Science Faction Podcast

This episode contains: This is a throwback episode to the old times, before the Dark Times when Ben came. Steven and Devon host the show. We talk about the difficulty of scheduling a time for four people to get together consistently, Devon talks about having his neighbors over for dinner and how over-achieving they are, and the cost of success. Although, what is success? Steven is still dealing with sick kids and his own recurring illness. We also read and respond to comments from our Patrons.

Brain Matters: Rats have an imagination, new research suggests. Researchers have developed a novel system to probe a rat's thoughts, finding that animals can control their brain activity to imagine remote locations. 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231102162557.htm

Devon also talks about reading Blindsight by Peter Watts and his recent foray into reading about consciousness.

Blindsight by Peter Watts: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindsight_(Watts_novel)

Other Minds: The Octopus, The Sea and The Deep Origins of Consciousness by Peter-Godfrey-Smith: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Other_Minds:_The_Octopus,_the_Sea,_and_the_Deep_Origins_of_Consciousness

Fire Sale at the Lefttorium: Left-handers aren't better spatially, gaming research shows. By asking participants to download and play a video game that captured user information and tracked navigational challenges, researchers were able to measure demographic data -- including hand preference -- and activity from more than 420,000 international participants, across 41 different countries. They found that left-handers were neither better nor worse than right-handers at the tasks, clarifying a long-running debate about the links between handedness and spatial skills. 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231109121511.htm

Science Fiction: We discuss the season premiere of For All Mankind, which Steven realizes he did not finish. We talk about the alternate history between the last season and this season, the events of the new episode and where the show might be going. We also talk about the first three episodes of this season of Rick and Morty. Devon enjoys the show more on rewatch. Steven then tells us about Lethal Company.

This episode contains: It’s just Ben with his son, special guest host Flint Lawless! Ben’s got COVID, Steven’s vomiting all over the place and Devon’s in California. Does anyone want to really listen to all that?!?! Instead, Flint and Ben chat about COVID quarantines, Halloween, and how awesome friends are.

Everybody wants to be a cat, Because a cat's the only cat who knows where it's at: Cats Make Nearly 300 Different Facial Expressions. Cats can sometimes get a bad rap for being aloof or not emotive. Compared to dogs, felines tend to be more subtle with how they express themselves—perhaps with a mere flick of an ear or curl of their whiskers. A study has found that cats use nearly 300 distinct facial expressions to communicate with each other. The findings suggest that cats' facial expressions provide information about their emotions and social behavior, and could potentially help humans better understand and communicate with their feline companions. This study may even one day lead to an app that can decode cat facial expressions.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/cats-make-nearly-300-different-facial-expressions-180983185/

Turning old rotary phones into music streamers: Flint and Ben wax poetic about spinning wax. But what if it was even less convenient to listen to your music? Sometimes more convenience is cool, sometimes less is cooler. You pick up the rotary phone and it welcomes you in a bit of a sleepy voice with the words: “Hello, dial zero to listen to music”. Why zero? It is zero because it is the most satisfactory number to dial. Then you get to listen to a directory of your playlists, and choose using a two digit number. Dial the number of songs you want randomly played from the playlist, and then hang up. Voila, your music is now streaming to your speakers.

https://vasilis.nl/nerd/turning-old-rotary-phones-into-music-streamers/

Science Fiction: Flint and Ben review the 908th episode of Star Trek: “Old Friends, New Planets.” It’s the fourth season finale of Star Trek: Lower Decks, and we also by extension review the fourth season as a whole. What do you get when the Ferengi make a Genesis device? Then it gets fun when Flint gives Ben the rundown on how awesome the new 1.7 update for Trailmakers is. Trailmakers finally is going to space with the biggest map they’ve ever made, with several fascinating planets. Flint’s building spaceships to explore the cosmos. Flint’s even got a hot take on the lore behind the planet Doon (his theory is it was originally a water planet). Furthermore, there have been big updates to character customization. We wrap up the episode with last words, and Flint knocks it out the park.

This episode contains: Three hosts for three times the fun! Steven is drinking some coffee from Green Day and Oakland Coffee, have you heard there's a new album coming? Ben's brother gives us some feedback on space mining and fiction: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moon_Is_a_Harsh_Mistress We chat about how to read more by listening more. How do you read / listen to books? 

