Those dudes had massive balls 😮

This man can change your perspective on so many things with such few words

Fun fact: European captains were at first disappointed by the Polynesian traditional maps, made of weaved palm fronds for the sailing routes and seashells for the island, discarding them as inaccurate. That is until one seasoned sailor took a good look at them, and realized the islands were spaced according to relative travel time. They were not maps, they were route planners.

Uber driver : the destination you asked for is a bit too far Neil :

He is correct. The urge to expand is in our DNA.

I could listen to a person with an advanced vocabulary speak any day of the week.

It's always interesting to see Neil's passion for science.

My Pacific Island ancestors did that? Damn.. I’m proud 🤝🏾💯

If I could hire Neil to tell me bedtime stories like this, I would.

Shout out to the brave ancient Pacific Islanders.

The Polynesians didn't just venture out with the hope that there might be an island in the great unknown; they observed patterns on the waves and made educated guesses. The wave patterns on the water in the direction where there were known islands look a certain way due to the currents and waves breaking around these islands leaving massive long lasting wakes that can last for hundreds of miles. When they saw this kind of pattern on the ocean in a direction where there wasn't a known island, they reasonably speculated that there was probably an island somewhere in that direction off in the distance, so that's the direction they would direct their exploration. This is one of the ways by which they island-hopped from island to island across the Pacific.

i would attend school more with a lecturer like this guy.

The story of the Polynesians is just absolutely incredible.

This blew my mind, he is totally right, and i have so much respect for anyone willing to cross an ocean in something you can pick up with 3 of your buddies and not exactly knowing where your going or if your going to make it/if there is a place at all that is mind boggling

As a Maori I'm proud to say this was us & we'll continue to travel.

Beautifully said.

As Kanaka Maoli, it always makes me smile to hear people talk about the journey my ancestors took thousands of years.

Shout out to my ancestors

This guy is a treasure for the world! Listen to him and we all are a little smarter !

This man is so articulate and bright

I'm part Hawaiian and I am proud of my ancestors for voyaging in the unknown.

They were great seaman. Very brave, knew the constellations, weather patterns, etc.

Pacific Islanders… just wow. ❤

I am glad he shares a lot. He is a scientist and teacher.

Me explaining my parents why they should buy me a ps5

Man to pick this mans Brain 🧠, most people think that if they are around somebody that’s smarter than them. It makes them feel stupid, but it should be the opposite listen and learn. 💯

They knew how to look at wave patterns and use them to detect islands far away and steer for them. And if they could find an island (which means shallow water), they could get fish and other sea life to eat and collect water from rainfall. They could stay at sea a long, long time. Their outrigger canoes were very stable even in violent weather. They were also good at following ocean currents. And of course they had sails and could take advantage of various winds. It wasn't just paddling.

To be given the power of travel between star systems would be jaw dropping. The amount of exploration to be done is mind blowing and I envy the souls who will get to see the universe in a way we could only imagine

"the next shore that we're standing on, is the boundary between earths surface and space, and we're looking out into the unknown" gave me chills

One of the Apollo astronauts, I believe it was Buzz Aldrin, said something like, "one of the failures of the space program is that we haven't clearly explained that we as a species lose something when we stop pushing to new frontiers"

Imagine how crazy it must have been for them to find an island with no end in sight, the further you walk you just meet more lands, because up until then they've only landed on small islands not an entire continent.

He touched our inner understanding.

"Um, bro you know where we going?" "Yesn't"

I don't care that people say this man talks to much" he's got alot to say and when a guy this smart is talking" then you should be listening" GO NEIL

N.D.T. is an Awesome jewel of brilliance. If his genius, insight, gift as a teacher was a light , the sun would have some stiff competition. N.D.T. for PRESIDENT! Gots to love this gentleman he is a truly great human being! ! !

The Polynesians really did do some of the most insane expeditions. They did things i used to think were impossible for the time.

