Strange New Worlds: A Science & Star Trek Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Episode 91.5: BONUS! A Sip of Earl Grey Mar 18, 2020

Show notes

Hear 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 Mar 12, 2020

Show notes

Guest: 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 Feb 24, 2020

Show notes

Guest: 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: Picard episode "Absolute Candor." Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai Kim: @goes_by_kim

Episode 89: Strange New Melts Feb 11, 2020

Show notes

Guest: 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 experiments so far and also tells us about the Star Trek: Picard premiere event that she co-hosted at ASU. Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai Kara: @karabrug

Episode 88: So Recognizably Mars Feb 02, 2020

Show notes

Guest: 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 Planetary Society blog post "Star Trek: Picard Gets the Martian Landscape Right": https://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/star-trek-picard-mars.html Follow us on Twitter: Mike: @Miquai Emily: @elakdawalla

Episode 87.5: BONUS! Pre-Picard Ponderings Jan 22, 2020

Show notes

Mike 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 Jan 21, 2020

Show notes

Guest: 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. Jim's SETI paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/1907.04443 Jim's AstroVlog: https://www.youtube.com/james-davenport The AstroVlog version of this podcast episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueRbCY7ZzE8&feature=youtu.be Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai Jim: @jradavenport

Episode 86: Dragonfly & EELS Dec 10, 2019

Show notes

Guest: 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 Laboratory, is here to tell us about two of those projects! Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai Morgan: @starsarecalling

Episode 85: Beyond the Known Nov 19, 2019

Show notes

Guest: 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 and incentives that could launch our civilization to the stars. Purchase your copy of "Beyond the Known": https://smile.amazon.com/Beyond-Known-Exploration-Created-Modern/dp/1982123532 Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai Andrew: @marsrader

Episode 84: Worlds Where Ice Is Dark Nov 13, 2019

Show notes

Guest: 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 ongoing binge of Star Trek: The Next Generation. TrekFM's Earl Grey Episode 237, featuring Mike Wong and Elise Cutts on panspermia: http://www.trek.fm/earl-grey/237 "Habitability: A Review": https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/ast.2015.1295 Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai Andrew: @andrewrushby Exocast: @exo_cast

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