Step Up 2 Tha Streetz: 8,000 steps a day to reduce the risk of premature death. A study has identified, for the first time, the optimal number of steps at which people would gain the greatest benefits. We talk about how most people have some sort of pedometer on them in the form of a smartwatch or phone, but getting out there to take the steps can still be a challenge. To be clear, there are no health deficiencies if you walk more than the suggested 8,000 steps. Steven once logged over 20,000 steps (while at Disneyland). 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/10/231026131551.htm

How's Your Pokedex coming? ASH - Ai Pocket Field Guide. Inspired by the legendary Pokedex, ASH was developed as a digital artifact that could help children connect and learn about and protect the biodiversity that surrounds them every day. This looks like an amazing thing that all children should have to help them explore the natural world around them...but we can't find a buy button. Is this a real product or just a concept? We can't tell, but the idea of ot being real is intriguing! 

https://www.finh.cc/ash?ref=sidebar 

This Week in Space (but really 30 years ago): How would we know whether there is life on Earth? This bolf experiment found out. Thirty years ago, astronomer Carl Sagan convinced NASA to turn a passing space probe’s instruments on Earth to look for life — with results that still reverberate today. In 1989 the Galileo spacecraft was launched, and later pointed at Earth to see if we could detect "life" which would give us a powerful control for when we would eventually probe exoplanets (which had yet to be discovered). Very cool. Steven is reminded of a mission in Starfield where an old generation ship is discovered at an already colonized planet. 

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03230-z 

Big Question: How many personal liberties would you give up for health and safety? We have quite a discussion this week, covering everything from gun control to different constitutional amendments, plugging into and out of the Matrix, Covid quarantine restrictions and fatigue, physical and mental health vs community responsibilities, personal liberties, governmental trust, revolutions and rebellions, and a whole lot more!

This episode contains: Steven and Ben are kid free! We revisit Scream, the first one, and how it relates to Dawson’s Creek. Also, how to use walkie talkies to move the moon. Steven discusses the fun of paranormal reality shows. Ben reminisces about the Blair Witch Documentary. Steven gives us an updated on his homelife and dealing with Covid.

I See You!: Molecular age of the eye determined. A team of researchers have mapped almost 6,000 proteins from different cell types within the eye by analyzing tiny drops of eye fluid that are routinely removed during surgery. The researchers used an AI model to create a 'proteomic clock' from this data that can predict a healthy person's age based on their protein profile. The clock revealed that diseases such as diabetic retinopathy and uveitis cause accelerated aging within specific cell types. Surprisingly, the researchers also detected proteins associated with Parkinson's disease within eye fluid, which they say could offer a pathway to earlier Parkinson's diagnoses.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/10/231019111231.htm

Can You Dig It? Space is starting to look like the better mining operation. Space agencies in Japan and the United States recently sent spacecraft to investigate, nudge, or bring back samples from these hurtling space rocks, and after a rocky start, the space mining industry is once again on the ascent. Companies like AstroForge, Trans Astronautica Corporation, and Karman+ are preparing to test their tech in space before venturing toward asteroids themselves.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/10/space-is-starting-to-look-like-the-better-mining-operation/

Science Fiction: Rick and Morty is back but hard to watch without cable. Ben assures us that Rick and Morty is still Rick and Morty despite not having Justin Roiland. The Lower Decks episode Caves is awesome. We also discuss ALF, possible Lower Decks style Star Trek novels, Steven finishes One Piece live action, Foundation is a good show but not fun, Star Trek Department of Temporal Investigations, and more!

This episode cotnains: Steven and Ben have a low-effort, high stress-relief episode. Nothing matters anymore: Steven’s world is on fire with COVID hitting his house again, and it’s looking to derail Steven’s wife’s 40th birthday plans. Well, they were secret 40th birthday plans that Steven has worked really hard to set up, and now are in peril. Some days, Steven just needs a nap and a juice box. Ben prefers the term “house spouse” to “stay at home parent,” but Steven HATES it. Devon isn’t here because he went to Omega Mart in Las Vegas: that crazy fever dream/theme park/grocery store. Ben’s mom is recovering well from surgery, and Ben has dealt with stress by forgetting a bunch of stuff he actually did do and escaping into Elden Ring.

