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
Episode 103: Professor Borg
September 13, 2020 18:56 - 49 minutes - 45.3 MBGuest: Prof. Darsa Donelan "They know what they're getting themselves into when they sign up for my class," says Professor Darsa Donelan, who is well known for melding her love for cosplaying with her love for physics. On this episode of Strange New Worlds, Professor Donelan shares how they cosplay to enhance the learning experience, motivate physics problems with clips from Star Trek, built a Borg costume out of recycled materials, and are working with NASA to revamp space science curricul...
Episode 102: It's Lyfe, Jim, but Not as We Know It
August 16, 2020 17:25 - 25 minutes - 23.2 MBOn Episode 102, Mike introduces the concept of lyfe, which he and Dr. Stuart Bartlett coined in a paper earlier this year, through the lens of Star Trek. Lyfe is defined as any system that performs the following four pillars: dissipation, autocatalysis, homeostasis, and learning. Life is therefore a subset of lyfe—it's the specific instance of lyfe that we are aware of on Earth. The concept of lyfe allows us to understand life in the context of other phenomena in the universe, more clearly de...
Episode 101: Q&A with Mike
August 09, 2020 16:29 - 30 minutes - 28.4 MBWhich Star Trek character does Mike identify with most? What aspect of the Star Trek future does he wish were a part of the present? What if Star Trek had been created in another country? Mike answers these audience submitted questions and more on Episode 101 of Strange New Worlds! Virtual Trek Con: https://www.virtualtrekcon.com/ Virtual Trek Con "Star Trek Science Q&A Panel": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvEwpmXA9rU Follow Mike on Twitter: @Miquai
Episode 100: Reunion
August 01, 2020 22:05 - 45 minutes - 41.8 MBGuests: Elise Cutts & Dr. Peter Gao For Episode 100, Mike reunites with his crew from the very first episode of Strange New Worlds, geobiologist Elise Cutts and planetary scientist Peter Gao, to look forward to three upcoming Star Trek series: Strange New Worlds, Lower Decks, and Prodigy. What planets should Pike et al. explore? How can comedy mesh with Star Trek's storytelling? And what do we hope to give the next generation of young Trekkies? Strange New Worlds announcement: https://www....
Episode 99: Mok'bara & Tai Chi
July 07, 2020 21:34 - 44 minutes - 40.5 MBGuest: Ray Wong In Star Trek: The Next Generation, Lt. Worf practices and teaches a form of Klingon martial arts called the Mok'bara, which is strikingly similar to the Chinese martial art tai chi. Mike sits down with his dad, Ray Wong, who has studied tai chi and other forms of kung fu for nearly 40 years, to examine the parallels between the Klingon and Earthly traditions. Ray Wong's tai chi and kung fu YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmF0FwnRI9E90MaJVeLjq1g Follow Mik...
Episode 98.5: BONUS! The Journey Towards Justice
June 08, 2020 17:26 - 16 minutes - 15.5 MBAs the Black Lives Matter movement sweeps across the United States and the world in the wake of George Floyd's tragic death at the hands of the police, Mike takes a moment to reflect on racial injustice and social inequity in America, academia, and Star Trek. "Race and racism in the geosciences" by Kaheli Dutt, 2020: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-019-0519-z "Double jeopardy in astronomy and planetary science: Women of color face greater risks of gendered and racial harassment" by K...
Episode 98: Retconning the Romulan Supernova
May 24, 2020 17:07 - 42 minutes - 38.6 MBGuest: Dr. Andy Howell In the 2009 Star Trek movie, Romulus is destroyed by a supernova that exploded 500 lightyears away, a cataclysm that is said to threaten the entire galaxy. But on Star Trek: Picard, the star that goes supernova is Romulus' own star, and there's no mention of galactic destruction. Why the change? There's no one better to ask than Dr. Andy Howell, an astronomer who leads the Global Supernova Project and also produces and hosts a YouTube series called Science vs. Cinema....
