History Channel's "The Universe" - Case in Point

In my last post where I commented on the deranged nature of the choice in scientists that the History Channel interviews constantly for The Universe, it may have seemed a bit unfair just to say it. So, I thought I'd provide some examples.

Let's begin. Here are two of the most likely scientists on The Universe to end up at the wrong end of MI-6

The Man: Neil deGrasse Tyson.

The Mission: He's an astrophysicist in New York City, director of the Hayden Planetarium, and works with the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan. He does a lot of media work, because of his high charisma modifier and disarming similarity to Billy Dee Williams, as encapsulated in the above photograph. His Wikipedia page is quite detailed, all things considered, suggesting to me that he may have written it himself.

The Madness: This morning there was a mini-marathon of the show, and I caught in particular a snippet he did for the episode on space travel. Discussing how to get to Mars in the quickest way possible, he suggested that one could ride a comet as it rockets towards the sun, and dismount it at the right moment to make a round trip in only a matter of weeks, as opposed to a range of months to years under current practices (depends on where Mars is in its orbit relative to Earth). He went on to describe it as, though a sure-fire death sentence (pun unintended), potentially a lot of fun.

In other words....


The Man: Alexei Vladimir Filippenko

The Mission: He's a professor of astronomy at UC Berkeley and is a specialist in supernovae. He was a member of the Supernova Cosmology Project and High-z Supernova Search Team that developed the theory of the accelerating universe, and by implication the ominous-sounding concept of dark energy. He's also a member of questionably named Nuker Team, which utilizes the Hubble telescope to observe supermassive black holes.

The Madness: Well Christ, just look at him! In this photo or any interview he's done in The Universe, he looks like he's close to declaring "No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die!" He has that twinkle in his eye that suggests higher ambitions, and observe him in such an interview (I wish I could find a good clip out there to demonstrate)...he goes about his trade with an almost Riddler-level of enthusiasm. I have a feeling that his interest in supernovae and black holes isn't all so innocent, either. I'd like to think that he has plans to hold the universe hostage with a machine that could create a black hole right here on Earth. Wait.....shit. Keep an eye out for Alexei Filippenko hijacking that thing once it goes online once and for all.

Besides, his name just screams super villain.