The Science in The Fiction

Sue Burke, author of 'Semiosis' and 'Interference', discusses intelligent plants and their interaction with human colonists on a planet named Pax. They explore plant behavior, symbiosis, sensory capabilities, mental health, and the controversial idea of plant intelligence. They also touch on Burke's books about a coronavirus pandemic and the evolution of viruses, as well as her upcoming installment of the Semiosis trilogy.

Marty and Holly finish up their discussion of 'Neverness' by David Zindell from the last two episodes, and then have a conversation about the books we'll be talking about over the course of the next few episodes.  Our next topic will be 'intelligent plants', so we discuss Sue Burke's 'Semiosis' and 'Interference' duology, ahead of our upcoming interviews with her and Paco Calvo.  Then we move on to consider a range of Cory Doctorow's fiction, discussing his latest book 'Red Team Blues' (2023) and his upcoming novel 'The Lost Cause', (November 2023), in addition to a favorite of ours, called 'Walkaway' (2017).  Coupling these to a scientific topic, we talk about economics in his non-fiction book with Rebecca Giblin, 'Chokepoint Capitalism', which ties together many of the themes in Cory Doctorow's work.David Zindell | Author - https://www.davidzindell.com/Sue Burke - https://sueburke.site/Cory Doctorow's craphound.com | Cory Doctorow's Literary Works - https://craphound.com/Send us a messageEmail: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/

Marty has a conversation about David Zindell's 'Neverness' with Mark Mac Lean, professor of Mathematics at the University of British Columbia.  We talk about the poetic and philosophical use of mathematics as the engine of faster-than-light travel in the Neverness universe, and contemplate the relationship of mathematics to truth, beauty, perfection, and physical reality.  Along the way we discuss the foundations of mathematics, Godel's incompleteness theorems, the Reimann hypothesis and the continuity theorem, both the real one and its fictional twin in the novel.  We also reflect on what a gift it is that David Zindell is able to convey the feeling of doing mathematics, and the almost mystical experience of connecting to this seemingly higher realm of reality.Mark Mac Lean:https://personal.math.ubc.ca/~maclean/maclean.htmlDavid Zindell:https://www.davidzindell.com/Send us a messageEmail: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/

Author David Zindell discusses his book 'Neverness' and its big ideas, including manipulation of mathematical reality by Master Pilots. The podcast explores philosophy, non-duality, consciousness, environmentalism, and the role of mathematics in the book. The speakers also delve into the meaning of life and death, cultural differences, and express concerns about violence and totalitarianism in the US.

This is the second half of the conversation begun in our last episode, between science fiction author Robert J. Sawyer and zoologist Arik Kershenbaum.  We start with a quick re-cap on Boltzmann Brains and then spend quite a bit of time considering the problem of having a sample size of one, when it comes to the existence of life in the universe, as well as the existence of intelligent, technological alien life we hope to find on another planet some day.  We also contemplate fungible atoms (!), confirmation bias, appropriate skepticism and learn what might constitute both an intelligent and an interesting message to aliens.  Finally, Arik assures us that we need not worry about the dark forest, there is nothing to fear from our alien neighbours: they are not coming here to eat us.  Robert J. Sawyer:  Author Robert J. Sawyer: Hugo, Nebula, and Campbell Memorial Award-winning Science Fiction Writer (sfwriter.com) Robert J. Sawyer - Wikipedia Robert J. Sawyer (Author of Illegal Alien) (goodreads.com) The Oppenheimer Alternative by Robert J. Sawyer | Goodreads Science Fiction Writer Robert J. Sawyer: THE OPPENHEIMER ALTERNATIVE Index (sfwriter.com)  Arik Kershenbaum:Arik KershenbaumDr Arik Kershenbaum | Department of Zoology (cam.ac.uk)What Your Dog Can Teach You About Aliens | Arik Kershenbaum | TEDxCambridgeUniversity - YouTubeThe Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy - WikipediaThe Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy: What Animals on Earth Reveal about Aliens – and Ourselves by Arik Kershenbaum | Goodreads Send us a messageEmail: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/

