Quote collection
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"We in astrophysics we think of the universe all the time. So to us, Earth is just another planet. From a distance, it's a speck. And I'm convinced that if everyone had a cosmic perspective you wouldn't have legions of armies waging war on other people because someone would say, "Stop, look at the universe.""
"The Big Bang Theory: When geeky scientists can be main characters in a hit prime time series, you know there's hope for the world."
"If you find life on Europa [Jupiter's moon], like, what would you call it? Would it be, like, Europeans?"
"You don't need to be a scientist to know Earth's age or that life evolved. You just need be one who embraces objective truths"
"... informed ignorance provides the natural state of mind for research scientists at the ever-shifting frontiers of knowledge. People who believe themselves ignorant of nothing have neither looked for, nor stumbled upon, the boundary between what is known and unknown in the cosmos."
"Not only are we in the universe, the universe is in us. I don't know of any deeper spiritual feeling than what that brings upon me."
"It makes good sense to revere the sun and the stars ... because we are their children"
"This fear factor, this war driver is a very strong one and it's been with the species ever since the beginning and it motivated the Great Wall of China. War can be aggressive or defensive, right? So it motivated the Great Wall of China. Our space program was reactive to Russia."
"The persistent failures of controlled, double-blind experiments to support the claims of parapsychology suggest that what's going on is nonsense rather than sixth sense."
"How much would you pay...for the Universe?"
"I would teach how science works as much as I would teach what science knows. I would assert (given that essentially, everyone will learn to read) that science literacy is the most important kind of literacy they can take into the 21st century. I would undervalue grades based on knowing things and find ways to reward curiosity. In the end, it's the people who are curious who change the world."
"The first colony on Mars is not going to be built by a private company. How are you going to make money? You're not."
"The universe is hilarious! Like, Venus is 900 degrees. I could tell you it melts lead. But that's not as fun as saying, 'You can cook a pizza on the windowsill in nine seconds.' And next time my fans eat pizza, they're thinking of Venus!"
"In just one year, the expenditure of of the U.S.'s military budget is equivalent to the entire 50-year running budget of NASA combined."
"Humans aren't as good as we should be in our capacity to empathize with feelings and thoughts of others, be they humans or other animals on Earth."
"I've known from long ago that the universe was calling me. If you were one of those annoying adults that said, 'Oh, what are you gonna be when you grow up?' I would say, 'Astrophysicist .' And then they'd walk away real quickly."
"No one is dumb who is curious."
"Kids are born curious about the world. What adults primarily do in the presence of kids is unwittingly thwart the curiosity of children."
"We think scientific literacy flows out of how many science facts can you recite rather than how was your brain wired for thinking. And it's the brain wiring that I'm more interested in rather than the facts that come out of the curriculum or the lesson plan that's been proposed."
"I have yet to see a successful prediction about the physical world that was inferred or extrapolated from the content of any religions document."