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Chris Hadfield Launches YouTube Science Series: 'It's Not Rocket Science'

Chris Hadfield Is The Science Teacher You've Always Wanted
Chris Hadfield/Twitter

What's better than a Chris Hadfield video? Not much. Although, we're betting a series on YouTube might do the trick.

This fall, Canada's mustachioed astronaut is launching "It's Not Rocket Science" — a 10-episode animated science-comedy series. "It's Not Rocket Science" is aimed at continuing the educational work Hadfield was doing while he was aboard the ISS.

However, in an interview with The Huffington Post Canada, Hadfield's son, Evan, said the series will not be a "science explainer" like the videos created by SmarterEveryDay, Minutephysics, AsapSCIENCE and Veritasium.

Instead, the videos will talk about science topics from a "discussion standpoint" in Hadfield's down-to-Earth (we couldn't resist) style. The animated astronaut will educate viewers through narrative and anecdotes.

"He really enjoys giving back," Evan said. "We just want to make education accessible."

There were a few factors in the decision to animate the series. "Of course, one of them is because Dad is so busy," Evan said. "And then art is a really good way to describe something. Animations allow us to show metaphor. To tell people more about a topic that just simply using words."

One example Evan Hadfield referred to was making a germ cell — that only exists in a cow — to be cow-shaped or look like a cow.

The topics the series will address are issues that have come up in the news recently, like vaccines or climate change. They were selected because of a "wide misunderstanding that could be easily explained."

"Unfortunately, what happens is that a misunderstanding comes out," Evan said. "And then the discussion revolves around that."

Evan points to vaccinations and the controversy around the 'anti-vaxxer' movement. "We don't know about smallpox because it was eradicated in 1980. Between 1900-1980 it killed 500 million people. That's the population of Europe."

"It's easy to put out the right message," Evan said. "As long as the people are willing to listen."

You can support the series on their Patreon page here. You can also subscribe to Hadfield's channel so you don't miss the first episode.

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