

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

Aug 6, 2017 • 19min
Episode 8.5: BONUS! George Takei & Tim Russ at the JANM
In this bonus episode of Strange New Worlds, Mike and Elise take you on an away mission to the Japanese American National Museum in LA.

Jul 27, 2017 • 29min
Episode 8: What's a Biosignature?, Part 1
Guest: Cecilia Sanders
In Episode 8, Mike and Elise chat with Cecilia Sanders about how to look for signs of life in the universe.

Jul 21, 2017 • 26min
Episode 7: History Is a Lie, Part 2
In Episode 7, Mike, Elise, and Desun look towards the future of humanity and of Star Trek from a historian's point of view.

Jul 15, 2017 • 35min
Episode 6: History Is a Lie, Part 1
In Episode 6, Mike and Elise speak with historian Desun Oka about the historical context from which Star Trek emerged.

Jul 9, 2017 • 26min
Episode 5: Captain Bioreactor (I'm Not Quite Sure What Antibodies Had to Do with It)
In Episode 5, Mike and Elise bring aboard Heidi Klumpe to investigate the disappearance of Klingon cranial ridges in the Star Trek: Enterprise episodes "Affliction" and "Divergence."

Jul 4, 2017 • 28min
Episode 4: Disks Galore
In Episode 4, Michael and Elise bring in Christopher Spalding to talk about the binary disks in the Star Trek: Discovery trailer as well as astrophysical disks in general.
Note: Chris uses the term "Hill sphere." Listeners may have heard the alternative term "Roche lobe." These are essentially the same.
Erratum: Michael calls the Discovery character "Michael Burnhams" when it is actually Michael Burnham.

Jun 23, 2017 • 29min
Episode 3: The Star Hunter
In Episode 3, Michael hails Erika Carlson to discuss systems with more than one star, how they're discovered, how they form, and the real triple star system that is said to house Spock's home planet, Vulcan.
The book about the "Harvard computers" that Erika mentions at 21:26 is called "The Glass Universe" by Dava Sobel.

Jun 20, 2017 • 16min
Episode 2: How to Find a Strange New World
In Episode 2, we talk to Dr. Courtney Dressing about the frontiers of exoplanetary astronomy.
Erratum: [6:47] The reference for the first discovery of an exoplanet around a puslar was from 1992 instead of 1995.

Jun 16, 2017 • 32min
Episode 1: The Mystic Ship
In Episode 1 of Strange New Worlds, Michael Wong and Elise Cutts sit down with Dr. Peter Gao and discuss the Star Trek: Discovery trailer (released May 17) as well as the science of clouds and hazes in planetary atmospheres.

Jun 8, 2017 • 13min
Episode 0: Introduction
In Episode 0, Michael introduces the mission of Strange New Worlds and beams in a co-host!