Science... sort of

00:00:00 - We get a bit distracted talking about mythical winds in the opening but that soon blows over and we're left with part 1 of Ryan's interview with Daniel H. Wilson about his novel Amped coming out in paperback as well as the history of sci-fi writing and the state of modern book burners.

00:26:23 - Since Daniel told us about his favorite Portland brews and donuts, Ryan braves Rogue's Voodoo Doughnut Bacon Maple Ale, which was not good, but thanks to a donation from James K. was able to wash it down with a Shocktop Midnight Wheat. Thanks, James! Patrick was also gifted a beer by his sister Courtney, in this case a Newcastle Werewolf which is about as disappointing as all the werewolf movies Patrick has forced his wife to sit through. On the other hand, Charlie is loving his Rockwall Wine Company Zinfandel.

00:36:54 - This week we try something a bit different for Trailer Trash Talk by pondering the future of TV on demand thanks to Netflix's ambitious House of Cards.

00:52:31 - Time for part 2 of Ryan's interview with author Daniel H. Wilson. This time: Turing tests, Ultron, raising kids while thinking about AI, and affirmation from others. Enjoy!

01:10:43 - PaleoPOWs are lot like Turing Tests; we can be pretty sure the person writing the e-mail is human, but we can never be certain. Ryan jumped the gun in the drinking segment so nothing to report here. Charlie reads some of the recent iTunes reviews glorifying Ben from the likes of chmegs013 and majorham. And Patrick has a glowing e-mail from Emily H. who managed to enjoy the podcasts of the Brachiolope Media Network even without internet!

Thanks for listening and be sure to check out the Brachiolope Media Network for more great science podca

Music for this week's show provided by:

Shadow Stabbing - Cake

Midnight Show - The Killers

House of Cards - Radiohead

Synthetic Dreams - 9dw (from the playlist Die Galaktischen Roboter)

00:00:00 - We start the show off with the announcement that Ryan Brown (of Ep 134) is the newest blogger for the Paleocave! He hops on to tell us about just what he intends to say with his new platform and how he recently plugged us on actual radio. We then immediately follow that up with Charlie reading two e-mails from Theopolis W. and Ronald I. asking about things dropping beneath absolute zero and Ben doing his darnedest to explain.

00:27:28 - Drinks are things that only exist at a temperature where they are still liquids. Ryan collaborates with a "The Perfect Crime" only to be told he's racist by Charlie. Ben branches out with a Sprite in a fancy cup that he "smushed" with oranges. No one else knows what the word means. The proper term is "muddled." Charlie is calling back to an old favorite that Ryan tries to guess and fails. It was a Hop Henge from Deschutes and is Charlie's 3rd favorite beer (subject to change without notice).

00:35:03 - This week on Trailer Trash Talk it pays to have a few physicists around when Charlie and Ben manage to somehow explain the mehanics of the upcoming film Upside Down.

00:50:54 - Nams n Nachos wanted us all to know that dung beetles use the Milky Way for orientation. We agree that this is information worth sharing.

01:03:38 - PaleoPOWs are a lot like a dung beetling rolling dung. It probably serves a purpose, but most people don't care to find out what that is. Purpose number one is to give Zach Weinersmith a change to plug the Kickstarter for his new book, as well his and Kelly's appearance on Story Collider, and Ben's podcast. Charlie jumped the gun by forcing Ben to explain absolute zero (see above). Ryan presents a new recurring donation from Christina H. who wants to become the official sponsor of the Timer Duck! We accept! And we utilize said donation immediately by having Ben explain Joseph F.'s conservation of black hole mass question, a real doozy and the type of question perfect for Timer Duck implementation.

Thanks for listening and be sure to check out the Brachiolope Media Network for more great science podcasts!

Music for this week's show provided by:

My Freeze Ray - Neil Patrick Harris

The Perfect Crime - The Decemberists

All Falls Down (Feat. Syleena) - Kanye West

Roll Away Your Stone - Mumford & Sons

00:00:00 - The coffee culture of the Pacific Northwest puts the world at risk yet again. This time it's all the excreted caffeine getting into our oceans, which could have nasty affects on marine life down the line, but could also serve as an indicator of other contaminants. Either way, we still can't function without java and of course...

00:16:32 - booze. Not the best part of waking up, but still an important part of the day. Patrick refers to another aquatic disaster with his Burning River Pale Ale. Charlie and Ryan laugh at the mishaps that led to Lagunitas Sucks. And Ryan goes over the top with a 1000 IBU by Mikkeller.

00:24:56 - Trailer Trash Talk goes beyond the sea by going beneath the surface in the upcoming Soviet submarine movie Phantom.

