actually in the very early comics, superman didn't fly, just leaped really high like the hulk

Everyone clicked on this video to hear Tyson discuss the real world possibility of the comicbook notion of Superman being able to manipulate gravitons to be able to fly. Everyone got dissapointed and left to watch another video.

The girl in behind the glass creeped me out 😂😭💔

I remember watching a video about this a long time ago. DC's original explanation was that he jumps so high it looks like he's flying, but the fans weren't satisfied with that answer because he can redirect himself in the air and hover. In the mid 80s they used theoretical science to explain it and it made a lot of sense.

Over the decades the explanation of how Superman can fly has changed a great deal. It seems each writer who has tackled tales of the Man of Steel has their own take on it. Admittedly, few of them were scientists, so some made less sense than others. As I understand the more recent attempts, Clark has a sort of "tactile kinetic" relationship with solid matter. Every cell of his body is essentially a solar battery, and able to contain an incredible amount of energy. Some of this energy can be used, on perhaps a near unconscious level, to affect gravitational fields. By near unconscious, I mean like how we can breathe without thinking about it but once you start thinking about breathing you can choose when to inhale and exhale. Clark can affect gravimetric forces around him by sheer force of will, essentially opting to place himself in "orbit" relative to the Earth itself. One could argue when he takes off into the sky, Clark is not so much leaping or pushing off from the surface, as he may be counteracting the normal effect gravity has on him. He can choose when gravity affects him, and by how much. The "tactile kinetic" aspect of this comes into play when he is touching other matter. He can extend this gravimetric field around not only himself but another person, or a DC-10. Although the larger the object, the more effort it is on his solar powered body. Hence the grunting and making pained faces, but this may not merely be just physical exertion of his muscles so much as his psychokinetic relationship with the universe around him. Mind over matter, if you will. This would be more feasible of course, if Extra Sensory Perception were ever accepted as more than a cursory parapsychological "alternative" form of science. Perhaps the Kryptonians cracked the code before their planet exploded.

Then how does he turn? How does he levitate?

I am surprised Dr. Tyson didn't touch on the fact that a Superman who obeys the laws of physics would be a living projectile weapon in his flying as the amount of force he would need to impart to take off would wreck the area around him and he would be hitting the ground with an equally damaging blast radius.

How does he change his speed while "jumping" then?

i remmeber when i saw neil on the batman v superman movie, i screamed

At the end of Batman v, Superman on his grave dirt started to levitate. usually, if you pay attention as he is about to take off any debris beneath his feet portray some sort of perturbations. he has super hearing (which can be loud) but he learned to mentally switch off and even isolate specific sounds meaning incredible mental capabilities. I think it is psychokinetic or something.

Simple. Comic book logic.

he flies by letting off very powerful, but silent and odorless farts...because alien.

Actually a couple of fans have come out with the theory that he doesn't leap his body actually controls gravitational waves which allow him to fly.

No Capes! :D

Interesting theory but one issue I have with it is how does he just hover off the ground with no movement?

Superman's method of flight has already been explained in the comics and touched on in one or two of the movies. He has tactile telekinesis through his "Kryptonian aura," which allows him to move himself through the air, as well as lifting anything he picks up with a uniform force so it doesn't fall apart. Not sure how it relates to catching Lois Lane an inch off the ground, though.

What superpower is the most realistic on Earth? Make sure to vote on the poll in the video!

I've heard a theory that he's able to control electromagnetic force which causes him to float and enables him to do stuff like lift a plane by the nose without it bending

My current hypothesis is that Superman can redirect the neutrinos (tiny invisible particles) that the sun produces. Our sun is larger than Krypton's, thus producing more neutrinos, which would be why Kryptonians can't normally fly - except on Earth.

It's obvious. Superman flies in the exact same way Santa's reindeer fly.

You encourage learning and science, and not only teach people about science and the universe we live in, but you teach it in a way that is entertaining. Who better to call a real life Superhero than someone who shows others how to think objectively and freely. You Neil deGrasse Tyson are my Superhero. Also, my 2 and 4 year olds love to listen to you, even though they don’t yet understand what you are saying.

I have a feeling that Tyson helped Batman, behind the scenes, to fight Superman in the Batman V Superman movie. Just a gut feeling.

So if superman jumped into space, he would never be able to get back down?

Superman didn't fly in the beginning. He just... Jumped anywhere he needed to go.

i like that he was doing logical experiments at that age like he tested something first and he didnt jump off anything like most dumbass kids do just just tested the theory by wearing a cape and jumping up in the air and measuring the distance once he saw it didnt change the theory was a bust

Gravity manipulation around himself, in layman's terms. Kryptonians can manipulate graviton particles.

it's pretty depressing that a show that has neil degrasse tyson on it almost every week rarely ever breaks 100000 views per video but a guy like pewdipie get like 30 billion trillion views every time he make a video

You can't change direction in a jump. Supes changes direction. His cells generate an 'at-will' phenomenon known as diamagnetism, which theoretically can generate a vector of force against any magnetic field.

