Science Faction Podcast

This episode contains: Devon, Ben and Steven are all bright eyed and bushy tailed this fine episode. Steven played Palworld until 4am, and Ben doesn't recommend playing the Xbox version. Ben had an amazing poetry reading with Rock Star Poets. Devon has had some plumbing issues, but he's going to solve them (spoiler, he didn't), plus it's snow-ish in his part of Texas. Steven and Devon both missed the latest Walkabout Minigolf course, but Ben fills us in on the amazingness of it. We eventually get to the science...

Follow up to Moon's Haunted: What Went Wrong With Astrobotic's Moon Lander? And What Happens Next? Instead of landing on the Moon, Peregrine is set to burn up in Earth's atmosphere later this week. Re-entry won't pose any safety risk to anyone on the ground. A valve between the spacecraft's oxidizer tank and a tank of high-pressure helium got stuck in the open position, so there wasn't enough oxidizer for a safe landing on the Moon.

https://www.inverse.com/science/astrobotic-moon-lander-peregrine-what-happened

Supposed Cicadapocalypse: Cicadapocalypse Returns To The US With First Double Brood Emergence In 221 Years. We talk about the emerging cicadas, specifically Brood 13 and Brood 19, which emerge every 17 and 13 years, respectively. We also talk about sensationialized journalism, and how these cicadas emerging isn't really that huge of a deal, although only happening every 221 years is cool. Their brood locations don't really overlap, so there isn't much to panic about.

https://www.iflscience.com/cicadapocalypse-returns-to-the-us-with-first-double-brood-emergence-in-221-years-72445

https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/cicadas-2024-emergence-periodical-brood-2024-map-cicada-rcna134152

Science Fiction: Ben gets a recommendation from Patron Joe: Star Trek: The Next Generation: Mirror Universe Collection which leads us into a chat about the Mirror Universe.

https://www.amazon.com/Star-Trek-Generation-Universe-Collection/dp/1684057647?keywords=star+trek+the+next+generation+mirror+universe&qid=1705866286&sr=8-1

We're getting Nintendo 3DS Emulation on the Quest, which is an amazing sentence. The 3DS famously had two screens, so it is difficult to emulate on one screen. However, in a virtual display, both screens are easily seen.

https://www.uploadvr.com/quest-3ds-emulator-citra-vr/

Steven recentlt watched a breakdown video of Back to the Future Part 3, and that leads to a little chat about BttF and breakdown videos. Plus, Ben has to bring up the 'B to the F: The Novelization' tumblr account that is wild. https://btothef.tumblr.com/ Check out the Heavy Spoilers channel on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yXzSQszt78

We also talk more about Beacon 23, since Ben has now watched it and he gives us a little breakdown of what to expect in the show. Devon recommends Bodies, a Netflix mini-series which has some time-travelish components.

That's all folks! See you next week!

This episode contains: Steven and Ben take the reins while Devon is off at his son's birthday party. We discuss relaxing mornings, and delightful dinners. Shout out to Barley & Boar which has some high end, delicious food and phenomenal drinks. Also, make sure to ask for the specials. Steven spends the Christmas cash that was burning a hole in his pocket. He bought Castle Panic and Core Space.

(https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/43443/castle-panic)

(https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/240271/core-space)

Ben tells us about his new book design. Also, check out Ben's poetry reading on January 20, 2024 at 2 p.m. in the SLO Library Community Room at 995 Palm Street in downtown San Luis Obispo. Ben is very excited so you better attend!

Magic Time!: Largest diversity study of 'magic mushrooms' investigates the evolution of psychoactive psilocybin production.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/01/240109183555.htm

I Brake for Machine Learning: Why autonomous trucking is harder than autonomous rideshare. Freeways were supposed to be easy. What happened?

https://kevinchen.co/blog/autonomous-trucking-harder-than-rideshare/

Science Fiction: We discuss the trailer for Ghostbusters: Frozen Kingdom, Beacon 23, For All Mankind (including discussion of the final episode with SPOILERS and were the show might go in the next season), and Star Trek in For All Mankind. And of course, so much more!

Pre-pod Patreon-only: The joys of passive agressively pretending you didn't hear what other people say, 2022 is now 2 years ago (when did that happen?).

This episode contains: Three hosts check in for the first episode of the new year. Steven's speech impediment comes back for a hot moment. Devon fervently rejects New Years resolutions, because as his wife says "he's perfect the way he is." Why wait till New Years to make yourself better? Ben resolved to not see a barber this year, as he's shaved his head. Steven wonders about the bandaid on the back of Marcel's skull in that OLLLD movie "Pulp Fiction." We go through all of Ben's discovered fears about having a completely bald head. Steven's now getting a bunch of bald head stuff in his algorithm. But really Steven's just geeking out over Remedy's newest video game "Alan Wake II," but he's been a fan since the original "Max Payne." Hey, what's up with our newest member/non-member Dave? We guess some Patreon members cancel because they were looking for a different Science Faction podcast.