It's even more badass when you realize just how dark Oceans are at night. These people ventured into unknown not knowing what cratures they'll find and even if they're going to find any land and survive.

The challenge of solar system hopping is the distance, not navigation

This man spits facts

Yup, while Polynesians were circumnavigating the oceans, other people were afraid theyd fall off the edge of earth if they moved one way too far 😂 our ancestors were amazing and continued to trade between islands

I enjoy how Neil keeps the conversation lively and upbeat.. exploring is in our DNA .. looking over the horizon straightened the human back

That is what's missing in the world today; courage!

I told one that after a few days of not seeing land, I would have started paddling back. Apparently, they navigated by reading waves and currents. Clouds can also hint of the location of dry land.

This is absolutely 💯 What are we waiting for... The FUTURE is Now !!! Let's get it together people !

I can listen to this man for eternity

Polynesian are the best ocean navigators in history

Neil has a storytelling gift revealing that science is truly the framework of every adventure known to man.

Rumor has it the interviewers question was: "Would you like a Thai spring roll?"

The ancient Polynesians journeying across the Pacific does indeed blow my mind. Sure they had good navigation tactics, but to venture into the unknown so boldly into the unknown without advanced technology is gutsy

Absolutely a wonderful way to put it!!!!!

Damm this speech should be delivered in UN

My ancestors were navigators! There are a small number of people back home that still know how to navigate based off on the star charts. I worry for the days the stars change and navigation tactics of the past are lost forever

So many people hate on him while he’s out here trying to express to everyone the motivation to advance to the stars

He is straight up calling us out.

Love what Neil Degrease says and how he puts it.

Their balls were so big they had their own gravity wells and the Islands came to them.

To everyone reading this: in the Tawantinsuyu Empire (current day Perú), we had a civilaztion within the empire which sailed a flotilla of THEIR own i to the Pacific Ocean, as well. My ancestors sailed their reed boats from their coast and discovered modern day Easter Island and made it all the way to Polynesia, Australia, New Zealand all the way to Papua New Guinea, ringing back with them people from Melanesia, giving modern day Perú, their first "black" inhabitants. It is astonishing that ancient people with primitive technology compared to our own in this Modern Era, were able to accomplish so much. We need to and MUST learn from this to truly get a grasp of what human beings are capable of, celebrate what all races have contributed into the fabric of human history and evolve into a higher state of humanity and consciousness.

Shout out to all my TONGANS !!! Polynesian Pride

Dude imagine how cool id be to be the first person to set foot in another solar system

Nice to see my ancestors getting a shout out.

I just love how he presents history and the future! You are a wonderful great mind!

Facts...we have lost the dream.

Dr. Tyson is a treasure for humankind

Can someone make a compilation of Neil deGrasse Tyson just explaining things? He doesn't have to be cracking jokes, or talking about his past, just stuff like this, where he can change your perspective like that...

Makes me hopeful and also feel more appreciation for how badass Moana is

Perfect analogy. Spot on!

Clouds forming on the horizon indicate islands with lots of plant life. I saw this in the Caribbean when I was in the Navy.

They KNEW MORE THAN WHAT WE KNOW NOW..!!!!!😮😮🤔🧐🧐👽👽

This man, gets everything into the perspective.

Not only that, they did it multiple times. We know of at least 2 voyages that got to hawaii, we dont know how many lost voyages there were.

I don't agree with Neil often but these ancient mariners, I think, are the greatest story in history

The fact is the number of individuals willing and allowed to be part of this adventure, we're not necessarily based on how much school and power they have in society. It takes one or few expects with everyone else with courage.

Proud to be Hawaiian/Maori because of things like this.

I would give anything to be able to travel the cosmos. Ever since i was a kid I've been obsessed with the universe.