Episode 97: Memory Battles
May 10, 2020 16:55 - 55 minutes - 51.1 MBGuest: Desun Oka History is not just a list of facts, but a process of memory making; we get to decide how and why certain events from the past are remembered today. On this episode of Strange New Worlds, Mike is joined by historian Desun Oka to discuss the memory-inducing alien memorial from the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Memorial" and how real-life memorials—from the Lincoln Memorial in D.C. to the recently built comfort women memorials in California—transmit their meanings. Finally, how...
Episode 96: Going Viral
April 20, 2020 16:43 - 55 minutes - 50.6 MBGuests: Aditi Narayanan & Dr. Stuart Bartlett How do viruses shape life on Earth? Well, the Coronavirus pandemic is just the tip of the iceberg. Using the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Macrocosm" as our launchpad, Caltech scientists Aditi Narayanan & Stuart Bartlett join me to discuss how the tiniest biological entities leave huge and truly unexpected imprints on life at the levels of individual cells, entire ecosystems, and the biosphere as a whole. Check out Aditi's podcast, Biosphere: http...
Episode 95: Picard Bingo
April 05, 2020 17:14 - 29 minutes - 27.5 MBGuests: Dr. Peter Gao & Dr. James T. Keane Which TNG characters appeared in Picard? Who dies in the show? Were there any facepalms? Dr. James T. Keane and Dr. Peter Gao join Mike to recap Season 1 of Star Trek: Picard through their "Picard Bingo" game and chat about the science tidbits that stuck out to them. Be warned: spoilers aplenty! More information on the octonary star system: Ethan Siegel, Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2020/03/19/is-star-trek-picards-hypothes...
Episode 94: Medical Ethics
April 01, 2020 17:56 - 50 minutes - 45.9 MBGuest: Jon Wong Aspiring medical doctor Jon Wong returns to Strange New Worlds to discuss the intertwining ethical predicaments in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Ethics" as well as medical ethics dilemmas that real-life doctors are facing during the Coronavirus pandemic. Some additional Coronavirus readings: "Fair Allocation of Scarce Medical Resources in the Time of Covid-19" in The New England Journal of Medicine: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsb2005114 "Search...
Episode 93: The Science of Staying at Home
March 23, 2020 17:38 - 22 minutes - 20.1 MBWe are living in a strange new world. The novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2, which causes the disease COVID-19) has disrupted every aspect of daily life. On this episode of Strange New Worlds, Mike explains why doctors, scientists, and public officials are instructing us to stay at home and the math behind the concept of social distancing. As a special treat, Elise Cutts, Prof. Alex Evans, Dr. James T. Keane, Dr. Peter Gao, Alex Rodriquez, Dr. Sharon Newman, and Desun Oka give their recommendatio...
Episode 92: The Power of Math
March 20, 2020 16:41 - 34 minutes - 31.4 MBGuest: Amy Nelson "This is the power of math, people!" —Ensign Silvia Tilly Mike is joined by math teacher Amy Nelson, who, like Tilly, is passionate about both doing math and sharing its power with others. Amy describes how she incorporates Star Trek into her classroom at every opportunity. Then, she recounts her adventures on the Star Trek Cruise that sailed earlier this year. Amy is also a podcast host on the TrekFM and United Federation of Podcasts networks. Follow us on Twitter! Mike...
