PHIL PLAIT: Welcome to science – Zen Pencils

I know a place where the Sun never
shines is at the bottom of the ocean a
crack on the cross there exudes
chemicals that keep the water to the
boiling point and this would kill a
human instantly but there are creatures
there bacteria that thrive they eat the
sulfur from these vents and excrete
sulfuric acid now I know a place where
the temperature is 15 million degrees
and the pressure would crush you a
microscopic come and that place is the
core of the Sun I know a place where the
magnetic fields are so strong they would
rip you apart atom by atom the surface
of a neutron star it’s called a magnetar
and I know a place where life began
billions of years ago and that place is
here the earth I know these places
because i have a scientist scientism way
of finding things out it’s a way of
testing what’s real it’s what Richard
Feynman called a way of not fooling
ourselves no psychic despite their
claims as ever helpfully solvable but
forensic scientists did they do it all
the time and it wasn’t someone who
practices help me off of you who found a
vaccine you can’t pure a small box of
oil scientists did this medical
scientist no creation is ever cracked a
genetic code chemist did this molecular
biologists do this they used physics
things math they use chemistry biology
astronomy and engineering they used
science now you can experience this
thrill of discovery the incredible
visceral feeling of doing something no
one has ever done seeing things no one
has ever seen no something no one has
ever known before no crystal balls no
tarot cards no horoscopes just you your
brain and you’re in
two things welcome to science