Science Faction Podcast

This episode contains: We discuss how 2/5/2023 feels like it should be the future, but totally isn't/ Devon won big at Texas Hold'em, but not in Texas. Ben has a story about a frog and a banana. Devon also weathered an ice storm, his house not so much. We have suspect we have very special listeners. 

This Week in Space: Will Machine Learning Help us Find Extraterrestrial Life? SETI is using machine learning to check 150TB of studied data, and found 8 signals of interest that were previously looked over. We talk about radio waves, and how this machine learning can sift through the noise coming from Earth. And then we talk about Futurama. 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/01/230130130512.htm 

What the Crazy Kids are Doing: Carbon capture is here—it just isn’t evenly distributed. New York City apartment towers are going to get smaller carbon capture facilities. These facilities will be able to remove carbon dioxide and expel it as "beverage grade". Then, it will be used in concrete as building material. A win-win! 

https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/02/carbon-capture-is-here-it-just-isnt-evenly-distributed/ 

Science Fiction: We talk about the upcoming Picard Season 3. We talk about the failings of season 1 and 2, and the hope that Ben has for season 3. A hope that Devon and Steven are beginning to share, as an insider who hates nu-trek has seen the season and "gushed" about it online. 

Big Question: What age is it appropriate to introduce children to The Matrix? Ben shares his experience watching the movie with his 9 year old, and seems disappointed that he wasn't blown away. Steven soapboxes about how The Matrix needs to be put into context of the world of 1999, which is vastly different from the current century. Devon seems apathetic, but also has a big brain and figured out the Matrix twist from the trailers. Here's a good one: does watching Star Trek innoculate you against The Matrix? 

This episode contains: All three hosts are here, slowly rotating around the sun, to bring you science and science fiction. Devon explains why he can’t record this afternoon (the answer is football). Ben tells us about the ongoing woes of being a home owner. Steven and Ben talk about playing Walkabout Mini Golf on VR.

Listen To This: MusicLM: Generating Music From Text. MusicLM is a model generating high-fidelity music from text descriptions such as "a calming violin melody backed by a distorted guitar riff". MusicLM casts the process of conditional music generation as a hierarchical sequence-to-sequence modeling task, and it generates music at 24 kHz that remains consistent over several minutes.

https://google-research.github.io/seanet/musiclm/examples/

Riffusion’s AI generates music from text using visual sonograms. Riffusion is an AI model that generates music from text prompts by creating a visual representation of sound and converting it to audio for playback. It uses a fine-tuned version of the Stable Diffusion 1.5 image synthesis model, applying visual latent diffusion to sound processing in a novel way.

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2022/12/riffusions-ai-generates-music-from-text-using-visual-sonograms/

Big Question: What sci-fi universe would you want to live in? What if you had to support your current family and could not count on being a hero in that story? What if Skype kept disconnecting you?

This episode contains: Ben joins Steven in person, and Devon phones it in this week. Your heart has ventricles and… dorsicles? No Ben; It’s atriums. Steven reminds us that he knows the beginning of a Barenaked Ladies song. Devon chats about his first cruise! TLDR: It was… about as he expected. Was Devon on a cruise long enough to get scurvy? Are drink packages on cruise ships worth it? Everything's still wrong with Ben this week. Looks like one of Ben's bedroom walls will need to be replaced. FEMA declared the recent rainstorms in California an Avengers-level event. Ben is getting his septic tank pumped this week. Goodbye wooden deck. Ben found a lot of surprising things when crawling under his house. You wouldn't illegally download a house, would you? Steven needs a break from his vacations. Listen to Steven guest host the Plastic Plesiosaur podcast this month!

Brain Matters: Orienteering may help fight cognitive decline. Orienteering is a new sport, kinda like extreme hiking. Devon is our resident sports advocate and expert. De-stress and unplug with Orienteering, and improve your cognitive fitness. The recent study about Orienteering is self-reported, so we're kinda skeptical. Ben loves exploring new routes in his town. Steven & Devon say "no thanks." Steven thought Ben was going to murder him when driving him the wrong way home.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/01/230120154924.htm

Charge it! Could gravity batteries really store excess renewable energy? Gravity batteries could theoretically be located in abandoned mines. Gravity batteries are one of the few ways to generate energy without steam!  Gravity batteries are not feasible: maintenance costs outweigh the benefits. We chat about hydroenergy between two lakes. Why do all our tech advances go back to the Romans? Thanks, middle ages! Steven's kids just watched Ratatouille for the first time... is it for kids? Steven has a quick Rant-atouille.  Ben invites Steven to come over and watch Everything, Everywhere, All at Once.

https://www.techspot.com/news/97306-gravity-batteries-abandoned-mines-could-power-whole-planet.html

Mid-pod Patreon only: Renee reminded Steven he's talking about Bridgerton. Devon recommends the second Downton Abbey film. Doesn't recommend the first. Devon lawyersplains Downton Abbey to Ben. He could go on for a half hour, easy. Ben guesses the footmen in Downton Abbey are the ninjas working for Shredder.

