Bill Nye's Cooking Video Is the Best

Today the small screen champion of science education turns 58. It's Bill Nye's birthday! William Nye was born today in 1955, and we could not be happier that he is still doing science. Although the Dancing With the Stars judges were not impressed with his fancy footwork and sent him home early in the season, he still stands as a beacon of nerd hope on Twitter, where his million followers get to see lots of colorful bowties.

In honor of this goofy master of science's birthday, here's a video of him cooking. That's right, Mr. Science Guy even did a cooking short on the science of boiling water for NOVA. In it, he shows some of the Bill Nye hallmarks, the first of which is encouraging people to ask "why."

On his PBS show, Bill encouraged children to ask how things worked, why they worked, and how they will work in the future, encouraging inquisitive minds to channel their curiosity into science. Off-screen, he has been an outspoken supporter of science education, living up to his lab coat-clad persona. At the end of the video, Bill uses the boiling water to illustrate a point about energy efficiency, which is something he is passionate about in real life as well. He has been an outspoken supporter of climate change awareness for years, even lending his name to a children's online game on the subject.

So in the spirit of Bill's efforts, let's all put a lid on it this Thanksgiving.