Its sad but imagine how many explorers died exploring RIP

This man gives you hope and courage

Tyson is forgetting that these people were doing this 50,000 years ago during the height of the last ice age when sea levels were lower, exposing a far greater number of islands and land masses to utilize. But yes, crossing the Pacific at any level, in dugout canoes takes great skill, and courage

Those folks were smart enough to figure out where the islands were by waves caused by interference patterns from the islands hundreds of miles away. They were on another level.

Bro has so much confidence that he is very persuasive

I have two MASSIVE fascinations. Ancient Polynesians and the Inca. I could read about them for the rest of my life.

The only advantage I would say they had was time. We may KNOW where and how far the stars and other planets are. However, because of that we know that the very first journey is going to take 7 months just to get to Mars. That means under perfect circumstances we need to account for at least 14 months of rations just to do a flyby, and if we chose to stay for say 6 months, we need to prep 20 months. To reach the dwarf planet pluto will take us over 9 years one way. So we'd have to be prepped to not only have a fully self sufficient spacecraft with a perfect oxygen recycling system, but we'd also have to be prepared to lose a generation of astronauts to the expedition even if it's successful. It would be their last voyage, regardless, and quite possibly their first as well due to the timeframe. We'd have to have perfected psychology in a space environment, to prevent them from killing themselves or others, we'd have to consider the first several voyages being mono-sex to avoid the extremely likely alternative of tackling the hazards of labor, child birth and raising of children in space. We'd have to account for the fact they may never be able to properly readjust to life on earth due to a severely weakened immune system living in such a sterilized environment and the rapid evolution of viruses and bacteria, made all the worse because of their age when they returned. Even at 18, if they just did a flyby and return, they would be 39 by the time they returned. Over half their life having been in space. I can tell you from experience, a 40yo doesn't bounce back like a 20yo. We just know how to roll with the punches better. That simply won't be enough in this scenario. At the average age of 34, they will return home aged 53.

They used things like birds flying & through studying nature,,, they knew that there was land in the direction they would head towards & probably an estimated distance away land was!

"we have everything we seek in front of us but not the power to grasp it" -me just randomly

At least he respected the ancients

My people. Proud to be Polynesian

It is always a great pleasure to hear this great scientific

It’s one of the most interesting aspects of human colonization: the Polynesians. The amount of people that should’ve died on these long unknown journeys must have been massive, let alone the lack of nutrients they must have had during all these long trips. They were incredible fishers, but only those who were able to store the most nutrients in their bodies were the fittest to achieve to land. Those who genetically had this genetic advantage and survived the incredible journeys of thirst and starvation , being able to store nutrients and energy from scarcity of resources, saw themselves in the XX century being bombarded with canned foods, fast food, corn syrup and the worst of the western world. Their bodies are not design for such amount of food in such a short period. Now they have the highest levels of obesity ever in history. What was a genetic advantage in times of scarcity, is now killing them softly but massively with chronic diseases like diabetes and obesity. And this is a disgrace that must be addressed.

We should put this man as president of earth, way better than all politicians

Future astronavigator motto: “Navigate like a native of a water planet ! “

I read a story about this captain had heard about the polanesians ability to navigate. He went to check this out. A 5 year old boy was put in the boat. The boy navigated the boat from hawaii to japan.

Captain Cook was astonished that a Tahiti passenger on his ship could understand the language of Hawaii people. Tahiti and Hawaii are separated by more than a thousand miles of empty ocean.

Ever been on a ship in the middle of the Pacific? The sheer scale of it. You feel like a mote of dust.

Ancient Polynesians actually think of the ocean as their highway, they don't think of it as a daunting, endless pool of water

Glad he cleared up they weren’t using GPS cos that was my first thought

Dude, has a way of looking at things that give a whole mind expanding perspective! Love learning.

Man, when you put it like that, I wish I were Polynesian.

the indomitable human spirit ✨

U tell em Tyson 😮😊

Whoa no way! They didn't have GPS back then! Neil deGrasse Tyson is just so full of information that no one would have ever guessed.

Energy required to sail the seas is far less than the energy required to “boldly go where no man has gone before”.