Episode 91.5: BONUS! A Sip of Earl Grey
March 18, 2020 15:54 - 8 minutes - 8.12 MBHear Mike talk about one of his favorite planets in Star Trek: The Next Generation (and the science behind it, of course!) as a guest on TrekFM's Earl Grey podcast, hosted by Justin Oser, Joe Keegan, and Amy Nelson. Listen to the entire episode of Earl Grey 316, titled "Andorians on Enceladus," here: http://www.trek.fm/earl-grey/316 Earl Grey is a TrekFM podcast: http://www.trek.fm/
Episode 91: Astrobiology, the Comic Book
March 12, 2020 17:50 - 46 minutes - 42.3 MBGuest: Seth Jacob Mike speaks to writer Seth Jacob, the author of a brand-new comic book called "Astrobiology." They discuss Star Trek's influence on Seth and the first issue of "Astrobiology," how Seth chose the scientific and humanistic themes of his story, and various issues in astrobiological research and space exploration. Enjoy! Follow us on Twitter: Mike: @Miquai Seth: @SethJacob
Episode 90: En Garde
February 24, 2020 16:29 - 31 minutes - 29.1 MBGuest: Shi En Kim Aside from Shakespeare, archaeology, and Earl Grey, Jean-Luc Picard's greatest love in the universe is fencing. As a captain, he was famous for sharing this sport with his shipmates onboard the Enterprise-D, and as an admiral, he taught it to a young Romulan refugee named Elnor on the planet Vashti. In this episode of Strange New Worlds, former Caltech women's saber team captain Shi En Kim joins us to examine instances of fencing in Star Trek, including the Star Trek: Pica...
Episode 89: Strange New Melts
February 11, 2020 16:34 - 28 minutes - 25.9 MBGuest: Kara Brugman Unless we invent warp drive pronto, our generation will never set foot on an exoplanet, much less sample its constituents. So, instead of trying to leap across the chasm of space herself, experimental petrologist Kara Brugman is bringing exoplanets down to Earth. In her lab at Arizona State University, she creates the diverse kinds of magmas and lavas that could be building exoplanetary surfaces many lightyears away. She walks us through what she's learned from her exper...
Episode 88: So Recognizably Mars
February 02, 2020 18:10 - 33 minutes - 30.4 MBGuest: Emily Lakdawalla Mars appears both beautifully and accurately in Star Trek: Picard—that is, until it gets fried to a crisp. Emily Lakdawalla, a world-renowned science communicator at The Planetary Society, shares her experience watching Mars's destruction on the big screen at the LA premiere of Star Trek: Picard, her eagle-eyed observations of its appearance, and her interview with visual effects supervisor Jason Zimmerman about creating a realistic Mars for Star Trek. Emily's Plane...
Episode 87.5: BONUS! Pre-Picard Ponderings
January 22, 2020 15:46 - 21 minutes - 19.6 MBMike unleashes a random smattering of pre–Star Trek: Picard thoughts and feelings on this BONUS episode of Strange New Worlds! Engage!
Episode 87: Reimagining SETI
January 21, 2020 01:14 - 51 minutes - 47.3 MBGuest: Dr. Jim Davenport The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) seems to be running out of steam, but Dr. Jim Davenport has an idea that could awaken this sleeping giant of astronomical research. Together, we examine the history of SETI, its perception in the public and among scientists, and it's portrayal in the Star Trek: Voyager two-part episode "Future's End." Then, we talk about Jim's new way of performing SETI, creatively utilizing facilities and data that we already have...
Episode 86: Dragonfly & EELS
December 10, 2019 19:56 - 36 minutes - 33.7 MBGuest: Dr. Morgan Cable In the various renditions of Star Trek, the Klingons travel in Birds-of-Prey, the Romulans fly Warbirds, Spock pilots the Jellyfish vessel, and a squid-like future probe attacks Captain Pike's shuttlecraft. This connection between spacecraft and animals is not just science-fiction fantasy. NASA is developing real-life mission concepts that take after biological creatures in name and function, and Dr. Morgan Cable, a scientist and technologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion...
Episode 85: Beyond the Known
November 19, 2019 17:25 - 1 hour - 55.7 MBGuest: Dr. Andrew Rader Mike speaks to aerospace engineer, SpaceX mission manager, history geek, Trekkie, and author Dr. Andrew Rader about his new book, "Beyond the Known: How Exploration Created the Modern World and Will Take Us to the Stars." This book is basically the Star Trek: Enterprise opening credits sequence spread out over 352 pages and jam-packed with extraordinary facts. Its fourth and final section is called "Becoming Star Trek" and takes an in-depth look at the technologies a...
