What is a Wormhole? With Neil deGrasse Tyson

What is a wormhole exactly? Travel through a mashup of Startalk’s favorite wormhole moments with Neil deGrasse Tyson and learn the basics you need to know about wormholes.
Are wormholes real? How would they work if we could make one? Learn about Albert Einstein, the fabric of spacetime, and why wormholes would be useful for us. We break down examples of wormholes in movies, using wormholes as intergalactic highways, and time traveling with wormholes. Plus, how are wormholes connected to causality?
Get the NEW Cosmic Queries book (5/5 ⭐s on Amazon!): amzn.to/3dYIEQF
Support us on Patreon: / startalkradio
FOLLOW or SUBSCRIBE to StarTalk:
Twitter: / startalkradio
Facebook: / startalk
Instagram: / startalk
About StarTalk:
Science meets pop culture on StarTalk! Astrophysicist & Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, his comic co-hosts, guest celebrities & scientists discuss astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe. Keep Looking Up!
#StarTalk #neildegrassetyson
Timestamps:
00:00 - What is a Wormhole?
03:55 - Examples of Wormholes
09:05 - Intergalactic Highways
11:54 - Time Traveling Through Wormholes

[@StarTalk]

If you could create a wormhole, where would you go?

[@eddiecampbell3514]

Everywhere? Lol

[@robinmiller5256]

Back to the dinosaurs.Cretaceous, Jurassic, Triassic !

[@kali5719]

@@eddiecampbell3514 All at once. XD

[@williamckama8470]

Like looking down the barrel of a gun.says, stay out!

[@ChessIsBestWithACupOfScience]

Hello Neil, Chuck, and the rest of the StarTalk community! Quick question, is energy as a whole conscious? I'll be more than happy to go in depth with this question if need be.

[@NGC0Music]

Perfect timing. Just opened KZbin and thought: „Nothing interesting to watch here”, 5 seconds later this pops up… Life is good!!!

[@marcusszavaleta]

Literally me rn

[@michaelccopelandsr7120]

As it should be

[@manojlds]

What's a wormhole? KZbin

[@favorites673]

And I’m watching Stargate SG-1. Ironic.

[@PatNeedhamUSA]

I'm in the same exact boat (or ship heading into the wormhole)

[@foxdavani4091]

love how Neil feels like everyone’s fun uncle and chuck feels like everyone’s comical cousin. watching these guys is like sitting at home and having a fun chat with family.

[@Bridget-op3lk]

Your family must be so much cooler than mine

[@foxdavani4091]

@@Bridget-op3lk I was lucky to grow up in the family that didn’t take things seriously and did everything humanly possible to just have fun. I remember my mom will take me out of school early just to go see a concert.

[@abdelrahmanmustafa8937]

And my mom

[@el_dj440]

When Chuck gets ahead of Neil is awesome. 🤣 Niel always acts surprised too. 🤣

[@smertboy7157]

Every episode of startalk puts a smile on my face and is a treat for the mind...!!!

[@StarTalk]

:)

[@adithvarecool1245]

Shut up

[@ChronicGamer420]

Hi Father Neil and Brother Chuck. Thankyou for making my day that little bit brighter, like the sun, you illuminate my world :)

[@brett_norris]

I don’t know if you take audience questions, but the thing always left on my mind after I watch a video on wormholes is the space that isn’t getting warped. Using the paper demonstration from Interstellar just for simplicity, when you fold that “paper” in half to connect two points of space/time, what happens to the rest of that space that just moved? Do things get squished? Is it unaffected?

[@carlmccartney1025]

If you were there you would have no perception of it happening while an outside viewer would be able to see it happening, but probably only WHILE it's happening

[@carlmccartney1025]

It's kinda like the dark matter engine on Futurama, don't move the ship through space move space around the ship

[@DodgyDaveGTX]

@@carlmccartney1025 Re: the dark matter engine on Futurama. What happens when _multiple_ people use that principle, though? i.e. the moving of space around oneself.