Science Fiction / Big Question: We gush about The Last of Us, video game and show. Cordyceps is a real fungal thing that set up the premise of The Last of Us. We compare The Last of Us to a couple other zombie media. The Walking Dead refers to the people still left... just like The Last of Us. Starting The Last of Us with scientists in a 1968-era show is a good choice. Anna Torv is FANTASTIC in The Last of Us, AND Fringe. Watch Fringe. Wanna see more Pedro Pascal? We recommend Prospect. Did anybody see the FBI marriage subplot in Sonic 2 coming? Devon did.  Big question this week: we are old men grumbling about streaming services. HBO Max has been doing Ben dirty, y'all. Babylon 5 going away and a price hike? The Remastered version of Babylon 5 has been incredible.  Could HBO Max have waited a little after The Last of Us premier to raise price? Is it time to begin rotating streaming services?  Should we go back to physical media? When we bought shows that weren't revoked? Who would be hurt most from rotating streaming services?  Is it just time for us to grow up? Devon grew up 30 years ago. Git gud n00bs. Devon recommends Kevin Can F**k Himself on AMC.

After-pod Patreon only: Devon tries to tell a joke. He gets there eventually. Joke Orienteering is our new sport: here's a map, let's find the punch line! We like Wednesday despite it being a Tim Burton show. Why did Tim Burton spend 25 years making movies that didn't speak to Ben?  Wednesday gives Ben some Pushing Daisies vibes. Tim Burton was an Imagineer! That explains a lot, in a good way. Steven and Devon gush about The Last Kingdom. Very fast paced show. Slow book. Steven LOVES having maps in books, especially The Last Kingdom.  The same characters are in both The Last Kingdom and Assassins Creed: Valhalla. Ben would love to take a nap every day.  We say good night to Devon, and then Steven and Ben WE KEEP ON RECORDING! Steven tries to get Ben to name the people he hates.

This episode contains: Ben and Steven in the same room recording. Ben has a week of disaster. Steven is guesting on Plastic Plesiosaur Podcast. Devon is nowhere to be seen.

Magnets, How Do They Work?: Qi2: How Apple might finally harness MagSafe by giving it away. We talk about the future of phone chargers, and how everything being compatable is a complete win.

https://www.theverge.com/2023/1/3/23538131/qi2-wireless-charging-apple-samsung https://appleinsider.com/articles/23/01/10/future-of-magsafe-and-the-new-qi2-wireless-charging-spec 

YUMMMM: Why chocolate feels so good; it is all down to lubrication. We talk about the science of lubrication in terms of chocolate. Fat is neccessary. We also ponder the ramifications of this science and the 'fake meat' industry.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/01/230113112804.htm

Big Question: Why are anachronistic elements in fiction so cool? We talk about Willow and dark City before Steven goes on his rant about Star Trek not being anachronistic but Star Wars is. Ben dives into tvtropes.org and we investigate the 'film' Kung Fury. Ben goes off topic and tells us about Lil Gator Game and his son, but then we refocus and talk about different sub-tropes of anachronisms. Steven finds that he doesn't like unexplained future-tech in the past. Lastly, Steven dives into Century by Alan Moore and spoils the whole thing.

Patreon Only: We talk about Babylon 5, The Bad Batch and A Psalm for the Wild-Built.

This episode contains: Steven and Devon host this all new episode while Ben rests. Devon tells us about his upcoming cruise and his work ethic leading up to a vacation. Steven talks about California’s torrential rain, including his trip to Disney during a storm. Devon then tells us about his day at The Great Wolf Lodge.

She’s a Brick House: Riddle solved: Why was Roman concrete so durable? An unexpected ancient manufacturing strategy may hold the key to designing concrete that lasts for millennia.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/01/230106144441.htm

Drink Up: Good hydration linked to healthy aging. Adults who stay well-hydrated appear to be healthier, develop fewer chronic conditions, such as heart and lung disease, and live longer than those who may not get sufficient fluids, according to a new study.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/01/230102100941.htm

Sci-Fi/Big Question: We discuss whether immortality is possible, what technologies may help us achieve immortality and the social impact immortality would have. We also discuss our own feelings about mortality/immortality. We end up discussing whether a digital copy is the same as the original person, the fact that even if you are “immortal” you're still going to die eventually, and the heat death of the universe.

This episode contains: Ben likes new things! Devon says hi. Devon's sick again. Can you tell? Steven says not to thank people for doing their job. What do you think? Disney Dreamlight Valley seems cool. What should someone do if they're totally burned out by Disneyland? Vacations with kids are just trips. Devon and Steven are done chasing kids. Steven's kids don't like Star Wars land at Disneyland. Not yet.