00:37:04 - Abigail W., natural artist extraordinaire, asked us to look over a new paper claiming that Edicaran organisms may have started on land and not the sea, but does the claim hold water?

00:59:59 - PaleoPOWs are a lot like paleosols, if you try hard enough, you can see them everywhere you look. Patrick jumped the gun in the previous segment. Charlie thanks Gabrial A., who hopes Kelly is back on the show soon, for a donation. Thanks, Gabrial! And Ryan has a question from Greg B. wanting to know why humans have evolved to be so smart... or have we?

Thanks for listening and be sure to check out the Brachiolope Media Network for more great science podcasts!

Music for this week's show provided by:

Coffee Shop - Red Hot Chili Peppers

Cleveland Rocks - The Presidents of the United States of America

Little Black Submarines - The Black Keys

Beyond the Sea (Live) - Boddy Darin

00:00:00 - Massimo Pigliucci returns to the show to talk about his new book, Answers for Aristotle. Part 1 of our interview barely scratches the surface for how science and philosophy (aka SciPhy) can help YOU answer some of life's biggest questions.

00:27:49 - In our estimation, one of the big questions of life is, "What are you drinking?" Kelly answers with a Cabernet Sauvignon. Ryan has a multivariate cocktail including some barrel-aged gin from Smooth Ambler, some homemade tonic water using a Sodastream and Jack Rudy tonic syrup, and, of course, a splash of lime. Jacob kicks back Hofbräu Dunkel.

00:35:06 - Jacob announces a new, and hopefully more scientific direction, for Trailer Trash Talk for 2013, beginning with Tom Cruise's latest scientifical sci-fi flick Oblivion.

00:49:56 - Part 2 of our interview with Massimo begins with Jacob getting us off topic on science philosophy and science literacy. Plus some of the specifics for finding your own eudaimonia. Make sure you read Ryan's review of the book and buy your own copy! Thanks again to Massimo for giving us some of his time and make sure to check out his own blog and podcast!

01:24:53 - PaleoPOWs are quite philosophical, in that the uninformed don't quite get the point, but trust us, it matters. Kelly kicks off with an iTunes review from Tzeros who assaults our comedy chops, but after giving us 5-stars we don't really care what the words are. Ryan is rapturous thanks to a donation from Cameron L. Thanks, Cameron! And Jacob closes us out with a Facebook comment via James C. regarding a Vonnegut misremembering, which Jacob deleted like a punk, so now James is in charge of Jacob's admin status. Take him down, James!

Thanks for listening and be sure to check out the Brachiolope Media Network for more great science podcasts!

Music for this week's show provided by:

Feelin' Alright - Sweatshop Union

Love is Like a Bottle of Gin - The Magnetic Fields

Inside Out - Eve 6

Washin' + Wonderin' - Stroke 9

00:00:00 - Jetpacks may still be a dream, but robo-cars are coming to a road near you very soon. How will these cars perform when there's a life on the line? The Paleopals discuss the burgeoning field of robo-ethics based on an article in The New Yorker by Gary Marcus.

00:23:44 - Since the Paleopals don't usually record from a car, robotic or otherwise, it's safe for them to have a drink. Kelly's parents hooked her up with a Strongbow cider. Patrick get's poetic with New Holland Brewing's oatmeal stout The Poet. And Ryan mixed up an Aged to Perfection cocktail, which Patrick compares to salad dressing.

00:29:17 - This week in Trailer Trash Talk the Paleopals try to wrap their heads around Jeff Syke's suggested preview but likely only serve to spoil the finally released John Dies at the End.

00:43:32 - Science fraud is a problem, but one that Gary Marcus has some ideas on how to fix. The Paleopals try to stay on topic while discussing how to fix all of science. No big deal.

01:06:49 - PaleoPOWs are a lot like robotic cars, not to be trusted. Jesse W. wants to know Kelly's opinion on kleptoparasites: are they brilliant or lazy? YOU DECIDE! Patrick promotes Jordan Gledhill's webcomic, rm - Rf /, who featured a certain cryptid in it's most recent comic. And Alexis H. used the only resources at her disposal, markers, to craft some holiday inspired Brachiolopes to send to Ryan.

Thanks for listening and be sure to check out the Brachiolope Media Network for more great science podcasts!

Music for this week's show provided by:

Car Crash - Matt Nathanson

Where is my bow? - The Goat Rodeo Sessions

Ready to Die - Andrew W. K.

