The Science in The Fiction

We speak with M. R. Carey about his book 'The Girl With All The Gifts', where the zombie fungus Cordyceps plays a central role in bringing about the end of civilization. We talk about the appeal of a post-apocalyptic story and discuss some of the science in Merlin Sheldrake’s book 'Entangled Life': scientific revolutions and evolutions, gestalt shifts, the ancient evolutionary history of fungi, how they can be both parasitic and symbiotic, and how all of life is like a lichen.  Mike tells us  how he came to be a writer, and about his experience of benevolent presences on psilocybin – and the ineffability of the psychedelic experience.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Carey_(writer)https://www.littlebrown.co.uk/contributor/m-r-carey-2/https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17235026-the-girl-with-all-the-giftshttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt4547056/Send us a messageEmail: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/

Beginning our highly anticipated new topic of Sci-Fi Fungi, we talk to science fiction author Benjamin Percy about the second book of his Comet Cycle, 'The Unfamiliar Garden'.  We discuss Ben's writing career in comic books and novels and soon TV and film, the literary treatment that space fungus gets in this book, as well as the human and emotional stakes that make it a really good story.  We discuss the goodies and the baddies of the fungal world, lichenification, symbiosis, collective intelligence, creating wonder and seeing the world with fresh eyes. https://benjaminpercy.com/https://benjaminpercy.com/novels/the-unfamiliar-garden/Send us a messageEmail: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/

Marty and Holly discuss our upcoming theme of Sci-Fi Fungi with interviews of science fiction authors Benjamin Percy and Mike Carey, along with mycologists Dr. Alex Moskaluk from the University of Guelph and Kaitlyn Kuehn (KK) from the Flora Funga Podcast.  We'll be discussing space fungi from cometary debris in Ben Percy's book 'The Unfamiliar Garden', the zombie fungus Codyceps in Mike Percy's book 'The Girl With All The Gifts'.  And we'll be structuring our conversations around Merlin Sheldrake's popular science book 'Entangled Life', which delves into the apparent motor-controlling abilities of the zombie fungus Cordyceps, the mind-altering effects of Psilocybin, as well as the genesis of land-based ecosystems from the symbiosis of fungi with algae in lichen.  Along the way we also introduce an upcoming interview with returning science fiction author and friend of the show Robert J. Sawyer about his books 'Quantum Night' and 'The Downloaded'.  Then we go on to introduce our next theme of the Multiverse, in Mike Carey's Pandominion duology - 'Infinity Gate' and 'Echo of Worlds', and Micaiah Johnson's 'The Space Between Worlds' and 'Those Beyond the Wall'.  Send us a messageEmail: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/

We talk to a returning guest and friend of the show, science fiction author Edward M. Lerner, about his latest book 'On The Shoals of Space-Time', on the topic of First Contact.  Ed is a fount of scientific insight and information on space science and the possibilities for extraterrestrial encounters, having written 25 books – 5 of them with the legendary author Larry Niven, of Ringworld fame – many of which explore themes First Contact with extraterrestrials, as well as future scientific advancement that would be necessary for interstellar travel.  In this interview we discuss a number of his books, we talk about fusion and anti-matter, electromagnetic bottles, the Albercurrie drive for warping space-time to get around the speed limit of light, and neutrino communications.  We also discuss the Prime Directive, the Drake equation, the Fermi Paradox, scientific revolutions and evolutions, stealth technologies, and alien monitoring stations keeping an eye on Earth in the Kuiper belt and the Oort cloud.  That’s quite a lot!  So if you like to dig deeper into the real science and big ideas in your science fiction, this conversation is a veritable treasury of insights and learning that will help you get more out of the science fiction you read and watch.Edward M. Lerner -- official website (edwardmlerner.com)Books, short fiction, and essays by SF author Edward M. Lerner | Edward M. Lerner (edwardmlerner.com)Send us a messageEmail: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/

