Science Faction Podcast

This episode contains: We start off talking about Mother's Day and moving to Texas. Just wait, it gets better.

Evolution, What Are You Gonna do?: There's no such thing as a #tree (phylogenetically). We talk dendronization, poaization, and how avocado and cinnamon are pretty closely-realted species. It's neat.

https://eukaryotewritesblog.com/2021/05/02/theres-no-such-thing-as-a-tree/

It's Hip to be Square: Scientists have studied the mysterious behavior of cats sitting on squares. A Kanizsa illusion was used to see how cats see squares. Also neat.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/v7eexj/scientists-have-studied-the-mysterious-behavior-of-cats-sitting-on-squares

Ok Computer: A team of researchers reports realization of a multi-node quantum network. Devon attempts to explain to us how a Quantum Internet would work. Ben wants to step into the quantum accelerator and vanish.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/04/210415142619.htm

Science Fiction: We wrap up talking about The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Devon is reading Project Hail Mary from Andy Weir. There's some new info about Picard season 2 and 3. We talk about that hour long The Bad Batch episode. We've all seen The Mitchells Vs The Machines. Devon and Steven discuss Stowaway. Steven talks probably too much about Invincible. Ben talks about Superman and Lois. We all have a great time.

This episode contains: We talk Covid vaccinations, because some of us had a BBQ! Ben and his kid had an engineering problem. Devon celebrated his 5th wedding anniversary!

I Am Not Throwing Away My Shot: Oxford malaria vaccine proves highly effective in Burkina Faso trial. Malaria kills over 400,000 thousand in Africa, but a vaccine could change that.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/23/oxford-malaria-vaccine-proves-highly-effective-in-burkina-faso-trial

Et tu?: Flu Has Disappeared Worldwide during the COVID Pandemic. 2020-2021 flu season had ~600 deaths, down from 22,000 in the prior season. 

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/flu-has-disappeared-worldwide-during-the-covid-pandemic/

Interview with Mike Troup: We have the amazing voice and creator of The Earth Collective on for the first time since 2015! We talk about his audio drama podcast, how production has been affected by the pandemic, and what his new Kickstarter Campaign is all about (spoilers, he's writing a book based on the first season of The Earth Collective!). Do us a favor and check out the links below, and listen to The Earth Collective, you won't be disappointed.

https://www.theearthcollectivestory.com/
https://www.patreon.com/TECStory 
https://ko-fi.com/tecstory 
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tecstory/the-earth-collective-book-volume-one 
https://www.amazon.com/Earth-Collective-Protective-Domingues-dangerous-ebook/dp/B01B5EA022/

Science Fiction: Before we talk real science fiction, we take a moment to appreciate the ever-positive Ted Lasso. We've all been watching and love that show. Now, for guns on the moon! We talk about the season finale of For All Mankind. We break down the major plot points, give kudos where due, and theorize where the show can go from here. We're excited for 1995!

This episode contains: Steven starts this episode with talking about how he's gone 'full dad' and now 'enjoys' yard work.  It's weird. Ben talks about his epic playing of Danger Zone 2, which temps Steven into talking about Valheim for too long. Don't worry, we make up for it in science.

Is There Anyone Out There, 'Cause It's Getting Harder and Harder to Breath: NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover extracts oxygen from Red Planet. We talk about the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (or MOXIE). Creating oxygen on Mars is sooo cool!

https://mars.nasa.gov/news/8926/nasas-perseverance-mars-rover-extracts-first-oxygen-from-red-planet/

They Did What Now?: Scientists have generated human-monkey chimeric embryos. We have some ethical concerns about the human-monkey chimeric embryos, but not too many. Steven asks the question of why repeatedly, and is eventually answered. 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/04/210415142904.htm

I Only Miss You When I'm Breathing: Artificial photosynthesis device improves its own efficiency over time. Scientists have now demonstrated a process to produce clean hydrogen fuel, which improves over time. It has something to do with gallium nitride, but the article is a bit confusing.

https://newatlas.com/energy/self-improving-artificial-photosynthesis-device-hydrogen-efficiency/

Yay SpaceX!: SpaceX wins $2.9 Billion NASA contract for lunar lander being developed in Texas. We just kinda wanted to mention it.

https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2021/04/17/spacex-wins-2-9-billion-nasa-contract-lunar-lander-developed-texas/

Science Fiction: We find some time to talk about a little bit of science fiction. Ben watched The Ewok Adventure: Caravan of Courage and, oh boy, it's not as bad as you expected and not as good as you'd hoped. Steven has started watching the Mortal Kombat movie, and he's not having the worst time with it. Ben also watched 80's sci-fi classic Explorers with his family. We talk about how unique it is, and it's the only movie we know about that has a rat that tells the protagonist to "go to hell." We end with touching on the ending of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, with promises of circling around back to it once Devon has finished the series. 