No Quick Fix - Nada Surf

00:00:00 - For the first time since Episode 122 the newly-minted Doctor Jacquelyn Gill returns to the show! We start by grilling her about one of her most popular blog posts: How to argue with a scientist: A guide.

00:30:20 - One of the best ways to argue with a scientist is to start with a drink, symposium-style. Jacob continues trying to impress Ryan by half-heartedly enjoying a Duvel. Jacquelyn sticks with a new brew from an old favorite in the Wooly from Magic Hat. And Ryan bucks his high-gravity reputation with a Daytime Fractional IPA from Lagunitas.

00:37:40 - Since it's the holiday season Trailer Trash Talk decides to get in the spirit with the latest addition to the Die Hard franchise, Another Day to Die Hard. Our review is about as complimentary as the title is clever.

00:50:58 - Planes live closer to the sun than cars, or so we're told, therefore it was only a matter of time before someone built a solar-powered plane. Solar Impulse has done just that, and now intends to fly around the world. So how about that?

01:07:39 - PaleoPOWs are a lot like solar plane, everything can be going fine then a slight breeze ruins it all. Jacquelyn has an e-mail from Diana asking about avocado dispersion as explained by The Evolution Book. Jacob thanks John P. for a very generous donation. Thanks, John! And Ryan is proud to have inspired Stephanko from the Brachioboard forum to try their hand at science outreach in the Journal of Unanswered Questions.

Thanks for listening and be sure to check out the Brachiolope Media Network for more great science podcasts!

Music for this week's show provided by:

Argue - Matchbox Twenty

Woolly Mammoth - Béla Fleck, Edgar Meyer from Music for Two

I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning - Bright Eyes

Solar Sailer - Daft Punk

It's time for the annual Thanksgiving Science... sort of special! Each year the Paleopals pick an extra-long PaleoPOW and cover it in a little more detail than usual. Just like the pilgrims did.

00:00:00 - Patrick has an e-mail from Mike S. to start the show. Mike is in Rochester, and the people in Rochester are doing good work concerning cancer in blind mole rats. How do they compare to our official unofficial animal the naked mole rat? Tune in to find out!

00:13:35 - Drinks are a thing definitely worth giving thanks for. Patrick reaches for a Sofie from Goose Island, Ryan's knowledge of the brewery prompts Jacob to call him a snob. Jacob heads back to the old country to try and earn Ryan's respect with a Ayinger Ur-Weisse, but questions the descriptions posted on a certain beer website. Ryan is having a beer with few IBUs and the addition of fennel in the Spring 2012 Biere de Mars from Almanac Beer Co. It may have been a mistake. And Charlie enjoys Ninkasi winter seasonal Slayer to celebrate pagan traditions.

00:26:36 - Jacob brings us an e-mail from a serviceperson offering us some coin. We suggest that those serving in our armed forces instead donate to the USO or Cup of Joe for a Joe. Regardless, Jaimie K. wants to know about DNA replication buffers, which Patrick identifies as telomeres, and the morality of life imprisonment in a world without death, which no one has a good answer for.

00:42:24 - Trailer Trash Talk leaves everyone feeling nostalgic for power gloves yet ironically jaded towards movie previews thanks to the snippet from the upcoming disappointment Noobz.

00:58:09 - Ernie wants to know if birds suffer the same sleep deprivation that they force upon him. Ryan actually looks up real science to give him the answer. It's like the show is going legit or something. Until...

01:114:02 - Charlie ventures into the terrifying wilderness of our Facebook page to bring us a story from Clayton F. concerning the Oklohma Wildlife Department's stance concerning the existence of puma farms and bigfoot. Patrick points out the potential for bigfoot DNA from a wholly unreliable source.

Thanks for listening and be sure to check out the Brachiolope Media Network for more great science podcasts!

Music for this week's show provided by:

Jack Sparrow (feat. Michael Bolton) - The Lonely Island

Till The Bitter End - The Magnetic Fields

Forever And A Day - Ian Brown

Games you can win (feat. Kenna) - RJD2

I'm Not Sleeping - Counting Crows

00:00:00 - A new psychology study claims that in the brains of people with math anxiety, the anticipation of a hard math problem lights up the pain centers of said brain. The media reported that math problems cause physical pain. The Paleopals discuss.

00:21:15 - Drinks can also cause physical pain, but it's usually time delayed until the following morning. Patrick tries to describe his Tröeg's Dead Reckoning Porter. Ryan braces for some Popcorn Sutton's XXX Tennessee White Whiskey (aka. moonshine). And Ben, claiming science as a sport, re-hydrates with Pocari Sweat sports drink.