Episode 84: Worlds Where Ice Is Dark
November 13, 2019 19:56 - 35 minutes - 32.9 MBGuest: Dr. Andrew Rushby Terrestrial exoplanets orbiting red dwarf stars are among the most promising targets in our search for extraterrestrial life. But are these planets likely to be habitable? Mike sits down with Dr. Andrew Rushby, a postdoc at UC Irvine who studies the possible climates of these strange new worlds—especially the way that ice interacts differently with red dwarf starlight than it does with starlight from our Sun. Also, they speak about Andrew's impressions from his ongo...
Episode 83: An Icelandic Treat
November 09, 2019 17:37 - 50 minutes - 46 MBGuest: Haukur Guðmundsson While in Iceland for the Extreme Solar Systems IV conference, Mike received an odd hailing frequency via Twitter from someone named Haukur Guðmundsson. Investigating further, Mike discovered that Haukur was a devout Trekkie, Strange New Worlds listener, and a Reykjavík-based physical therapist, teacher, and researcher. After making first contact, they decided to record an impromptu podcast episode, discussing Haukur's field of exercise oncology, depictions of train...
Episode 82: Meet the Real James Kirk
October 30, 2019 15:32 - 22 minutes - 20.2 MBGuest: Dr. James Kirk Nicknamed "Tiberius" and "Captain" by his friends, Dr. James Kirk, the astronomer, spends his days exploring real-life strange new worlds! Mike met Dr. Kirk at the Extreme Solar Systems conference in Reykjavík, Iceland, where they chatted about growing up with that famous name, loving another science-fiction franchise, and two of the most intriguing planets that James has recently revealed. Follow Mike on Twitter: @Miquai
Episode 81: The Way to the Stars
October 23, 2019 19:34 - 56 minutes - 51.7 MBGuest: Elise Cutts Former Strange New Worlds co-host Elise Cutts returns to the show to discuss Dr. Una McCormack's Star Trek: Discovery novel "The Way to the Stars." We compare and contrast Elise's experiences as a young, early career scientist with those of Sylvia Tilly, exploring the themes of discovering one's scientific passion, making personal sacrifices, finding mentors in unexpected places, the nature of transformative experiences, and more. Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai Una ...
Episode 80: Rekha Sharma & Dr. Erin Macdonald at #STLV
October 10, 2019 00:18 - 32 minutes - 29.9 MBGuests: Rekha Sharma & Dr. Erin Macdonald Mike brings you two interviews with incredible people at the 2019 Star Trek Las Vegas convention: (1) actress Rekha Sharma on portraying two versions of Commander Ellen Landry in Star Trek: Discovery's first season; (2) Dr. Erin Macdonald on science of gravitational waves and LIGO—and how that relates to the fictional Star Trek technologies of warp drive and cloaking devices. Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai Rekha: @TheRekhaSharma Erin: @drerinmac
Episode 79: Interconnectedness
September 25, 2019 19:38 - 50 minutes - 46.4 MBGuest: Lori Dajose Caltech science writer Lori Dajose takes a turn in the captain's chair as she interviews your host, Mike Wong, on Strange New Worlds. Together they explore the various scales of astrobiological questions, from the electron transport that powers our cells to planetary phenomena, and from Mike's personal scientific journey to the societal impact of the search for extraterrestrial life.
Episode 78: Three Ways to Be a Planetary Scientist
September 06, 2019 15:13 - 29 minutes - 27.4 MBGuests: Aida Behmard & Shreyas Vissapragada At the 2019 Sagan Workshop, Caltech graduate students Aida Behmard & Shreyas Vissapragada give Mike peeks at three of their recent research projects—the first being laboratory work, the second astronomical observation, and the final one utilizing machine learning (a subset of artificial intelligence)—demonstrating that there is no single way to be a planetary scientist. At the end of the episode, Mike presents a clip from his StoryCorps interview ...
