Science Faction Podcast

This episode contains: We start off with Valentine’s Day and why Rotten Tomatoes’ reviews might be a little off. Steven then tells Devon he should watch Don’t Trust the B in Apt. 23 because he would relate to the brand of humor. Steven is losing it since his daughter is no longer napping.

Fun with Pseudo-science: We look at an article on a “science” webpage about the meaning of dreams. We look at 9 common dreams and what they might mean. We’ve got: finding an unused room, out-of-control vehicle, falling, flying, unprepared for an exam, naked in public, unable to find a toilet, teeth falling out and being chased. We have fun talking about these dreams but seriously question how there can be a universal meaning for any dreams.

http://www.iflscience.com/brain/psychologist-reveals-the-9-most-common-dreams-and-what-they-mean/

It Is Your Destiny: A grandfather shared a story of how the game Destiny saved his life. Steven tells us the story of Twitch Streamer who acts as a Sherpa for an elderly man in Destiny. He was a retired man with hand tremors who spent hours a day working on the solutions to the mysteries of Destiny. He shares his life story of tragedy and we learn how a video game gave him a reason to live. We also discuss a man who may have traded one addiction for another, but it seems to have been a good thing overall.

 http://kotaku.com/grandfather-shares-how-destiny-helped-save-his-life-1792244574

Star Wars Boning Music: We found out that Australia’s favorite song to copulate to was the Star Wars cantina band song. This is based on a report from Spotify, which we find pretty dubious. But it’s a fun fact, if true, and gives us a reason to talk about Star Wars! (Not that we need a reason.) In the Legends canon this music was called “Jizz.” We ask whether this meant the same thing when the music was named as it does now. Unfortunately, it probably did. Steven also explains “head canon.”

Books: Devon finally finished the Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy and gives it a 5 out of 5. According to him if you like Stephen Baxter/hard sci-fi then you need to read these books. He’s now reading The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin, a sci-fi/fantasy book that he’ll probably talk more about on the next ep.

https://www.goodreads.com/series/189931-remembrance-of-earth-s-past

Lego Batman Movie: We both saw the movie and give our impressions and reviews. Surprisingly, Devon liked it more than Steven did. We compare it to the Lego Movie, live-action clips, Batman’s past, clever references and more! We then discuss the meaning of “parody.”

Q&A: Can insects get fat?

http://www.popsci.com/article/science/ask-anything-can-insects-get-fat

This episode contains: We recap our gaming weekend playing Star Wars: Armada, an awesome miniatures war game. Devon rationalizes the cost of the game. We also talk about X-Wing Miniatures and how the two games compare. Devon explains why he likes Armada more than X-Wing.

Evolutionarily Speaking: There’s been some new discoveries regarding carnivorous plant evolution. Scientists have sequenced the genome of some plants and found that carnivorous plants became carnivores through convergent evolution. We then go on a tangent about the evolution of the eye.

http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/how-did-carnivorous-plants-evolve-their-taste-for-meat/

Oh Yeah?!: A listener (@idahenno) challenges our answer to a prior question about the storage capacity of the human brain. We discuss why the brain is not analogous to a computer and even have a list! Analog v. Digital, parallel computing, processes of the brain may be diffuse, no fixed processing speed, time keeping, synapses v. logic gates, and more! We then discuss some of the hurdles to achieving true AI. So many hurdles…

 http://scienceblogs.com/developingintelligence/2007/03/27/why-the-brain-is-not-like-a-co/

Sci-Fi: Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel: a movie Steven watched at the behest of @redpillbrain. He gives us a quick synopsis and his review (a “strong 3 out of 5”). Devon then brings up an old indie sci-fi movie: Timer. Also a 3 out of 5, maybe not as strong. Moving on, Devon is still reading the series Remembrance of Earth’s Past. And it’s still awesome! He’s on the third book now and it’s still s good as ever. Devon then discuss what he’s planning on reading next. Steven then tells us about the trailer for the game Zero Dawn. The Lego Batman Movie is getting great reviews and we can’t wait to see it! Steven then tells us why he still preorders things. Is the Lego Batman Movie canon?

This episode contains: We plan just how hard we’re going to nerd out this weekend when we hangout together! Specifically, we’re going to play Star Wars: Armada, a Fantasy Flight Game similar to the X-Wing Miniatures game. It’s complex but luckily there are YouTube tutorials, some good, some bad.

