November 2, 2017 8:46 pm

This Week, Neil Tyson and Adam Savage Explore Human Augmentation

Occasionally, there’s an episode of StarTalk Radio that stands above the rest. Not saying we have bad episodes, but once in a while you get the ideal blend of people, place, and topic which leads to an episode that perfectly articulates our mission to educate, entertain, and seamlessly blend science and pop culture.

This week on StarTalk Radio, we have one of those episodes. Recorded live on the main stage at NY Comic Con 2017, Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice are joined by former MythBusters co-host Adam Savage (currently Editor/Contributor at Tested.com), and philosopher/NYU bioethics professor Matthew Liao to explore human augmentation.

The chemistry on the panel and the fervent Comic Con crowd created an electric energy that you can feel while listening. What starts off as a friendly debate on the merits of Iron Man and Batman continues into a fascinating discussion about the ethics of augmentation, the dangers of artificial intelligence, and much more.

One highlight is a conversation that Matthew leads on creating “tiny people” with augmentation to possibly combat and reduce the impact of climate change, an idea about which Neil is a little hesitant. The concept is similar to the new film being released, as mentioned in the show, called Downsizing. (Watch the trailer here.)

Another highlight is the ethical conversation involved with augmentation. As Matthew discusses, there are different ideas of where to draw the line about what to augment and what not to augment. In Prof. Liao’s mind, it would be wrong to create people without “fundamental capacities” – which I agree with. But, on the flip side, what if people want to amputate their arm for a newer, stronger, bionic arm? Would that be okay?

This episode is a great ride from start to finish and I can’t emphasize enough the great energy brought by the panel and the supporting force of our great crowd at NY Comic Con. If you like what you hear, look out for next year’s tickets!

Please join us tomorrow night for Human Augmentation with Adam Savage and Neil deGrasse Tyson at 7pm ET right here on our website, as well as on our channels on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and TuneIn. And if you’re an All-Access subscriber, you can listen to this episode ad-free at 7pm, too. And remember that you can also catch next week’s StarTalk Radio episode one week early on TuneIn, at tunein.com/startalk.

By the way, you can also watch a SPECIAL FREE Exclusive Original video right now featuring Neil deGrasse Tyson and Adam Savage on StarTalk All-Access.

And, if you would prefer to watch this episode on video, you can also watch the video tomorrow night on Adam Savage’s Tested channel on YouTube.

That’s it for now. Keep Looking Up!
–Ian Mullen