In this episode we present our first conversation between a science fiction author and a scientist, both of whom we’ve spoken to before.  We have with us Robert J. Sawyer, star of our very first interview in our second episode where we discussed his book The Oppenheimer Alternative, and Arik Kershenbaum who we spoke to in our last episode about his book A Zoologist’s Guide to the Galaxy.   We discuss the possibility of evolving intelligent dinosaurs in Robert's 'Quintaglio Cycle', and consider the unexpected, non-mammalian forms of intelligence we've discovered in parrots and ravens.  We consider the impossibility of evolving telepathy as a form of communication, by means of baby parasites controlling the smoking habits of their mother hosts.  We also talk about other kinds of evolutionary impossibilities such as the single oceanic organism in Stan Lem's 'Solaris' and the interstellar being made of dust and gas in Fred Hoyle's 'The Black Cloud'.  Finally we debate the value of Okham's razor in philosophical notions of parsimony, when it comes to deciding whether the universe is incredibly unlikely but real, or just the fantasy of a Boltzmann Brain dreaming up the rich diversity of phenomena we observe.  To be continued in Episode 8!Robert J. Sawyer:Author Robert J. Sawyer: Hugo, Nebula, and Campbell Memorial Award-winning Science Fiction Writer (sfwriter.com)Robert J. Sawyer - WikipediaRobert J. Sawyer (Author of Illegal Alien) (goodreads.com)The Oppenheimer Alternative by Robert J. Sawyer | GoodreadsScience Fiction Writer Robert J. Sawyer: THE OPPENHEIMER ALTERNATIVE Index (sfwriter.com)Arik Kershenbaum:Arik KershenbaumDr Arik Kershenbaum | Department of Zoology (cam.ac.uk)What Your Dog Can Teach You About Aliens | Arik Kershenbaum | TEDxCambridgeUniversity - YouTubeThe Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy - WikipediaThe Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy: What Animals on Earth Reveal about Aliens – and Ourselves by Arik Kershenbaum | GoodreadsSend us a messageEmail: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/

Following up on our interview with Julie Czerneda and continuing with the theme of exo-biology, in this episode Marty sits down with zoologist Arik Kershenbaum from Cambridge University, author of The Zoologist’s Guide to the Galaxy: What Animals on Earth Reveal About Aliens – and Ourselves.  We talk about the science of evolution, and what it may have to tell us about exo-biology, by first establishing that the Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything is actually Evolution (not 42!).  We discuss why animals make so much noise, the difference between communication and language, the universal laws of biology and the mathematics of how evolution works.  We also think about about convergent solutions to problems that all living organisms must face, asexual evolution, horizontal gene transfer, immortality, consciousness and the transporter problem.  We discuss how intelligence arises from the essential ingredients of movement, communication, sociality and language.  Finally, we consider the difference between general intelligence and technological intelligence, and what that might mean for our expectations of what extra-terrestrials might be like if they are to be capable of communicating and possibly even travelling between planets and stars. Tell us what you think of the show: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comArik Kershenbaum:Arik KershenbaumDr Arik Kershenbaum | Department of Zoology (cam.ac.uk)What Your Dog Can Teach You About Aliens | Arik Kershenbaum | TEDxCambridgeUniversity - YouTubeThe Zoologist’s Guide to the Galaxy:The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy by Arik Kershenbaum: 9781984881984 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: BooksThe Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy - WikipediaThe Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy: What Animals on Earth Reveal About Aliens--and Ourselves: Kershenbaum, Arik: 9781984881984: Books - Amazon.caThe Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy: What Animals on Earth Reveal about Aliens – and Ourselves by Arik Kershenbaum | GoodreadsSend us a messageEmail: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/

