Strange New Worlds: A Science & Star Trek Podcast

Guest: Dr. Peter Gao Mike beams Dr. Peter Gao aboard to discuss the barrage of Star Trek news from #FirstContactDay 2021 and some personal news about their scientific careers. Follow us on Twitter! Mike: https://twitter.com/Miquai Peter: https://twitter.com/PlanetaryGao Star Trek novellas that Mike will discuss with Justin Oser on a future episode of Strange New Worlds: Ishtar Rising, Book 1: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B000FC0QDE/?coliid=I3G6KX1BYMZTI3&colid=NOXPRFDT8IGO&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it Ishtar Rising, Book 2: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B000FC0QD4/?coliid=I3UPXV55KYQHEA&colid=NOXPRFDT8IGO&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it Balance of Nature: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B000FBJFZK/?coliid=I4CMTVCW35WI6&colid=NOXPRFDT8IGO&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Guests: Tiffany Jansen & Dr. Jim Green In Part 2 of a conversation with NASA Chief Scientist Jim Green and Columbia University astronomer Tiffany Jansen, Jim describes how planetary magnetic fields can promote (or demote) planetary habitability, and Tiffany and Jim reflect on the virtual nature of the recent #HabWorlds2021 workshop. Follow us on Twitter! Mike: twitter.com/Miquai Tiffany: twitter.com/astro_tiff Star Trek novellas that Mike will discuss with Justin Oser on a future episode of Strange New Worlds: Ishtar Rising, Book 1: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B000FC0QDE/?coliid=I3G6KX1BYMZTI3&colid=NOXPRFDT8IGO&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it Ishtar Rising, Book 2: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B000FC0QD4/?coliid=I3UPXV55KYQHEA&colid=NOXPRFDT8IGO&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it Balance of Nature: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B000FBJFZK/?coliid=I4CMTVCW35WI6&colid=NOXPRFDT8IGO&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Guests: Tiffany Jansen & Dr. Jim Green Columbia University astronomer Tiffany Jansen and NASA Chief Scientist Jim Green join Mike to discuss factors that determine planetary habitability. In Part 1 of this interview, they discuss how Trek has influenced their careers, the definition of "habitability," and what Tiffany's climate simulations reveal about how habitability depends on a planet's rotation rate. Follow us on Twitter! Mike: https://twitter.com/Miquai Tiffany: https://twitter.com/astro_tiff AAPI Resources: StarTrek.com's statement: https://www.startrek.com/news/star-trek-stands-with-our-aapi-community Buzzfeed article on Asian hate crimes: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/venessawong/asian-american-invisible-hate-crimes Bystander intervention resources: https://www.ihollaback.org/bystander-resources/ Google Doc with links to more resources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hHRhuF1qy4lju58Rcuw_TShjAaK9BPwjvCuvpTVZzVI/edit?usp=sharing

Guest: John Jackson Miller In Part 2 of an interview with New York Times bestselling author John Jackson Miller, we discuss characters, planets, and aliens from his Star Trek: Discovery novels "The Enterprise War" and "Die Standing." John's website: farawaypress.com/ Nerd Nite Victoria, where Mike will give a "Science of Star Trek" talk on March 15, 2021: https://victoriabc.nerdnite.com/ Follow us on Twitter! Mike: twitter.com/Miquai John: twitter.com/jjmfaraway

Guest: John Jackson Miller In Part 1 of an interview with New York Times bestselling author John Jackson Miller, we learn about John's career journey, his love for science and engineering, and what it's like to write and publish Star Trek novels. Then, we discuss John's Star Trek: Discovery novel "The Enterprise War" (in which he has the crew science their way out of a sticky situation) and why it's so important to show your homework when telling Star Trek stories. John's website: https://farawaypress.com/ Follow us on Twitter! Mike: https://twitter.com/Miquai John: https://twitter.com/jjmfaraway

Guest: Eva Scheller On February 18, 2021, NASA's Perseverance rover will touch down on Mars. Eva Scheller, a planetary scientist at Caltech, previews the strange new terrain that Perseverance will explore and prepares us for some of the experiments that the robotic astrobiologist will perform. She also shares what it's like to grow up with Star Trek in her native Denmark and her new hypothesis for what happened to Mars's water. Eva's scientific paper on the geological context of Perseverance's landing site: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2019JE006190 Follow us on Twitter! Mike: https://twitter.com/Miquai Eva: https://twitter.com/EvaLScheller

Guests: Dr. Erin Macdonald & Prof. Mohamed Noor The Star Trek science consultants themselves join us to discuss the science of Discovery's third season. Learn how the concept of the Burn was developed and why all sorts of other scientific plot points—from a deadly prion disease to a coronal mass ejection—were included. Erin & Mohamed's StarTrek.com article on the science of the Burn: https://www.startrek.com/news/the-science-behind-discoverys-burn Mohamed's YouTube channel "BioTrekkie Explains": https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5zvlD5RnkzhIegG0gnSeSw Erin's Audible Original "The Science of Sci-Fi": https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Science-of-Sci-Fi-Audiobook/B07ZP9BGVX Follow us on Twitter! Mike: https://twitter.com/Miquai Erin: https://twitter.com/drerinmac Mohamed: https://twitter.com/mafnoor

Response to DSC: "That Hope Is You, Part 2" Dr. Culber suspects that Su'Kal is a polyploid, which could help explain the Kelpien's role in causing the Burn. But what is a polyploid? And could Su'Kal's polyploidal nature be related to the radiation environment in the Verubin nebula? Follow Mike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Miquai

Guest: Desun Oka Response to DSC: "There Is A Tide..." On the latest episode of Star Trek: Discovery, Osyraa and Admiral Vance attempt to negotiate an armistice. But, in true Star Trek style, beneath this 32nd-century dialogue is a commentary on modern society. According to historian Desun Oka, in this scene, Osyraa clearly symbolizes capitalism and Vance symbolizes the critiques of capitalism in present-day political economics. Diasperse: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/diasperse/id1533908402 Follow Mike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Miquai

Guest: Shi En Kim On the final episode of 2020, Mike is joined by freelance science writer Shi En Kim to discuss what space can teach us about aging and how advances in artificial intelligence have produced a rapping robot—and, of course, how this research brings us closer to a Star Trek future. "To study aging, scientists are looking to outer space" by Shi En Kim, published in National Geographic: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/12/to-study-aging-scientists-are-looking-to-outer-space-iss/ "This Robot Can Rap—Really" by Shi En Kim, published in Scientific American: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/this-robot-can-rap-really/ Follow us on Twitter! Mike: https://twitter.com/Miquai Kim: https://twitter.com/goes_by_kim