Science Faction Podcast

We recorded this ep on a Sunday. Devon’s been a single dad for the weekend and tell a little about it. Scientists are going to be able to use gravitational waves to calculate the Hubble Constant. Steven finds a list of names of emotions we didn’t know had names. We go through most of them and discuss how they make us feel. We talk about Umbrella Academy. Devon has also finally started watching this season of Star Trek: Discovery. The Mandalorian has finished filming. We also talk about Star Wars: Alway

Devon is sick (again?). Measles outbreak traced to father who admits not vaccinating kids due to autism “concerns.” Citizen scientist find ancient white dwarf star encircled by puzzling rings. A tweet that corrected a mispronunciation from a prior episode. We then talk about Russian Doll and The Umbrella Academy. There are spoilers.

A new prosthetic has been designed with sentience. New fabric has been developed that automatically cools or insulates depending on conditions. We talk about Annihilation, including plot elements, character arcs and the ending. evon has watched the first season of Russian Doll and lightly recaps pieces of it (no spoilers).

Guest host Ben Lawless joins us again! Newly discovered gene controls sleep when sick. Ben discusses his recent illness and treatment. Steven read a book in week: Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill. Ben then tells us about Detroit: Become Human. We then take a look at the three laws of robotics. Then we talk Matrix and Terminator.

Saturn hasn’t always had rings and they may be younger than we thought. Mortality rates are rising for Gens Y and Y, too. Steven finished the Remembrance of Earth’s Past Trilogy. Devon started watching the new season of Future Man. Steven tells us about the Netflix movie Io.

Devon looks forward to a debate with Ben about STD v. Orville. China landed on the far side of the moon and grew some plants. Artificial intelligence applied to the genome identifies an unknown human ancestor. We talk about the new episode/movie of Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. Steven didn’t see the best ending. Steven is almost done with Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy. Devon is catching up on the Skeptics Guide.

Special guest co-host Benjamin Daniel Lawless joins Steven this week! Richard Feynman wrote a letter to his departed wife. Ben reads parts of it as he recaps their marriage and her sickness. If you're over 65, you shared the "fake news". Devon isn't on this episode, but he challenges Ben about which is better: The Orville or Star Trek Discovery. We talk a bit about Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse. We also talk a bit about what movies we are sharing with our kids.

2018 is the year that the robots took over service jobs. Specifically, stores are using kiosks to take orders and robots to make food. Our universe may be an expanding bubble in an extra dimension. Yet another theory to try and explain “dark energy,” which involves string theory, extra dimensions and bubbles. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was a great movie, but it was still beat by Aquaman. We then discuss Bird Box. We briefly discuss Bandersnatch, which we haven’t yet watched.

We’re back after recording just a couple days ago. Devon talks about seeing the SF symphony. Scientists revise their methods of determining the rates of evolution. Is organic food worse for the climate? Devon has seen all of the new season of Travelers, while Steven has seen the first episode. Also, Devon is reading the Skeptics Guide to the Universe book. It’s pretty awesome.

Devon is drinking eggnog with Fire Ball to get things started. Virgin Galactic sent it’s SpaceShipTwo commercial aircraft into space for the first time. A new epigenetic cervical cancer test has a 100 percent detection rate. Steven is reading the third book in the Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy, Death’s End. We then look at the biggest things that happened in Star Wars this year.