[@edbruder9975]

You would definitely have to adjust your balls a bit.

[@Sammasambuddha]

I'd imagine the rest of space around the wormhole, or the Professor's dark matter engine, is not affected at all since like a black hole, the event horizon around the hole, worm or otherwise, is quite steep so if you rolled a marble around the edge it would just fall straight in like jumping off a cliff. I'd like to know what happens if two wormholes came in contact somewhere down the line. Would they both collapse like two black holes colliding, or would you just have a sign post up ahead... you're entering... the Twilight Zone.

[@andrewscoppetta4944]

Disney does a great job utilizing the (elevator = practical wormhole) equation Neil brought up on the rides at their theme parks. You get in a chamber that brings you from street level to the subterranean infrastructure that houses the ride, but when you step out it feels like you’ve actually traveled to the world in which the ride is set. That tactic was originally pioneered for the Haunted Mansion ride in Disney Land, and it was so successful it’s basically become Imagineers 101 at this point. Recently I was lucky enough to experience the evolution of this concept firsthand at Galaxy’s Edge in Disney World. Both the Millennium Falcon and the Rise of the First Order rides use this tactic to perfection, especially the latter. You get on a ship, are attacked and boarded, taken prisoner, marched to a cell, and then escape, ALL BEFORE THE RIDE EVEN STARTS. In reality, all you actually did was move in queue through a series of elevators and waiting rooms, but the immersion level is off the charts. As far as I was concerned, I stepped into an elevator in Florida and was transported through space time to a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

[@GarrettFrechette]

Always a great time when another StarTalk drops!

[@YoungGandalf2325]

I'd like to see the worm that's capable of creating wormholes through space-time.

[@edbruder9975]

It was the one the Millennial Falcon escaped from in Star Wars. It just happened to be on it's day off.

[@Sammasambuddha]

Dune 3 - Escape from Arrakis

[@pumanoir282]

Its a Space Sized Earthworm🎉

[@lrla8657]

I’m not sure why I am fascinated with Black Holes and Wormholes!

[@PassportBrosBusinessClass]

Because they are the only way off this God Forsaken rock...

[@Novastar.SaberCombat]

They're both one-way gates. I am extremely serious, but I'm also not permitted to say much more. 🐲✨🐲✨🐲✨

[@lrla8657]

@@PassportBrosBusinessClass LOL!!!!

[@lrla8657]

@@Novastar.SaberCombat cannot say more because of alien/dragons?

[@Sammasambuddha]

TMI Keep your hole preferences to yourself. But you forgot 'bout white holes? You are hole racist! Lol.

[@leatherface4133]

I miss the episodes taken in Neil’s office.

[@imcnagpc2]

I’m glad you are doing your show on KZbin. This is the way of the near future instead of waiting for networks to produce content.

[@saschaschneider9157]

The replicator is explained in the series as a byproduct of the transporter. My favorite transporter component though is the Heisenberg Compensator. It makes me smile every time they mention it. 😁 Fun fact for ultra nerds: The creators of the original Star Trek series invented beaming because it was cheaper to make that special effect than make a scene to landing with a shuttle.

[@diagnostician001]

As i understand it, the transporter buffer only stores information, as the information needed to transport human molecules or matter is astronomical. The heisenberg compenstor was used to minimize information loss of the matter being transported, thus minimizing errors during transport. The compensator worked around the problems caused by the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle.

[@kalinystazvoruna8702]

The whole Doctor Who series uses "wormholes" known in the show as the Vortex, to travel back and forth through time and space. Also, at 12:32, Dr. Tyson is describing the basic workings of the Stargate in the movie and the series.

[@TechNextLetsGo]

I was waiting for a stargate reference, sadly I don't think he has seen it.

[@randalscott7224]

​@@TechNextLetsGo Neil has seen it from the inside. He and Bill Nye had a guest appearance as themselves in an episode of Stargate Atlantis. "Brainstorm".

