11 Reasons Why Neil DeGrasse Tyson Is A Badass

The director of the Hayden Planetarium just can't stop being a badass.

1. At Harvard, he rowed crew, danced and lettered in wrestling.

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And could pretty much kick your ass.

2. He helped Superman find his home planet.

Via boingboing.net

3. He schooled Jon Stewart that his opening credits globe was spinning in the wrong direction.

4. He made James Cameron fix the stars in Titanic to better convey science.

Via mediaite.com

After Tyson's criticism, Cameron told the UK magazine Culture:

(He) sent me quite a snarky email saying that, at that time of year, in that position in the Atlantic in 1912, when Rose is lying on the piece of driftwood and staring up at the stars, that is not the star field she would have seen, and with my reputation as a perfectionist, I should have known that and I should have put the right star field in.

So I said, ‘All right, you son of a bitch, send me the right stars for the exact time, 4:20 a.m. on April 15, 1912, and I’ll put it in the movie.’ So that’s the one shot that has been changed.

5. He killed Pluto.

static.pmylund.com / Via mentalfloss.com

"As director of the Hayden Planetarium, Tyson bucked traditional thinking to keep Pluto from being referred to as the ninth planet in exhibits at the center. Tyson has explained that he wanted to look at commonalities between objects, grouping the terrestrial planets together, the gas giants together, and Pluto with like objects and to get away from simply counting the planets. He has stated on The Colbert Report, The Daily Show, and BBC Horizon that this decision has resulted in large amounts of hate mail, much of it from children. In 2006, the I.A.U. confirmed this assessment by changing Pluto to the “dwarf planet” classification. Daniel Simone wrote of the interview with Tyson describing his frustration. “For a while, we were not very popular here at the Hayden Planetarium.”

6. He teamed up with GZA from the Wu Tang Clan to write an album about space called "Dark Matter."

Via nerdist.com

“God put the needle on the disc of Saturn / The record he played revealed blueprints and patterns.” According to the Wall Street Journal, it was in Dr. Tyson’s office where the spark for those lyrics came about when GZA was inspired by the rings of Saturn on a model. (Brian Walton)

7. He was named the "Sexiest Astrophysicist Alive" in 2000 by People Magazine.

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Photo from 1980.

8. He's in a bromance with Bill Nye The Science Guy.

9. He gives props to other awesome scientists.

10. He's a meme.

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But he's okay with it!

"This in total, is a celebration, so I should not object."

11. He really knows how to bust a move on the dance floor.