Clean your room!: Air purifiers aren’t enough to clean your home from wildfire smoke. After a wildfire, if you want to stay healthy indoors, it’s not enough to just open windows. Volatile Organic Compounds can stay in floors and walls. How do you get rid of them? CLEAN UP! Mopping, dusting and vacuuming can get those VOCs out of your surfaces. Good luck if you have popcorn ceilings, like Ben does. Ben remembers finding patterns and images in the popcorn ceiling back in high school. Steven remembers the word Pareidolia: the perception of random images, especially faces, in random shapes and lines.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/10/air-purifiers-arent-enough-to-clean-your-home-from-wildfire-smoke/

Science Fiction:  Where does Steven go for a pick-me-up when he’s down? Enter Peacock’s own Twisted Metal. Thanks for the recommendation, Devon. After three episodes, Steven sees it’s a decent show. It walks a fine line between being absurd and serious, but it’s all still believable within the show. Steven and Ben wonder what is going on with LOKI in season 2. Like, what’s up with X-5? Oh that’s right, this is a TIME TRAVEL SHOW. We’re all experiencing temporal whiplash. Maybe they’ll tell the rest of the story at another time? For all time, always. Ben’s son is not into this season, but is begrudgingly allowing us to watch LOKI instead of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Can you believe that Disney showed surprising restraint by not peppering the MCU’s version of 1977 with a bunch of Star Wars posters? The late-1980s McDonalds is incredible, now Ben wants an apple pie. Remember when McDonalds had lore? The McDonalds Cinematic Universe with the Hamburgler and fry guys and all the nostalgia! Is Sylvie’s manager a young Mobius?

We talk even more after the break: Let’s talk about Fallout Wasteland Warfare! Steven’s never played the tabletop game, but he’s excited about painting a Frank Horrigan figurine from it. Do you even Fallout, fool?: https://falloutfacts.com/fallout-frank-horrigan . Ben’s learning to git gud noob in Elden Ring, after noping out of it half a year ago. Big thanks to JumpinProductions for their Noob’s Guide for Elden Ring: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvSjDM1TnnA_lZWYp4N8hqj6IKNv3P7tc. In contrast to Elden Ring, Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are power fantasies. Steven tells Ben about i-frames. The real game is timing. Giant disgustingly beautiful enemies? Run around them! Stormwind Castle has incredible detail showing ancient battles and sense of place. Is Elden Ring the game of the decade? How could we know? After A LONG TALK about Elden Ring, Ben recommends 3D Sen VR: an NES emulator that makes ye olde Nintendo games 3D diaramas and it’s incredible. http://www.geodstudio.net/ We rank Batman movies, and Steven continues to sing the praises of The Batman, even over the Nolanverse. It’s so good, mainly because it brings in the detective side of Batman.

This episode contains: We have all three hosts this week, and you know what that means...a lot of faffing about until we get to the science. We talk about Ben's kid's Junior Roller Derby, Devon's upcoming trip to Las Vegas and the Omega Mart, and Steven tells us his crazy story about going to LA to look at a 1959 Hillman Minx. We also chat a bit about Indigenous People's Day and German heritage. 

Shut Up and Take My Money: Google open-sourced a hat shaped like a giant keycap—and it actually types. Ben attempts to convince Steven that this device is amazing and not completely dumb. This giant hat can be used to "type" by pressing on it in various orientations. This is totally not a joke. This is real. They even offer files to make one of these on your own. Steven offers a $100 bounty if you prove that you make one of these. 

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/10/google-open-sourced-a-hat-shaped-like-a-giant-keycap-and-it-actually-types/ 

Big Question: Has the invention of the atomic bomb made the world a more peaceful place? We discuss mutually assured distruction, threats of war, what we would have done if nukes were never invented. Devon introduces us to the Nuke Map so you can experience existential dread anywhere. We also chat about post-nuclear rebuilding with Twisted Metal, Dollhouse and Neal Stephenson books. 

https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/ 

Science Fiction (?): Devon tells us all about his experience watching the Netflix show One Piece. We talk about the anime, and the show's weirder elements. 

Patreon Only: Steven does Psyrreal, LOKI season 2 premired and we give some analysis, and we talk Ahsoka finale and where the story goes from here. 

This episode contains: All three hosts are present and accounted for. Devon wants to go big for Halloween. Devon and Steven had a weekend long date where Devon tried Pumkin Spice Latte at Starbucks and played a ton of games. This included Wingspan, Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps, and D&D. Steven was the DM for a Jurassic Park themed D&D session. Steven and Devon then argue over the quality of the hotel they stayed in. Meanwhile, Ben went to a wedding and ended up living it up in San Diego with his sister. Ben also teaches us about Kava Kava root and then we argue about it.

(https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/kava-kava#TOC_TITLE_HDR_3)

(https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/is-kava-safe/)

The Beautiful Future: Humane Finally Shows Off What the Ai Pin Looks Like Ahead of November 9 Unveil. The intelligent clothing-based wearable uses a range of sensors that enable natural and intuitive compute interactions and is designed to weave seamlessly into users’ day-to-day lives. The device is privacy-first, with aspects such as no wake word and therefore no ‘always on’ listening, reflecting Humane’s vision of building products which place trust at the center. The Ai Pin, which does not need to be paired with a smartphone or other companion device, includes AI-powered optical recognition and a laser-projected display, all powered by an advanced Snapdragon platform from Qualcomm Technologies.

https://www.inverse.com/tech/humane-ai-pin-hardware-reveal-november-9

Big Question: How important is play in living a healthy and fulfilling life? Warning, we start with some dark jokes. Ben gets philosophical, Steven hates washing dishes, and Devon wants to play RPGs with his kids.

