up and wonder what’s out there. And I’m happy to talk about it.” Connecting with such a prominent alumnus could be huge for The University of Texas. This is even truer because Tyson is African-American, and UT has long had a troubled relationship with the black community. But Tyson is not exactly UT’s biggest fan. That’s because he and the University had a bad break-up—one that prompts tricky questions about how academia defines success. As we’ll see, his time at UT is the one thing Tyson doesn’t like to talk about. read more about Neil’s journey and struggles 
Zoom
scienceyoucanlove: Neil deGrasse Tyson, MA ’83, is the public face of science. But he says his success has nothing to do with UT. “Hey, aren’t you the scientist?” The voice calls out on a bustling Manhattan sidewalk. Neil deGrasse Tyson—celebrity astrophysicist and director of New York City’s Hayden Planetarium—whirls around, looking for its source. He sees a disheveled homeless man with a piercing stare. “Yes, I guess I am,” says Tyson, MA ’83. “What can I do for you?” “I’ve seen you on TV,” the man replies. “I just want to know—how exactly would a black hole kill a person?” So Tyson launches into a quick account of spaghettification, or the way extreme gravitational forces near a black hole would stretch a human body from head to toe—like a skinny pasta noodle—until its very atoms would be wrenched apart. “A black hole is a one-way trip,” he is fond of saying. “You ain’t coming out.” Perhaps no other scientist in the world is so famous that even someone lacking basic shelter stops him on the street to ask a technical question. But Neil deGrasse Tyson, 53, is like no other scientist. More than anyone else living today, he is the public face of his entire field. You may not know his name, but you’ve seen him on CNN, ABC, The Colbert Report, The Tonight Show, Jeopardy!, or even Stargate Atlantis. TIME named him one of the 100 most influential Americans; People gave him the inimitable title of “Sexiest Astrophysicist Alive.” And when his new show debuts on FOX next year, Tyson will be exposed to his widest audience yet. “People stop me on the street all the time,” Tyson says. “Taxi drivers, janitors, businessmen. It doesn’t matter who you are—it’s human nature to ask deep questions about the universe. To look up and wonder what’s out there. And I’m happy to talk about it.” Connecting with such a prominent alumnus could be huge for The University of Texas. This is even truer because Tyson is African-American, and UT has long had a troubled relationship with the black community. But Tyson is not exactly UT’s biggest fan. That’s because he and the University had a bad break-up—one that prompts tricky questions about how academia defines success. As we’ll see, his time at UT is the one thing Tyson doesn’t like to talk about. read more about Neil’s journey and struggles 
Zoom Info
scienceyoucanlove: Neil deGrasse Tyson, MA ’83, is the public face of science. But he says his success has nothing to do with UT. “Hey, aren’t you the scientist?” The voice calls out on a bustling Manhattan sidewalk. Neil deGrasse Tyson—celebrity astrophysicist and director of New York City’s Hayden Planetarium—whirls around, looking for its source. He sees a disheveled homeless man with a piercing stare. “Yes, I guess I am,” says Tyson, MA ’83. “What can I do for you?” “I’ve seen you on TV,” the man replies. “I just want to know—how exactly would a black hole kill a person?” So Tyson launches into a quick account of spaghettification, or the way extreme gravitational forces near a black hole would stretch a human body from head to toe—like a skinny pasta noodle—until its very atoms would be wrenched apart. “A black hole is a one-way trip,” he is fond of saying. “You ain’t coming out.” Perhaps no other scientist in the world is so famous that even someone lacking basic shelter stops him on the street to ask a technical question. But Neil deGrasse Tyson, 53, is like no other scientist. More than anyone else living today, he is the public face of his entire field. You may not know his name, but you’ve seen him on CNN, ABC, The Colbert Report, The Tonight Show, Jeopardy!, or even Stargate Atlantis. TIME named him one of the 100 most influential Americans; People gave him the inimitable title of “Sexiest Astrophysicist Alive.” And when his new show debuts on FOX next year, Tyson will be exposed to his widest audience yet. “People stop me on the street all the time,” Tyson says. “Taxi drivers, janitors, businessmen. It doesn’t matter who you are—it’s human nature to ask deep questions about the universe. To look up and wonder what’s out there. And I’m happy to talk about it.” Connecting with such a prominent alumnus could be huge for The University of Texas. This is even truer because Tyson is African-American, and UT has long had a troubled relationship with the black community. But Tyson is not exactly UT’s biggest fan. That’s because he and the University had a bad break-up—one that prompts tricky questions about how academia defines success. As we’ll see, his time at UT is the one thing Tyson doesn’t like to talk about. read more about Neil’s journey and struggles 
Zoom

scienceyoucanlove:

Neil deGrasse Tyson, MA ’83, is the public face of science. But he says his success has nothing to do with UT.

“Hey, aren’t you the scientist?”

The voice calls out on a bustling Manhattan sidewalk. Neil deGrasse Tyson—celebrity astrophysicist and director of New York City’s Hayden Planetarium—whirls around, looking for its source. He sees a disheveled homeless man with a piercing stare.

“Yes, I guess I am,” says Tyson, MA ’83. “What can I do for you?”

“I’ve seen you on TV,” the man replies. “I just want to know—how exactly would a black hole kill a person?”

So Tyson launches into a quick account of spaghettification, or the way extreme gravitational forces near a black hole would stretch a human body from head to toe—like a skinny pasta noodle—until its very atoms would be wrenched apart. “A black hole is a one-way trip,” he is fond of saying. “You ain’t coming out.”

Perhaps no other scientist in the world is so famous that even someone lacking basic shelter stops him on the street to ask a technical question. But Neil deGrasse Tyson, 53, is like no other scientist. More than anyone else living today, he is the public face of his entire field.

You may not know his name, but you’ve seen him on CNN, ABC, The Colbert Report, The Tonight Show, Jeopardy!, or even Stargate Atlantis. TIME named him one of the 100 most influential Americans; People gave him the inimitable title of “Sexiest Astrophysicist Alive.” And when his new show debuts on FOX next year, Tyson will be exposed to his widest audience yet.

“People stop me on the street all the time,” Tyson says. “Taxi drivers, janitors, businessmen. It doesn’t matter who you are—it’s human nature to ask deep questions about the universe. To look up and wonder what’s out there. And I’m happy to talk about it.”

Connecting with such a prominent alumnus could be huge for The University of Texas. This is even truer because Tyson is African-American, and UT has long had a troubled relationship with the black community. But Tyson is not exactly UT’s biggest fan. That’s because he and the University had a bad break-up—one that prompts tricky questions about how academia defines success. As we’ll see, his time at UT is the one thing Tyson doesn’t like to talk about.

read more about Neil’s journey and struggles 

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