Episode 77: The Hubble Proposal
August 27, 2019 23:29 - 26 minutes - 24.5 MBGuest: Dr. Peter Gao Unable to travel to distant objects of interest, astronomers use powerful telescopes to examine celestial phenomena from afar. However, telescope time is extraordinarily limited, so scientists must write convincing proposals to win the time they need to make their observations. On this episode, Dr. Peter Gao tells Mike about the process of writing a successful proposal to make the Hubble Space Telescope stare at a strange new world that he is passionate about studying. ...
Episode 76: Chateau Picard
August 11, 2019 15:24 - 52 minutes - 47.9 MBGuest: Dr. Baptiste Journaux Besides captaining the Enterprise, the thing that Jean-Luc Picard is most famous for is his affection for wine. Coming from a long line of winemakers in La Barre, France, we see Jean-Luc returning to Chateau Picard in the TNG episode "Family" and once again to retire from Starfleet in the 2019 Star Trek: Picard trailers. But what does it take to make wine? Are there scientific principles that govern its taste and color? And what can we infer about the state of t...
Episode 75.5: BONUS! The Science of Mass Effect
July 27, 2019 18:23 - 1 hour - 55.1 MBGuests: Dr. Kim Bott & Rudy Garcia On this bonus episode of Strange New Worlds, Dr. Kim Bott and Rudy Garcia describe the science behind the popular video game series Mass Effect. Kim's Astronomy on Tap Seattle talk on the "Astrobiology of Video Games": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Nz5ghccwzA Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai Kim: @HumanBott
Episode 75: Anthony Rapp at #AbSciCon2019
July 14, 2019 01:35 - 42 minutes - 39 MBGuest: Anthony Rapp Anthony Rapp (Paul Stamets on Star Trek: Discovery) was the keynote speaker at the 2019 Astrobiology Science Conference, where he talked about what it's like to travel the mycelial network, the symbiosis between science and Star Trek, and his excitement for astrobiology. In this exclusive interview from AbSciCon, Mike sits down with Anthony to chat about the scientific themes of Star Trek: Discovery, Anthony's portrayal of astromycologist Paul Stamets, and his experience...
Episode 74: The Fulbright Scholar & The Paley Center
June 30, 2019 17:45 - 42 minutes - 39.1 MBGuests: Elise Cutts & Dr. Peter Gao Former Strange New Worlds co-host Elise Cutts is back on the show to describe her Fulbright Scholar project, which will take her to the University of Southern Denmark to study how ancient microbes built the atmosphere that we breathe today. Then, Mike and Elise are joined by Dr. Peter Gao to recap their visit to the Paley Center for Media's Star Trek: Discovery exhibit. Caltech's feature on Elise's Fulbright: https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/geobiology...
Episode 73: Laced with Perchlorate Dust
June 17, 2019 16:47 - 25 minutes - 23.6 MBGuest: Ellen Leask In the Star Trek: Discovery episode "The Red Angel," the crew travels to an inhospitable planet called Essof IV, which Spock reports has a carbon monoxide atmosphere "laced with perchlorate dust." To find out more about perchlorates, Mike interviews planetary geologist Ellen Leask, who studies perchlorates on Mars. Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai
Episode 72: Live Long & Evolve
June 10, 2019 17:04 - 53 minutes - 49.3 MBGuest: Prof. Mohamed Noor Dr. Mohamed Noor is a professor of biology at Duke University and the author of "Live Long and Evolve: What Star Trek Can Teach Us about Evolution, Genetics, and Life on Other Worlds." In this episode of Strange New Worlds, Mike opens a subspace channel to Durham, North Carolina, to ask Prof. Noor about the process of writing his book and to discuss specific examples of evolutionary principles depicted in Star Trek. Prof. Noor also uses Star Trek to teach evolution...
