

Strange New Worlds: A Science & Star Trek Podcast
Michael L. Wong
Hosted by planetary scientist and astrobiologist Dr. Michael L. Wong, Strange New Worlds examines science, technology, and culture through the lens of Star Trek!
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jun 17, 2019 • 26min
Episode 73: Laced with Perchlorate Dust
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

Jun 10, 2019 • 54min
Episode 72: Live Long & Evolve
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

Jun 2, 2019 • 33min
Episode 71: The DS9 Doc
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

May 5, 2019 • 40min
Episode 70: Discovery Season 2 Review
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

Apr 30, 2019 • 31min
Episode 69: Attitude Control
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

Apr 21, 2019 • 29min
Episode 68: Looking Forward to Section 31
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

Apr 15, 2019 • 31min
Episode 67: Xahea
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

Apr 11, 2019 • 24min
Episode 66: In & Out of Shadow
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

Apr 2, 2019 • 56min
Episode 65: Flying Through a Flare
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

Mar 22, 2019 • 44min
Episode 64: The Worst Best Hug
Guest: Elise Cutts
In Star Trek: Discovery, Ensign Tilly finds out that she has a "eukaryotic organism" growing inside of her—what's that? And why would Stamets' argon/xenon mixture make a good lightning rod? Newly minted Fulbright Fellow Elise Cutts is back on the show to discuss storylines and scientific themes from the first five episodes of Discovery's second season.
Mike's "The Science of Star Trek" Astro On Tap Seattle talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2g17F-OomE
Astronomy On Tap: https://astronomyontap.org/
Follow us on Twitter!
Mike: @Miquai