In Brief

Astrophysicist Questions Science of New Movie 'Gravity' via Twitter

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By Miriam Kramer
published

A Scene From Science-Fiction Thriller 'Gravity'
A scene from Warner Bros. Pictures' science-fiction thriller "Gravity," a Warner Bros. Pictures 2013 release. (Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)

While "Gravity" raked in about $55.6 million at the box office in its opening weekend, at least one real-life space scientist has a few issues with the science of the new movie. Astrophysicist and host of the upcoming "Cosmos" TV reboot, Neil deGrasse Tyson, spent part of Sunday (Oct. 6) picking apart the more scientifically flawed aspects of the movie.

"Mysteries of #Gravity: Why we enjoy a SciFi film set in make-believe space more than we enjoy actual people set in real space," Tyson (@neiltyson) wrote on Twitter. He also went on to poke holes in some of the more unbelievable aspects of "Gravity" including why Sandra Bullock's hair didn't seem to experience the effects of weightlessness with the rest of her.

In all, Tyson posted more than 15 tweets related to "Gravity" through the course of the day. Although he pointed out the issues in the story, Tyson is still a fan of the film: "My Tweets hardly ever convey opinion. Mostly perspectives on the world. But if you must know, I enjoyed #Gravity very much." Read more of Tyson's tweets here: https://twitter.com/neiltyson

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Miriam Kramer
Miriam Kramer
Staff Writer

Miriam Kramer joined Space.com as a Staff Writer in December 2012. Since then, she has floated in weightlessness on a zero-gravity flight, felt the pull of 4-Gs in a trainer aircraft and watched rockets soar into space from Florida and Virginia. She also served as Space.com's lead space entertainment reporter, and enjoys all aspects of space news, astronomy and commercial spaceflight.  Miriam has also presented space stories during live interviews with Fox News and other TV and radio outlets. She originally hails from Knoxville, Tennessee where she and her family would take trips to dark spots on the outskirts of town to watch meteor showers every year. She loves to travel and one day hopes to see the northern lights in person. Miriam is currently a space reporter with Axios, writing the Axios Space newsletter. You can follow Miriam on Twitter.