[@Steve-hf6ox]

And don't forget "Ringworld", where the Pearson's Puppeteer uses stepping-stones to get around the galaxy.

[@gallifreyantauri]

@@Steve-hf6ox Never read the Ringworld series. Too many books, too little time. 😿

[@Steve-hf6ox]

@@gallifreyantauri it's worthwhile

[@charbelelhayek7858]

Hope you're having a great day❤️ Thank you for your work Happy teacher's day Dr. Neil

[@latinoessa]

Great video. Should do an explainer on “direction” while traveling in space. Is there an “up” or “down”

[@TheSilverShadow17]

A simple short answer to that question: In space where it's a perpetual vacuum, there is no up or down. In the same way that there aren't any true "directions" in space either.

[@eddiecampbell3514]

Love this show!!

[@SirCheeto47]

The background music was lovely!!

[@mannie7028]

Can’t get my head around this space, time, gravity thing, but it sounds amazing, and this program always entertains

[@murielvaillancourt3855]

Me too. Perhaps due to my age, 66.

[@JJs_playground]

What part don't you understand?

[@mannie7028]

@@JJs_playground I hope your question is genuine. How many people actually understand this? I accept it but do not have the maths and physics to explain it as well as Tyson does. I don’t understand gravity, but I know it works!!

[@davidmartin5764]

What a lovely wee tune playing along with this video

[@D2Nice]

Thank you for putting the work in.

[@guillaumemaurice3503]

Thank you for sharing this video that was very interesting and fascinating.

[@georgefeener8682]

Great production work and graphics you three rock lord chuck is perfect for comedic balance well done

[@diagnostician001]

As i understand it, the transporter buffer only stores information, as the information needed to transport human molecules or matter is astronomical. The heisenberg compenstor was used to minimize information loss of the matter being transported, thus minimizing errors during transport. The compensator worked around the problems caused by the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle.

[@johnprice434]

Amazing video

[@reubenkinsey2947]

Love this!! Thank you

[@aguythatworkstoomuch4624]

If I could only take a wormhole to work every day instead of traveling over that damn bridge every day thats been under constant construction for years, I’d be a happy man! 😂

[@Dexthesaga]

StarTalk has expanded my mind in ways that physics and astrophysics through a textbook, could not

[@Ghrim5vortex]

Best video yet

[@Leboybandent]

Great episode. Not sure if it's the first, but that paper-folding scene from Interstellar is a 1-1 copy of a scene in Event Horizon from '97. Another great sci-fi!

[@davelowman3574]

Passing through the bulk of KZbin, and finally reached the really cool stuff.

[@TheRabbitRonin]

I love it when you add the visuals to the videos.

[@FaadDMustapah]

10^10^500 years Everything in this universe continues to grow stronger

[@osaruprogress8093]

Wow, this is mind blowing. Sir Tyson, please where can I post my question 🙏

[@jblouir]

Thanks!

[@TheKingOfCasual]

Pretty cool fact: When neil talks about 1916 at the start of the video the picture he shows is The GPO in Dublin, Ireland when we had our rebel rising against the english army occupying Dublin and its also know as "The 1916 Easter Rising" A famous mark in Irish History which lead to the freedom of the Irish people.

[@TheRazorman89]

Cool 👍

[@tommy2064]

These short video clips that play when they describe things make me laugh some of them are so funny.

[@Spacetesla]

Great, interesting video again! Although I hope these short, over-edited videos will not become the general format of Startalk in the future. It reminds me of the early KZbin music videos where the lyrics mention a tree and our dummed down brains have to get a visual of a tree. But as most of these clips were recycled older episodes, don't mind them repackaging them like this :-)

[@Corvaire]

I'm in a constant state of time travel. :O(- - Thanks Neil.

[@OMEGA-02]

God i love this channel I watch it everyday learning and taking notes 📕📓📒📒

[@GavriilMichas]

Great Talk! Certainly we do not expect to see a White Hole during Black Holes binary merger. In any case, time dilation coupling outside their merging ergosphere is another fascinated topic of research concerning traversable wormholes physics.

