COSMOS writer Ann Druyan talks special effects and the power of science

A new series “COSMOS: A Spacetime Odyssey” is picking up where the last series left off more than three decades ago.

The reboot of the popular science series is thanks in no small part to Ann Druyan, who co-wrote the original series with her late husband, famed astrophysicist Carl Sagan.

“It was my honor to collaborate with Carl Sagan and Steve Soter to write the original series and what’s at the heart of the series is the awesome power of science to reveal the splendor of the universe and of life,” Druyan told FOX411. “I hope this new series carries on that flame, that idea of the value of science.”

“COSMOS: A Spacetime Odyssey” airs on FOX on Sunday nights and is hosted by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. The show has had some significant upgrades since the 1980s version, including special effects that provide an inside look to the wonders of the Cosmos.

“Back in the day when we did the original series, we had a cosmic calendar with cardboard dinosaurs,” Druyan said. “Now we’re able to really bring nature and the Cosmos to life in ways that weren’t possible then.”

One animation from the show that stands out is that of the Tardigrade, a hearty microscopic animal that can survive in conditions and temperatures that would kill nearly any other living creature on Earth. “We’ve taken scanning electron microscopy and enlarged them, and then dimensionalized them and made them move so that they become the three-dimensional creatures they really are.”

Druyan says she is thrilled with the reception of “COSMOS: A Spacetime Odyssey.”

“One of the great thrills of having “COSMOS” on every Sunday night is after seven years of work, I just sit there and watch the Twitter feed from the East Coast to the West Coast and the variety of comments are so witty,” Druyan said. “The passion for it is just more gratifying than I can say.”

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