The world, I think, has too many late-night talk shows.

In the New Testament, Thomas Jefferson cut out everything that was mystical, magical, miracle - physically with scissors - and then pasted in all that remained, such as Jesus's Sermon on the Mount.

The value of science is not simply what the next model of the iPod you will buy next week, but its real value comes about when it's time to distinguish reality from everything else. And to be scientifically literate is to be trained in what it is, to recognize your own frailty as a data-taking device.

One of the things that fascinates me most is when people are so charmed by the universe that it becomes part of their artistic output.

There are two ways you can receive energy from your environment: One is molecules bumping against you. That's the air. The other is radiative energy. That's what you're feeling from the sun. When they say "Get out of the sun, out of the heat," the air is the same temperature; it's just you're exposed to sunlight.

Like a snowplow in overdrive, a supernova shockwave might sweep away any gas clouds in its path.

For your own safety, do not ever tell an astrophysicist, I hope all your stars are twinkling.