[@doghousedon1]

Thank you very much for starting my day with a funny.

[@jordanskorlinski2213]

Absolutely love the background music, by the way. I would stay in my house; space is scary.

[@drp1036]

Neil DeGrasse Tyson's brother Michael was a world champion heavyweight boxer back in the '80s and '90s. They called him "Iron" Mike Tyson, Champion of the World. He played himself in the movie 'The Hangover Part II'.

[@BassNinja]

It's like flushing the toilet it just disappears to some other dimension

[@ngnatural]

It's also like the scene in The Matrix Reloaded when Neo was trying to catch the Keymaker. Every time the Keymaker shut a door, Neo wound up in a completely different location when he opened it.

[@legodude2513]

Cheers Neil.

[@seanpyl]

Have you guys seen the encyclopedia Galactica? Carl sagan found it intriguing. As do I. Very interesting conversations. Thanks for making me use my brain. :)

[@daveduncan8090]

Assuming the fabric of space time is real and not just a simple visual to explain gravity, then it should be detectable or measurable between any two large objects with enough mass in a lab. Yes? And if so, let a particle or even something with slightly more mass, travel upon the fabric and prove it can’t travel through the fabric without immense energy.

[@nevaehhope2008]

Omg we need new Neil and chuck.

[@AbuOmar]

There is something i would like to learn more about. The nature of the progression of science. So many big discoveries seem to be from the early 1900s. At this time, with the sheer amount of learned people around, shouldn't we have a thousand Einsteins at any given time?

[@edbruder9975]

I heard a rumour that we were aborting Einsteins at an extremely high rate.

[@PassportBrosBusinessClass]

3:14 We already saw that explanation on EVENT HORIZON.

[@theysisossenthime]

Thanks for stringing all of these conversations together. The recent wormhole reference got me thinking about all of these again. In fact, I still have a question if anyone knows the answer. Is it possible to connect a wormhole to areas with dramatically different gravity and/or relative speeds? Probably poorly asked question. In other words, could I have one side of the wormhole where time moves more quickly compared to another so that I could manufacture things seemingly instantly compared to the other side of the wormhole where people live?

[@swordwhale1]

WORMHOLES IN LITERATURE! The Wardrobe in CS Lewis' Lion, Witch, Wardrobe was a wormhole... he also used the concept of doors in a later book. The Forgotten Door (Alexander Key) was a favorite book of mine as a kid: in it a boy falls through a door that bridges space in an instant. Star Trek: ToS, City at the Edge of Forever used a gate device that was a wormhole.

[@humanform5354]

Let's not forget about monster's Inc. They used wormholes as well...

[@IWasAlwaysNeverAnywhere]

For everything i know as a layman i dont find myself convinced you can go backwards in time but part of me hopes that it is possible.

[@Novastar.SaberCombat]

The irony is that even if Time actually possessed such a trait as "go back to this point", you wouldn't be able to retain your knowledge that you traveled back to that moment. THAT is actually what would break the laws of the true Universe. Your memories of the Past already dissipate during your existence. And even if the memories were DIGITAL, they'd still be wiped clean. Mostly. 🐲✨🐲✨🐲✨

[@DodgyDaveGTX]

@@Novastar.SaberCombat Ugh, FFS, don't you just hate it when that happens?

[@anuradharaghavan872]

We can go backwards in time, but cannot make any changes to events that already happened. We would be able to just observe the events.

[@thegreatest9173]

I don’t think you know what your asking for I hope travel into past is not possible

[@IWasAlwaysNeverAnywhere]

@@thegreatest9173 ok

[@rabbitgothops]

Vibing on the lofi background music

[@noelc9961]

Star trek, stargate and even the asgards made great use of wormholes because if they didn't the movies or episodes would take forever

[@dens790130]

As our tools to look further into space gets refined, there could be a point at which we are able to have the resolution to "see" ship sized vehicles in alpha centauri. When that happens, if we send a ship there through a wormhole, and it spends a year there and come back .. then only 3 years later would we be able to observe them arriving there ( even though they're already back ) .. food for thoughts

[@richardovervold]

Can't help but notice the Billy Connelly picture on the wall behind Brian.

