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Neil deGrasse Tyson posted a gym selfie in a muscle shirt and people  are loving it

"A physicist thirst trap is the pleasant surprise I didn't know I needed."

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Neil deGrasse Tyson in a visit to NASA

For most of us, National Pi Day (March 14th, of course) came and went without much fanfare. Maybe a few show-offs recited the famous 3.14 number to as many decimals as they could remember, or someone whipped up a blueberry pie in a punny homage. But if you happened to open Facebook and follow astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, you were in for a unique surprise.

First, some might ask: what is pi? In the piece, "What is Pi, and How Did it Originate" by Steven Bogart for Scientific American, he explains, "Succinctly, pi—which is written as the Greek letter for p, or π—is the ratio of the circumference of any circle to the diameter of that circle. Regardless of the circle's size, this ratio will always equal pi. In decimal form, the value of pi is approximately 3.14."


Pie Pi Day GIF by PusheenGiphy

Here's Neil on TikTok with a cute video in anticipation of Pi Day. In its description, he writes, "We're just a few days away from #PiDay. Here's a friendly reminder to share with your friends along with a few jokes to use this year:

Why should you never start talking to pi at a party? Because it just goes on forever. What did pi say to its sweetheart? You look radian today. What was Sir Isaac Newton’s favorite dessert? Apple pi."

@neildegrassetyson

We're just a few days away from #PiDay 🤓 Here's a friendly reminder to share with your friends along with a few jokes to use this year: 🥧 Why should you never start talking to pi at a party? Because it just goes on forever. What did pi say to its sweetheart? You look radian today. What was Sir Isaac Newton’s favorite dessert? Apple pi.


Over on Facebook on March 13th, he shared a photo of the moon, and in a separate post, a little more information and some fun recommendations about Pi. "Pi Day (3.14) Pi has a few more digits than that. But 3.14 can get you far. Wanna get your geek on? Celebrate at 1:59:26. That gets you 3.14 1:59:26, the first seven decimal places of Pi."

The next morning, around dawn Pacific Standard Time, Neil changed his profile picture to one in which he's wearing a sleeveless muscle shirt, standing in front of a mirror at what appears to be a gym. Yes, Neil gave us a gym selfie, and why wouldn’t he?

selfie gym GIFGiphy

His followers seemed delighted, with the comments reflecting a balanced mix of good humor and earnest compliments. In one of the top comments, someone wrote, "A physicist thirst trap is the pleasant surprise I didn’t know I needed. You’re in fine form, sir." Yet another seemed (jokingly) threatened: "Damn bro, save some science for the rest of us."

This person disagreed that Neil was seeking validation: "I don't know why, but I just cannot make myself see this as a thirst trap. I know you weren't even meaning it in a bad way, but he is just so humble that anything like this just somehow makes him more human and accessible. Like he's having a confident day and wants to commemorate it."

A few people really honed in on how toned his muscles are. "Neil DeGuns Tyson," one person exclaimed, while another wrote, "Don't forget, he was a high school wrestler. The muscle never completely goes away."

Neil Degrasse Tyson Whatever GIFGiphy

This commenter was perhaps referring to Neil's propensity to debate: "Feelin' cute. May agitate some astrologers later. Idk."

And lastly, this person was hopeful that the photo is the start of a training montage: "Please tell us you're training for Cosmos Season 3.... we need this!"

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Joy

Neil deGrasse Tyson's touching statement on dogs, joy and mortality is a real tear-jerker

"They are some of the most joyous creatures that live among us."

via Karl Withakay/Wikimedia Commons and Helena Lopes/Pexels

Neil deGrasse Tyson's heartfelt speech on dogs.

Astrophysicist, best-selling author and People Magazine’s “Sexiest Astrophysicist Alive,” Neil deGrasse Tyson, has made a long career educating people about the universe and helping us make sense of its seemingly infinite mystery.

But in a recent “Dropouts” podcast interview, Tyson focused on a subject closer to home: man’s best friend, the dog. During the interview, he discussed how dogs have an incredible lust for life that may somehow be tied to an understanding that their time on this Earth is far too short.

He also discussed how a dog's joyous nature is something we should all aspire to because life is far too short for all beings. His words were set to beautiful imagery by the Lunas_Golden_Life Instagram page.

[Video]

“Every time you come back from wherever you went, your dog is happy, and it’s jumpy, and it wants to lick you in the face. Even if you just went to get the mail from the mailbox, they delight in your return,” Tyson says in the video. “If you wanna take them out on a car ride, they are the first one in the car. They don’t care where it’s going, but they’re there.”

