Neil deGrasse Tyson Explains ‘Game of Thrones’: All Your Burning Dragon Biology Questions Answered
If us plebeians don’t always get the time to stay abreast of the latest TV, how do you think Neil deGrasse Tyson does it? The astrophysicist finally caught up with “Game of Thrones” over the weekend (or he was waiting for everyone else to do it), and the Lord of Light has blessed us with some fascinating observations about the show’s scientific accuracy. Tyson unleashed a string of tweets elucidating the show’s realism, including an assessment of dragon wingspans, the temperature of their fiery breath, and the best way to pull a zombie dragon out of a freezing lake.
“Everybody all caught up on ‘Game Of Thrones’? I have a comment or two, if anybody is interested,” Tyson began. One thing the show definitely gets right, which Tyson dubbed “good biology,” is the dragons’ wingspan: “The dragon wingspans are sensibly large, as their body weight would require for flight,” he wrote. Tyson also approves of the fact that they don’t have arms, as other fantasy dragons have int he past (he also approves of “Lord of the Rings” in this respect). “Dragons forfeited their forelimbs to make wings, like birds & bats.”
He took issue with the way the White Walkers pulled Viserion out of the water after he had been turned into a zombie. “Pulling a dragon out of a lake? Chains need to be straight, and not curve over hill and dale,” he wrote.
Maybe he’s gunning for a scientific consultant gig for season 8.
Rea the tweets below:
Bad Physics in #GameOfThrones: Pulling a dragon out of a lake? Chains need to be straight, and not curve over hill and dale. pic.twitter.com/VIJlIuDz3L
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) September 24, 2017
Good Bio-Physics in #GameOfThrones: The Dragon Wingspans are sensibly large, as their body weight would require for flight. pic.twitter.com/gzD5wI38u5
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) September 24, 2017
The sensibly large wingspan of Dragons in #GameOfThrones contrasts with aerodynamically useless wings of Renaissance cherubs. pic.twitter.com/I8L8ILBtUu
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) September 24, 2017
Good Biology in #GameOfThrones: As in #LordOfTheRings, Dragons forfeited their forelimbs to make wings, like birds & bats. pic.twitter.com/pguBe6rosQ
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) September 24, 2017
Intriguing Thermal Physics in #GameOfThrones: BlueDragon breath would be at least a factor of 3X hotter than RedDragon breath pic.twitter.com/RvpBkqJ1sw
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) September 24, 2017
A few hours later, Tyson found a profound parallel between “Game of Thrones” and the NFL players kneeling in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick and Black Lives Matter:
In the #GameOfThrones Universe, to “bend the knee” represents the very highest form of respect and loyalty.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) September 25, 2017
