Neil deGrasse Tyson on what happens to our bodies after death

Neil deGrasse Tyson, the astrophysicist who has long invited humanity to see itself as part of the cosmos, has turned that same gaze inward — toward the biological fact of death and the quiet question of what becomes of us afterward. In a recent interview, he described the body's decomposition not as an ending but as a transformation, and revealed his personal preference for burial over cremation as a way of returning, slowly and materially, to the living world. His willingness to discuss mortality in the language of chemistry rather than comfort reflects a broader invitation: to face death wi