Video Game Talk with Devon: 13-Year-Old Boy Becomes The Only Human To Ever Complete Tetris. Hell has frozen over and Devon talks about the only game he's ever played: Tetris. (Naw, he's played other games. I digress.) Want to up your game? Tap buttons faster. An AI player can get up to level 237 recently, but a human player has crashed the game at level 157, essentially "winning" an unwinnable game. Eventually a glitch happens where the game switches from reading instructions from the code to reading the RAM as if it were code. Devon played Tetris as a kid on his computer, but Steven and Ben were Game Boy Tetris fans. We've seriously got to see the new Tetris film, and also stop snacking in the evenings. Ben recommends flossing nightly and going to the dentist yearly.

https://www.iflscience.com/13-year-old-boy-becomes-the-only-human-to-ever-complete-tetris-72267

Rawr: 'Juvenile T. rex' fossils are a distinct species of small tyrannosaur. How do scientists distinguish between young dinosaurs and a completely different species? Turns out it's really hard to do.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/01/240102190920.htm

Moon's haunted: White House responds to Navajo Nation request to delay mission that would land human remains on the moon. This week a commercial flight to the moon will carry human remains (among other things) to the lunar surface. Ben considers the ecology impact of humans and our waste (including human remains) on ANY environment, terrestrial or otherwise. Devon discusses whether anyone should change how they are behaving based on other's opinions. This is all vanity, and is dumb, but perhaps there is an ethical angle we should consider.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/05/world/peregrine-moon-mission-navajo-nation-objection-human-remains-scn/index.html

Mid-pod Patreon-only: details on "corpses on the moon," anybody can have a podcast… but does everyone deserve to be heard? One Piece anime adaptation, cheap anime, roller derby showers and glow parties.

A Big Question: Does knowledge have intrinsic value or does it need to have a practical use to have value? We spend a lot of time discussing what value even is, and whether it's important to synthesize data with a more complete understanding of unrelated information. 2024 is all about Tetris, T-Rex, and Tiny bits of yourself on the moon.

Post-pod Patreon-only: Marcel the Shell with Shoes On.

This episode contains: All three amazing hosts lead the charge into the New Year, but have a few things to get off their collective chests first. Devon's got a wild child on his hands, and details some holiday destruction. Ben has had enough with his hair, and took matters into his own hands. Steven got a chance to let his true Disney self out, and finally played Lorcana (with Ben). He also finished a video game, which hasn't happened in a long time. Who wants a cart racer that's Disney themed? Ben and Steven do.

Let's Talk About the Public Domain: Mickey, Disney, and the Public Domain: a 95-year Love Triangle. What's going in here? It's complicated. Disney pushed for the law that extended the copyright term to 95 years, which became referred to derisively as the "Mickey Mouse Protection Act." This extension has been criticized by scholars as being economically regressive and having a devastating effect on our ability to digitize, archive, and gain access to our cultural heritage.

https://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/mickey/

Science Fiction: We do some movie reviews to round out the year. Ben and his kid watched 1984's Gremlins. Devon watched Leave The World Behind, and tries to do a spoiler free review. Devon also finally watched Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, which goes about as expected.

What We're Looking Forward To In 2024:

• Presedential Moderation
• Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 on Netflix
• Dune Part 2
• Deadpool 3
• Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse
• Digital gaming with friends
• Playing boardgames
• Borrowing boardgames from the local library

SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!

This episode contains: Welcome to our post-Christmas episode. We discuss how the world's going to hell, personally and socially. Devon thinks hating the year that's gone by is a meme but Steven and Ben present there reasons why the world is actually burning down. We then move on to discussing our Christmas's and Ben not doing his homework. Also, Ben made a youtube video for his mom:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JckIYYXhw98

Ben then teaches us all about Kwanzaa. Ben reminds us that all holidays are "made up." In the spirit of Umoja we celebrate unity.

https://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org/umoja.html

100 Positive News from 2023: Despite not planning on doing science on this episode, Ben felt guilty about not doing his homework an so brought some science:

• Elimination of malaria close in Ghana
• Child mortality rate (probably) lowest ever
• Big drop in aids deaths
• World's largest solar farm activated
• Most new electricity was renewable
• First green cement that can be used for buildings
• First fossil fuel-free flight over the Atlantic
• Women finally allowed to vote everywhere, Vatican City was the holdout
• More people than ever have clean drinking water
• Seven countries progressed to a higher income group
• Largest ever re-introduction of an "extinct in the wild" species
• Paris river to become swimmable for first time in 100 years
• Scientists find plastic-eating microbes
• Oryx back from extinction
• First Arab woman in space

https://www.gapminder.org/news/100-positive-news-from-2023/

Science Fiction: Steven and Devon both watched some movies. Ben did not however, but he still gives us his summary of the movies based on the trailers.

