Science Faction Podcast

This episode contains: We start off this episode on a high note and recount the misadventures of Reginald Barclay.

Let's Get Physical: Validating the physics behind the new fusion experiment: Seven studies describe progress thus far and challenges ahead for a revolutionary zero-emissions power source. We talk about the project SPARC and how close we are to zero emission energy.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200929123540.htm

More Excuses to Spread Sheet about Microsoft: Excel may have caused loss of 16,000 Covid test results in England. It turns out that Microsoft Excel spreadsheets only have room for 1,048,576 rows. That may seem like a lot but 16,000 positive covid test results were lost due to this limit.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/oct/05/how-excel-may-have-caused-loss-of-16000-covid-tests-in-england

Science Fiction: This week the scifi section is quite extensive. We start off by talking about the season finale of Star Trek Lower Decks, then Steven goes all in trying to explain Star Wars The High Republic. Steven then talks about his HOTAS and VR rig and how it's not been perfect playing Star Wars Squadrons. Ben and Steven both tried 5D Chess with Multiverse Time Travel and found it difficult. We talk about recent MCU Spider-Man news and try and wrap out feeble minds around a live action spider-verse. We cap off the episode with a ton of spoilery Raised by Wolves talk. It gets creepy and religious with snout mouth snakes.

This episode contains: We get a rough start on this one and it doesn't stop. Devon's kid had to take a Covid test. Ben is optimistic. Steven's kitchen no longer exists.

Travel Plans Pre-Apocalypse: Venus might be habitable today, if not for Jupiter. If not for Jupiter, Venus might not be a nightmare hellscape. Observations in the orbit of Jupiter and the strangely circular orbit of Venus show that Jupiter's orbit may have caused the changes in Venus before settling down. Also, there's a scientific scale from 0 to 1 regarding orbits.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200930085157.htm

Ya Filthy Animal: Parrots removed from public view in wildlife park for swearing at visitors. A group of African Grey Parrots appear to find it amusing to curse and cause their visitors to laugh. This has caused the wildlife park to seclude the birds from sensitive ears. We propose another option: Zoo After Dark. 

https://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/parrots-removed-from-public-view-in-wildlife-park-for-swearing-at-visitors/ 

Bonus Science!: Some severe Covid-19 cases linked to genetic mutations or antibodies that attack the body. We have found key genetic mutations and antibodies that are not helping the body to defend against Covid-19, accounting for 10% of severe cases.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200924141529.htm

Science Fiction: Steven is super excited for Star Wars Squadrons. Ben is now owner of an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate account, even though he has no Xbox. Steven and Ben have both played around with the latest update of No Man's Sky. Devon give us his thoughts on Project Power. Ben launches into the latest episode of Lower Decks and why spoofing the movies was done so well. Devon and Steven talk about The Boys Season 2, more specifically the character Homelander and how well he's done. Steven continues to be worried about the mystical elements of Raised by Wolves.

This episode contains: Operating without a safety net, the boys plow on ahead. Devon talks about how he writes and records music. Devon also attempts to do an article we've already covered. Oops.

This Week in Space: Comet discovered to have its own northern lights. 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was shown to have a far-ultraviolet aurora. We talk about the metric system and what it may be based on.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200921113857.htm

Hello Internet, This is Your Dad Speaking: Intermittent Fasting Improves Health Without Altering the Body’s Core Clock. It's not just what you eat, it's when you eat it, says science. We talk about intermittent fasting and how some of us have done it in the past, some perhaps by accident.

https://scitechdaily.com/intermittent-fasting-improves-health-without-altering-the-bodys-core-clock/

Science Fiction: We cover a lot this week: Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous, Doctor Who episode The Empty Child, The Offspring at the '99 Woodstock, Netflix's Away, Star Trek Lower Decks, Central Park, Apple and Onion, Project Power, The Boys, and Raised by Wolves. Jeez, and this is a free podcast?

This episode contains: Devon join us once again (for part of the episode) and Ben talks about the Eye Contact feature in iOS14.