Episode 71: The DS9 Doc
June 02, 2019 17:29 - 32 minutes - 30.1 MBGuests: Meredith Durbin & Tyler Gordon Mike is joined by astronomers Meredith Durbin & Tyler Gordon to review "What We Left Behind," the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine documentary. What surprised us about the documentary? How does DS9 compare to the other Star Trek series? And what scientific themes would we want to see in Ira Stephen Behr's hypothetical Season 8? Pre-order the DS9 Doc: https://smile.amazon.com/What-We-Left-Behind-Looking/dp/B07RSLJSG5/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1KXP3NKKS9P3E&keywords=wh...
Episode 70: Discovery Season 2 Review
May 05, 2019 21:00 - 39 minutes - 36.2 MBGuests: Dr. Peter Gao & Dr. James T. Keane Mike recaps Discovery's second season with help from Dr. Peter Gao & Dr. James T. Keane. What were our favorite sciencey moments? Who won Disco Bingo? And what did we make of the season finale, "Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2"? James's bingo sheet: https://twitter.com/jtuttlekeane/status/1119064987488538624 Peter's bingo sheet: https://twitter.com/PlanetaryGao/status/1120024551268556801 Mike's bingo sheet: https://twitter.com/Miquai/status/1125137613...
Episode 69: Attitude Control
April 30, 2019 15:46 - 31 minutes - 28.6 MBGuest: Steve Collins On Episode 69, Mike talks to NASA JPL Senior Engineer Steve Collins about designing and flying spacecraft to numerous extraterrestrial destinations over the past 25 years—as well as designing a fictional starship to boldly go where no musical has gone before. Watch "Boldly Go!" on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdtBArmWHdY Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai Steve: @LongHairNasaGuy
Episode 68: Looking Forward to Section 31
April 21, 2019 16:56 - 29 minutes - 26.9 MBGuests: Dr. Henry Ngo & Laura Ngo Now that the second season of Star Trek: Discovery has wrapped up, it's time to look forward to the multitude of Trek shows in development. For Laura and Henry Ngo, the announcement of a brand-new Section 31 series is a dream come true. Mike sits down with this dynamic duo to discuss what they enjoyed about Section 31 in past iterations of Trek and what their hopes are for the upcoming series. Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai Henry: @AstroDino
Episode 67: Xahea
April 15, 2019 15:30 - 30 minutes - 27.9 MBIn DSC: "Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 1," we get a brief glimpse of Xahea's planetary characteristics on the main viewscreen. Using this information alone, Mike calculates the properties of Xahea's star and realizes that it is quite different from the Sun. At its orbital distance, one of the only ways that Xahea could maintain habitable temperatures is if it had lots of clouds to reflect away most of the incoming starlight—and, indeed, Xahea was depicted as a very cloudy place! Screencap of Xahea...
Episode 66: In & Out of Shadow
April 11, 2019 15:55 - 23 minutes - 21.8 MBGuest: Desun Oka In Star Trek: Discovery (23rd century), Section 31 seems like a legitimized intelligence agency operating well within the collective consciousness of Starfleet. This is contrary to its portrayal as a completely independent shadow organization that answers to no one in Star Trek: Enterprise (22nd century) and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (24th century). Historian Desun Oka tells us how the shifting nature of Section 31 ties into the fluidity of how history is written and remem...
Episode 65: Flying Through a Flare
April 02, 2019 14:57 - 56 minutes - 51.6 MBGuest: Dr. Jim Davenport Every Star Trek: Voyager episode begins with the U.S.S. Voyager sailing through a stellar flare. But what are flares? Why do they happen? And should you be worried about them? Dr. Jim Davenport, an astronomer who studies stellar flares, is here to answer all of your questions. Then, Mike and Jim dive into the science and storylines of Star Trek: Discovery's second season. Jim is the creator and host of Astro Vlog, a YouTube series that tells the story of the life o...
