I think that intelligence is such a narrow branch of the tree of life - this branch of primates we call humans. No other animal, by our definition, can be considered intelligent. So intelligence can't be all that important for survival, because there are so many animals that don't have what we call intelligence, and they're surviving just fine.

If the only time you think of me as a scientist is during Black History Month, then I must not be doing my job as a scientist.

The educated elite is not without their own actual snobbery. And I kind of an anti-elitist in that regard.

When you innovate, the jobs can't go overseas because other countries haven't figured out how to do it yet.

Not only are we in the universe, the universe is in us. I don't know of any deeper spiritual feeling than what that brings upon me.

No doubt, the most challenging class of questions in science is the origin of things.

In astrophysics, we care about how matter, motion and energy manifest in objects and phenomenon in the universe. Stars are born. They live out their lives. They die. Some of the ones that die explode. Our sun will not be one of those, but it will die. And it'll take Earth with us. So we make sure we have other destinations in mind when that happens. And I've got it on my calendar.