In this episode we talk to Mark Milne as a follow-up on our interviews with science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson and glaciologist Heidi Sevestre in episodes 21 and 22, on the topic of Geoengineering as portrayed in Kim Stanley Robinson’s book 'The Ministry for the Future'.  Mark speaks about a number of strategies for mitigating climate change by cooling the planet through increasing its albedo, or reflectivity.  The overarching strategy that we discuss is Solar Radiation Management (SRM), and we tackle a number of different possibilities under this umbrella: stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI), marine cloud brightening, high albedo crops, reforestation, white paint, terrestrial mirrors and the Goliath that everyone likes to slay - space mirrors.  Mark makes the case that terrestrial mirrors are our best hope for immediate implementation, with little or no dangerous side effects, especially in the context of canopies over agricultural land which can be created with current materials from landfill; if 10% of all agricultural land were covered with these semi-transparent mirrors it would provide enough global reflectivity to adequately offset our warming trend and avoid climate disaster.  Marty proposes a sci-fi idea about adding engineered enzymes to create the materials we need, and Mark claims that if we don’t solve the climate crisis within a few decades it won’t be the heat that kills us, it’ll be people – due to the degradation of our social and economic systems.  We also talk about governance and consent, what motivates scientists and determines the science we pursue, termination shock, carbon sequestration, engineering efficiency and economic policy initiatives related to modern monetary theory.  Send us a messageEmail: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/

We continue the conversation between science fiction author Peter Watts and scientist Justin Gregg, and now they get down to the tricky business of discussing the nature of consciousness.  We discuss Peter's premise of 'Blindsight – that consciousness is an illusory, unnecessary and possibly parasitic phenomenon that will get us all killed when we encounter more efficient, unconscious extra-terrestrial intelligence.  Then very quickly agree that nobody knows what the hell they’re talking about when they try to understand consciousness: the pan-psychics may even be right that it’s a fundamental property of matter like mass, spin and charge.  We discuss examples of unconscious but intelligent behaviour like sleepwalking killers and painters, we talk about acid trips, and the possible evolutionary advantages of consciousness in connection to memory. Peter suggests humans may not actually possess general intelligence and that we may be even dumber than large language models and the current incarnation of AI (as evidenced by flat earthers, anti-vaxxers and religious fundamentalists). And Justin promises to jello-wrestle an AI next time we get together!Echopraxia (rifters.com)https://www.rifters.com/Blindsight (Watts novel) - Wikipediahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindsight_(Watts_novel)Justin Gregghttps://www.justingregg.com/If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal — Justin Gregghttps://www.justingregg.com/narwhalSend us a messageEmail: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/

In this episode we present a conversation between science fiction author Peter Watts and scientist Justin Gregg, following up on our individual interviews with each of them on the general theme of intelligence and consciousness.  Justin Gregg is the author of ‘If Nietzsche were a Narwhal - What Animal Intelligence Reveals About Human Stupidity’, the book we spoke to him about in episode 23.  Peter Watts is the science fiction author of 'Blindsight', 'Echopraxia', 'Starfish', 'Maelstrom', 'Behemoth' and many amazing short stories.  We spoke to Peter in episodes 24 and 25 about his book ‘Blindsight’ and also about Justin Gregg’s book, and now we’ve put them in a room together for a very animated conversation with lots of banter and laughter.  Peter discusses Justin’s book and Justin discusses Peter’s book, and they discover that they are pretty much twins separated at birth! We discuss AI, biology and evolution, the sweet spot for writing successful science fiction, Aphantasia, the secret of effective bullshit, manufactured memories and the extremely entertaining "yellow sponge hypothesis".  So fasten your seatbelts kids, and get ready for two spectacularly interesting and intelligent people to light the house on fire.  Send us a messageEmail: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/