Doesn't Superman "hover" too?

He has an almost primal (for kryptonians) instinct to fly in lower gravity atmosphere awakened by our suns radiation. Its kind of like a human learning to walk. Early on he started leaping (his crawl) then evolves into flight. Goes further with learning acceleration, hovering and almost instantaneous direction change.

In the original comics, he actually did just jump (that's where the leap tall buildings thing came from). Eventually, one of the artists asked if he could just fly instead because that was easier to draw, and the higher-ups approved, and that's not only when superman was made able to fly, that's when flight was made a super power.

I *love* that girl in the control room. Who else? (Chuck excluded)

Now the new Superman clearly floats and maneuver during flight and even flies to different solar systems. This requires a little more imagination than what is being proposed here. in the newest Superman movie, the small rocks were floating before he takes off. We need to invoke something a little more exotic, leaping is not going to cut it. maybe some gravitational waves or field here or even being able to generate and manipulate a warp field distorting and compress and stretch space-time in order proper himself at those great distances

They had Superman fly because Captain Marvel (Shazam) was a wildly more popular superhero at the time and he could actually fly via magic.

I actually came here after I was about to comment on that Superman scene with Henry Caville. Superman flying (defying 'gravity') when I was a kid was cool...when I _thought_ I understood what 'gravity' is. Now that I have a better understanding of what 'gravity' is...or isn't...Superman 'defying gravity' is on whole other order of magnitude. He would be 'defying' space-time itself. Light can't even do that. That's literally 'defying' the very fabric of the universe. The craziest thing is that isn't even hyperbole. In order for someone to truly 'fly' you would have to literally break reality...that's crazy!

Flying like Superman and Peter Pan is a dream of mine.

NO. Superman is able to fly because he can manipulate his personal gravity at will. It's related to the powers he has from absorbing energy from the sun.

As for even being "able to leap tall buildings in a single stride" within the laws of physics would mean jack hammer-like punctured pavement at every leap point in the city. The street maintenance people would be pissed.

If Superman's flying were only a high leap, it would be simply a big parabola, like the Hulk, but he can change direction and stop in the air like a hummingbird. I don't know the physics of how he is able to do it, but Superman really flies.

I always thought of it like he was essentially punching through the air and using the moment and force to drive himself forward, hence the one arm flying imagery.

#HulksAreSexyToo

well his powers in the comics doesnt come from gravity, but rather from the sun, and it provides him with a bioelectric aura that allows him to fly and change directions.

Neil and his show StarTalk with Chuck and other guests are one of my top five favorite channels on KZfaq.

The original Superman was leaping. The later versions of Superman was gravity defying flight and levitation. So he spent four minutes not explaining anything.

Neill DeGrasse Tyson you my friend are a legend.

How does he change speed or stay in the air and levitating?

Fun fact- it was the Fleischer Studios animated Superman shorts that started the flight powers. Their original intro had the "Leap tall buildings" bit, but later it was switched to "Flies higher than a Jetliner" or something. Those old cartoons are pretty awesome, and any superhero fan should check them out.

Superman's flying is a form of telekinesis where he possesses the ability to contract and expand space around himself thus providing his propulsion.

I love watching the reactions of the girl in the back.

Mr Tyson I've been a huge fan for years and I love your videos

02:22 the producer's laughs behind the glass is funny looking at

Suuuuper late comment but have you guys ever heard of electromagnetic aura? In the newest Superman films you can see him literally flying. He turns, floats, and changes speed in midair. He controls the gravity around him which is what the electromagnetic aura does. He consciously controls it

telekinesis

Except, Superman can hover. Explain that doctor.

Loved the cameo in BvS, Neil. :D

I believe their point is that he doesn't turn, he doesn't levitate.

How does Superman hover right in the air? How can he change the direction while flying? How can he get slower before he lands instead hitting in like a meteor? Questions over questions...but i really would like to know. Maybe someone could explain the flight ability of Superman.

Is an exogalactic solar system possible? I know about exogalactic stars, but could a solar system be ejected from a galaxy while staying intact and not changing?

I always imagined Superman powers deriving from a manipulation of gravity. Being able to harness gravitational forces through his body from planets, galaxies, etc, and control them. Most of his powers being explained by this, flight, strength, speed, invulnerability. In certain instances not exerting a pushing force, but creating a pulling one.