This episode contains: A special congratulations to Ben's mom for 9 years sober! Great job Martha! We talk about our covid vaccine experiences.

Genetics, yeah!: More than 500 genes linking depression and anxiety discovered in new study. We talk neuroticism and how it is one of the Big 5 personality traits.

https://www.sciencealert.com/researchers-uncover-more-than-500-genes-linking-depression-and-anxiety

Brain Matters: How did humans develop larger brains than other apes? What is the genetic mechanism that allowed our brains to grow larger? What are 'brain organoids' and how did they help fine a genetic switch for brains? 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/03/210324113502.htm

And I Don't Know What I'm Saying: There's a new Nirvana song out, and it was written by Google's AI. We're now training neural networks on Nirvana's music and this is the world I want to live in. 

https://singularityhub.com/2021/04/07/theres-a-new-nirvana-song-out-and-it-was-written-by-googles-ai/

Science Fiction: Do you like space? Alternate History? LEGOS? We've got all that and more! Steven bought and built the Lunar Lander LEGO set. Ben and Devon recap two episodes of For All Mankind; And Here's To You and Triage. We continue to talk about this amazing show that tracks the alternate history answering the questions of what would have happened if the Russians has landed on the moon before us. GO WATCH IT.

This episode contains: Ben and Steven talk about how they are spending their spring breaks, whether it be taking cars to get serviced or getting a second covid vaccine shot. Neat.

Metal: NASA's most metal mission will test new, higher-power electric thrusters. Ben talks about Psyche the mission going to Psyche the asteroid. It totally isn't confusing.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/04/nasas-most-metal-mission-will-test-new-higher-power-electric-thrusters/

Last Week in Space: More than 5,000 tons of extraterrestrial dust fall to Earth each year. Dome C in Antarctica are finding particles a hundredths of a millimetre that have passed through the atmosphere, counting everything, and extrapolating. That's a lot of dust.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/04/210408131503.htm

Science Fiction: First Contact Day! Ben tell us all about his favorite announcements from the future and past of Star Trek. Ben details the trailer for Picard Season 2, and all of the cool things it shows us. We talk about the trailer for Discovery Season 4, and get hyped for Lower Decks season 2. Steven watched the first episode of the Amazon Prime show Invincible and gives his spoiler-free reactions. That leads us to an interesting conversation comparing and contrasting Batman The Brave and the Bold and Batman the Animated Series.

This episode contains: We talk a bit about Easter, and Steven is a real poo in the shoe about the whole affair.

Bears: An Unknown Disease Is Giving Bears Dog-Like Friendliness. Black Bears are suffering from encephalitis, but the root cause is not known. We discuss.

https://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/an-unknown-disease-is-giving-bears-doglike-friendliness-and-its-dangerous-not-cute/

Shark Bait, Oh Ha Ha: Scientists show technology can save people from shark bites. How do we save 1,063 Australians from shark attacks? Personal electronic deterrents. 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/03/210330210940.htm

Brain Matters: Mice with hallucination-like behaviors reveal insight into psychotic illness. Human speech is hard to comprehend, if the brain becomes imbalanced, you may hallucinate. 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/04/210401151253.htm

Science Fiction: For once, Devon is caught up on a show. We talk about For All Mankind episode 7, Don't Be Cruel. Steven finds out that the Korean Flight 007 disaster was a true event. Ben has to talk about that Space Jam 2 trailer...but mostly just talks about how amazing the original Space Jam was. We talk about the third episode of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, Power Broker. Steven gets into the weeds talking about Madripoor and the Power Broker. Also, did you guys watch that trailer for The Bad Batch? So good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsOmYpP4UDU

This episode contains: Ben's cat consistently interrupts his REM sleep, and fun ensues. Steven got some chickens.