[@pqrstsma2011]

16:18 Toronto also has a similar system; i think Calgary and/or Montreal also, not sure of this though

[@meldeb-eq2bs]

Agreed

[@nesaujour7848]

I can't stop scratching my head that Einstein created these theories with the equipments back then.

[@andrewcarr2431]

@12:00 minute mark. That concept of copying the information and beaming you to another machine (basically how faxing works) was done in a science fiction book/film/tv show. But cannot remember the name of it? It was a pretty neat concept.

[@irishfergal]

For your visual on 1916, you show us a photo of the GPO in Dublin in the aftermath of the 1916 Uprising. Thanks for including us in global posterity !

[@PS-vk6bn]

I asked chatGPT: "Generate short rap song on the topic: Chronology Protection Conjecture" Verse 1: Let me drop some knowledge, 'bout a theory so deep, It's the chronology protection, and it's hard to keep, The time travel paradoxes, away from our timeline, It's a mind-bending concept, but it's oh so fine. Chorus: Chronology protection, it's a theory so wild, Keeps our timeline safe, like a protective child, Prevents the past and present, from becoming a mess, It's a physicist's dream, to avoid any distress. Verse 2: The chronology protection, it's like a cosmic shield, Stopping time travel chaos, from being revealed, No going back to change things, that's the rule of thumb, It's a strange and tricky thing, but it gets the job done. Chorus: Chronology protection, it's a theory so wild, Keeps our timeline safe, like a protective child, Prevents the past and present, from becoming a mess, It's a physicist's dream, to avoid any distress. Verse 3: So if you're thinking 'bout time travel, you better beware, The chronology protection, won't let you go there, It's a concept so complex, it can make your head spin, But it's the key to understanding, where we've been. Chorus: Chronology protection, it's a theory so wild, Keeps our timeline safe, like a protective child, Prevents the past and present, from becoming a mess, It's a physicist's dream, to avoid any distress. Outro: So there you have it, the chronology protection, A theory that's vital, to our time's direction, It's a fascinating concept, that's for sure, And it's something we'll keep exploring, forevermore.

[@TheKiltedYaksman1]

Any method of going from Point A to Point B faster than C, wormholes/Alcubierre drive/warp drive/etc., will necessarily be a causality violation for some reference point, will it not?

[@cashusbucks]

I'm here because I play Destiny and the Lore said something about an Einstein Rosen Bridge. 😢 Not smart enough to understand my damn game lol but I'm told wormholes are involved soooooo. I am here to learn 😊

[@lubo]

I saw recently theory of Universe & Anti-Universe(made of antimatter). Is it possible, that the black holes (in our universe) are connected (through wormholes possibly?) to black holes in anti-universe? Or is that completely rejected possibility? Thanks.

[@deshawn994]

If I wanted to learn more about gravity and where to start unlocking it's secrets where is a good place to start and continue moving forward?

[@owenbradshaw9302]

Thought experiment… Say you could build a warp engine( warp space around your ship) could it be possible to travel safely into a black hole and test weather they were wormholes ? Warp drives are there so you don’t interact with space and have to worry about speed limits because you’re not technically traveling through space, would that effect gravity of a black hole as well?

[@Donate_Please]

Maybe if there were a way to extend the life of the the higgs boson particle you could create a wormhole, like with time dilation around a black hole, you could fold the apparent higgs field such that you could shrink space. So in theory if you could somehow maneuver a triad series of colliding black holes between you and your destination you would tear space time and create the wormhole. Only in my wildest dreams of course. I guess it's theoretically possible.

[@Hahahahahaha9]

❤️

[@garethcurran]

Nice photo of the GPO in Dublin in 1916 🇮🇪

[@Novastar.SaberCombat]

I seriously need someone intelligent like Neil to read my series. He'd definitely love it.