I always assumed that since he is a solar battery, his flight ability was due to expelling solar energy, sort of like how Iron Man uses his repulsor tech, but on an organic scale. I like the Samurai Jack idea. Aku: "You can FLY?!" Jack: " No, jump good."

that really doesn't answer the question though. the question is about what possible mechanism he could have for actual flight. as in levitation. also, i was just laughing my ass off at little neil doing a controlled experiment with cape and without cape

What if it's because superman is really superconductive due to his alien biology which allow him to absorb and channel electromagnetic energy. He might be able to generate quasi-particles in his body that produce spin 2 fields that allows him to shield gravity. As result it enhances is already abnormal alien strength and makes him appear to fly. This would also explain how he could shoot lasers out of his eyes, see x-rays, or hear police radios. Superman is a superconducting exoelectrogenic humanoid with extremely high bone and muscle densities.

Hulk pants...the most indestructible object in Marvel universe...

This was awesome. You were amazing in COSMOS A Spacetime Odyssey.

spent the entire video watching the woman in the other room

Gravitons....you're welcome.

Chuck you NAILED that mighty mouse theme PERFECT PITCH!

Its because superman has an electromagnetic aura that he can control, from the comics.

But he can hover

+StartTalk Radio You didnt answer the question. Superman changes direction and he also accelerates in mid air so he cannot be jumping.

The reason Superman can fly is the same reason we are all stuck in bodies. Because we said so. The human spirt (the only true static) has the ability to postulate and perceive. At this time no known limitations to the static exist. Hence he can fly but so can we if we want.

40% of the people here finally declared superman using his farts to fly.

No explanation here..

If Superman is just jumping when he flies, how does he change direction mid-air?

Im so annoyed by the amount of people in the comments trying to prove Neil’s idea wrong. The fact is he was never denying that superman can fly. He was just saying, if superman was realistic and followed actual laws of physics, flight would not be possible. Instead he would leap, just as he did originally before flying was even a thing.

Why don't i have a crush peering at me creepily through a window?

farts as propulsion system?

Dumb ideas from smart guy

This is how I imagined Superman flying when I was a kid. All the other powers made sense except his 'hovering' and his 'heat vision'

This explanation is inadequate as superman is able to start slowly and accelerate during the flight.

Leaping doesn't explain how he changes direction so easily in flight, only psychokinesis explains it

When I read the title I got excited for a moment until I noticed it was Startalk.... :(

When Superman flys he is not jumping.

Minor correction: Superman does not grow up with the strength he would have on his home planet, because according to Superman and DC canon, it is only with the exposure of a yellow Sun's rays, like ours, that those powers truly surface. I will give you that the gravity probably do have an effect, but again, according to the canon, he would not be able to fly or probably not even leap that high either, while on Krypton.

Neil met Superman twice, and he was also in Batman v Superman so clearly he knows what he's talking about

Superman doesnt move, he moves the universe and just does poses

How does Superman slow down then as he returns to earth? Also, when he is "flying," it looks like he goes horizontal.

Superman speeds up, slows down, and changes direction in flight. He would be locked up as a vagrant, with no visible means of support. As a little one, I too thought it was the cape. But pretty early on it became obvious that he could fly because that was cooler than leaping tall buildings with a single bound. I believe that in the very earliest superman stories, he only jumped super high or far. He gained flight very early in his career but heat ray vision, X-ray vision, came later. Oh, I forgot. In the fifties, when Superman had his black and white TV show, there were a few kids who killed themselves, jumping off houses and out of windows, wearing their new Superman cape. Superman suits and capes were all the rage for a while. Back then, they only made them in child sizes. :)

Chuck's last words in the video were "it makes sense." I thought that was a great way to end a video discussing the super powers of a fictional character.

What if he superheated his feet (or whatever, depending on his desired direction) and did a whole air pressure thingy to propel him? Like his lasers and solar flare moves, just less explosive.

Can you imagine the force put on the ground in order for him to "leap"? He's be paying every city a huge bill for sidewalk damages.

Because he can and we should just enjoy his stories without thinking too hard.

How would you describe his ability to have bullets bounce off of him, his xray vision, or his ability to fly into outer space, and return to earth without burning up during re-entry back to earth?

I love how he ignored answering the question

That makes no sense because I can stand in mid air nor turn around in a different direction. Superman is not jumping he's flying plain and simple

I had a superman costume one Halloween when I was little and it had a warning on the cape " This cape will not make you fly, only Superman can fly" The Hulk jumps...but superman can also hover and fly very slowly. Coming from another planet with high gravity as a baby, I don't think his muscles would have developed as if he was still on the other planet. We deteriorate when exposed to micro-gravity for long periods. The comics give him his powers from our yellow sun. (however that would work)

The very first comic brook t feature Superman explains his powers in this exact same way.

See, that's why Superman jumping really high instead of inexplicably flying makes way more sense...

So basically, if we have real physics for Superman, he's golden era Superman.

He jumps into the sky and then uses his Super Fart ability to go supersonic