Marty and Holly talk to George Paxinos - neuroscientist, environmental activist and author of 'A River Divided', a book that explores neurological determinism - the claim that we have no free will and that our actions are entirely determined by our genetics and the neurological consequences imposed on us by the environment which shapes our brain.  His book comes with a very interesting twist: the modern day cloning of Jesus of Nazareth! And not only that, but the cloning of two identical copies, twins who are raised in different places and cultures. This is a bold and fascinating vehicle to explore the theme of nature vs nurture, genetic endowment vs environmental influence, and free will vs determinism.  Our conversation covers a lot of ground - from atheism and reverent agnosticism, to finding the goldilocks zone for the size of our brains, the new rise of fascism and the waning of democracy, brain uploads and the transfer of consciousness.  NeuRA | George Paxinos | Neuroscience Research Australiahttps://neura.edu.au/researchers/scientia-professor-george-paxinos-aoSend us a messageEmail: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/

We speak with David Brin, science fiction icon, scientist, futurist and civilizational optimist.  We discuss his particular view of first contact with extraterrestrial intelligence, as portrayed in his 2012 novel 'Existence', along with his predictions about how artificial intelligence and virtual reality will change our world in the near future.  We discuss the UFO phenomenon (a sophisticated form of cat lasers for us to chase) and the unspeakably rude behaviour of these hypothetical silvery teaser punks.  David speaks directly to the artificial intelligences and possibly alien intelligences who may be inveigled in our internet.  We talk about Cixin Liu's 'The Three Body Problem' (there is no three body problem), the likely prevalence of life in the universe (90% of star systems), the Fermi Paradox, SETI, METI, and various forms that first contact with alien civilizations may take, among them Von Neumann machines and artificial alien intelligences stored in 'envoy eggs' orbiting our planet for millions of years. David tells us how to make the most powerful telescope in the universe, by turning the Kuiper Belt into a solar system sized lens.  Finally, he implores us to fight back against the ingrate habit of cynicism and pessimism rotting our global civilization today, and declares "I'm proud as hell and nothing can stop us! ... Be citizens of wonder, help save a good civilization."David Brin's Webpage:https://www.davidbrin.com/'Existence' by David Brin:https://www.davidbrin.com/existence.htmlVideo Trailer for David Brin's 'Existence':https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANVT0hYbAfEDavid Brin's 'Colony High' Series:https://www.davidbrin.com/colonyhigh.htmlDavid Brin's 'Out of Time' Series:https://www.davidbrin.com/outoftime.htmlDavid Brin's Advice to New Writers:https://www.davidbrin.com/nonfiction/advice.htmlDavid Brin on UFO's:https://www.forbes.com/sites/calumchace/2023/01/25/why-are-ufos-still-blurry-a-conversation-with-david-brin/David Brin on Why METI is a Bad Idea:https://www.davidbrin.com/nonfiction/meti.htmlNASA Innovative Advanced Concepts:https://www.nasa.gov/stmd-the-nasa-innovative-advanced-concepts-niac/The B612 Foundation:https://b612foundation.org/An Invitation to Extraterrestrial Intelligence:https://ieti.org/Send us a messageEmail: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/

Marty and Holly speak with Professor Avi Loeb from the Harvard Astronomy department, and he is one of the most generous, gregarious, kind and thoughtful people we’ve ever spoken with. Not only that, he embodies the spirit of true scientific inquiry and discovery that can be sadly lacking in the scientific culture of our time.  Our conversation revolves around the possibility of First Contact with intelligent extraterrestrial life, based on our encounter with the first extra-solar object ever detected - named Oumuamua - which came flying in and out of our solar system over the course of about 11 days in 2017.  We also talk about the Galileo Project and the Starshot Initiative, Dyson spheres and space trash from extraterrestrial civilizations, the Drake equation, anti-gravity, negative mass and time machines, UFOs and UAPs.  We also discuss building a culture of seeking evidence instead of making up unsupported stories for dismissing it, and how finding a partner in the galaxy could give meaning to our collective lives Send us a messageEmail: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/