Renowned astro-physicist Neil deGrasse Tyson delivered an unsolicited science lesson on Christmas Eve, using his own research to “prove” that Santa Claus’ holiday delivery schedule was an impossibility.
Tyson explained in a couple of tweets why Santa could not possibly make it to billions of homes all around the globe in the span of just 24 hours.
“After extensive research, I’ve concluded that for Santa to deliver presents to the billions of homes that celebrate Christmas, and to do so in one continuous night across 24 time zones, he & his reindeer must open wormholes through the fabric of spacetime between each delivery,” he tweeted.
After extensive research, I've concluded that for Santa to deliver presents to the billions of homes that celebrate Christmas, and to do so in one continuous night across 24 time zones, he & his reindeer must open wormholes through the fabric of spacetime between each delivery.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) December 24, 2022
Tyson went on to explain just how many homes per second Santa would have to visit in order to reach every family who celebrated the holiday, adding, “In case you were wondering, for Santa, in a single 24-hr Earth-night, to deliver presents to all those who celebrate Christmas, he must visit 25,000 homes per second.”
In case you were wondering, for Santa, in a single 24-hr Earth-night, to deliver presents to all those who celebrate Christmas, he must visit 25,000 homes per second.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) December 24, 2022
Critics were not impressed with Tyson’s lesson, however. One announced that it “wins for the most unfun Christmas tweet of all time.”
“Got the same 24 hours Santa got and using your time to tweet this smh,” another added.
Tyson wasn’t quite finished, however, and he followed up with one more tweet reminding the people who were offended by the religious undertones of the “Merry Christmas” greeting that “Happy Holidays” might not be quite as atheist as they thought.
“Just to affirm that whoever says Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas, is using a word that etymologically derives from ‘Holy Days,'” he said.
Just to affirm that whoever says Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas, is using a word that etymologically derives from “Holy Days”.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) December 24, 2022
It wasn’t the first time that Tyson used science to throw cold water on Christmas magic, either. In 2021, his Christmas tweets argued that Santa could not possibly live at the North Pole. “Since the Northern Arctic is just ocean, Santa’s North Pole workshop has only ever existed on a floating sheet of ice.”
Tyson also suggested that families should help the rotund Christmas gifter to get his weight under control, calling on them to leave “carrots, celery, & hot tea for Santa on the table instead of milk & cookies.”
In 2020, Tyson took issue with Santa again — claiming that the jolly old elf had misgendered his own most famous reindeer. “Santa doesn’t know Zoology: Both male & female Reindeer grow antlers. But all male Reindeer lose their antlers in the late fall, well-before Christmas. So Santa’s reindeer, which all sport antlers, are therefore all female, which means Rudolf has been misgendered.”