Renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson investigates whether a “doomsday asteroid” the size of the Rose Bowl will hit the earth in 2036.

Renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson investigates whether a "doomsday asteroid" the size of the Rose Bowl will hit the earth in 2036, and explores what the consequences could be - and what steps NASA could take to avoid this catastrophe. Other stories include the latest evidence on genes and hormones that regulate human body weight, which help explain why most attempts at dieting prove so frustrating; a profile of a wildly innovative young MIT roboticist and gifted fiction writer, Karl Iagnemma; and a playful story about the decades-long quest by nuclear chemists to reach the shores of the "Island of Stability," the birthplace of a novel element at the far reaches of the Periodic Table. Tyson's passion for storytelling and communicating science inject dynamism into the provocative, fast-paced series, which delivers reports from the frontlines of scientific research and discovery while illuminating connections to viewers' everyday lives