StarTalk Radio – Cosmic Queries: ALIENS! with Jake Roper

Host: Neil deGrasse Tyson
Co-Host: Chuck Nice
Guest: Jake Roper (Host, Vsauce3 & “Could You Survive the Movies”)
Air Date: October 24, 2025

Episode Overview

This StarTalk Cosmic Queries edition dives into the enduring fascination with aliens in film, television, and scientific imagination. With astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson at the helm, comic co-host Chuck Nice, and special guest Jake Roper, the episode explores audience-submitted questions about the science, plausibility, and pop-culture portrayals of alien life. The conversation is a lively mash-up of humor, speculation, thoughtful scientific analysis, and plenty of movie references, ranging from “E.T.” to “Arrival” to “The Blob.”

Main Discussion Themes

1. Are We Alone in the Universe?

• Inquiry: Neil is asked if he believes we are alone in the universe.
• Neil deGrasse Tyson [03:27]:
  “It would be inexcusably egocentric for anyone to suggest that we on Earth are alone in the universe, given how old the universe is, the prevalence of the chemistry that manifests in life... It would be astonishing if we were alone.”
• Discussion: The hosts reinforce the scientific likelihood of life elsewhere, even if direct evidence is lacking.

2. Surviving Alien Movies

• Q: Which alien movie would be the easiest to survive?
• Jake Roper [06:10]:
  “The easiest one to survive… E.T. That’s what immediately popped in my head. But then you do have that whole segment where, like, oh, we need to quarantine him, because who knows what bacteria or viruses he might have.”
• Chuck [06:39]:
  Jokes about the unshown aftermath: “Five weeks later when they all have these horrible growths coming off the sides of their faces… but he’s already gone.”

Notable Science Moment

• Neil [07:00]: Shares a fact from Steven Spielberg, explaining E.T. was imagined as a plant, not animal, to account for his connection with plants in the film.

3. Alien Contamination Risk

• Neil [08:32]:
  “The kinds of diseases we think about... tend to be very specific to the life forms. The idea an alien from another planet has something that’s contagious to us is kind of low.”
• Explanation: Cross-species infections are rare, making it unlikely that an alien microbe could infect humans—though scientific caution is warranted.

Cosmic Queries from Listeners

4. The War of the Worlds Laser – Scientific Plausibility

(Jessica from Arizona)

• Q: Can a laser turn someone into ash like in “War of the Worlds”?
• Jake [11:08]:
  “You could generate enough energy where you could just completely eviscerate a person… but it would have to be so hot that it would immediately vaporize all the moisture in your body.”
• Neil [13:12]:
  “It would require enough energy to instantly take your blood to a rolling boil and evaporate… then consume the rest of the material. And that seems to me it had to take a little longer than how long that took in the movie.”
• Fun Fact: Discussion about non-lethal weaponry (microwave crowd control) and “targeted” energy beams that exploit biological differences.

5. Could ‘Men in Black’ Exist?

(Shivang Srivastava)

• Q: Would the government create a secret agency to manage alien contact?
• Jake [17:01]:
  “I would assume that, yes, they would create an organization. Would it be as cool and sexy as Men in Black? Probably not.”
• Further Discussion: Whether the government or scientific community would hide the truth about aliens is debated, with Jake noting the disruptive potential of intelligent extraterrestrial contact.

Pop Culture Deep-Dive: Favorite Aliens

6. Favorite Fictional Aliens

• Chuck Nice [23:23]:
  “I’m gonna give you my favorite movie alien… The alien in ‘Alien’. That thing is amazing—it’s super cunning and intelligent, we don’t know what motivates this thing, it kills everything... It’s got a mouth in a mouth in a mouth. And it bleeds acid. Whoever thought of this alien... they put a little bit of time in.”
• Jake Roper [25:01]:
  “The Thing is my favorite alien. The Thing from the movie ‘The Thing’… it’s a shapeshifter, a parasite. The scary part is: does the person it takes over know that it’s not human, or does it still think it’s human?”
• Neil deGrasse Tyson [28:18]:
  “The Blob is the best alien ever. Because it didn’t walk, talk, have two eyes, mouth, or feet… it was not an actor in a costume. That was the most creative alien Hollywood has ever come up with.”

[Notable Quote, 29:14]

• Neil: “After [The Blob] ate its first person, then it was red.”

Science and Realism in Alien Depictions

7. Which Experts Should We Send to Meet Aliens?

• Movie “Arrival” reference: Physicist and linguist as first contacts.
• Jake Roper [33:06]:
  “For starting, because they knew there was some kind of communication happening, they needed someone there to decipher it… but wouldn’t you want a biologist?”
• Neil [33:36]:
  “I would have sent an astrobiologist and a cryptographer.”

[Fun Science Quibble, 35:01]

• Neil: Debates why aliens in movies communicate using “our weird sexagesimal counting system for angles” (latitude/longitude) and how unrealistic it is.