Marty sits down with Canadian science fiction writer and biologist Julie Czerneda to discuss her book 'To Each This World'.  Our conversation is taken in the context of exo-biology, where considerations of universal biological laws may inform our understanding of alien life, if ever we are lucky enough to find it.  We talk about whether we are likely to be surprised or bored by how strange or familiar alien life might be.  We discuss different kinds of intelligence, the survival costs and benefits that it might bring, the exquisite adaptation of the mantis shrimp and the surprising self-awareness of fish with small brains.  We also discuss the evolution and biological consequences of nearly immortal beings, as found in Julie’s Web Shifters series, and consider why our ecosystem has not already been taken over by shape-shifters. Julie also reveals some very special bonus material for her latest book, explaining the origin and capabilities of her portal-building, burrowing aliens in ‘To Each This World’.  Throughout the interview Julie recommends a few excellent books about biology: An Immense World by Ed Yong, Parasite Rex by Carl Zimmer and Imagined Life by James Trefil and Michael Summer - see links below.Julie Czerneda: Julie E. Czerneda – Science Fiction & Fantasy AuthorAll Book Series by Julie E. Czerneda (goodreads.com)Julie Czerneda - WikipediaTo Each This World: To Each This World – Julie E. CzernedaTo Each This World by Julie E. Czerneda | GoodreadsTo Each This World by Julie E. Czerneda: 9780756415426 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: BooksScience books recommended by Julie in this interview:An Immense World by Ed Yong | Penguin Random House CanadaParasite Rex: Inside The Bizarre World Of Nature’s Most Dangerous Creatures | Carl ZimmerImagined Life by James Trefil and Michael Summers | Penguin Random House CanadaSend us a messageEmail: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/

Marty and Holly discuss Robert J. Sawyer's Nebula Award-winning book The Terminal Experiment.  We talk about the possibility of uploading our minds into computers and/or replicating our physical brains, and think our way through philosophical issues about subjectivity and objectivity, materialism, identity and the teleporter dilemma.  We discuss whether self-awareness is different and special, or just another subjective illusion built into us by evolutionary mechanisms of survival.  We decide that there’s something special about the human experience, and also that we - personally - are land animals who would not get in a tin can to cross the void – though a ride down the river Tethys through the farcaster portals of Hyperion would be just fine.Science Fiction Writer Robert J. Sawyer: The Terminal Experiment Synopsis (sfwriter.com)The Terminal Experiment - WikipediaThe Terminal Experiment : Robert J. Sawyer: Amazon.ca: Booksgoodreads.com/en/book/show/264945Send us a messageEmail: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/

In this episode Marty sits down with Prof. Jaymie Matthews, astrophysicist from the University of British Columbia, to discuss the some of the solar physics in Robert J. Sawyer’s ‘The Oppenheimer Alternative’, as a follow up to our interview with Robert in Episode 2.  We cover a fair bit of ground with Dr. Matthews, who explains how his research career helped establish a new field of astronomy called helio-seismology, which probes the inner structure, size and age of our sun and other stars by measuring their vibrational modes of oscillation.  Along the way we discuss how this research has led to new capabilities currently used in the hunt for extra-solar planets, why having a fairly boring star is a good thing for life on earth, and that we don’t need to worry about our sun suddenly exploding and vaporizing us all. We also discuss his contributions to another science fiction novel by Spider Robinson and Robert Heinlein, called Variable Star.Jaymie Matthews:  matthews | UBC Physics & AstronomyJaymie Matthews:  Jaymie Matthews | ideacityJaymie Matthews:  MOST (spacecraft) - WikipediaRobert J. SAwyer: Author Robert J. Sawyer: Hugo, Nebula, and Campbell Memorial Award-winning Science Fiction Writer (sfwriter.com)The Oppenheimer Alternative: Science Fiction Writer Robert J. Sawyer: THE OPPENHEIMER ALTERNATIVE Index (sfwriter.com)Spider Robinson:  Welcome to Spider Robinson's Official Website Variable Star: Variable Star - WikipediaSend us a messageEmail: thescienceinthefiction@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/