Science Faction Podcast

This episode contains: Steven and Ben talk about napping and salad. Don't worry, we get to the science pretty quick.

This Week in Space: ESO instrument finds closest Black Hole to Earth. There's a black hole so close to Earth you can "see" it with your naked eye and it's part of a trinary system. HR 6819 has a star and a black hole orbiting each other and another sun orbiting both of those. Too cool. 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/05/200506091537.htm

Space is Big and Old: Hayabusa2 reveals more secrets from Ryugu. Ryugu's interaction with the sun changes what we know about asteroid history. We talk about material never before seen on Earth and Steven tries to connect it to a Where's Waldo book. 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/05/200511112547.htm

Science Fiction: We talk about the latest two episodes of Rick and Morty. "Never Ricking Morty" was amazing and confusing and "Promortyus" was a standard scifi spoof turned on it's head. Good times. Steven played a PC game called "Deliver Us The Moon" and gives a mini review. The hosts top off the episode talking about tinkering with tech when what you really want to do is play a darn game. 

This episode contains: Steven's mind is a void and Ben is getting back to his other, other job, book publishing. 

https://penciledin.com/

All We Are is Dust in the Wind, Dude: Exoplanet disappears in recent Hubble observations. The exoplanet that we have been observing in the Fomalhaut system is now gone. It is theorized that it may have been destroyed and is now a dust cloud so wide spread that we can no longer detect it.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/04/200420165722.htm

DOOOOOM: NASA space laser missions map 16 years of ice sheet loss. We are losing a massive amount of ice each year due to climate change. So much that it needs to be measured in gigatons. 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/05/200501135243.htm

SciFi: We watch the recent trailer for the Netflix series Space Force and give our impressions. Steven talks way too much about Clone Wars and talk about how the series ended. Steven also flipped on Tales From The Loop and now recommends it. Finally, we talk about the final two episodes of the third season of WestWorld. We talk about what this season did right and wrong and how the show is going to change going into the fourth season. 

This episode contains: Birth announcement! Devon and Jen had a healthy baby boy, Elliot Liam Craft. Congrats! Ben tells us of his adventures in Minecraft with his son. Steven answers questions about the moon landing that his daughter has. 

This Week In Space: Geologists have created the first comprehensive geologic map of the Moon. They pieced together maps from the Apollo mission and current satellite imagery to create a full geologic map that can be used for future missions. 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/04/200422214035.htm

Cyberpunk 2020: Mind controlled prosthesis are now part of everyday life. New prosthesis are connected to nerve, muscle and skeleton and are controlled by the users mind. They can feel a wide range of sensations. But not pain. We discuss if they should be able to feel pain.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/04/200430110321.htm

Science Fiction: Ben regales us with his journey down the Memory Beta rabbit hole where he read too much about Wesley Crusher. Steven and Ben have been playing Fallout 76 with each other and talk about their experiences. Steven played some Gears Tactics and gives a quick overview. Ben has been reading Star Trek Best Destiny and remarks on how it reminded him of Quarter Share by Nathan Lowell. We have a large discussion on Tales From the Loop and Ben has to defend it somewhat from Steven, who needs some convincing. Then we look at Things From the Flood, and you should too.

This episode contains: Benjamin Daniel Lawless joins us once again. We're on babywatch as Devon is anticipating the arrival of his new son. We do some dad talk and praise Cosmic Yoga.

If at first you don't succeed, pick yourself up and try again:  When faced with a decision, people may know which choice gives them the best chance of success, but still take the other option, a new study suggests. 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/04/200420084253.htm

Biological Imperative: The sensation of sweetness starts on the tongue, but sugar molecules also trip sensors in the gut that directly signal the brain. This could explain why artificial sweeteners fail to satisfy the insatiable craving for sugar.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/04/200415133627.htm

The Quizzes: We give each other quizzes! Steven starts us out with a Star Trek for Devon and Ben. Ben gives the Star Wars quiz to Steven and Devon, and lastly, Devon gives the Harry Potter quiz to Ben and Steven. Play along at home!

