Bill Nye, the Science Guy is once again saving the world.
“The End Is Nye” shows the celeb TV host experiencing a comet strike and other natural disasters on camera, courtesy of Peacock (opens in new tab).
“I get killed six times. Six times!” he told Space.com.
In a twist from his usual educational persona, the CEO of the Planetary Society is using “drama, acting, breaking the fourth wall” to show what it is like to experience hurricanes, floods, volcanic explosions and yes, that rude cosmic snowball crash.
But even though Nye “dies” repeatedly like Kenny from South Park, don’t worry. He resurrects in the second half of each episode to reassure us that in every case, scientists have a plan to avoid disaster before it’s too late.
Related: Why is sci-fi so obsessed with asteroid impact disasters (and how to stop them)?
In space, our newest arsenal against cosmic objects is NASA’s DART — the Double Asteroid Redirection Mission, set to slam into a moonlet of asteroid Didymos on Sept. 26.
DART will try to nudge the moonlet’s orbit through kinetic impact, in a first-ever demonstration of planetary defense. (But unlike in Leonardo DiCaprio’s “Don’t Look Up”, rest assured we haven’t found any killer asteroids despite decades of ongoing searches).
Nye and the Planetary Society have spent years talking about the value of the DART mission and this show falls in line with the organization’s marketing, which is that an asteroid disaster is preventable (opens in new tab).
Related: Space rock alert: Should you worry about an asteroid impact?
“Be optimistic … embrace science,” Nye urges viewers to think, as they watch each episode. “With the process of science, identify, realize that we have identified these potential disasters, and then feel empowered to do something about it.”
What’s the first step right now? With Congressional midterms coming up Nov. 8, get to the ballot box, he said. “The main thing most of us can do about it right now is vote. Vote with the environment in mind.”
“The End Is Nye” is available on Peacock (opens in new tab) right now, and premiered Thursday (Aug. 25).
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