Steven saw Rebel Moon: Part 1: A Child of Fire. Ben thinks a child emerges from a lava planet, who then leads a ragtag group of minors against a fascist government from another planet. Steven says he got about 80% correct. Rebal Moon is Star Wars. That's all. Zach Snider outdoes himself with the slomo. We note that there will be a directors cut.

Devon saw Oppenheimer. Ben thinks this is a science film about the man that worked on the atom bomb. Devon gives a not so brief summary of the movie and ultimately recommends it. Devon also talks about the book The Oppenheimer Alternative by Robert J. Sawyer.

Devon also saw The Creator. Ben thinks the AI attack LA and then become monks, then there's a new AI in town in the body of a human child. Then humans want to destroy it as the perceive it as a threat. Devon then gives us his honest opinion that the movie is not that good.

See Y'all Next Year! 2024 IS GOING TO BE THE BEST

This episode contains: It's December, it's a big battle getting through the month, and Ben and Steven just can't wait to be done with 2023. Ben is left alone by his family for the afternoon, and did a real long bike ride! All was well and good until he got a flat. Luckily he has friends. Friends with trucks. Steven was out of town hanging out with Devon, and they didn't record a podcast. Instead he and Devon hung out IRL with their D&D group, playing an "artisinal cooperative experience" called Oathsworn. Lots of fun but not an easy game to play. The companion app to the game was narrated by Jeor Mormont himself, James Cosmo. Is Jeor just another way to spell "Jeff?" No, Steven. Ben then talks more about biking, specifically in the rain.

Oathsworn: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/251661/oathsworn-deepwood

Robot Uprising: OpenAI's reported 'superintelligence' breakthrough is so big it nearly destroyed the company, and ChatGPT. Thanks to our Patron Joe Kohr for suggesting this article! ChatGPT, or as the French say "Cat, I Farted", is reportedly dealing with a breakthrough towards a generative AI gaining "superintelligence," or reasoning outside of it's programmed models. As in, it will be no longer "faking it". Now, there's a new OpenAI research group with the goal of developing safeguards against superintelligence. This all reminds Ben of something he heard on another podcast: where there's a potential for using generative AI to create apps… but what if there's no more productivity apps anymore? Where you ask questions and get data presented to you? The operating system could remove the need for productivity apps, because in 10 years the ways we interact with our phones and computers will be different. Steven runs a website but he doesn't GO to websites. Where does anybody learn things on the net now? Social media? Empire and the East India Trading Company: the first company with shares.

https://www.techradar.com/computing/artificial-intelligence/openais-reported-superintelligence-breakthrough-is-so-big-it-nearly-destroyed-the-company-and-chatgpt

The podcast about generative AI creating apps: https://www.relay.fm/connected/479

Empire Podcast: https://pod.link/1639561921

Tonight on The Ocho: 'You didn't just succeed, you Exceled': Sydney man dubbed the 'Annihilator' wins spreadsheet world championship. You might not have known this, but there's a Microsoft Excel World Championship. Now that your mind has finished exploding, you can watch it yourself. This year was newsworthy not because of it's existence, but because the winner this year was eliminated in the first round. The values Andrew Ngai received from the first round didn't match the answer key… but it turned out the answer key was WRONG! We then continue to yak about EVE Online for a bit. One of the contestants eliminated in the finals thanked his wife, who "never made fun of me, even once, for competing in the Microsoft Excel world championships." Ben gets made fun of for doing the dishes!

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/dec/15/you-didnt-just-succeed-you-exceled-sydney-man-dubbed-the-annihilator-wins-excel-world-championship

Watch the championship here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDGdPE_C9u8&t=288

Science Fiction: Has For All Mankind got too much character drama this season? Steven and Ben disagree. Steven wishes there was something more Mars-y on Mars, like red dust everywhere. You know, science fiction stuff! Netflix got The Batman and got Steven to drop everything and watch it yet again. Amazon got Merry Little Batman and got Ben to drop everything and watch it for the first time. Ben a synopsis of the really adorable film where Batman's son has a Home Alone Batman moment. This Batman has definite Devon energy. Is that enough Christmas Batman for Ben? Not in the slightest. Ben played five hours of Batman: Arkham Origins, the most ignored Arkham game. But… it's actually good? And Ben just shut his eyes and pretended it's not an Arkham game at all, since the voice cast does not include Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill. It looks good, for a ten year old game.

