Bill Nye Says Pope Francis' Comments On Evolution And The Big Bang Are Helpful

Bill Nye, the American science educator who is equally known by his nickname "The Science Guy", recently appeared on the television show CBS This Morning to talk about and promote his just-released book Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation, a book inspired by his controversial debate with creationist Ken Ham last February at the Creation Museum in Kentucky.

In the show, Nye reiterated his position that the future of the world will be much brighter if the young people of today are constantly educated about the trappings of science. He also stated that the downside to debating creationists like Ken Ham is that it somehow "energizes their base".

When one of the show's hosts asked Nye's thoughts on Pope Francis' recent proclamations that the concepts of evolution and the big bang theory are real, Nye answered that these are "helpful". The Catholic Church's acceptance of the evolutionary theory is not new. Christian apologists who embrace the scientific theory often refer to it as "theistic evolution".


Nye was also asked to reveal what his favorite scientific fact is. Nye's answer: "My favorite scientific fact is that we are made of this stuff of exploded stars. We are made of star dust. And so therefore, we are at least one of the ways that the universe knows itself."

Sounds familiar? Yes, because the astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has been saying the same thing. That is if you are familiar with Tyson's work. A couple of years ago, Tyson was asked by a reader of the Time magazine the question, "What is the most astounding fact that you can share with us about the universe?"

Tyson's answer? Listen to it below. It's fascinating.

So What Are Neil deGrasse Tyson's Thoughts On Christopher Nolan's Space Saga Interstellar?

Without a doubt, Interstellar is one of the most anticipated films from Hollywood to hit the big screen this year. This is not at all surprising given the facts that it was directed by a highly-respected filmmaker (Christopher Nolan) and it starred some of the biggest names in Tinseltown (Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine, Casey Affleck).

Since being released during the first week of November, the response to the film is mostly positive. As of this writing, the film is enjoying a 73% rating from both Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic.

Among the most common concerns by viewers about the film revolves around the accuracies (and inaccuracies) of the science portrayed in the movie. What did Interstellar get right (or wrong) about science?

Who could best answer these concerns than scientists themselves. This is why the well-known astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson recently appeared on the television show CBS This Morning to talk about the science explored in the movie.

Always articulate and bubbling with enthusiasm, Tyson engaged the show's hosts on wormholes, the mathematics behind wormholes, the difference between a wormhole and a black hole, tidal waves in outer space, and meteorites.

When asked by one of the hosts if Interstellar gets his thumbs up or thumbs down, the celebrated scientist preferred to not answer the question directly but it's quite clear from the interview that he did appreciate it in one way or another.


Prior to appearing on CBS This Morning, Tyson went on his Twitter account to review Interstellar. He had positive things to say about some of the science shown in the film like achieving zero gravity in space, Einstein's Curvature of Space, and Einstein's Relativity of Time. In one of his tweets hashtagged #Interstellar, Tyson tweeted, "In Interstellar: Experience Einstein's Curvature of Space as no other feature film has shown." Read more of Tyson's Interstellar tweets here.

It's also worth mentioning here that Tyson referred to the 1997 film Contact as a science-fiction film that has stuck with him for a long time. This was after he was asked by one of the hosts if he can name one good science-fiction film. Contact was directed by Robert Zemeckis and was based on a novel of the same name by Carl Sagan. It also starred Matthew McConaughey.