This episode contains: Steven and Ben are joined by Ben's son playing video games in the background. When do you get "you time" when you're a parent? Steven's looking for that time. Ben suggests recontextualizing "you time" by indoctrinating his son with Star Trek. With two kids: turns out when one kid wants something, the other doesn't. Why do kids want to fight things that COULD BE FUN!??! JUST GET IN THE CAR! I guess "giving things a chance" is a form of maturity. Ben is going to a kids birthday, and then his friend's wedding. Is this the Science Faction Therapy Hour? HELL NO. Now You See Me: Let's talk about digital assistants for the visually impaired. OKO App leverages AI to help blind pedestrians recognize traffic signals.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/gusalexiou/2023/08/10/oko-app-deploys-ai-to-make-crossing-the-street-safer-for-blind-pedestrians/?sh=55bff018687b At the end of 2020, the New York City Department of Transportation had a class action lawsuit filed because only 443 of the city's 13,200 signalized intersections were accessible to visually impaired pedestrians via audible and tactile features. That's less than 4% of intersections in NYC. Enter OKO, a "digital seeing eye dog" of sorts that uses iPhone's camera to notify the user when a street is safe to cross.  Dot Go. The First Object Interaction App for the Visually Impaired. https://www.dandad.org/awards/professional/2023/236909/dot-go-the-first-object-interaction-app-for-the-visually-impaired/ Dot Go is the first object interaction app. It not only detects objects in the environment but also connects them to actions. These could be internal actions, like sounds and vibration, or external actions in other apps, websites, and even smart home devices. For example, a bus stop sign could trigger an app to open and buy a ticket. Anyone can easily build and share custom solutions with the community. Is this like Pokemon Go? Can it be more like Pokemon Go? Dot Pad tactile display makes images touchable for visually impaired users https://techcrunch.com/2022/03/10/dot-pad-tactile-display-makes-images-touchable-for-visually-impaired-users/?guccounter=1 Dot Pad is a smart braille device that not only allows for easy display of text, but tactile representations of imagery, potentially opening an entirely new layer for education and accessible content. Dot Pad gives the low vision community access to maps, diagrams, charts, and other illustrations, allowing easy access to content on the internet. By making productivity apps accessible, Dot Pad creates whole new career opportunities and a more inclusive workplace. Envision Adds ChatGPT AI Sight Assistance To Its Smart Glasses For The Blind https://www.forbes.com/sites/gusalexiou/2023/04/30/envision-adds-chatgpt-ai-sight-assistance-to-its-smart-glasses-for-the-blind/?sh=16c2aa05446f Google Glass-like devices can now use ChatGPT to capture text through the glasses' camera, then use their voice to ask direct questions about what it sees. This may range from questions like “What is the balance of this bill” to “What are the vegetarian options on this menu?” Blind people may want to know... how do sighted people actually lose things? Between the forest and the trees, don't get lost! Plant and forest researchers do not 'anthropomorphize' plants. This is not more Little Shop of Horrors talk. There has been a trend in science articles to anthropomorphize plants, and it needs to stop. Why? Conjecture gets equated with fact, and that is dangerous for science. Poetry is fantastic but has no place in a scientific journal.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/09/230920111155.htm Mid-shop Patreon-only talk: Now we have more Little Shop of Horrors talk. We talk about the upcoming film The Creator.

