Strange New Worlds: A Science & Star Trek Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Episode 74: The Fulbright Scholar & The Paley Center Jun 30, 2019

Show notes

Guests: 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-student-selected-fulbright The Paley Center's Star Trek: Discovery "Fight for the Future" exhibit (until July 7, 2019): https://www.paleycenter.org/2019-star-trek-discovery-exhibit-la/ Mike & Peter's winning Star Trek Beyond video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7jsQEr_2Ts The Star Trek: Discovery Season 2 poster featuring real planetary images: https://twitter.com/Miquai/status/1145371724461903872 Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai Peter: @PlanetaryGao

Episode 73: Laced with Perchlorate Dust Jun 17, 2019

Show notes

Guest: 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 Jun 10, 2019

Show notes

Guest: 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 evolutionary biology in a class at Duke called "Genetics, Evolution, Star Trek." In that course, the final project is to write a Star Trek script using real biological concepts, and Mike pitches his final project idea to Prof. Noor for real-time grading! "Meet the College Professor Teaching 'Trek' to Millennials": https://www.startrek.com/news/meet-college-professor-teaching-trek-millennials Purchase "Live Long and Evolve": https://smile.amazon.com/Live-Long-Evolve-Evolution-Genetics/dp/0691177414/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=live+long+and+evolve&qid=1560185917&s=gateway&sr=8-1 Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai Mohamed: @mafnoor

Episode 71: The DS9 Doc Jun 02, 2019

Show notes

Guests: 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=what+we+left+behind+deep+space+9&qid=1559494913&s=gateway&sprefix=what+we+left+behind%2Caps%2C219&sr=8-1 Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai Meredith: @bispectral Tyler: @tagordone

Episode 70: Discovery Season 2 Review May 05, 2019

Show notes

Guests: 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/1125137613017321472 Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai James: @jtuttlekeane Peter: @PlanetaryGao

Episode 69: Attitude Control Apr 30, 2019

Show notes

Guest: 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 Apr 21, 2019

Show notes

Guests: 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 Apr 15, 2019

Show notes

In 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's planetary characteristics (special thanks to TrekCore!): https://twitter.com/TrekCore/status/1117083606122414080 Follow Mike on Twitter: @Miquai

Episode 66: In & Out of Shadow Apr 11, 2019

Show notes

Guest: 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 remembered. Then, Desun and Mike debate: Is Control related to the Borg? Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai Desun: @desunoka

Episode 65: Flying Through a Flare Apr 02, 2019

Show notes

Guest: 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 of a prominent astronomer—himself! You can watch all of his videos here: https://www.youtube.com/james-davenport Jim's latest Astro Vlog entry is a video excerpt of this podcast! Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcpt7hZw9xw Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai Jim: @jradavenport

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