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John Oliver, Buzz Aldrin, and Patrick Stewart plead for rescue of lost Russian space-geckos

John Oliver, Buzz Aldrin, and Patrick Stewart plead for rescue of lost Russian space-geckos

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There are a lot of international crises at the moment, but no one that can bring humanity together like the story of Russia' s gecko sex experiment that became lost in space. The experiment was supposed to monitor the sex lives of geckos inside a satellite, but last week Russia was reported to have lost contact with it — leaving the geckos adrift. On his show this weekend, John Oliver took a break from some of the more serious subjects that he could have been addressing to ask that viewers email Putin and raise awareness for the geckos.

It's as funny as you'd expect from Oliver — and somehow, he even gets a few guest stars to show up, including Buzz Aldrin and Patrick Stewart. "Russia has not been treating this story with the urgency it deserves," Oliver exclaims. Of course, Oliver's pleas may not be necessary at this point anyway. RT reported on Saturday that Russia said it had reestablished contact with the satellite. Oliver dismisses it as propaganda, but either way, the gecko's safe return is hardly a reason not to watch the segment anyway.