Neil deGrasse Tyson Celebrates Pi Day With A Rap Before Dogging On Pluto With Stephen Colbert

Neil deGrasse Tyson braved a snow storm to visit Stephen Colbert on Tuesday, all in order to celebrate Pi Day and talk some trash about Pluto, America’s scientific ambitions, and his red line for getting vocal about the Trump administration’s proposed policies. You’ll find no tax returns here, just some discussion about how China is pushing forward in scientific discovery and Scott Pruitt’s thoughts on climate change.

But first the rap, which is less a rap and more just reciting numbers over some sort of beat. Tyson has become this science icon that seems to enjoy the attention a lot, so it’s no shock that he’s all about the TV appearances and the green screen. He’s a star and he wants you to know it, which is much better than his typical role of being a bit of a buzzkill on Twitter.

Once the interview kicked off, Tyson was forced once again to address his role in removing Pluto’s planet status. He tried to focus the blame on Mike Brown — aka Twitter’s Pluto Killer — but Colbert wasn’t having it. If you’re unfamiliar with Brown, he’s fun to follow on Twitter and has this one pinned at the top of his profile:

Looks like this is bad news for that bet that we’d all be destroyed by a solar flare in the near future. Nic Cage has led me astray once again.

Tyson closes down the interview by talking the Trump admin and his plan for action. As he points out, it’s a lot of talk coming out of Washington right now in regards to the climate and scientific pursuits. Until they do something with some substance, he’s not going to jump to action. But once they do, well hold him back because he’s going to go into a rage. It’s gonna be like Logan, but with science facts instead of green medicine and claws.

(Via The Late Show)

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