Walking on Sunshine, Whoa-oh-oh: Steven tells us about new biomimetic technology that takes advantage of the piezoelectric effect. In this case, scientists are using the movement of tree leaves to generate electricity. A car lighter is a common example of a devise that takes advantage of the piezoelectric effect. Devon then tells us a really dumb story about what he did once with a car lighter. We also try to remember exactly what the scientific method is.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170131124330.htm

Robot Overlords: The AI, Libratus, has beaten one of the best poker players at no-limit Texas Hold ‘em. We discuss why poker presents unique problems for IA and the three specific elements of this AI that allowed it to play so well. Part of the system is finding the right balance of randomness and not allowing patterns to emerge. However, so far this only works with one-on-one play, not group play.

https://www.wired.com/2017/02/libratus/

Star Wars RPG: Steven has become the GM of a Star Wars RPG that he has forced his wife to play. This leads to a brief discussion of some of the Legends books and if our perception of them is colored by how young we were when we read them.  

Travelers: Devon has finished the season and Steven is 15 minutes into the last episode. MINOR SPOILERS. We recap the premise of the show, some of the early plot points and things that we found surprising. We discuss changes to the timeline, factions, and interesting character developments. We then have some MAJOR SPOILERS about the fate of one of the main characters. Also, did you know Travelers was made by the same guy that created Stargate SG1? Now you do.

The Three-Body Problem: Devon finished Ancillary Justice and found it so-so. Now he’s reading the Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy, by Liu Cixin, which he’s loving. This first book is The Three-Body Problem, which won the Hugo Award and was nominated for the Nebula Award. The book starts during China’s Cultural Revolution and advances to our near future. During the 1960s China makes contact with a hostile alien species that is on it’s way to conquer Earth. The second book, The Dark Forest, deals with humanities reaction to knowing they will be invaded in 400 years. Lots of awesome sci-fi ideas, good hard sci-fi descriptions of tech and physics concepts, and just overall awesomeness.

https://www.amazon.com/Three-Body-Problem-Cixin-Liu/dp/0765382032

Next Week: Battle reports! (and Steven might finally be done with the third book of The Expanse.)

This episode contains: Devon is sick of dumb studies a bad science reporting! He tells us how most headlines are just for clicks and the studies themselves are usually BS. So now we talk about some science studies based on second hand reports:

Oceanographic: Someone has proposed a novel method of stopping tsunamis. Acoustic gravity waves (AGW) may be used to reduce the strength of tsunamis, if only we had a way to make them… and harness enough energy equal to a tsunami… We discuss exactly what AGWs are, how they might work, some recent tsunamis and how Devon thinks he could survive a tsunami.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170125093743.htm

Buggin’ Out: Steven has two stories for you this week. Lucky you. First, an ancient, scary bug found in amber is part of a new order. There had been 31 orders before the discovery of this bug. Steven tells us what makes this insect so strange and why it’s not just an ant (as Devon thinks). We then get a little side tracked with other cool stuff that’s been found in amber. Second, a wasp grows in, and eats form the inside out, a different wasp. This wasp lays it’s eggs in the head of the larva of another wasp then alters the behavior of the host wasp, before eating them. If that doesn’t gross you out, Devon then has to bring up the dreaded Bot fly. Don’t Google Bot fly.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170125145747.htm

http://gizmodo.com/diabolical-parasite-grows-inside-baby-wasps-and-eats-th-1791608651

Star Wars: Episode VIII is now officially called: The Last Jedi. What does it mean? Who is the last Jedi? Is it plural? Do Star Wars titles even tell us that much about the story? We also analyze the names of the other films and again realize how disappointing the prequels were. We then discuss Star Wars marketing overall and whether there will ever be a Star Wars flop. And what about the Knights of Ren? Who the hell are they? We also speculate on how Disney will handle the passing of Carrie Fisher.

Books: Steven is still reading The Expanse series, a few pages at a time. Devon is reading Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie, a Hugo and Nebula award winning space opera. It’s got IAs, battleships, militaristic empires, moral questions, and multiple time-line storytelling. And it’s… okay. As Devon puts it, “it’s like Ian M. Banks without the whimsy.”

Q&A: How big of a hard drive would be needed to hold the same amount of information held by the human brain?

This episode contains: Devon eats bread after another long day at the law factory, which ended with a power outage. We then do the thing where we talk about our lives… weekend plans, food, the weather, etc. Also, someone won our Portal 2 giveaway contest! Which proves we have at least one listener.