Episode 64: The Worst Best Hug
March 22, 2019 16:40 - 44 minutes - 40.7 MBGuest: Elise Cutts In Star Trek: Discovery, Ensign Tilly finds out that she has a "eukaryotic organism" growing inside of her—what's that? And why would Stamets' argon/xenon mixture make a good lightning rod? Newly minted Fulbright Fellow Elise Cutts is back on the show to discuss storylines and scientific themes from the first five episodes of Discovery's second season. Mike's "The Science of Star Trek" Astro On Tap Seattle talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2g17F-OomE Astronomy On T...
Episode 63: The MU69 Flyby & Terralysium's Rings
March 09, 2019 21:12 - 42 minutes - 38.8 MBGuest: Dr. James T. Keane On January 1, 2019, the New Horizons spacecraft flew past the Kuiper belt object MU69. Mike sat down with Dr. James T. Keane, a member of the New Horizons team, to ask him about being at this unique planetary encounter, what we've learned about the mysterious MU69 so far, and the Trekkiest thing about the flyby. Then, Mike and James discuss the physics behind the criss-crossing rings of planet Terralysium in the Star Trek: Discovery episode "New Eden." Follow us o...
Episode 62: The Sport Psychology of Star Trek
February 23, 2019 18:44 - 55 minutes - 50.6 MBGuest: Dr. Jason von Stietz Whether you're running a half-marathon in Starfleet's Command Training Program, forming a baseball team on Deep Space Nine, or fencing a clever El-Aurian, Dr. Jason von Stietz is here to tell you how to overcome your opposition—with your mind! Jason, a PhD in clinical psychology, works as a sport psychologist at Whittier College and Cognitive Behavior Therapy of Southern California. Mike talks to Dr. von Stietz about the mental side of sports and how it relates t...
Episode 61: Driving Stories with Science
February 12, 2019 01:27 - 32 minutes - 30.2 MBGuest: Joshua Zeller Mike sits down with playwright, actor, and director Joshua Zeller to discuss the writing of science-driven stories. Joshua is the author of "The God Particle Complex," a play about the search for the Higgs boson. Then, they discuss a range of Star Trek topics, including the latest DSC episode, "An Obol for Charon," Follow us on Twitter: Mike: @Miquai Joshua: @madcapofscience
Episode 60: The Search for Circumbinaries
January 31, 2019 16:43 - 49 minutes - 45.2 MBGuest: Diana Windemuth What do Gallifrey from Doctor Who, Tatooine from Star Wars, and Talos IV from Star Trek have in common? They all orbit binary stars! On Episode 60 of Strange New Worlds, Diana Windemuth tells Mike about her hunt for circumbinary planets and why it's a much harder quest than looking for planets around single stars. Then, they discuss aspects of Star Trek Discovery's second season, including the latest episode, "New Eden," the Marvel-ization of Star Trek, and why Diana ...
Episode 59: Disco Bingo
January 24, 2019 17:02 - 18 minutes - 17.1 MBGuests: Dr. James T. Keane & Dr. Peter Gao Mike, James, and Peter recap Star Trek: Discovery's Season 2 premiere in a totally unique way—through their bingo sheets! That's right, they're playing Disco Bingo! Find out who's in the lead after the first episode, what made Mike cry, and who stole "the tardigrade returns" just to lord it over Mike if it ever does. Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai James: @jtuttlekeane Peter: @PlanetaryGao
Episode 58: #AGU18: What Science Stands For
January 19, 2019 22:07 - 29 minutes - 26.6 MBGuests: Erika K. Carlson, Voon Hui Lai, Dr. Jamie S. Rankin, Cecilia B. Sanders, Hima J. Hassenruck Gudipati, and Dr. James T. Keane The theme of the American Geophysical Union meeting in December 2018 was "What Science Stands For," so Mike went around asking scientists and science communicators, "What DOES science stand for?" Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai Erika: @erikakcarlson James: @jtuttlekeane