In this episode of the Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey Neil DeGrasse Tyson discusses the smallest components of the Universe. He first talked about Natural vs Artificial selection and then segmented the discussion into how Artificial selection (over millions of years) created all of the biodiversity we see on earth today. I really liked this episode because NDG does a great job explaining these concepts and how selection plays a role in determining genome. He ends the video by talking about how nature resets itself via mass extinction. Overall I enjoyed this episode but I wouldn’t classify it as informative for the Cosmos class.

Blog Post Entry by Jesse Rodriguez:

For my blog series, I have chosen to watch Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s: Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. I have just finished watching Episode 1: Standing up in the Milky Way and I believe that Neil DeGrasse Tyson makes several good and interesting points. For a brief introduction, Neil DeGrasse Tyson discusses our Cosmic Address and an introduction into the concept of a vast and expanding Universe. One of the stories that I found particularly interesting is the treatment of Girodano Bruno, an Italian scientist who questioned the Roman Catholics view of the Universe. For introducing the concept of an expanding Universe and the earth revolving around the Sun, Bruno was imprisoned and tortured. Only recently have people accepted these two views.

Neil DeGrasse Tyson also discusses the Universe’s past and about the formation of the known Universe / Earth. I found this particularly interesting because Tyson introduces the idea of the chance nature of existence. This idea delves into how our entire existence is an accumulation of random fate events that all happened to create what we know as present-day earth. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole explanation and found it very insightful.

Neil DeGrasse Tyson finishes the episode by acknowledging how science is passed on through the generations from teacher to student to teacher. This section of the episode Tyson acknowledges past scientists including Carl Sagan and spends the end of the episode discusses his personal experiences with Sagan and thanks him by paying homage to him in this episode. I thoroughly enjoyed this episode and can’t wait to watch the rest to learn about how we are all star stuff!

Blog Post 1: (09/01/2019)

Hello! My name is Jesse Rodriguez and I am a senior here at UNC! I don’t really have any astronomy experience other than the occasional Netflix documentary. I am a Nutrition major and hoping to get into a second degree Nursing program here in the spring. I’ve pretty much always wanted to be in healthcare since I was a kid and I love Nursing because of it’s flexibility.

I am hoping that I am able to get an “A” in this class and to expand my knowledge of the Cosmos. I am fascinated by the Cosmos because it is extremely interesting to study and one day I hope I can share this knowledge my children when they start asking questions about the cosmos. One area that particularly interests me is Black Holes. This interests me because I want to know more about why they exist and if they are any threat to humankind. I am also interested in the mission to colonize other planets. I feel like humankind will set foot on Mars sometime in my lifetime.