Science Fiction: Episode six of Ahsoka was peak Star Wars and Devon's not here to be a party pooper. "Far, Far Away" had Claudia Black as one of the Mothers of Dathomir. HOW COOL ARE EXTRAGALACTIC STORIES? Between this and Star Trek Discovery Season 4, you're gonna see something new when you go extragalactic. Too bad we'll never actually travel outside the galaxy. We finally get Star Wars Rebels season 5, with Ezra and Thrawn. The implied stories about Thrawn's broken  stormtroopers feels like the best of old Star Wars. Remember Jedi Survivor? We now have stormtrooper zombies, right? Great casting for Ezra Bridger.  Episode 899 of Star Trek is that Very Short Treks episode that is all about how boogers are gross: "Worst Contact". Gates Mcfadden, Jonathan Frakes, and microwaved fish! Lower Decks got the 900th Star Trek ever with "Something Borrowed, Something Green". You get so much more Tendi this week, the Mistress of the Winter Constellations herself. Steven throws shade on how Star Trek episodes are counted. Star Trek's non-canon animation is just copying Star Wars, no? Remember Star Wars Visions, or Droids, or the holiday special. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem was cool, fun and nostalgic, which is just what we expected. Steven and his family watched it at Ben's house, since it's now streaming on Paramount+. There's a crazy amount of comedic vomit in it. This film reallly emphasizes the "Teenage" part of it all. This film was written for us: twelve year olds living in forty year old bodies. The design of the film is excellent: doodles and graffiti and asymmetrical faces were all great design decisions. There is nothing as disgusting as a man-rat making out with a cockroach-woman. All of the voice actors for the turtles were recorded in group recording sessions, and worked really well. Get ready for the sequel and the Tales of the TMNT tv show. Steven gushes about TMNT toys. After-show Patreon-only talk: Portal 2 is now in VR. 

This episode contains: Devon and Steven start out this episode lamenting Ben's absence. We talk about Devon's upcoming trip to California, and Steven's journey with the Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps game. Devon is going to a sort-of costume party while dressing up as a starfleet officer with an alien chestburster coming out. We also chat about kids and xenomorphs. Steven's house should have burned down, but several thousand dollars later, everything is fine. 

This Week in Space: Water world? Methane, carbon dioxide in atmosphere of massive exoplanet. K2-18 b, an exoplanet 8.6 times as big as earth, has revealed the presence of carbon-bearing molecules including methane and carbon dioxide. It could be a Hycean exoplanet, one which has the potential to possess a hydrogen-rich atmosphere and a water ocean-covered surface. We chat about how we could possibly know anything about this planet. 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/09/230911141059.htm 

Spit Take: Why People Hate Words Like "Moist". This one is all about word aversion. We talk about how the New York Times and the Guardian asked it's readers for words they had an aversion to. Some responses were: moist, slacks, loin, panties, crevice, phlegm, bulge, nugget etc. It turns out that word aversion may be caused by the literal sound of the word and/or it's connection to bodily functions. Or is it just pop-culture? We also talk about our own experiences with these words. 

https://www.iflscience.com/why-people-hate-words-like-moist-70709 

Science Fiction: Ben joins us for the sci-fi side of this episode. We talk about the latest episode of Very Short Treks, Moopsy (from the episode of Lower Decks from last week) and Megastructures from this week's episode. Devon tells us all about Little Shop of Horrors, and it's alternate ending. Ben and Steven chat about Simulant, a movie that was recommended to us by a listener (Thanks Tom!). Ben makes connections to the game Detroit: Become Human, and Steven had some issues with the unfocused nature of the story. Simulant definitely has some great ideas and it worth a watch. 

This episode contains: We’re caffeinated and ready to podcast. Devon and Steven stayed up really late last night playing Baldur’s Gate3. Steven’s AC is not working and Ben is getting a new microwave. Ben had his first roller derby experience.  

This Week in Space: The closest planet to Neptune turns out to be... Mercury. While Mercury is the innermost planet in the Solar System, on average it spends more time closer to Earth than Venus does. This applies to all the planets the solar system, including Neptune. ​To identify our closest neighbor, engineers affiliated with NASA, Los Alamos National Observatory, and the US Army's Engineer Research Development Center built a computer simulation to calculate the average proximity of Earth to its three nearest planets (Mars, Venus, and Mercury) over a 10,000-year-period. Because of the way the planets align during their respective orbits, the model shows that Earth spends more time nearer to Mercury than either Venus or Mars. ​

https://www.iflscience.com/the-closest-planet-to-neptune-turns-out-to-be-mercury-70424

Here In My Car I Feel Safest of All: Connected cars are a “privacy nightmare,” Mozilla Foundation says. Data privacy protections are almost nonexistent when it comes to automobiles. Today, the Mozilla Foundation published its analysis of how well automakers handle the privacy of data collected by their connected cars, and the results will be unlikely to surprise any regular reader of Ars Technica. The researchers were horrified by their findings, stating that "cars are the worst product category we have ever reviewed for privacy."

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/09/connected-cars-are-a-privacy-nightmare-mozilla-foundation-says/

Big Question: What are some small but transformative moments you’ve experienced with technology? Devon’s answer: cars and music. Steven: CDs, cells phones and no ringtones. Ben: phone calls “in stereo,” Hearing an orchestra tune up when booting my PS3 for the first time, and silencing unknown callers.