“I Vant to Suck Your Blood”: Devon discusses whether young blood being put into an older person will have positive health benefits for the recipient. This topic stems from a company that plans on doing a study where they put young blood in old people, for a very high price. There is some science to support this theory, however, not surprisingly, it’s inconclusive and mostly done on rats. Devon then has to mention that his favorite band, Kamelot, wrote a song about Elizabeth Bathory, who may have killed virgins to bathe in their blood, believing it had rejuvenating properties. (“… drench me with your innocence tonight ... your blood preserves my place in time …”)  

http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/for-8000-this-startup-will-fill-your-veins-with-the-blood-of-young-people-but-it-has-no-idea-if-itll-have-any-benefits/all/

Lyrics to Elizabeth, parts I, II, and III: http://www.darklyrics.com/lyrics/kamelot/karma.html#10

Mystery Solved: We now know what causes Nambia’s Fairy Circles. A new study has found that these are caused by two ecological forces: termites and vegetation self-organization. So it’s not aliens, unfortunately. Steven explains how these forces come together and his interest in natural formations.

http://gizmodo.com/we-finally-know-what-s-causing-namibias-mysterious-fair-1791329145

Sci-Fi: Steven told us about the Star Wars book, Lost Stars, last week but Devon now has also read it, so we talk about it some more. It’s really good so all the time we spend on it is warranted. Also: SPOILERS. We discuss how fun it is to see the events from the original trilogy from new perspectives. We get to see the day-to-day life of citizen’s of the Empire. There’s also interesting ideological conflicts and some political philosophy, albeit a bit simplistic. It is a “young adult” novel and that does affect it somewhat. We then discuss how much is still missing between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens and what books might fill the gaps. We then question how the First Order was able to become the force it is in The Force Awakens without the full resources of the Empire. Specially, and most importantly, how could they possibly build Star Killer Base.

Lost Stars by Claudia Grey on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Journey-Star-Wars-Force-Awakens/dp/1484724984

In other news, Steven has started watching Travelers on Netflix. There are some minor spoilers, but mostly he just describes the premise and some of the mechanics of this particular type of time travel. Steven still doesn’t have a science question. So instead, we end the ep by begging for money.

The BS Podcast Network Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/BSpodcastNetwork

This episode contains: Third times a charm, hopefully, as we failed twice to get the show started. Once we’re finally up and running Devon tells us about his upcoming trip to Florida, we talk about emulators, and then Steven gushes about the Portal level of Lego Dimensions.

The Kids Aren’t Alright: A study finds that children that frequently interact with super hero culture are more likely to be aggressive. We dissect this study, with a heaping help of skepticism. Overall it seems little kids aren’t ready for the nuance of comic book movies (we say non-ironically). Another study finds that gun violence in PG-13 movies continues to rise past R rated movies. We discuss the difference between types of violence, specifically when blood and suffering are included.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170111131122.htm

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170111131127.htm

Body Shots: We sort of found a new organ in the human body. We all have a mesentery! We discuss how the human body got a reverse-Pluto and why it’s interesting. We then learn why you shouldn’t stick anything in your ear, at all, for any reason. Specifically, there are new guidelines from the people who decide these things. Your body naturally gets rid of ear wax, so you’re really just messing things up, and possibly causing medical problems, by sticking things in there. Lastly we learn what cotton swabs are actually meant for (not cleaning your ear).

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/12/161220095129.htm

http://www.popsci.com/for-love-god-please-stop-sticking-things-into-your-ear

Sci-Fi: We first talk about something that has nothing to do with sci-fi: the movies Begin Again and La La Land. As for sci-fi, Steven is reading the Star Wars book Lost Stars by Claudia Grey. It gives us a wider view of the Empire and the events of the original trilogy from the perspective of the average soldier/citizen (as I , Devon, who didn’t read it, understands). Devon, meanwhile, read The Hydrogen Sonata by Ian M. Banks. Just as good as the other Culture books, which is to say, great writing (funny, clever, etc.), grand ideas, but an underwhelming ending. Devon also started watching the NBC show Timeless, a show that is every time travel cliché wrapped into one—but it works! We then consider watching the show Travelers. Lastly, we talk about X-Wing Miniatures and Star Wars: Rebels.

This episode contains: We get things started with a discussion (argument) about what to call it when movies are available to view at home. So far 2017 hasn’t been too exciting, but there’re things to look forward to. Steven is still talking about Lego Dimensions. Steven’s power went out for avoidable reasons and Devon doesn’t trust auto debit.

Road Rage: Carpooling algorithm used to improve traffic. MIT studied taxies in Manhattan to determine how carpooling/ride sharing can be made more efficient. Devon then describes his experience with Uber Pool and contemplates how they determine who should carpool together. We finish this segment with a rendition of Piano Man…

 https://www.geeksaresexy.net/2017/01/04/carpooling-algorithm-real-world-challenges/

Brain Matters: How to become a “superager.” This is someone over 60 who has the mental acuity of a 25 year-old. Scientists studied fMRI’s of both populations to determine the differences in their brains. The results were somewhat surprising and leads to an explanation of the history of neurology. Lastly we learn, theoretically, how to become a “Superager” (it’s not easy).  

