Neil deGrasse Tyson Talks Asteroids With 9-Year-Old Boy In Michigan

Forget Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton. If a doomsday asteroid is heading our way, this is the duo we want trying to stop it.

During a question-and-answer session, a 9-year-old boy named Jacob got into a riveting exchange with famed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson on the various ways to stop an asteroid headed toward Earth. But the kid doesn't simply ask his question, sit down and listen to the answer. Nope, he's ready for this moment, peppering the host of the Fox TV series "Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey" with followup questions and alternate scenarios.

When Tyson struggles to describe a potential asteroid with the texture of bread dough, the kid draws a round of applause by helpfully describing it as a "non-Newtonian solid."

Well-played, young man.

The video is from a Center for Inquiry-Michigan event held last November, but began going viral this week after being re-posted to YouTube.

(h/t The Good Men Project)