Neil deGrasse Tyson takes the cake for sassiest science communicator in the galaxy (also, for best space tie [1]). Neil, host of Cosmos [2] on Fox, had his badass-trophysicist self on full display during his South by Southwest keynote on March 8.

He gave parenting tips ("keep letting your kids break stuff — it is a source of curiosity") and explained there is a "genetically encoded force" that makes us curious about the universe ("we're the only animals that are comfortable sleeping on our backs . . . When we wake up, the first thing we'd see is the sky!"). There's a lot to learn from Neil, and we'll divulge more when our full interview [3] with the astrophysicist himself is up! But before then, let Neil demystify some of the most frustratingly popular science myths.

• "It's darkest before dawn." Neil: "No! It's at midnight your time."
• "Summer is when the Earth is closest to the sun. Neil: "Australia, which is experiencing Winter at the same time as you, is the same distance!" The Earth has seasons because of its tilted axis [4].
• "What goes up, must come down." Neil: "That's because you're not throwing it hard enough! If an object leaves the Earth's atmosphere, it'll just go on and on and on . . .'"
• "The sun is yellow." Neil: "It's white! If the sun was yellow, snow would be yellow. But . . . generally . . . it's not."
• "Something that is heavier will fall faster." Neil: "That's not true! This is an experiment you can do yourself! I'll do it right now with my boot."