Shut up when I'm talking to you!: Being assertive: Reduce stress, communicate better. Assertiveness is not necessarily natural. It is a learned trait. Passive behavior can lead to stress, resentment, and feelings of victimization. Being assertive creates self-confidence, empowerment, and honest relationships. Passive, aggressive and passive-aggressive behavior all damage relationships. Just "No." is a complete sentence. You don't need to explain yourself. Formal assertiveness training is available through mental health professionals.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/assertive/art-20044644

Assertiveness Training - Fact Sheets https://www.abct.org/fact-sheets/assertiveness-training/

Power Slave: National Ignition Facility achieves fusion ignition. Fusion could power our society in future decades with clean & limitless energy. Scientists used fusion to get more energy out than put in, after ignition. Fusion would be a big step towards the U.S. net-zero carbon economy goal. All electricity, coal, nuclear plants are just complicated steam engines. Fusion: two light nuclei combine to a single heavy nucleus... SO MUCH ENERGY. Could we have wireless energy? You know, without touching? Steven dreams. To our patrons: thank you for listening. And we're sorry.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/12/221213102033.htm

Science Fiction: High On Life is on Gamepass! Steven discusses the first ten minutes.  The Red Letter Media lads have an MST3K cameo in High On Life. (https://www.reddit.com/r/RedLetterMedia/comments/zmbole how_to_find_the_rlm_lads_in_high_on_life/) Steven killed a kid alien in High On Life. Shame on him. He should play a more civilized game... like Fallout! Was this new Star Trek DS9 comic "The Dog of War" written by A.I.? It's nuts! What happens when you smash a Corgi Dog into Deep Space Nine? The Dog of War. (https://screenrant.com/star-trek-dog-war-ds9-sequel-new-series/) Poets nearly burned Ben at the stake for suggesting to use A.I. to help write. Is writing music performed by a computer similar to A.I. generated art? Devon rocks too loud at night when he's recording music. Rock finds a way. Is it weird when a composer can write a song they cannot play? Devon muses.  Is there any difference in using a thesaurus vs. having an A.I. help write? How do solos get affected when nobody is playing the song? Check out Riffusion, generating music from text using visual sonograms. (https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2022/12 riffusions-ai-generates-music-from-text-using-visual-sonograms/) What is a solo for? Steven says it's about emotional peaks. When describing a group of cyborgs AND androids: Try the term "macheeple".

This episode contains: Steven and Ben record on Christmas Day, because they hate their families! Just kidding. Steven talks about his Covid filled Xmas, and Ben regales us with tales of his kid's broken arm. What joy! What Merriment! Merry Crisis. 

Robot Overlords: We talk about the physical intelligence of ant and robot collectives. Harvard researchers designed a team of relatively simple robots that can work collectively with simple commands. The RAnts use photormones to successfully escape a corral. Neat.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/12/221221135358.htm 

Grumpy Cat of Birds: Ben introduces us to the Tawny Frogmouth, and you'll never be the same again. It's an amazing bird that isn't an owl, but kinda looks like one. Native to Australia and New Zealand, it is an ambush predator that simply swallows it's prey with it's giant mouth. So cool. Also, Steven gets schooled on cultural appropriation, but it's cool because Fight Club.

https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/tawny-frogmouth  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nci3dnZPVfg 

Big Question: We talk about eugenics and Star Trek. Why is starfleet against the victims of eugenics? Two different shows have currently have plot threads dealing with this idea and we try to figure it out. Also, we learn about eugenics.

Black Adam: Ben reviews Black Adam. Steven attempts a re-write. We also chat about the politics of hollywood and how it influences storytelling.

This episode contains: Steven is back “in studio” with the rest of us after having his internet completely replaced. Ben’s son may have broken his arm, if Ben could only open the CD to see the x-rays. Devon then tells us about his recent time in California, which includes playing Death May Die.

Batter Up: Affecting baseball friction with different substances. In baseball, even the smallest detail can tip the scales in favor of the batter or the pitcher. A recent publication has highlighted how rosin powder helps maintain a more constant friction when pitching, something that could bring about a fairer playing field in Major League Baseball.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/12/221215104734.htm

This Week in Space: Here’s what we know, and what we don’t, about the damaged Soyuz spacecraft current docked with the ISS. A leak in an external coolant of the Soyuz spacecraft could cause the flight computers to overheat. This may lead to an early departure from the space station.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/12/heres-what-we-know-and-what-we-dont-about-the-damaged-soyuz-spacecraft/

Science Fiction: Devon discusses the end of the second season of Avenue 5. We then review the most recent season of Rick and Morty, which just came to a close. Ben talks about Star Trek: Prodigy. This leads to a discussion of episodic TV v. serialized story telling. And so much more!!! (not really).