WestWorld: We end the episode with a little chat about episode 6 of the current season of Westworld, Decoherence. Devon wants to know where the "good news" people were. Did everyone have a messed up life? We discuss.

This episode contains: Ben is back again. We talk about what we’ve been up to during the quarantine. Devon talks about his new mouse.

Life, uh, Finds a Way: Ancient teeth from Peru hint now-extinct monkeys crossed Atlantic from Africa. Four fossilized monkey teeth discovered deep in the Peruvian Amazon provide new evidence that more than one group of ancient primates journeyed across the Atlantic Ocean from Africa. The teeth are from a newly discovered species belonging to an extinct family of African primates known as parapithecids. Fossils discovered at the same site in Peru had earlier offered the first proof that South American monkeys evolved from African primates.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/04/200409141528.htm

Offspring Song: Time on screens has little impact on kids' social skills, study suggests. Despite the time spent with smartphones and social media, young people today are just as socially skilled as those from the previous generation, a new study suggests.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/04/200413103532.htm

Keyboard not Preset, Press Any Key: Unemployment checks are being held up by a coding language almost nobody knows. A survey by The Verge found that at least 12 states still use COBOL in some capacity in their unemployment systems. Over the years, COBOL programmers have aged out of the workforce, forcing states to scramble for fluent coders in times of national crisis. Without additional funding from the federal government, it’s difficult for states to modernize their COBOL code and invest in hardware that can withstand the mounting number of unemployment requests they’re receiving this year.

https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/14/21219561/coronavirus-pandemic-unemployment-systems-cobol-legacy-software-infrastructure

Sci-Fi: Devon saw Birds of Prey, Aquaman, Dune, Ben tells us about Tales From the Loop, Steven saw It Chapter II, Devon is reading The Singularity Trap by Dennis E. Taylor, Ben asks us about the importance of watching the Star Trek movies in order, Quentin Tarantino was never going to direct a Star Trek movie, Steven subjects us to more Fallout 76.

This episode contains: We’re recording from our secret bunkers. Devon tells us about Lego Masters.

Big Things, Small Package: On Mars or Earth, biohybrid can turn carbon dioxide into new products, Bacteria on nanowires convert sunlight, carbon dioxide and water to organic building blocks. Chemists have created a hybrid system of bacteria and nanowires that captures energy from sunlight and transfers it to the bacteria to turn carbon dioxide and water into organic molecules and oxygen. On Earth, such a biohybrid could remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. On Mars, it would provide colonists with raw material to manufacture organic compounds ranging from fuels to drugs. The efficiency is greater than the photosynthetic efficiency of most plants.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/03/200331130031.htm

Paleontology: Giant dinosaur footprints found on the roof of a cave in France. Recently reported in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, researchers from the University of Burgundy–Franche-Comté discovered the three dinosaur trackways during an expedition in 2015 around the labyrinth-like Castelbouc Cave beneath the Causse Méjean plateau in southern France.

https://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/giant-dinosaur-footprints-found-on-the-roof-of-a-cave-in-france/

Sci-Fi: Steven talks about cooking, VR escape rooms, Westworld, The Matrix 4, and more!

This episode contains: We’re still stuck in our houses. We discuss how we’re dealing with the ongoing COVID-19 situation.