8. If Earth Was Attacked by Aliens, What Would You Do First?

• Jake Roper [40:49]:
  “First thing I would do is probably just relax, you know? What could I do to help stave it off? I'm just gonna chill. Pour a nice Merlot.”
• Chuck Nice [41:22]:
  “I’ll tell you what I would not do, which is shoot your gun at it… Go outside and start shooting at the sky.”
• Neil’s Take: Would try finding a way to “kick some alien ass”—but Chuck jokes Neil would retreat to a government bunker.

Most Realistic/Believable Aliens in Sci-Fi

9. What are the Most Believable Aliens in Modern Sci-Fi?

• Jake Roper [44:19]:
  “I think [the aliens in] ‘Arrival’. The way they handled it, the way they interacted with the aliens… it felt still in this world of science realism.”
• Neil deGrasse Tyson [45:20]:
  “I’m gonna go back to ‘Contact’… That was an authentic representation of how we as a society would react to the knowledge there’s an intelligent species out there.”
• Discussion: Emphasis on approaching “alien” as something truly divergent from human or animal-like forms; praises “The Day the Earth Stood Still” and “Contact” for creative non-human/non-physical depictions.

Alien Intelligence, Probability, and First Contact Protocols

10. Intelligence of Alien Visitors

• Neil [47:14]:
  “If aliens visited us, they’re clearly more intelligent.”
• Jake [47:37]:
  “But what is intelligence?… There will be different verticals of information that we are much well versed in than they are.”

11. First Contact Protocol

• Jake [49:42]:
  “You have the light cone… There’s a speed limit to how fast information can travel. By the time you send anything back, whoever sent it is probably long gone.”
• Neil [50:18]:
  “If they just showed up, do you send diplomats? Your head of state?”
• Jake: “No, I’d send Paul Rudd. Everyone likes Paul Rudd.”
• Chuck [50:45]:
  “Let’s send the delightful Paul Rudd. How could we go wrong?”
• Neil [51:02]:
  “If we send Paul Rudd and they kill Paul Rudd, the rest of us are doomed.”

The Most Probable Alien Encounter: Self-Replicating Machines?

12. Will We Meet Alien Robots? (‘Stargate’ Replicators Reference)

• Jake Roper [51:44]:
  “It does seem more reasonable that if we were to get a First Contact moment, it would be with some sort of machine, some sort of non- or inorganic built thing… If you create an AI, a machine that is so advanced it no longer needs you to create, it can create itself.”
• Neil deGrasse Tyson [53:07]:
  Outlines the Fermi Paradox and the argument that self-replicating robotic probes make the most sense for widespread galactic exploration. “It doesn’t take many doubling times to have a robot on every single habitable planet in the galaxy.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Neil, on movie and Wikipedia facts [08:04]:
  “Somebody actually creates information that goes on the wiki page. And I’m one of those people.”
• Chuck, on aliens’ behavior [44:49]:
  “Why do they always want to destroy us? Why is that their immediate instinct?”
• Jake, on government secrecy [17:16]:
  “If it were happening now, they would hide from us because it kind of is a disruptive thought… to know.”
• Funny closing on Paul Rudd as human ambassador [50:38]:
  “You need likable people. If they think he’s evil in some way, then we’re in big trouble.” — Neil

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 03:27 — Are we alone in the universe?
• 06:10 — Easiest alien film to survive
• 08:32 — Can ET infect us? Plausibility of contamination
• 11:08 — War of the Worlds laser: science or fantasy?
• 17:01 — Could Men in Black exist? (Government secrecy)
• 23:23 — Favorite fictional alien
• 25:01 — Jake on “The Thing” as favorite alien
• 28:18 — Neil on “The Blob” as most creative alien
• 33:06 — Which scientist should meet the aliens (“Arrival” reference)
• 40:49 — What would you do if aliens attacked?
• 44:19 — Most believable aliens in modern sci-fi
• 47:14 — Should we expect smarter or dumber aliens?
• 49:42 — Is there a protocol for first contact?
• 51:44 — Are replicating machines the alien life we’ll meet?
• 53:07 — Fermi paradox and self-replicating probes

Tone and Atmosphere

The interplay is energetic and humorous, with moments of deep scientific consideration balanced by comedy and pop culture enthusiasm. The panel shows respect for the science while enjoying wild, creative hypotheticals.

Summary

This episode is a whirlwind tour through humanity’s cinematic and scientific imaginings of alien life—balancing real science, skeptical fun, and an earnest sense of wonder. From lasers that turn people to ash, to whether government agents shroud us from the truth, to why the “Blob” is an underappreciated alien, it’s a thoughtful and entertaining look at both the fact and fiction of our cosmic neighbors.

Memorable send-off:
“If we send Paul Rudd and they kill Paul Rudd, the rest of us are doomed” – Chuck Nice [51:02]
“Keep looking up.” – Neil deGrasse Tyson [End]