Neil deGrasse Tyson is one of the biggest fountains of knowledge on the internet, but it turns out he’s not right about everything. One YouTuber has gone to extreme lengths to prove a point to him about helicopters, after the astrophysicist and science guru posted on Twitter about them. You might think that if an engine fails in a helicopter mid-air, then it’s naturally going to plummet to the Earth, right? That’s the sentiment Tyson posted on social media in 2015, writing: “FYI: An airplane whose engine fails is a glider. A helicopter whose engine fails is a brick.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter From then on, Destin Sandlin from the SmarterEveryDay YouTube channel worked to prove this “misconception” wrong. “I’m going to get into the back of that helicopter and power down the engine to really see what happens. How do we get back down to Earth?” he said in a video which has been viewed more than eight million times. STRAPPED INTO A FALLING HELICOPTER - Smarter Every Day 154 www.youtube.com Sandlin was joined by helicopter pilot Gerry Friesen, who stated that he believes landing a helicopter with an engine issue is far safer than landing an airplane with a failing motor. The idea revolves around the concept of “autorotation”, with Sandlin saying: "If the rotor blade quits turning you are going to fall like a brick – but helicopter pilots have a physics trick to keep that from happening." According to the Federal Aviation Administration, autorotation is “the state of flight where the main rotor system is being turned by the force of the relative wind rather than engine power… In this case, the potential energy of altitude is converted to kinetic energy during the descent and touchdown." As Sandlin explains in the video, there’s a biting point where the helicopter blades act like a fan on descent in “pinwheel mode”, allowing safe descent to the ground. So, there is a safe way of landing a helicopter when the engine fails – and Neil deGrasse Tyson isn’t always 100 per cent right about everything, it seems. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The U.S. women’s national soccer team will be honored with the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage at The ESPYS on July 12

STL Cardinals Rumors: Will Yoshinobu Yamamoto be too expensive, Adam Wainwright's final chase for a milestone, one top prospect who's stock is falling.

The Carolina Panthers made a move to acquire wide receiver/returner Ihmir Smith-Marsette from the Kansas City Chiefs in a deal involving a swap of conditional 2025 seventh-round draft picks

Tadej Pogacar on Monday echoed his Tour de France rival Jonas Vingegaard on the question of doping, saying he understood "people asking the question"...

Wayne Rooney said he was targeting promotion to the Premier League "in the near future" after being unveiled as Birmingham's...

Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams is no longer facing an assault charge after a Week 5 confrontation with an NFL-affiliated photographer in 2022.After a narrow 30-29 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 5, Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams expressed his frustration over...

Lyon travel to a resurgent Lens on Saturday, where they will be seeking to turn the page on a catastrophic season that has claimed another...

England begin their Women’s World Cup campaign against Haiti as the Lionesses look to follow up last summer’s Euros triumph with another major tournament victory. Sarina Wiegman’s side come into the World Cup as one of the favourites, despite losing stars Leah Williamson, Beth Mead and Fran Kirby to injury, and are expected to get off to a winning start in Group D against debutants Haiti. With Williamson out, her centre-back partner Millie Bright will captain the side in Australia and the Lionesses have been boosted by the news that their stand-in skipper is fit to start. Haiti, who are ranked 53rd in the world, are joined by China and Denmark in Group D. England’s build-up to the World Cup has come amid a row with the Football Association over bonus payments and other commercial concerns, but the players have agreed to pause discussions during the tournament. Follow live updates as England take on Haiti at the Women’s World Cup. Read More How to watch England vs Haiti: TV channel and start time for Women’s World Cup opener Women’s football world rankings: Who could take No 1 at the World Cup? Women’s World Cup TV schedule: How to watch every match today

The Clippers are looking to move Terance Mann to other teams in order to get a deal done for Harden. Will Harden be a Clipper at the end of the day?

Real Madrid's Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti will take over as head coach of Brazil's national team for the 2024 Copa America, a source at the Brazilian...

Talk of Lamar Jackson winning a second MVP award isn’t just football’s usual knee-jerk reaction to whatever happened the previous week