Biological Imperative: Ancestor of all animals identified in Australian fossils. A wormlike creature that lived more than 555 million years ago is the earliest bilaterian. Geologists have discovered the first ancestor on the family tree that contains most animals today, including humans. The wormlike creature, Ikaria wariootia, is the earliest bilaterian, or organism with a front and back, two symmetrical sides, and openings at either end connected by a gut. It was found in Ediacaran Period deposits in Australia and was 2-7 millimeters long, with the largest the size of a grain of rice.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/03/200323152108.htm

Biological Imperative: Squid can control their genetic coding by editing their RNA. "Now we are showing that squid can modify the RNAs out in the periphery of the cell. That means, theoretically, they can modify protein function to meet the localized demands of the cell. That gives them a lot of latitude to tailor the genetic information, as needed." The capacity to edit the mRNA outside of the nucleus enables the squid to alter which proteins are expressed (coded for) along different parts of the nervous system. The team isn’t yet sure exactly why squid have evolved this capability, which implies it plays a beneficial role. mRNA editing within the nucleus has been observed in octopus and cuttlefish, which has led to researchers questioning if perhaps this tweaking skill has contributed to these invertebrates' superior intelligence.

https://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/squid-can-control-their-genetic-coding-by-editing-their-rna/

Sci-Fi: Rick and Morty, Solar Opposites, Westworld, Tiger King, and more!

This episode contains: We’re joined by frequent guest host, Ben Lawless. We talk about how were all handling the quarantine.

In cyberspace, no one can hear you read: Internet Archive offers 1.4 million copyrighted books for free online. Until this week, the Open Library only allowed people to "check out" as many copies as the library owned. Of course, these restrictions are artificial for digital files. Earlier this week, with libraries closing around the world, the Internet Archive announced a major change: it is temporarily getting rid of these waiting lists. They're calling it the National Emergency Library. The Internet Archive says the program will ensure students are able to get access to books they need to continue their studies from home during the coronavirus lockdown.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/03/internet-archive-offers-thousands-of-copyrighted-books-for-free-online/

Coronavirus Article: Coronavirus Will Change the World Permanently. Here’s How. A crisis on this scale can reorder society in dramatic ways, for better or worse. Here are 34 big thinkers’ predictions for what’s to come.

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/03/19/coronavirus-effect-economy-life-society-analysis-covid-135579

Sci-Fi: Flight of the Navigator, Undone, Explorers, Man Seeking Woman, Half-Life: Alyx, Avenue 5, Picard and more!

This episode contains: No St. Patricks’ day celebrations for us now that we’re in lock down. We discuss like in the time of COVID-19. We then discuss the death of flat-Earther “Mad” Mike Hughes.  

https://www.wired.com/story/diy-rockets-tragedy-mad-mike-hughes/

Music, Computers and Law?: An Algorithm Has Created Every Possible Musical Melody So No One Can Ever Sue For Copyright Infringement.

https://www.iflscience.com/technology/algorith-created-every-possible-musical-melody-no-one-can-ever-sue-copyright-infringement/?fbclid=IwAR1PvdBo7QLVDRwJ5WhWGsgc7iiRfyeQXZQCcY4BJ4lYQzWXL9gsQ3Dp0pk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfXn_ecH5Rw

Sci-Fi: Steven hasn't been able to consume any sci-fi except for playing Satisfactory. Devon has caught up on Picard, and is still very lukewarm on the series. We forget about Westworld! But then we talk about it! Spoilers for Season 3, Episode 1.

This episode contains: We’re broadcasting from our quarantine bunkers. We of course talk about the coronavirus.

Evolutionarily Speaking: To predict an epidemic, evolution can't be ignored. Whether it's coronavirus or misinformation, scientists can use mathematical models to predict how something will spread across populations. But what happens if a pathogen mutates, or information becomes modified, changing the speed at which it spreads? Researchers now show for the first time how important these considerations are.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/03/200302153551.htm

This Week in Space: Astronomers detect biggest explosion in the history of the Universe. Scientists studying a distant galaxy cluster have discovered the biggest explosion seen in the Universe since the Big Bang. The blast came from a supermassive black hole at the center of a galaxy hundreds of millions of light-years away. It released five times more energy than the previous record holder.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/02/200227114459.htm

Sci-Fi: Archer 1999, Picard, The Foundation, Altered Carbon.