This episode contains: Ben and Devon lead the charge this week because Steven is tired. Devon took his kids on The Polar Express, and everyone was wearing pajamas. Ben just realized that when a kid is in a sport, it consumes the entire family. Ben has a confrontation with a random. How does a pork dish taste like steak?

Gone Rogue: Gigantic Wave in Pacific Ocean Was Most Extreme 'Rogue Wave' on Record. Rogue waves are fun and terrifying; they are rare giant waves that can capsize boats. A 58 foot high wave, three times the height of the waves around it was recorded by a buoy in 2020. Rogue waves were thought to be ocean folklore until an 85 foot wave struck an oil-drilling platform in 1995. The intensity of rogue waves are measured against 'normal' waves around them. We talk about the differences between tsunamis and rogue waves.

https://www.sciencealert.com/gigantic-wave-in-pacific-ocean-was-most-extreme-rogue-wave-on-record

This One's For The Birds: Researchers Taught Parrots to Video Call Other Parrots. The parrots were taught to make calls to other dometic parrots using Facebook Messenger. The researchers wondered if given the choice, would the birds call each other? The answer is yes. Strong social dynamics started to appear. The calls lasted 5 minutes, and some of the birds created strong bonds (and still call each other after the study). Devon questions how making a video call is different from the 'mirror test'. Did pirates domesticate parrots? Devon is "well read" because of South Park and The Simpsons.

https://news.northeastern.edu/2023/04/21/parrots-talking-video-calls/

Science Fiction: Devon is reading and listening to Sun Eater series: Empire of Silence which is well written but borrows liberally from other scifi. Ben talks about the lit-verse of Star Trek novels. Ben has been reading the Typhon Pact series of Star Trek novels and is on book 4, Paths of Disharmony. Devon continually re-watches Star Trek and loves Deep Space Nine, The Next Generation, Enterprise and everything Trek. Do some alien cultures in Star Trek come across as too racist or stereotypical?

Patreon Only: Steven bails, Notion Problems, Another Disney Trip and Switzerland.

This episode contains: Steven, Ben and Devon are all present for this episode. This episode drops on Steven's birthday. We discuss real v fake Christmas trees, the Guardians of Galaxy Holiday Special, Beep Beep I'm a Sheep by LilDeuceDeuce, letting kids use Discord, and Devon's trip to Great Wolf Lodge.

Stop Calling Me: Receive robocalls or text message spam? Help shut the spammer down. Most reputable telecom carriers don't want unsolicited messages on their network or phone numbers. In order to disconnect their abusive customers, they need to hear about the abuse. That's where you come in. Here's how to report abuse to the telecom carrier that is responsible for the spammer's phone number – so the carrier can terminate their service.

https://reportphonespam.org/

Hot Rocks: A new solar system has been found in the Milky Way. All 6 planets are perfectly in-sync, astronomers say. The innermost planet completes three orbits for every two by its closest neighbor. It's the same for the second- and third-closest planets, and the third- and fourth-closest planets. The two outermost planets complete an orbit in 41 and 54.7 days, resulting in four orbits for every three. The innermost planet, meanwhile, completes six orbits in exactly the time the outermost completes one.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/a-six-planet-solar-system-in-perfect-synchrony-has-been-found-in-the-milky-way/

Big Question: Assume that in the future there will be huge leaps in human augmentation. Given a scale from completely human to completely machine, how far would you choose to augment yourself with robotics? What parts would you augment and why?

Ghosts with Sh*t Jobs

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1671570/

Pre-show Patreon Only: Void Train and other train games, Fallout 4

This episode contains: A chill post-Thanskgiving episode with Steven and Ben. Turns out people get tired after eating smoked turkey and phǒ (phǒ real? phǒget about it), at least people over 40. Good times with family. These kids are talking and love Bluey. If you're of a certain age, you may not know Bluey, but you should. Are there new Bluey episodes? Not yet, but there is a new Bluey video game. Ben apologizes for talking about old Steam Deck issues, but he's really not sorry, is he? Anyways, the most recent update (3.5) fixed the issues his son had, so this is just an old man shouting at the cloud. BTW, 30 years ago was not 1970, Steven. You poor thing. Steven was not prepared for Scott Pilgrim Takes Off on Netflix, which looks like the comic book, has all the actors for the movie, and then runs with a "What If?" story, completely changing the Scott Pilgrim story at a fundamental level. Our patron Renee met Mark Hamill while she and her family were all dressed like Leia. Mark Hamill is so lucky. Ben asks Steven to go on a date to see The Abyss Special Edition for his birthday, but it's in Santa Maria, and Steven will never spend another birthday in "that hellhole" if he can help it.

