Strange New Worlds: A Science & Star Trek Podcast
215 episodes - English - Latest episode: 7 days ago - ★★★★★ - 36 ratingsHosted by planetary scientist and astrobiologist Dr. Michael L. Wong, Strange New Worlds examines science, technology, and culture through the lens of Star Trek!
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Episodes
Europa Watch 1: Plumes
March 19, 2022 12:00 - 15 minutes - 14.2 MBLet's try something completely new! Every time there is an appearance or a mention of "The Europa Mission" in Season 2 of Star Trek: Picard, Mike will do a spontaneous episode about some cool Europa science. Here's the first episode of #EuropaWatch, based on PIC: "Assimilation." Follow Mike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Miquai
Europa Watch 1
March 19, 2022 12:00 - 15 minutes - 14.2 MBLet's try something completely new! Every time there is an appearance or a mention of "The Europa Mission" in Season 2 of Star Trek: Picard, Mike will do a spontaneous episode about some cool Europa science. Here's the first episode of #EuropaWatch, based on PIC: "Assimilation." Follow Mike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Miquai
DSC 412: Air = Us
March 13, 2022 14:44 - 19 minutes - 18.2 MBResponse to DSC: "Species Ten-C" On the latest episode of Star Trek: Discovery, the crew makes first contact with Species 10-C, and Captain Burnham decides to relay the concept of "us" using the chemical composition of air. Mike reflects on this utterly brilliant choice. Follow Mike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Miquai
DSC 411: The Rocky Core of a Gas Giant Planet
March 09, 2022 13:40 - 24 minutes - 22.3 MBGuest: Dr. Anjali Piette Astronomer and exoplanetary scientist Dr. Anjali Piette joins Mike to respond to DSC: "Rosetta"—in particular, how gassy planets can transform into rocky ones, just like the 10-C's homeworld did. Follow Mike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Miquai
Episode 130: Weather & Climate in Star Trek
March 06, 2022 12:00 - 1 hour - 68.8 MBGuests: Katie Nickolaou & Dr. Simon Clark Meteorologist and storm chaser Katie Nickolaou as well as science communicator and atmospheric physicist Dr. Simon Clark join us to discuss their favorite instances of weather and climate in Star Trek. Together, they take us on a journey to the beaches of Risa, the cauldron of Caldos, a Borgified Earth, and more! "Star Trek Fandom Forecast" by Katie Nickolaou: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N24mG3ZU6y4&ab_channel=SoManyRandomFandoms "Which planet...
Episode 129: Planetary Complexity Biosignatures
February 21, 2022 15:26 - 59 minutes - 54.4 MBGuest: Dr. Stuart Bartlett Caltech astrobiologist and complexity scientist Dr. Stuart Bartlett joins us to discuss the relationship between complex systems and life, a novel way to assess planetary complexity, and how this technique may one day help us look for new life and new civilizations. Stuart's paper, "Assessing planetary complexity and potential agnostic biosignatures using epsilon machines": https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-021-01559-x "Bleeding edge tech could help us find...
DSC 408: Identifying Isolynium
February 15, 2022 13:00 - 14 minutes - 13 MBResponse to DSC: "All In" We take a closer look at how Michael Burnham inspects Haz Mazaro's isolynium to verify its authenticity on the latest episode of Star Trek: Discovery. Follow Mike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Miquai
Episode 128: Oblivion's Gate
February 12, 2022 17:26 - 1 hour - 57.6 MBGuest: David Mack Star Trek novelist David Mack—one of the architects of the Star Trek: Coda trilogy and the author of its final installment, "Oblivion's Gate"— joins Mike to explore the scientific themes in Coda, the symbiosis between science and science fiction, and the power of living in the moment. More about "Oblivion's Gate" on David Mack's website: https://davidmack.pro/writing/oblivions-gate/ Follow us on Twitter! Mike: https://twitter.com/Miquai David: https://twitter.com/DavidAl...
Episode 127: DSC 401–407 + PRO 106 + JWST's Launch
January 09, 2022 18:19 - 1 hour - 61.6 MBGuest: Dr. Peter Gao Planetary scientist Dr. Peter Gao beams aboard to discuss: the first half of Star Trek: Discovery's fourth season; the latest Star Trek: Prodigy episode, "Kobayashi"; and the successful launch and deployment of JWST, humanity's most powerful space telescope ever built. "The Five Big Ways the James Webb Telescope Will Help Astronomers Understand the Universe" by Shi En Kim: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/five-big-ways-james-webb-telescope-will-help-astron...
Episode 126: In Celebration of Vaccines
January 02, 2022 16:37 - 54 minutes - 50.1 MBGuest: Jon Wong Thanks to the development of COVID-19 vaccines, many people around the world could once again feel safe gathering with loved ones over the holidays. In this episode, we celebrate the science of vaccines by talking to medical student Jon Wong about the Deep Space Nine episode "The Quickening," where Dr. Julian Bashir develops a vaccine that saves an entire planet from a horrendous viral blight. Follow Mike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Miquai
DSC 405: The Power of a Hypergiant Star
December 18, 2021 13:54 - 18 minutes - 17.3 MBResponse to DSC: "The Examples" On the latest episode of Star Trek: Discovery, Tarka deduces that the DMA has the power of a hypergiant star. Can we use that info to estimate some key stats of the USS Discovery? Follow Mike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Miquai
DSC 404: Interdisciplinarity
December 11, 2021 18:02 - 21 minutes - 19.7 MBResponse to DSC: "All Is Possible" On the latest episode of Star Trek: Discovery, Lt. Sylvia Tilly leads a cadet training exercise to survey a planetary body. Along the way, she makes a profound personal discovery. Mike shares his reaction to Tilly's mission and her revelation. Interdisciplinary organizations that Mike mentions: The Virtual Planetary Laboratory: https://depts.washington.edu/naivpl/content/welcome-virtual-planetary-laboratory The AEThER Project: https://planets.carnegiescie...
DSC 403: Memory Distortion
December 04, 2021 19:29 - 17 minutes - 16.3 MBResponse to DSC: "Choose to Live" In an attempt to unravel the mystery of the Dark Matter Anomaly, President T'Rina mind melds with Book to reexamine his memories of Kwejian's destruction. Can personal memories of traumatic events be trusted? Memory distortion references: Strange & Takarangi's paper "Memory distortion for traumatic events: the role of mental imagery": https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2015.00027/full An interview with neuroscientist Donna Bridge: https:/...
DSC 402: The Gravitational Anomaly
December 01, 2021 23:53 - 15 minutes - 14.2 MBResponse to DSC: "Anomaly" In the second episode of Discovery's fourth season, the crew goes face-to-face with the dangerous anomaly that radiates gravitational waves and leaves only destruction in its wake. Can you ride a gravitational wave? And why could the anomaly have a seemingly chaotic trajectory through space? A helpful Astrobites article about black hole "superkicks": https://astrobites.org/2018/03/08/recoil-detectives-searching-for-black-hole-kicks-using-gravitational-waves/ Fol...
DSC 401: Magnetoreception & Disorientation
November 20, 2021 22:27 - 20 minutes - 18.8 MBResponse to DSC: "Kobayashi Maru" In the first episode of Discovery's fourth season, we meet the Alshain, who navigate by their planet's magnetic field, which is in the processes of reversing polarity. Do planetary magnetic fields actually flip? And do real-life organisms use magnetism to orient themselves? Paper about protist–magnetic bacteria symbiosis: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-019-0432-7 Paper about human magnetoreception: https://authors.library.caltech.edu/90480/ Follo...
Episode 125: The Ascent of Information
October 04, 2021 13:10 - 1 hour - 61.2 MBGuests: Dr. Caleb Scharf & Dr. Stuart Bartlett One thing—perhaps the thing—that sets humans apart is the way we encode information in our environment. In his book "The Ascent of Information," Caleb Scharf, Director of Astrobiology at Columbia University, coined a new name for this externalization of data. It's the "dataome"—like the "biome" because this information can be seen as a living system in its own right. On this exciting episode of Strange New Worlds, Mike is joined by Dr. Scharf ...
Episode 124: Tardigrade Genes & Other Science Stories
September 23, 2021 13:00 - 40 minutes - 36.8 MBGuest: Shi En Kim Science journalist Shi En Kim joins Mike to read their StarTrek.com article about how scientists are transplanting tardigrade genes into human cells à la Stamets in Star Trek: Discovery. Then, Kim joins Mike to share some science stories from her AAAS Mass Media Fellowship at Smithsonian Magazine and their connections to Star Trek. Kim & Mike's StarTrek.com article "Discovery's Tardigrades Are Making a Name For Themselves in Our World": https://www.startrek.com/news/disco...
Episdoe 123: The Borgs in Your Backyard
September 12, 2021 19:15 - 47 minutes - 43.6 MBGuest: Basem Al-Shayeb Special Co-Host: Elise Cutts Scientists recently announced the discovery of Borgs (yes, Borgs), which they describe as giant genetic elements that assimilate DNA from their archaeal hosts. We speak to the lead author of the Borg paper—UC Berkeley graduate student Basem Al-Shayeb—about finding the Borgs, their global implications, and, of course, the story behind their naming. Basem's paper, "Borgs are giant extrachromosomal elements with the potential to augment met...
Episode 122.5: BONUS! An Atomic Interview with Mike
September 06, 2021 02:06 - 52 minutes - 48.1 MBLuke Tower is a high school student with a passion for science and engineering who is trying to figure out what he wants to study. As part of this journey, he's been interviewing different kinds of STEM professionals on his podcast, Atomic Interviews. On this BONUS episode of Strange New Worlds, we're listening to an interview that Luke did with Mike about planetary science, astrobiology, and Mike's career path. Enjoy! Atomic Interviews: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/atomic-interview...
Episode 122: Diversity in Science & Star Trek
August 29, 2021 22:41 - 1 hour - 57.3 MBGuests: Prof. Myriam Telus, Dr. Jessie Christiansen, Dr. James T. Keane, and Dr. Tiffany Kataria Mike hosts a panel discussion about diversity in science & Star Trek, which initially aired live on July 18, 2021, at the IDIC Podcast Festival hosted by Women at Warp. Rewatch all of the IDIC Podcast Festival sessions: https://www.womenatwarp.com/idic-fest/ Follow us on Twitter! Mike: https://twitter.com/Miquai Jessie: https://twitter.com/aussiastronomer James: https://twitter.com/jtuttlekeane
Episode 121: Climate Change & Star Trek
August 16, 2021 20:24 - 1 hour - 73.1 MBGuest: Dr. Maddie Stone Can Star Trek help us solve climate change? Science journalist Dr. Maddie Stone joins Mike to recap specific instances of environmentalism in Star Trek—TNG: “Force of Nature,” VOY: “Thirty Days,” and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home—and imagine how contemporary Star Trek can more directly address our present-day climate crisis. “It's Time for Star Trek to Tackle Climate Change” by Maddie Stone: https://gizmodo.com/its-time-for-star-trek-to-tackle-climate-change-1833261...
Episode 120: Robots, Data, and a New Category of Being
August 08, 2021 19:35 - 43 minutes - 39.5 MBGuest: Thea Weiss According to one line of thought, the emergence of robots and artificial intelligence has engendered a brand-new category of being. How should we flesh-and-blood creatures treat these synthetic entities? In part two of an interview with University of Washington psychologist and astrobiologist Thea Weiss, we discuss a study that examined whether children ascribed mental states, civil rights, and moral standing to a robot named Robovie—and how this study relates to the battl...
Episode 119: The Familiar Unfamiliar
August 01, 2021 13:00 - 44 minutes - 40.5 MBGuest: Thea Weiss As technology becomes increasingly pervasive, more and more people are perceiving the natural world through screens and simulated experiences. One day, astronauts on long-duration missions may only know natural environments through virtual reality...or perhaps the holodeck. What does this mean for our mental and physical health? In the first of two episodes featuring University of Washington psychologist and astrobiologist Thea Weiss, we discuss whether simulated nature im...
Episode 118: The Last Best Hope
July 12, 2021 17:33 - 1 hour - 60.3 MBGuest: Dr. Una McCormack New York Times bestselling science fiction writer Dr. Una McCormack joins us to talk about the scientific themes in her 2020 Star Trek: Picard novel The Last Best Hope—from allegories for climate change and science denialism to the pursuit of synthetic sentience. Info about the IDIC Podcast Festival, July 17 & 18, 2021: https://www.womenatwarp.com/idic-fest/ The Last Best Hope, by Dr. Una McCormack: https://unamccormack.co.uk/?books=star-trek-picard-the-last-best-...
Episode 117: The History of Women in Space & Star Trek
July 07, 2021 17:52 - 1 hour - 68.1 MBGuest: Dr. Margaret Weitekamp Special Co-Host: Dr. Ingrid Ockert Historian of science Dr. Ingrid Ockert joins Mike as a special co-host in this episode, in which they beam aboard Dr. Margaret Weitekamp to talk about the history of women in space and the history of women in Star Trek. Dr. Weitekamp is the author of "Right Stuff, Wrong Sex: America's First Women in Space Program" and is the Curator and Department Chair of the Space History Department at the Smithsonian's National Air & Space...
Episode 116: Balance of Nature
May 16, 2021 22:51 - 49 minutes - 45.1 MBGuest: Justin Oser In Part 2 of a conversation with Trek podcaster and Star Trek novel enthusiast Justin Oser, we discuss the science in the Starfleet Corps of Engineers novella "Balance of Nature" by Heather Jarman, a story in which we visit the homeworld of the Nasat, a species of sentient insectoids. UW Astrobiology presents "Where is the Best Place to Look for Life in the Universe?" hosted by Mike Wong: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/uw-astrobiology-presents-where-is-the-best-place-to-lo...
Episode 115: Ishtar Rising
May 03, 2021 13:00 - 1 hour - 55.6 MBGuest: Justin Oser In Part 1 of a conversation with Trek podcaster Justin Oser, we dive into the multiverse of Star Trek novels and pick apart the Venus science in the Starfleet Corps of Engineers novellas "Ishtar Rising, Parts 1 & 2" by Michael A. Martin and Andy Mangels. Follow us on Twitter! Mike: https://twitter.com/Miquai Justin: https://twitter.com/trekfan4747
Episode 114: Time, Togetherness, & Sci-Fi Stuff
April 16, 2021 23:24 - 1 hour - 56.7 MBGuest: Dr. Peter Gao Mike beams Dr. Peter Gao aboard to discuss the barrage of Star Trek news from #FirstContactDay 2021 and some personal news about their scientific careers. Follow us on Twitter! Mike: https://twitter.com/Miquai Peter: https://twitter.com/PlanetaryGao Star Trek novellas that Mike will discuss with Justin Oser on a future episode of Strange New Worlds: Ishtar Rising, Book 1: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B000FC0QDE/?coliid=I3G6KX1BYMZTI3&colid=NOXPRFDT8IGO&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov...
Episode 113: I Never Met a Magnetic Field I Didn't Like
April 03, 2021 13:00 - 41 minutes - 38.3 MBGuests: Tiffany Jansen & Dr. Jim Green In Part 2 of a conversation with NASA Chief Scientist Jim Green and Columbia University astronomer Tiffany Jansen, Jim describes how planetary magnetic fields can promote (or demote) planetary habitability, and Tiffany and Jim reflect on the virtual nature of the recent #HabWorlds2021 workshop. Follow us on Twitter! Mike: twitter.com/Miquai Tiffany: twitter.com/astro_tiff Star Trek novellas that Mike will discuss with Justin Oser on a future episode o...
Episode 112: Habitable Worlds 2021
March 27, 2021 20:28 - 49 minutes - 45.8 MBGuests: Tiffany Jansen & Dr. Jim Green Columbia University astronomer Tiffany Jansen and NASA Chief Scientist Jim Green join Mike to discuss factors that determine planetary habitability. In Part 1 of this interview, they discuss how Trek has influenced their careers, the definition of "habitability," and what Tiffany's climate simulations reveal about how habitability depends on a planet's rotation rate. Follow us on Twitter! Mike: https://twitter.com/Miquai Tiffany: https://twitter.com/a...
Episode 111: Writing Galadjian & Georgiou
March 12, 2021 14:00 - 40 minutes - 36.9 MBGuest: John Jackson Miller In Part 2 of an interview with New York Times bestselling author John Jackson Miller, we discuss characters, planets, and aliens from his Star Trek: Discovery novels "The Enterprise War" and "Die Standing." John's website: farawaypress.com/ Nerd Nite Victoria, where Mike will give a "Science of Star Trek" talk on March 15, 2021: https://victoriabc.nerdnite.com/ Follow us on Twitter! Mike: twitter.com/Miquai John: twitter.com/jjmfaraway
Episode 110: Show Your Homework
March 07, 2021 19:57 - 48 minutes - 43.9 MBGuest: John Jackson Miller In Part 1 of an interview with New York Times bestselling author John Jackson Miller, we learn about John's career journey, his love for science and engineering, and what it's like to write and publish Star Trek novels. Then, we discuss John's Star Trek: Discovery novel "The Enterprise War" (in which he has the crew science their way out of a sticky situation) and why it's so important to show your homework when telling Star Trek stories. John's website: https://...
Episode 109: Preparing for Perseverance
February 08, 2021 14:00 - 51 minutes - 47.1 MBGuest: Eva Scheller On February 18, 2021, NASA's Perseverance rover will touch down on Mars. Eva Scheller, a planetary scientist at Caltech, previews the strange new terrain that Perseverance will explore and prepares us for some of the experiments that the robotic astrobiologist will perform. She also shares what it's like to grow up with Star Trek in her native Denmark and her new hypothesis for what happened to Mars's water. Eva's scientific paper on the geological context of Persevera...
Episode 108: Science Consulting for Season 3 of Discovery
January 17, 2021 18:12 - 1 hour - 59.5 MBGuests: Dr. Erin Macdonald & Prof. Mohamed Noor The Star Trek science consultants themselves join us to discuss the science of Discovery's third season. Learn how the concept of the Burn was developed and why all sorts of other scientific plot points—from a deadly prion disease to a coronal mass ejection—were included. Erin & Mohamed's StarTrek.com article on the science of the Burn: https://www.startrek.com/news/the-science-behind-discoverys-burn Mohamed's YouTube channel "BioTrekkie Exp...
DSC 313: Polyploidy
January 11, 2021 01:59 - 15 minutes - 14.5 MBResponse to DSC: "That Hope Is You, Part 2" Dr. Culber suspects that Su'Kal is a polyploid, which could help explain the Kelpien's role in causing the Burn. But what is a polyploid? And could Su'Kal's polyploidal nature be related to the radiation environment in the Verubin nebula? Follow Mike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Miquai
DSC 312: Capitalism
January 02, 2021 14:00 - 26 minutes - 24 MBGuest: Desun Oka Response to DSC: "There Is A Tide..." On the latest episode of Star Trek: Discovery, Osyraa and Admiral Vance attempt to negotiate an armistice. But, in true Star Trek style, beneath this 32nd-century dialogue is a commentary on modern society. According to historian Desun Oka, in this scene, Osyraa clearly symbolizes capitalism and Vance symbolizes the critiques of capitalism in present-day political economics. Diasperse: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/diasperse...
Episode 107: Mice Muscles in Space & a Rapping Robot
December 29, 2020 14:00 - 35 minutes - 32.3 MBGuest: Shi En Kim On the final episode of 2020, Mike is joined by freelance science writer Shi En Kim to discuss what space can teach us about aging and how advances in artificial intelligence have produced a rapping robot—and, of course, how this research brings us closer to a Star Trek future. "To study aging, scientists are looking to outer space" by Shi En Kim, published in National Geographic: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/12/to-study-aging-scientists-are-looking-to-...
DSC 311: The Verubin Nebula
December 26, 2020 14:00 - 18 minutes - 16.5 MBResponse to DSC: "Su'Kal" Expectation vs. reality: scientific commentary on what Mike thought was going to be in the Verubin nebula and what the U.S.S. Discovery actually found. Paul Stamets' TED talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/paul_stamets_6_ways_mushrooms_can_save_the_world?language=en Follow Mike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Miquai
DSC 310: Yin and Yang
December 21, 2020 14:00 - 14 minutes - 13.6 MBResponse to DSC: "Terra Firma, Part 2" This week on Strange New Worlds, reflections (pun fully intended) on our latest visit to the Mirror Universe. Follow Mike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Miquai
Episode 106: The Dreamer and the Dream
December 12, 2020 14:00 - 1 hour - 55.1 MBGuest: Rebecca Pierce Writer, filmmaker, and activist Rebecca Pierce joins Mike to discuss the intersection of racial justice, protest movements, #BlackLivesMatter, and Star Trek using the poignant Deep Space Nine episodes "Far Beyond the Stars" and "Past Tense" as launch points. Rebecca Pierce: https://www.rebeccapiercefilms.com/ Diasperse: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/diasperse/id1533908402 Infinite Diversity: A Star Trek Universe Podcast: https://www.ufp.earth/infinite-divers...
DSC 308: Kwejian Is and Isn't Venus
December 05, 2020 14:00 - 17 minutes - 15.7 MBResponse to DSC: "The Sanctuary" Planet Kwejian's orbital parameters, as seen on Lt. Bryce's computer, are exactly identical to that of Venus. So why is Kwejian habitable? Mike discusses a few possibilities. Photo of Kwejian's planetary parameters: http://discovery.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/promo-photos/season3/308/308-bridge-bryce.jpg Way & Del Genio's 2020 paper on Venus's climate history: doi.org/10.1029/2019JE006276 Infinite Diversity podcast: www.ufp.earth/infinite-diversity/ Fol...
DSC 307: In Search of Truth
November 28, 2020 14:00 - 13 minutes - 12.4 MBResponse to DSC: "Unification III" Mike reflects on the T'Kal-in-ket. This ancient Vulcan tradition was billed as a search for new scientific truths via the crucible of logic and peer review, kind of like doctoral thesis defense. But in Michael Burnham's case, it quickly pivoted to a search for a different kind of truth. Link to register for Mike's "Science of Star Trek" talk at 7 pm on December 2, 2020: https://kcls.bibliocommons.com/events/5f99e67f9aadc72f00582f3a Follow Mike on Twitter...
DSC 306: Triangulation
November 21, 2020 17:02 - 12 minutes - 11.8 MBResponse to DSC: "Scavengers" On the latest episode of Star Trek: Discovery, Commander Burnham explains how she plans on using the black boxes of starships destroyed during the Burn to triangulate the disaster's point of origin. Mike remarks on how this is similar to how real-life gravitational wave observatories around the world work together to locate cataclysmic astronomical events in space and time. Interactive skymap of gravitational wave detections: https://www.virgo-gw.eu/skymap.ht...
