Scientist Bill Nye Hammers Anti-Evolution Republicans: 'Betrays the Best Use of Our Brains

Scientist Bill Nye again hammered those who don't believe in evolution, saying to do so "betrays the best use of our brains."

The "Science Guy's" comment came in response to two House Republicans' recent remarks against evolution: Missouri Rep. Todd Akin, who ignited controversy in August when he said victims of "legitimate rape" rarely get pregnant, said he doesn't see evolution "even as a matter of science," and Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) dismissed evolution and the Big Bang theory as "lies straight from the pit of hell." Both congressmen sit on the House science committee.

"Evolution was discovered, it's not something people made up," Nye said on MSNBC Saturday. "It was discovered and the evidence for it is astonishing, it's overwhelming."

He said the technology behind smoke detectors helps explain that the Earth is more like 4.5 billion years old, as opposed to 6,000 to 10,000 years old, as some believe.

"That's science, those are facts," he said. "You can't just close your eyes and make them not true."

Nye also dismissed a past comment from Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) who said there was disagreement about evolution within the science community, saying "there's no controversy among scientists."

"This is always a troubling thing," Nye said. "Our ancestors have made these discoveries, this is the best idea humans have ever had...this way that we understand the world around us and our place in it. And to set aside those discoveries arbitrarily betrays the best in us, it betrays the best use of our brains."

Nye recently created a pro-evolution video titled, "Creationism Is Not Appropriate For Children." In it, he asked parents to teach their children about evolution even if not believing it themselves.

Watch below, via Mediaite: