Neil deGrasse Tyson Thinks an Emoji or Beeper Would Be Better Than Bat-Signal for Summoning Batman

By Adam Barnhardt

As it turns out, the Bat-Signal might not actually be all that practical to build and use in real life. Monday, famed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson took his Twitter account to point out the fact the iconic symbol only works in certain conditions. The author went on to explain that the likes of Jim Gordon and other Gotham officials might have a better chance at reaching the Caped Crusader through a cell phone or vintage beeper.

"Just occurred to me: The famous Bat-Signal that summons Batman's crime-fighting skills works only on cloudy nights -- and never in the daytime," deGrasse Tyson tweeted. "Seems to me, a bat emoji sent to Bruce Wayne's smart phone or even an old fashioned beeper would improve on this."

When we spoke to him in 2020, Tyson said Marvel is "hands down" more scientifically accurate compared to those as DC.

"Oh yeah. No question. Oh, there's no question," Tyson said without skipping a beat. "Oh, it's obvious. Marvel wins that contest hands down over DC Comics if for no other reason that almost, minus Thor and maybe one or two others that I've lost track of, almost everyone with powers in Marvel Comics, those powers are derived from something scientific that happened to them."

The physicist added, "Spider-Man. He's bitten while he's in a biology lab where there's a radioactive spider. There's the Hulk, who... it was gamma rays. Everybody's got a science-based story behind their superpowers, and that creates a fertile landscape that you can go back to if you need to. Plus, Banner was a medical doctor, for goodness' sake. So, this has value."

Last December, the scientist also debunked the idea of Santa Claus delivering presents to everyone around the world.

"For Santa to deliver gifts to all world's Christians in one night requires hypersonic speeds through Earth's lower atmosphere, vaporizing his reindeer & sleigh. Just sayin'," Tyson tweeted at the time.

The Batman is now available to stream on HBO Max. 

Cover photo by Jason Mendez/Getty Images

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