Patreon only: We discuss the use of AI in creative arts and who should get the credit for the final product.

Pre-pod Patreon-only: Devon remembers meeting Ben's cat. He still has the scar.

This episode contains: Ben leads the show, Steven phones it in, and Devon holds on for dear life. Devon has to go to "mandatory" parties for work. Steven's internet is unreachable, so he phones it in this episode. Ben was on the edge of the power outage that hit 5000 people. Ben describes the indescribable fun of the card game No Thanks. Ben's kid won 9 straight games of X-Men vs Street Fighter against Steven and Ben.

Jurassic Boom: No supersonic boom for dinosaur tails. The Diplodocid tail did not break supersonic speeds, despite earlier claims. Diplodocis tails were 12 m long, weighed 1.5 tons, and moved up to 33 m/s! A sonic boom occurs at 340 meters per second. Did Diplodocis have a huge-ass neck, or huge ass-neck? Devon's kids are gonna know what a sonic boom is, by golly! Devon's son wants to be a treehouse architect. Steven knows one who does that. Steven workshopped some other titles for Devon's article: "Must Go Faster Must Go Faster" and "Dun-dun-dun-duuuun dun-dun-dinosaurs (sung to the Indiana Jones' theme)".

https://phys.org/news/2022-12-paleontology-supersonic-boom-dinosaur-tails.html

We've got to go back, Kate: Fifty years later, remastered images reveal Apollo 17 in stunning clarity. 50 years ago, on Apollo 17 the last astronauts went to the moon (for now). Nobody's heard of hasselblad cameras. Why aren't they hasselgood? Remastered photos of Apollo 17 look incredible, but the captions are fire. In case anybody is curious, the crew of Artemis III is diverse. https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis-team/  The moon has an incredible amount of dust and dirt. Astronauts get grimy. Apollo 17 was the 1st mission with a scientist on the moon: Harrison H. Schmitt. 

https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/12/fifty-years-later-remastered-images-reveal-apollo-17-in-stunning-clarity/ https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/apollo-17/in-depth/

Science Fiction: Big thanks to Joe Kohr for Steven's birthday gift of Steam cash! Hide and Seek in Among Us is super fun, and different enough from the game. Ben didn't finish the Star Trek: Prodigy episode before recording this week. R.I.P. Kirstie Alley at 71: Saavik from Wrath of Khan. Devon used to watch every sitcom that existed in the mid- to late-90s. Remember Herman's Head? Pepperidge Farm does, and so does Devon. Devon has an encyclopedic knowledge of 90s sitcoms. Why did they recast Saavik between Wrath of Khan and Search for Spock? Money. Devon rewatched the 1st season of Enterprise, and let's just say he's whelmed. Enterprise lacks the high concept scifi that even season 1 of TNG had. Devon wonders if Herman's Head is streaming somewhere... Enterprise could use more space-borne aliens. The original idea for Enterprise was for s1 to be on Earth, building the ship. Ben remembers the show Roswell, and there was a crazy Enterprise tie-in. Steven wonders if Jonathan Frakes is a little nuts. No reason, just wonders. The film Clockstoppers is a little self-explanatory, don't you think? 

This episode contains: Steven and Ben (and others) attended Steven's birthday party, and we talk about the awesome fun times we had. Devon wasn't there, sorry Devon. However, Devon and Ben pooled their resources and bought Steven a Steamdeck for his 40th, which is amazing.

Buyer Beware: Handshake Domains: Blockchain Powered DNS Is Here, But Should You Use It? Ben explains what a DNS is, the control and attempted decentralization of web domains and his recent purchases. You should also check out https://lawless.rocks.

https://www.howtogeek.com/devops/handshake-domains-blockchain-powered-dns-is-here-but-should-you-use-it/

Last Week in Space: NASA’s Artemis 1 mission to the Moon sets the stage for routine space exploration beyond Earth’s orbit – here’s what to expect and why it’s important. We talk about the successful launch of the Artemis 1, what it's going to do, and how it's going to return. We also cover Artemis 2 and 3, which we are very excited for.

https://www.geeksaresexy.net/2022/11/17/nasas-artemis-1-mission-to-the-moon-sets-the-stage-for-routine-space-exploration-beyond-earths-orbit-heres-what-to-expect-and-why-its-important/

Science Fiction: There was a lot to cover this week. We recap the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, the Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 trailer, a Japanese indy film called Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes (which was filmed on an iPhone), the trailer for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, the shortest talk about Star Trek Prodigy Ben has ever done, and finally we talk about Undone season 2. Oh, and The Bear, which isn't scifi but is still amazing and you should watch it.