Strange New Worlds: A Science & Star Trek Podcast

Guest: Desun Oka History is not just a list of facts, but a process of memory making; we get to decide how and why certain events from the past are remembered today. On this episode of Strange New Worlds, Mike is joined by historian Desun Oka to discuss the memory-inducing alien memorial from the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Memorial" and how real-life memorials—from the Lincoln Memorial in D.C. to the recently built comfort women memorials in California—transmit their meanings. Finally, how should the Coronavirus pandemic be remembered? Follow Mike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Miquai

Guests: Aditi Narayanan & Dr. Stuart Bartlett How do viruses shape life on Earth? Well, the Coronavirus pandemic is just the tip of the iceberg. Using the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Macrocosm" as our launchpad, Caltech scientists Aditi Narayanan & Stuart Bartlett join me to discuss how the tiniest biological entities leave huge and truly unexpected imprints on life at the levels of individual cells, entire ecosystems, and the biosphere as a whole. Check out Aditi's podcast, Biosphere: https://caltechletters.org/podcasts/biosphere/

Guests: Dr. Peter Gao & Dr. James T. Keane Which TNG characters appeared in Picard? Who dies in the show? Were there any facepalms? Dr. James T. Keane and Dr. Peter Gao join Mike to recap Season 1 of Star Trek: Picard through their "Picard Bingo" game and chat about the science tidbits that stuck out to them. Be warned: spoilers aplenty! More information on the octonary star system: Ethan Siegel, Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2020/03/19/is-star-trek-picards-hypothesized-octuple-star-system-really-possible/ Phil Plait, Syfy Wire: https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/octonary-stars-and-broken-pieces-can-the-eight-star-system-from-star-trek-picard-actually Rhett Allain, Wired: https://www.wired.com/story/that-8-star-system-really-could-exist/ Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai James: @jtuttlekeane Peter: @PlanetaryGao

Guest: Jon Wong Aspiring medical doctor Jon Wong returns to Strange New Worlds to discuss the intertwining ethical predicaments in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Ethics" as well as medical ethics dilemmas that real-life doctors are facing during the Coronavirus pandemic. Some additional Coronavirus readings: "Fair Allocation of Scarce Medical Resources in the Time of Covid-19" in The New England Journal of Medicine: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsb2005114 "Search for Coronavirus Vaccine Becomes a Global Competition" in The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/us/politics/coronavirus-vaccine-competition.html "How some cities ‘flattened the curve’ during the 1918 flu pandemic" in National Geographic: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2020/03/how-cities-flattened-curve-1918-spanish-flu-pandemic-coronavirus/ Follow Mike on Twitter: @Miquai

We are living in a strange new world. The novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2, which causes the disease COVID-19) has disrupted every aspect of daily life. On this episode of Strange New Worlds, Mike explains why doctors, scientists, and public officials are instructing us to stay at home and the math behind the concept of social distancing. As a special treat, Elise Cutts, Prof. Alex Evans, Dr. James T. Keane, Dr. Peter Gao, Alex Rodriquez, Dr. Sharon Newman, and Desun Oka give their recommendations for Star Trek episodes to binge-watch in self-isolation. For more detailed simulations of the effect of social distancing, check out this article in The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/corona-simulator/ For an elegant scientific illustration of how the SARS-CoV-2 works, check out this article from The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/03/11/science/how-coronavirus-hijacks-your-cells.html Follow Mike on Twitter: @Miquai

Guest: Amy Nelson "This is the power of math, people!" —Ensign Silvia Tilly Mike is joined by math teacher Amy Nelson, who, like Tilly, is passionate about both doing math and sharing its power with others. Amy describes how she incorporates Star Trek into her classroom at every opportunity. Then, she recounts her adventures on the Star Trek Cruise that sailed earlier this year. Amy is also a podcast host on the TrekFM and United Federation of Podcasts networks. Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai Amy: @MissAmyNelson

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/

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

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

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