This Week In Space: 'Black dwarf supernova': Physicist calculates when the last supernova ever will happen. Somehow, quantum tunneling may be involved. We also talk about how many zeros is in the number of years until the universe is dead.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200812113354.htm

This Week in Space: Possible marker of life spotted on Venus. We talk about the phosphine discovery that was made and how awesome life detected on Venus would be. We also talk about past missions to Venus.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200914112219.htm

Science Fiction: Devon, Ben and Steven dig into a little bit of science fiction before the interview: They talk about the ending of The Expanse book series, the CBS All Access change to Paramount+, and also how Star Trek Discovery may be linked to Voyager.

Chat with Miles Greb about Dune and more: After over two years, comic book author, atheist, skeptic and feminist Miles Greb joins us once again! We talk about the Dune trailer, what the movie means for the franchise, and a little bit of 'what they got wrong/right'. Interestingly the trailer used 'crusade' in a scene where he should have said 'ghost wind of jihad' and we're curious if the movie makers know the true story of Dune. We also talk a bit about the books Miles has created and you should check them all out: https://www.afterthegoldrush.space/

Also, if you don't know what a 'Dune' is: https://youtu.be/n9xhJrPXop4 

Keep your eyes peeled, Miles has a kickstarter going live on October 1st that collects the first volume of After the Gold Rush, and it's something that you need to have. Need.

This episode contains: We missed last week because of Computer woes and audio issues, We read a listener email which teaches us all about female writers and directors.

Anti-Gravity Love Song: Physicists discover "anti-gravity" in bizarre buoyancy experiment. We talk about buoyancy, vibrating fluids, and upside down floating toy boats.

https://www.inverse.com/science/physicists-discover-antigravity

Brain Matters: Unconscious learning underlies belief in God, study suggests. We talk about unconsciously detecting patters, how this study was performed, and a bit about our own beliefs.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200909085942.htm

Science Fiction: We talk about a ton in this episode and I already typed this all out once and lost it, so here's a list: The Three Body Problem and Netflix, Harley Quinn, Xbox Series X announcements, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, Cyberpunk 2077, Control, Raised by Wolves, Star Trek Discovery season 3, Lower Decks, Lovecraft Country, Legend of Korra, and The Boys.

This was an extra long episode. We were compensating for missing last week. And that's it. Promise.

(This episode is late because Steven's computer broke. Sorry.)

This episode contains: We start off this episode talking more about the wildfires in California. Ben has designed and published a book, check it out:

https://www.penciledin.com/books/an-undersea-book-of-hours/

We then read a few emails and get an update on the hornet and wasp situation in the UK.

Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na...:  Mother bats use baby talk to communicate with their pups. We talk about the usefulness of this adaptation and hypothesize on whether other species have a similar adaptation.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200819094800.htm

This Week in Space: Ancient star explosions revealed in deep-sea sediments. We talk about how iron-60 is revealing our place in space and what it even means to be in an interstellar cloud.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200825110601.htm

Science Fiction: There's a bit of news about The Mandalorian and we discuss with some minor spoilers. We talk about DC Fandome and the new trailer for The Batman. We then dive deep into Harley Quinn tv show and the Birds Of Prey movie. We finish off with some minor Lower Decks discussion and Ben tells us about dangerous Driving.

This episode contains: We start out the episode talking about the California Wildfires and how they are effecting our lives. Then, a bet is settled.

You Have Got to be Kidding Me: An anti-vaccine group sues Facebook, claims fact-checking is "censorship." We dig into this issue, from a legal standpoint and from a logical standpoint. We talk about this so much, it's the only article we do this episode. It's that important.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/08/anti-vaccine-group-sues-facebook-claims-fact-checking-is-censorship/

Science Fiction: Ben watched the 1933 King Kong with his family and we talk about it a bit. Devon gives us his opinions on Umbrella Academy and he finally watched Watchmen, so he talks about that too. Steven tells us about the cool tech that's in Microsoft Flight Simulator. Ben talks about the non-Burnout Burnout games Dangerous Driving and Danger Zone 2. We then dig into Lower Decks and talk about the many trials that Chief O'Brien has had to face.

https://www.polygon.com/reviews/2020/8/19/21374936/microsoft-flight-simulator-review-pc

https://chiefobrienatwork.com/

This episode contains: We start off by talking about the weather and how it's melting us. We then transition to distance learning and what we're doing with our kids.

