The Curious Case of Alex Filippenko
First things first. Alex Filippenko is a highly regarded and highly visible cosmologist and professor of astronomy at UC Berkeley.
Now, if youâve watched as many documentaries about space as I have (you havenât, trust me) youâd come to find two things strange about Mr. Filippenko (Or Captain Supernovae as I like to call him, and Iâd like to think he wouldnât mind that I do):
1. The man doesnât age. I have watched docs from the early 90s straight through to 2 months ago. Heâs in 70% of them. He looks EXACTLY the same.Â
2. He smiles. All the time. And not just a weird âHey Iâm on TV smileâ but a deep and genuine âSPACE IS AWESOMEâ smile. I would describe the man as the heretofore undiscovered âJolly Scientistâ. He can and will map out the literal end of the universe with a certain gravity (jazzhands), sure, but I guarantee you heâs smiling while he explains it to you. Moreover, heâs probably using helpful props to help you understand how youâll die.Â
Hypothesis: Alex Filippenko is the undiscovered Cheshire Cat of Cosmology.Â
Now, whether heâs alive or dead is up to Susskind.Â

