[@joannevendshus5075]

Didn't Madeline L'Engle talk about this in "A Winkle in Time"?

[@Sourdcuo778]

Neil walked into an elevator “OH MY GAWD! I’m in a WORKHOLE!!!” Chuck : “every time…”

[@BiserAngelov1]

When the spacetime is warped, into what it was warped? To have such a wormhole, it needs to be in a higher dimension. Like, the pencil exists in higher dimension, compared to the sheet. I wish Neil and Bryan could have expanded on that!

[@marcusmashishi1886]

This man Brian just summarized my 10000 hours of KZbin in less than 5min.

[@rocketRobScott]

I’ve been pondering the idea of a white hole becoming a wormhole when it reaches a certain level of compaction. When I say white hole, I’m talking about a condensed vacuum - where empty space is compacted in a similar way that matter gets compacted in a black hole. Physical objects would be repelled away. This is … just a theory. I didn’t get to the end before posting, but maybe it fits. It would probably exhibit something similar to gravitational lensing if you observed one. Are there two distinct types of gravitational lensing? If so, I’d say it’s yin and yang - black and white holes. And each is connected to it’s counterpart, which probably was created simultaneously.

[@josephbucci420]

This is more of a question than a comment. I’m interested in hearing your explanation regarding the following: Coordinated Universal Time or UTC is the primary time standard (en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_standard) by which the world regulates clocks and time.

[@Phanex]

love the vids keep it up, have you ever heard of kursgesagt in a nutshell? please do a reaction video on one of their videos pleaasseeee!!!!!

[@SAMURIADI]

1 thing that about wormholes that im concerned about- if you go back in time. does that mean your present day atoms go? or your current atoms in your body are put back where they where befor you had them and your concusness is spread across them?

[@clarkgrayhame1250]

I like the analogy of a wormhole being like an elevator. It makes sense.

[@v1rus_one]

My ex-wife loved when my worm got into her hole every time she bended until we both collapsed, relatively speaking. Sadly, space between us expanded by a paradox that I still can’t understand.

[@Cletus9]

Love watching you and Kevin Hart

[@reckie1000]

racist much

[@caststudios2441]

It’s just going to go to the next level , there’s 7 levels of the fabric

[@jmanj3917]

4:12. Pffff... I travel forward into the future all the time

[@theshiled]

If there were white holes we would have definitely found them already. If a black hole observe all light, then white holes project intensive amount of observable light.

[@shazanali692]

Hello folks be happy

[@radman8321]

So when you fold/unfold spacetime, does the matter close to the wormhole not travel faster than the speed of light?

[@franciscocaballero9962]

The only worms I have experience are Ring Worms 😂

[@ooichiewlean548]

If we wanna travel through a wormhole, in and out before it collapses, we must have a space craft that can open the wormhole and warp the space time at the same time, that way your wormhole will open and close at your time of choosing. Also, the space craft must be able to repel and attract magnetic fields and gravity, that's how to move around space.

[@danielmcgraw7908]

Are you suggesting you could control and direct the terminus of a wormhole? Can you dictate the length of time it will take to reach that terminus?

[@danoconnell1833]

Great video! I wish there was a way to turn off the background music - it's really distracting and makes it hard to listen to what they're saying.

[@akibabe09]

Love it and would be awesome to travel across the universe in minutes! And why does brian look like he is 30? 😜😏.

[@protosoul14]

I'm imagining the image of the cat in the car seat inside a wormhole that says confused screaming for the elevator because whoever you stick in there is not going to have a clue what's going on.

[@aday7475]

So... what you're saying is, very small particles, as they approach the plank length, would technically also approach infinite density? If they're infinitely dense, then wouldn't they distort spacetime a very large amount and cause... wormholes? Is that a possibility for how particles can exist in a probabilistic sense? (they're tunneling through wormholes all the time? continuously?)

[@ukdnbmarsh]

when you think about the vastness of the universe, the speed of light is incredibly slow.