Brain Matters: Our brains are not able to 'rewire' themselves, despite what most scientists believe, new study argues.

According to the article, two scientists argue that the commonly held belief that the brain can rewire itself and repurpose regions for new functions after injury or deficit is flawed. Through analyzing previous studies, they found no compelling evidence that areas like the visual cortex of blind individuals or uninjured areas after stroke took on entirely new functions.

Instead, they believe the brain enhances existing latent abilities through learning and repetition, not completely changing functions. So for example, when someone loses a finger, the area for that finger already got some input from neighboring fingers, it just enhances that after amputation. Their view is that understanding true brain plasticity limits is important for patient expectations and rehabilitation approaches. The brain's ability to adapt comes from hard work, not magical reassignment of resources.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231121175335.htm

Pure energy (like that song from Information Society, and Leonard Nimoy): Generating Power on Earth From the Coldness of Deep Space.

This article discusses the concept of generating power on Earth by utilizing the coldness of deep space. It explores the principles of thermodynamics, thermoelectric power generation, and radiative cooling. The article also presents various prototypes and experiments conducted to harness energy from the coldness of space, including the use of selective emitters and negative illumination photovoltaic cells. While the technology is still under development, it shows potential for powering low-power electronics and lighting, offering a sustainable energy solution.

https://spectrum.ieee.org/energy-from-cold

Mid-show Patreon Only: Limp Bizkit is making a comeback? Maybe you don't want to hear it.

Science Fiction: Steven finally saw The Marvels with his wife. He liked it, but his wife was lost. Why is that? Well, if you haven't seen Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel, Wandavision, Secret Invasion (but not really), LOKI, Hawkeye, Ant-Man and the Wasp: QuANTumania, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers Endgame or X-Men: The Last Stand, maybe you're gonna be a little lost. Steven and Ben both agree: that's a little much for the normies, but it's also a little much for these tired old comic book nerds (like our valiant podcast hosts). With so much discussion about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ben says we've got to talk about something else, so what does he do? It's DC time. My Adventures with Superman is a cartoon on Adult Swim and Max that is worth watching, and Ben gives just enough spoilers to whet Steven's appetite. Maybe you would like it too. Steven always forgets that Superman is Ben's jam, at least when anybody other than Zach Snyder is at the helm. What is Ben's favorite Superman movie? Wouldn't you like to know.

Post-show Patreon Only: The Flash movie, we have thoughts on how to fix the MCU

This episode contains: Three hosts again this episode. We talk about Kevin Bacon, Ben has returned and is now known as Numbers. We have an audio diary (that we share with the world). Devon shares a personal story and is now relieved, we chat a bit about Lethal Company and invite Ben to join. Ben tells us all about Patch Quest and the joy he's having with his son. Steven shares how he's brainwashing his kids into enjoying Pokemon (not really). 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1966720/Lethal_Company/ 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1347970/Patch_Quest/ 

Finally, Am I Right?: Please make more USB-C cables like this. Elgato has make a great teleprompter that also has a great USB-C cable that ships with it. Their latest USB-C cable has the bandwidth and USB type imprinted on the connector. A lot of USB-C cables have unknown data speeds, charging speeds or both. More companies should adopt this labeling standard. 

https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/6/23948486/usb-c-cables-marking-speed-power-delivery-elgato 

BONES!: Printed robots with bones, ligaments and tendons. Researchers have succeeded in printing a robotic hand with bones, ligaments and tendons made of different polymers using a new laser scanning technique. This makes it possible to 3D print special plastics with elastic qualities in one go which opens up completely new possibilities for the production of soft robotic structures. 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231115113428.htm 

Science Fiction: We talk about For All Mankind season 4, episode 2: Have A Nice Sol. Steven talks about his theory for the season arc. Ben watched The Marvels and gives us his non-spoiler review about his "fun film". Then we talk about the spoiler post-credit scene. Devon gets bored and breaks a toy. Steven and Ben watched LOKI and talk about the season finale and what it means for the future of the MCU. Spoilers for the ending of LOKI season 2. Devon argues about how movie flops might make Marvel change their business strategy, and Ben and Steven have a rebuttal. Ben has finally read "The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet" by Becky Chambers, and describes it as 'a space opera with no heroes'.