Episode 105: The History of Science & Star Trek
November 17, 2020 14:00 - 54 minutes - 50 MBGuest: Dr. Ingrid Ockert Science and Star Trek share an intimate association in popular culture. This alliance only grows stronger as Star Trek continues to inspire new generations of scientists and as real-life discoveries continue to underpin the show's stories. But was this all planned or just an accident? On this episode of Strange New Worlds, Mike is joined by Dr. Ingrid Ockert, a historian of science and media, who studied Star Trek's relationship with science in the time surrounding ...
DSC 305: Prions
November 14, 2020 14:00 - 18 minutes - 16.6 MBResponse to DSC: "Die Trying" This week's episode of Star Trek: Discovery featured a neurological disease caused by prions. Mike discusses prions, how they can cause diseases, and how some scientists consider them contenders for the origin of life. Prof. Mohamed Noor's YouTube channel, BioTrekkie Explains! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5zvlD5RnkzhIegG0gnSeSw Follow Mike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Miquai
DSC 304: Symbionts
November 07, 2020 14:00 - 15 minutes - 14.3 MBResponse to DSC: "Forget Me Not" On the most recent episode of Star Trek: Discovery, "Forget Me Not," the crew travels to the Trill homeworld to retrieve the memories of the Tal symbiont, which currently resides inside of Adira. Most of us may not be Trill, but we all have endosymbionts in our bodies nonetheless. These microorganisms help us digest our food, synthesize vitamins, and even affect our central nervous system. On this episode of Strange New Worlds, Mike discusses the human gut m...
DSC 303: Catastrophe on Titan
October 30, 2020 23:53 - 13 minutes - 12 MBResponse to DSC: "People of Earth" On the latest episode of Star Trek: Discovery, we learn that a research base on Titan has suffered a catastrophic accident. Mike hypothesizes how this might have occurred and makes an argument, based on energy availability, for why a dilithium-starved human outpost on Titan might resort to desperate measures. "Energy Options for Future Humans on Titan" by Amanda R. Hendrix & Yuk L. Yung: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1707.00365.pdf Follow Mike on Twitter: https:/...
DSC 302: Flashback to the '50s
October 26, 2020 13:00 - 17 minutes - 15.8 MBGuest: Dr. Ingrid Ockert Dr. Ingrid Ockert, a historian of science, joins Mike to respond to DSC: "Far From Home." While the first episode of Season 3 was reminiscent of 1970s sci-fi, Ingrid explains why this week's episode was more of a 1950s mold. They also discuss the journeys of Saru and Tilly, and Mike closes with remarks on parasitic ice. Follow us on Twitter! Mike: https://twitter.com/Miquai Ingrid: https://twitter.com/ingrid_rocket
DSC 301: Hverfjall
October 18, 2020 02:07 - 17 minutes - 16.3 MBLet's try something new! This is the start of a series of short, weekly reactions to Discovery's third season—from a scientific perspective, of course! This week, DSC 301: "That Hope Is You, Part 1." Learn how your host Mike Wong looked for biosignatures in Iceland's Hverfjall crater in 2016, the same crater that served as the setting for Michael Burnham's crash landing and subsequent biosignature scan in 3188! Follow Mike on Twitter: @Miquai
Episode 104: The Cosmic Casino
October 12, 2020 01:41 - 55 minutes - 50.7 MBGuest: Professor David Kipping Star Trek depicts a galaxy teeming with life, including many variations of intelligent life. Is that the nature of our universe? Or could it be that life is exceedingly rare? Or that intelligence takes an absurdly long time to evolve? Might we be the lucky, lonely ones? Although we don't yet know the answer, we can use our knowledge of the emergence and evolution of life on Earth to create betting odds for how quickly life and intelligence emerge. That's exac...