March 29, 2018 9:55 pm

Who’s up for seconds? We’ve got more Galactic Gumbo coming tomorrow.

I hope you’re not full from our earlier serving of galactic gumbo. If you’re up for another cosmic meal you’re in luck, because we’re back with more. Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice are answering more Cosmic Queries in this extended classic.

NGC 4789A, a dwarf irregular galaxy in the constellation of Coma Berenices. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, Acknowledgements: Judy Schmidt (Geckzilla)

It may seem hard to believe, but you’re actually looking at a galaxy, not a swarm of stars. It’s NGC 4789A, a dwarf irregular galaxy in the constellation of Coma Berenices. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, Acknowledgements: Judy Schmidt (Geckzilla)

In the new segment, you’ll hear about the shape of the universe and if it’s flat, spherical, or saddle shaped…or all three at different times! We also answer fan-submitted questions about the mysteries of consciousness, antimatter, and the ethics of cloning.

(If you’re especially interested in cloning, check out our StarTalk All-Stars episode Cloning Genetics and Ethics, with Natalia Reagan that explores this conversation in-depth: gene-editing, facilitated adaptation, de-extinction, Pleistocene Park, and more with primatologist and host Natalia Reagan, co-host Chuck Nice, biological anthropologist Ryan Raaum, and Ross MacPhee, Curator of Mammalogy at the AMNH.)

Even without the new content, this episode was already vintage StarTalk. We look at the discovery of the Big Bang, the expansion of the universe, creationism, string theory, and much more.

As a movie buff, one of my favorite segments is pondering whether an earlier introduction of CGI would’ve expanded our minds when we talk about aliens. Having just seen Close Encounters of the Third Kind for the first time last week – yes, I know, it’s unacceptable – I can only wonder if better CGI would’ve added to the philosophical nature of the alien arrival.

So, make sure your bib is on and your table is set, because your serving of the Cosmos is coming your way!

Please join us tomorrow night for Extended Classic – Cosmic Queries Galactic Gumbo at 7pm ET right here on our website, as well as on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and TuneIn. If you’re an All-Access subscriber, you can watch or listen to this episode ad-free at 7pm, too.

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

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