Science Faction Podcast

We are thankful for stuff. We have detected an interstellar asteroid for the first time. A guy is going to launch himself into the sky on a homemade steam powered rocket to prove the Earth is flat. We talk about Netflix’s The Punisher, then we talk about Thor: Ragnarok. How would the world react to evidence of alien life?

We've recorded on the weekend again. Flat Earthers just had an international conference with 400 attendees. A beetle was genetically engineered to have a third functioning eye! We have a long talk about the mid-season finale of Star Trek Discovery. We chat about several books, Oryx and Crake, Alias Grace, Artimis and Infinite. Would cheap organ replacements give us a utopia or dystopia?

Devon has a huge sweet tooth so is going through sugar withdrawal. Steven then tells us all about his new Xbox One X. Scientists have identified key chemicals in the brain that help suppress unwanted thoughts. There are two organisms that might be able to survive the trip from Earth to another solar system. You can watch Star Trek: Discovery on Netflix in other countries. We talk about Stranger Things 2. Utopia or Dystopia: Sending all criminals to an island instead of life sentences or death sentences.

We’ve got a Star Trek filled episode with a special guest! Steven talks about the new Assassins Creed game and Devon watches the World Series. Scientists try to apply natural selection to possible alien life. We have longtime listener Conley (@iotaman1701) on to discuss Star Trek: Discovery. EXPLICIT.

We talk about our early Halloween partying and old man Devon complains about these damned 20-somethings that don’t know anything. Saudi Arabia has granted citizenship to an AI. The fear of spiders and snakes is deeply ingrained in humans. Devon has seen all of Stranger Things 2, Steven hasn’t seen any of it. He’s reading Oryx and Crake by Margret Atwood. Devon has been reading Children of Time by Adrian Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Utopia or Dystopia.

Devon just bought a new (used) car! Star Trek: Discovery used the "F" word and we had some mixed feelings about it. Devon tried to plan a “Baby-moon” but failed miserably. There is another version of Alpha Go, the AI that beat the world’s best Go player, called Alpha Go Zero. Scientists tested how we find causation/place blame by having test subjects watch videos of pools balls hitting each other. We then play a new game invented by Steven called Utopia or Dystopia.

We talk about the Northern California Fires, mostly because Devon is nearby and has been somewhat affected. Devon reports that mysterious radioactive particles have been detected in parts of Europe. Steven tells us about Haumea and how we detected a ring around the centaur. Steven watched both The Dark Tower and Blade Runner 2049. A new trailer dropped for The Last Jedi! We (along with every other news outlet) give our summary, review, thoughts and opinions.

Steven is having a tough time with his toddler. Again. And guess what? Devon is pregnant! The body of Saint Nicholas may not be where we think it is. The brain has a waste system! Who knew? We both watched the third episode of Star Trek Discovery and finally know what the show will really be about. It'll be gone for another two years. We talk about the finale of Rick and Morty and how we felt about the season in general.

This episode contains: Devon realizes he tends to have busy Wednesdays, but he did have a fun weekend. Steven has been playing a lot of Destiny 2.

Found You, Now You’re Going to go Extinct: a new coconut cracking rat was discovered on the Solomon Islands. We discuss how little there is left to discover on the planet. We also talk about how hard it is to open a coconut.

 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/09/170927093329.htm

Weather You Believe it or Not: There signs of the Polar Vortex starting again. The Polar Vortex is the wind patterns in the north pole holding the cold air in place. The cold air has been reaching further south due to climate change.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/09/170922094027.htm

Sci-Fi: Star Trek: Discovery has finally premiered. Devon goes on a few tangents but we finally get to our review of the new show. We try to justify the different look of the Klingons. We also talk about how the show introduced one character rather than set up the rest of the show, the “Vulcan Hello,” racial issues, where the show is going, CBS’s stupid streaming service, and more.

This episode contains: We start off by talking about ice cream and the movie IT. Devon, who doesn’t like horror movies, actually liked the movie. We also wonder why The Dark Tower did so poorly, even though neither of us saw it.

Brain Matters, Part I: Researchers have devised a new test to determine how wise someone is. We ask how you even define being wise and then how do you measure it objectively. This new test takes into account neurobiology, associating different parts of the brain with different parts of the test. It also turns out there are other tests used to judge wisdom. We find one of these only online and take the test. You can too:  

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/09/170920095925.htm

https://evidencebasedwisdom.com/the-wisdom-scorecard/

Brain Matters, Part II: Sleep deprivation may actually help reduce depression. This seems counter intuitive. We don’t know why this may work or how long the effect lasts. More research needs to be done but it’s an interesting result. 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/09/170919140416.htm

Sci-Fi: We take the wise test over the break and find out which one of us is wisest. Then we talk about Star Wars news, like always. We speculate as to what they’re going to name the Han Solo movie. We also guess what the movie might be about, the Kessel Run? Who is Snoke? We then talk about Morty’s Mindblowers, the latest ep of Rick and Morty (at the time of the recording). We then talk about the rumors that James Cameron will produce T6.