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/31/opinion/sunday/how-to-become-a-superager.html

Sci-Fi: Devon shows off his Simpsons knowledge before we get into the sci-fi. Steven has finished The OA so we discuss the time we wasted with the show. There are SPOILERS for The OA, but that no big deal because there’s not much to spoil. But we do acknowledge that some people liked it. We then talk about sci-fi movies coming out in 2017 including Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, Alien: Covenant, Star Wars: Episode VIII, War for the Planet of the Apes, Ghost in the Shell, Transformers: The Last Knight, Justice League, The Dark Tower (SPOILERS), Kong: Skull Island, Logan, Thor: Ragnarok, Spiderman: Homecoming, God Particle, Life, and Flatliners. We then end by talking about Ellen Page movies (Hard Candy, Tallulah, and Super).

This episode was already way too long so no question this time. Check back next week!

This episode contains: We weren’t going to, but what the hell, it’s easy so we did a 2016 review ep! We inevitably talk about celebrity deaths and the orange menace set to take office in a few weeks. Devon reminds us the nightmare has only just begun but also that some good things happened this year: Rogue One for starters.

The Science of 2016: Gravitational Waves found (and confirmed) at last! We then take a quick look back at the top stories of 2015 and realize we never found out what happened to the LA gas leak. Back to 2016: another Earth (supposedly) orbiting Proxima b. Three-parent babies are permissible, but not necessarily new. What happened to Neanderthals? Last year was Ebola, now we have Zika, thanks nature! The most popular science writer of 2016 was President Obama. AI defeated champion Go player in 2016. We learned more about the outer solar system and Planet 9. Dinosaur tail with feathers. Babylonian astronomers tracked the movement of Jupiter.

http://mentalfloss.com/article/90248/top-10-science-stories-2016

Devon’s Sci-Fi Cornucopia: Steven first butts in to tell us about his Christmas gifts: actual Legos and Lego Dimensions. Devon saw, and sort-of liked, Passengers (SPOILERS), even with the “misogynistic” twist. Devon saw Rogue One again (in IMAX 3D this time), then watched A New Hope right after. We compare and contrast the differences and continuity of the two movies. Devon got to experience PlayStation VR and loved it. Devon finished The OA and finds it disappointing. Having read all the books, Devon is finally catching up on the TV show of the Expanse. Devon also finished A Wise Man’s Fear. He is now reading Hydrogen Sonata by Ian M. banks. That’s not all, Devon is also watching the Magicians (which doesn’t pass the CW test).

Q&A: Where on Earth can you go to be the farthest possible from any other human being?

This episode contains: We spread holiday cheer, perhaps a little late, and question the ethics of mistletoe to kick off this ep! Devon then tells us how he will handle the Santa thing when he has kids and Steven tells of a new idea on how to tell kids the truth about Santa. We then take a critical look at Elf on the Shelf.

Bah Humbug: Devon tries to ruin Christmas for everyone by telling us how our traditions are killing us. This includes cooking large meals, burning wood in your fireplace, and lighting candles. It all comes down to: ultra-fine particles are a bitch!  

http://www.iflscience.com/environment/air-pollution-expert-why-christmas-may-be-the-most-toxic-day-of-the-year/

Back to School: Teens may do better in class with later school start times. We take a look at a study, which was based on a meta analysis of 18 peer reviewed studies. We discuss how this could improve school, why it probably wont make a difference, and how we feel about sleep (we like it). Steven then explains sleep vs. “me time.” We also talk about Gilmore Girls and Scrubs for some reason.   

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/12/161215085930.htm

Sci-Fi: First, we have more about the Expanse books; we’ll talk about other stuff soon, we promise. Second, Devon is on the second Kingkiller Chronicle book: A Wise Man’s Fear, which leads to a discuss of fantasy writing. Also, when will the third book come out!? Third, we discuss the reviews for Passengers and discuss whether we still want to see the movie. We then tie it all together with Devon telling us about falling asleep during movies while watching them in theaters. One of these being The Blair Witch Project, which did not impress Devon. Also, Steven wants us all to watch Don’t Hug Me, I’m Scared. Lastly, we’ve both started The OA and don’t know what to think.   

Q&A: What is the longest someone can go without sleep?

There’s a new Star Wars movie so we forgo the science and just nerd the hell out! We rank the movie on our patented five star scale, then jump into a very SPOILER filled review. We discuss how Rogue One sets up A New Hope, how it compares to The Force Awakens and that awesome third act! We also discuss how Rogue One shows what a good prequel can be, using Darth Vader just right, and all the little things. Other topics include: using footage from A New Hope, Rebels, unexpected ending, Rogue Squadron, CGI characters, the importance of creatures in Star Wars, Darth Castle, the non-Star Wars elements, music, reshoots and missing scenes, characters, The Force, Guardians of the Whills, Kyber Crystals, specific scenes from the trailer that were cut from the movie, what’s Obi-Wan up to, and what movies can we expect in the future. We hope you enjoy this episode! We’ll bring the science back next week!