00:27:38 - The aptly titled Gangster Squad is the subject of this week's Trailer Trash Talk. Patrick and Ryan try to explain violence to a Canadian.

00:38:59 - Patrick and Ryan are stunned to learn that the universe may be nearly done forming new stars. Ben is unimpressed and resists attempts to have feelings pried out of his cold robot heart.

00:59:37 - PaleoPOWs are a lot like star formation, they don't often impress Ben. Ryan starts with a voicemail from Dana about ski resorts and climate change. Patrick reads an iTunes review from PangolinMoth questioning our mascot's naming convention. And Ben has a Canadian e-mail from Andrew (a Canadian) who has been arguing with his wife about Magneto's powers. Definitely our sort of debate!

Thanks for listening and be sure to check out the Brachiolope Media Network for more great science podcasts!

Music for this week provided by:

Anxiety Is Cheap - El Ten Eleven

Tell It To Me - Old Crow Medicine Show

Long Hard Times To Come - T. O. N. E. Z. (Gangstagrass)

Counting Stars - Sugarcult

00:00:00 - Astronomer Eli Bressert joints the Paleopals to talk about his entry into science, his time working for the Chandra X-Ray Space Telescope, and whether or not life sustaining planets could for in galactic clusters. And that's just part 1!

00:25:55 - We have drinks. Because, that's why. Eli starts off with a Three Sheets Pale Ale from the Lord Nelson Brewery. Charlie assaults his palate with a Hopageddon from Napa Smith. And Kelly has a Angry Orchard cider that's a bit too sweet for her but good nonetheless. And Ryan may not be keeping it local, but at least he's keeping it regional with Odell's Footprint RegionAle.

00:31:09 - The groups is split over opinions about Director Quentin Tarintino, but his new movie, Django Unchained, just might the thing that brings them all together in this week's Trailer Trash Talk!

00:42:43- More science with Eli as we talk about whether or not stars can form in isolation and other interesting astronomical ideas.

00:56:50 - PaleoPOWs area lot like books about Python, appreciated by fewer people than they ought to be. Eli tells us about how he created one of our favorite Brachiolope images as well as his new book: SciPy and NumPy: An Overview for Developers, which is about computers, not snakes, in case you were wondering. Charlie tackles some questions from new Canadian listener Les about asteroid composition and the possibility of us putting out a book. And Ryan gets a question from Any S. via Facebook about the potential for quadrupedal predatory dinosaurs. And Kelly tells us that Temporal Tony dropped what he was doing, as instructed, to let us know he had caught up on the show.

Thanks for listening and be sure to check out the Brachiolope Media Network for more great science podcasts!

Music for this week's show provided by:

Twilight Galaxy - Metric

My Pal Alcohol - Slim Dusty

Like a Ball and Chain - Jackie Greene

Starry Configurations - Jets to Brazil

00:00:00 - First off, our hearts go out to those affected by Sandy, Ryan did his part by promoting crowd-sourced science from the storm, but Ben recommends the Red Cross. Ben has also written a paper all about explaining the physics behind an H. P. Lovecraft short story. Hear him explain it to Ryan and Jacob while waiting to the inevitable quacking of the timer.

00:24:40 - Drinks are a lot like non-Euclidean geometry in that they make things wobbly. A roughed-up Jacob tries to take flight with a Red Bull. Ben has a pennywort soda/juice/thing, it yet another in his long line of weird beverages, but he claims this one will improve his brain. And Ryan lets the other guys chose what he drinks from the Sierra Nevada beer camp collection. They disagree so Ryan winds up with an Imperial Pilsner AND an Imperial Red Ale.

00:31:17 - Trailer Trash Talk gets nostalgic with the remake of the 1980's classic Red Dawn (original trailer here). 10 points to the first person to calculate the time spent talking about the original relative to the new one.

00:49:48 - Red Bull decided to outdo NASA by dropping Felix Baumgartner from near space. Jacob is impressed, and he's happy to tell us all why.

01:09:46 - PaleoPOWs are a lot like HALO jumps, risky and of questionable merit. Ryan starts off with a Facebook comment left by Brittany V., who finally understands the purpose of this very segment. Jacob then breaks down the chaos by responding to Jeffery W. and his critiques of The Butterfly Effect. Finally, Ben explains to fellow Canadian Lorant how the universe expanding doesn't prevent the Milky Way from colliding with Andromeda.

Thanks for listening and be sure to check out the Brachiolope Media Network for more great science podcasts!

Music for this week's show provided by:

Dreamland Island - Jimmy Newman

Imperials - Ratatat

When The War Came - The Decemberists

Long Way To Fall - Autopilot Off