That Fourth-Grader Who Took on Neil DeGrasse Tyson Has a Few More Things to Say

Jacob Slomka is a 10-year-old science expert in Michigan, who wasn't afraid to go head-to-head with Neil deGrasse Tyson in a heated debate about asteroids.


CAPTION HERE
CAPTION HERE

At a November event sponsored by the Michigan branch of the Center for Inquiry (CFI) at Grand Valley State University, the intelligent fourth-grader took on the astrophysicist in front of a live audience, offering his own theory on how to avoid a giant boulder heading for Earth.

"Why don't the humans just shoot a chunk of random material at the asteroid Apophis, and either destroy it or get it out of the collision course with the Earth?" Jacob asked Tyson.

Tyson replied, "Why don't we just bump it out of the way is what you're saying?"

"Basically," answers the boy.

The two go back and forth on various strategies for hindering asteroids, and the cute exchange was posted on YouTube, accruing over 55,000 likes.

Jacob is an elementary school student in the Detroit area, and says that while he may have looked confident, he was definitely tense.

"I was really nervous and my legs were shaking a lot," Jacob tells the Good News Blog.

From metaphysical blankets to what Jacob deemed a "non-Newtonian solid," the convo quickly became a spectacle.

"I learned a lot from Neil," Jacob says. "Like, not all asteroids are just one big chunk of rock, some are made of millions of pebbles pulled together."

Jacob's passion for science mainly centers around rocks and outer space. He aims to be an astrogeologist when he's older, though from the sound of things, it won't be long before he's an expert. His knowledge of space is as immense as the galaxy itself.

"If you think outer space is empty, that's where you're wrong," he explains. "Honestly, there's probably more life out there because there are millions and trillions of super-clusters, hundreds of galaxies in those, hundreds of solar systems in those and billions of planets in each galaxy. You think no planet has life besides Earth? Bacteria can live in outer space. If there's life naturally grown on other planets… boom!"

According to Jacob, the most important news in science these days is advancements in space travel, though he points out that despite various reports, Mars is not ready to be inhabited. We would simply "contaminate it."

Jacob says he likes science because of the hands-on activities, and has one specific goal in mind when it comes to the galaxy.

"Honestly," he explains, "I hope to come up with a way to balance asteroids in orbits like the moon."

We hope he learns how to control asteroids.