He then put the lifespans of dogs and humans in perspective.

“If they only get one day for every week you’re alive, they make every day count. Their lives have already factored in their mortality,” he continued. “When I look at a dog, I use that as a reminder of how I should live every day of my life.”




“Every time you come back from wherever you went, your dog is happy, and it’s jumpy, and it wants to lick you in the face. Even if you just went to get the mail from the mailbox, they delight in your return,” Tyson says in the video. “If you wanna take them out on a car ride, they are the first one in the car. They don’t care where it’s going, but they’re there.”

He then put the lifespans of dogs and humans in perspective.

“If they only get one day for every week you’re alive, they make every day count. Their lives have already factored in their mortality,” he continued. “When I look at a dog, I use that as a reminder of how I should live every day of my life.”

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Family

Neil deGrasse Tyson's impassioned speech on how not to raise your children

How to raise a child to be a 'mover and a shaker.'

via NASA Goddard Space Flight/Flickr

Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson in 2014.

Three years ago, astrophysicist, author and science communicator Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson appeared on the Impact Theory podcast, hosted by Tom Bilyeu, where he shared some passionate advice about preserving children’s curiosity.

Dr. Tyson believes that for a child to truly make a difference and be a “mover and shaker” in this world, the most important thing is for them to remain as curious as possible. Maintaining childlike curiosity will inspire their ambitions far more than what they gain from the educational system.

The hard thing for parents and educators is maintaining that curiosity. For Dr. Tyson, it all starts at home and parents shouldn’t let preserving a clean home get in the way of letting their kids explore with abandon.

"Kids are sources of chaos and disorder. Get over that fact. Where does the disorder come from? It’s because they are experimenting with their environment. Everything is new to them, everything,” he said.

“Your job is less to instill curiosity than to make sure you don’t squash what is already there,” Dr. Tyson said.

However, this curiosity can be diminished by the educational system that teaches to tests instead of making children excited to learn.

"School should, as a minimum, preserve that curiosity for you," he continued. "They'll retain that curiosity through the turbulent middle school years into high school. And what is an adult scientist but a kid who never lost their curiosity?"

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Heroes

Neil deGrasse Tyson's viral video is straight-up scientific fire.

Science is part of how America became America, Neil deGrasse Tyson says in a video.

In the video, posted in April 2017, Tyson delivers what he says might be his most important message ever: America — stop messing around.

C'mon! We put a man on the moon! We invented the internet! And yeah, we've never been a perfect county. Every era had challenges. Tyson recalls the '60s and '70s: Vietnam, the civil rights movement, the Cold War.

But even then, he says, we never had to argue about what fundamental, scientific facts were.

[rebelmouse-image 19527740 dam="1" original_size="480x270" caption="GIF from StarTalk Radio/YouTube." expand=1]GIF from StarTalk Radio/YouTube.

We didn't have Vice President Mike Pence disparaging evolution as just a theory. We didn't have false scares about vaccines (and a president who spouts anti-vaxxer rhetoric) or GMOs. We didn't have to argue about whether the planet was getting warmer.

Over the past few decades, we've seemingly lost the ability to agree on what the truth even is, which Tyson warns is a dangerous path.

[rebelmouse-image 19527741 dam="1" original_size="480x270" caption="GIF from StarTalk Radio/YouTube." expand=1]GIF from StarTalk Radio/YouTube.

Most of all, though, Tyson is done — completely and utterly done — messing around when it comes to people who don't take science seriously.

There are solutions. Take climate change, for instance. We could fight climate change with a carbon tax, or increased regulations, or more nuclear power plants, or solar energy plants. Heck, we could do all of the above! But nooooo, instead we have a Congress that literally throws snowballs around.

You can just hear in his voice how sick and tired he is of it.

“Every minute one is in denial, you are delaying the political solution that should have been established years ago," says Tyson.

Tyson is channeling the passion and frustration that so many of us are feeling right now. It's awesome to see that brought out in force.

Watch Neil deGrasse Tyson's full, impassioned video:

Science In America

Dear Facebook UniverseI offer this four-minute video on "Science in America" containing what may be the most important words I have ever spoken.As always, but especially these days, keep looking up.—Neil deGrasse Tyson

Posted by Neil deGrasse Tyson on Wednesday, 19 April 2017
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