Breath In, Breath Out: Scientists are now developing vaccination by inhalation. Scientists are figuring out how to deliver vaccines to the lungs, which can boost immune responses to respiratory infections or lung cancer. It's amazing.

https://news.mit.edu/2021/vaccination-inhalation-0319

*Imperial March sounds*: Massive 'Darth Vader' sea bug pulled from waters near Indonesia. Bathynomus raksasa measures about 13 inches (330 mm) in length, on average. We talk about these sea bugs and how absolutely horrifying they are.

https://www.livescience.com/supergiant-isopod-newfound-species.html

Bonus: Neighborhood Hero Builds AI-Powered Device That Automatically Compliments Dogs Walking By.

https://gizmodo.com/neighborhood-hero-builds-ai-powered-device-that-automat-1846562170

Science Fiction: We have a chat about episode 6 of For All Mankind, Best Laid Plans. We don't do it justice, please go watch the show. We do a recap of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, talk about who Isaiah Bradley is, and continue to be astounded on how the show deals with racism. We then move on to talk about The Snyder Cut. We talk about all the things that worked in this version of Justice League and a few things that didn't. Overall, we totally dug it, and Steven is hoping for more.

This episode contains: Do you kill bugs in your house and other interesting ways to start a podcast.

This Week in Space: What happened to Mars's water? It is still trapped there. We talk about a recent chemical analysis regarding water trapped on Mars and the results are astounding.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/03/210316132106.htm

Here Comes The Sun and I Say It's All Right: We discuss the economics of covering California’s water system with solar panels. There are different ways it could be done, we talk about them and throw in a few crazy ideas.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/03/the-economics-of-covering-californias-water-system-with-solar-panels/

Science Fiction: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier has premiered and you know what that means: Steven talks way too much. We do a spoiler filled recap even though Devon hasn't seen it yet. We have all mostly caught up with For All Mankind, again Devon lags. We talk about episode 4 and 5 in detail. Ben has recently been re-watching the classic Superman movies and  Superman Returns. He has some stuff to say. We end the pod with a chat about Stephen Baxter and some books he has written.

This episode contains: We have a new recording night, and this episode christens it. Happy Pi Day everyone, let's talk about pie. Ben has now been quarantined over a year.

For All Mankind, But For Real. Yo.: China and Russia unveil joint plan for lunar space station. We talk about these two super powers and whether or not we should be worried.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/mar/10/china-and-russia-unveil-joint-plan-for-lunar-space-station

Where's Your Head At?: Sea slug can lose its head and regenerate new body in three weeks. We talk about how a sea slug decapitates it's own head and then lives on algae until it grows a new body. Gross.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/03/this-sea-slug-can-lose-its-head-and-regenerate-new-body-in-three-weeks/

Matter Over Mind: People with mind-blindness not so easily spooked. We talk about aphantasia and how people with a form of it cannot 'picture' what they read. It's frightening.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/03/210310122434.htm

Science Fiction: Steven watched some of Space Sweepers and is enjoying it. We all watched Flora & Ulysses and talk about it probably too much. That squirrel CG though, wonderful! Devon tells us just how much he enjoyed the Sonic movie. We talk about episode 3 of For All Mankind, and backtrack a bit to episode 2. We'll be back on track next episode. With a mighty sigh we talk about what worked and what didn't with the WandaVision finale.

This episode contains: Ben survives choking on water, then attempts to survive one full year of quarantine. Listen in to see if he makes it.

......under pressure: Researchers build a swimming robot that works in the Mariana Trench. To deal with the immense pressures, researchers split their circuit boards, similar to the skull of the snail fish.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/03/researchers-build-a-swimming-robot-that-works-in-the-mariana-trench/

Really? Down There?: Microbes deep beneath seafloor survive on byproducts of radioactive process. To understand this, we first have to research irradiation and ionizing radiation.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/02/210226103802.htm

It's A Terror Of Knowing What This World Is About: The cuttlefish can pass the marshmallow test. We talk about the marshmallow test and how it applies to cuttlefish.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/03/cuttlefish-can-pass-the-marshmallow-test/

Science Fiction: Ben tells us all about the Star Trek Picard novel The Dark Veil. We talk about the second episode of For All Mankind, The Bleeding Edge. Ben has been watching the second season of Umbrella Academy and is really enjoying it. We both do a deep dive of the penultimate episode of WandaVision. We talk about Agatha's motivation, and what Wanda has gone through. Steven talks way too much, like always.