News: Steven does a small article about fungus from Chernobyl which eats nuclear radiation via radiosynthesis.

https://www.technologynetworks.com/applied-sciences/videos/chernobyl-fungus-eats-nuclear-radiation-via-radiosynthesis-338464

This Week in Space: Mystery solved: Bright areas on Ceres come from salty water below. We now know if there is liquid inside of Ceres and how long ago the dwarf planet was geologically active.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200811134900.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fROq-ZxtvnU

More Excuses to Spreadsheet about Microsoft: Scientists rename human genes to stop Microsoft Excel from misreading them as dates. We talk about why scientists are doing this and laugh at some of the more ridiculously named genes.

https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/6/21355674/human-genes-rename-microsoft-excel-misreading-dates

Science Fiction:  We talk about the second episode of Lower Decks and Ben rattles off all the neat things that Steven missed. We then talk about Doom Patrol and how no, Matt, it isn't a cartoon. But Harley Quinn is, and Ben thinks it's fantastic and not for kids. Steven talks about how he finished Community and we converse a bit about shows that are coming back to help provide relief for covid-19. Ben gives us a spiel about the digital Harry Potter books that have it's illustration animated and then talks at length about Dreams. Not his dreams, but the Dreams game on the PS4. It seems very, very cool.

This episode contains: We get this episode rolling with some talk about our sick pets. Don't worry all is well, except our carpets.

The Future is so Bright, You have to Wear SPF 300: Chemists have created the brightest-ever fluorescent materials. Chemists formulated positively charged fluorescent dyes into a new class of materials called small-molecule ionic isolation lattices (SMILES). We talk about what these new fluorescent dyes could be used for and how they are truly amazing.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200806111859.htm

Math: How does yield of 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate compare against Halifax explosion, Hiroshima bombing? We talk about the tragedy in Beirut and how the explosions of ammonium nitrate compares against other powerful explosions. We also attempt to drill down on what ammonium nitrate actually does / is, but kinda fail.

https://www.dnaindia.com/world/report-beirut-blast-how-does-yield-of-2750-tonnes-of-ammonium-nitrate-compare-against-halifax-explosion-hiroshima-bombing-2836137

Technology: We take a moment to talk about the Firefox web browser, and different ways that you can keep yourself safe on the internet. Ben also has some great tips on how to stop SMS spam on your phones!

Science Fiction: Steven has watched several episodes of the second season of Umbrella Academy, but Ben hasn't even seen a trailer! For any of it! So, Steven gives the premise for the show and the comic in a very non-spoilery way. We've both watched the first episode of the new Star Trek series Lower Decks and talk about it at length; Steven with a casual eye, and Ben diving deep into it. And finally, Ben tells us about the fan fiction production Alone Together and if it can even be called fan fiction, when actors from Star Trek reprise their roles for un-official stories.

This episode contains: Devon is back for this episode, we try to talk about what we've been up to but it's all too depressing. On to the science!

This Week In Space: Mars Perseverance Rover Mission to Red Planet successfully launched. We talk about the recent Mars 2020 mission, what it is bringing to the red planet and what a MOXIE is.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200730133724.htm

Here's one thing you didn't know nori could do, number 1 will shock you: Seaweed extract outperforms remdesivir in blocking COVID-19 virus. We talk about how an extract from seaweed can act as a decoy molecule to help defeat covid-19.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200724104228.htm

Last Week In Space: Scientists propose plan to determine if Planet Nine is a primordial black hole. We talk about what a black hole is and how they can be detected, then see how that applies to the hypothesized Planet Nine, which could indeed be a black hole the size of a grapefruit.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200712105456.htm

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood: We take a quick detour to celebrate an awesome man. Visit this link and try not to cry:

https://twitter.com/ByTwistwood/status/1109936608122454020

Science Fiction: Ben is excited for the upcoming 23 Weeks of Trek, which has two new seasons of Trek shows airing back to back. Steven quickly talks about his learning Blendr. Ben tells us about the disappointing X-Men Dark Phoenix movie. Steven has been playing Grounded, which is pretty much Honey, I Shrunk the Kids the video game.