Bill Nye Wrangles Bewildering Array of Props to Explain Leap Day to an Amused Boris Sanchez

Bill Nye wrangled a massive pile of props on Thursday to explain Leap Day to an amused Boris Sanchez, and we’re all better for it.

The Science Guy broadcast from the kitchen in his solar-powered Studio City, California home. He came prepared with not just a small globe and what appeared to be a grapefruit to represent the sun, but also Pope Gregory XIII (the namesake for the Gregorian calendar), constellations, and even calendars featuring the perennially popular puppies and kittens.

“Happy Leap Day!” said Sanchez to kick off the segment, reminding viewers that February 29 “only happens once every four years, so it is kind of special,” and then inviting Nye to explain the math and science behind why we add an extra day.

Nye brought out a series of props, first the globe and grapefruit to show how the Earth both spins and orbits around the sun — including a comment that he had recently met people in this country who thought the Earth was flat but “the Earth’s not flat, everybody!” — and explained how the calendar needed the extra day every four years to be precise.

What then followed was a meandering chat about how Pope Gregory XIII’s new calendar had resulted in 10 days being deleted from October 1582 causing “literally wars about it” as tenants were furious their landlords were getting to charge them for more than a week they weren’t actually getting, and then the grapefruit-sun rising through the constellation Pisces, plus a discussion of popular calendar themes, including kittens, puppies, and firemen, all with February 29 this year because space exploration had been able to confirm what that 16th century pope’s astronomers had discovered.

Nye wrapped by singing the praises of “humankind’s studying of the night sky appreciating our relationship to the sun and the Earth” and the fact that the U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 8 refers to “the progress of science.”

“Science is in the Constitution,” said Nye. “And to me…the Leap Day is part of this big picture of understanding the cosmos and our place within it. Back to you, Boris!”

“That was amazing!” said Sanchez with clearly evident enthusiasm. “Bill, that was so much of what I wanted and more.” The CNN anchor then asked if there were any Bill Nye calendars out there with all the puppies and kittens.

Nye replied that there was, two years ago.

Sanchez told Nye he was “all for it” and said they would have to do this again, telling him they had to run but “I appreciate you and all your props.”

Watch the clip above via CNN.