Strange New Worlds: A Science & Star Trek Podcast: Recent Episodes
miquai
Hosted by planetary scientist and astrobiologist Dr. Michael L. Wong, Strange New Worlds examines science, technology, and culture through the lens of Star Trek!
Guest: Professor Tyler Perez Come for the laser experiments, stay for the lens flares. Prof. Tyler Perez—who studies the material properties of rock at high pressures and temperatures, and who delves into movie visual effects as a hobby—beams aboard to discuss his research on planetary interiors and the visual style of Star Trek.
Amelia Lee How do you introduce Star Trek to a new fan? How is Star Trek continuing to inspire young scientists? How are Carnegie Science interns exploring strange new worlds and seeking out new life and new civilizations? Abigail Alling and Amelia Lee beam aboard to chat about how they've added Star Trek to their educational experience in Carnegie Science's 2026 EPIIC summer internship program!Learn more about the EPIIC internship at Carnegie Science: carnegiescience.edu/about/working/i…terns/epiic-reu
by Em Dobberfuhl: https://www.sequencermag.com/are-we-alone-in-the-universe-five-times-we-thought-we-found-extraterrestrial-life/Learn more about the EPIIC internship at Carnegie Science: https://carnegiescience.edu/about/working/interns/epiic-reu
: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02070-3 Check out the Dice in Mind podcast: https://diceinmind.podbean.com/Follow us on Bluesky!Mike: https://bsky.app/profile/miquai.bsky.socialDice in Mind: https://bsky.app/profile/diceinmind.bsky.social
an article he published last year in the journal Nature with Chelsea Haramia, Emilie Lafleche, and Julia DeMarines. Read the paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02070-3
: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10838-025-09760-6Follow us on Bluesky!Mike: https://bsky.app/profile/miquai.bsky.socialKayla: https://bsky.app/profile/astrokayla.bsky.social
by Katie Mack: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-End-of-Everything/Katie-Mack/9781982103552Follow us on Bluesky!Mike: https://bsky.app/profile/miquai.bsky.socialKatie: https://bsky.app/profile/astrokatie.com
: https://forms.gle/k8Y5xd3NyAcNLqxN9Follow us on Bluesky!Mike: https://bsky.app/profile/miquai.bsky.socialJoe: https://bsky.app/profile/joepraska.bsky.socialDeep Space Love: https://bsky.app/profile/dslovepod.bsky.social
is based on:1. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.23102231202. https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/advance-article/doi/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae248/76983543. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsfs/article/15/6/20250009/366157/Selective-funnelling-and-state-space-expansion-a
: https://carnegiescience.edu/news/teaching-ai-detect-life-carnegie-scientist-co-leads-nasa-funded-effortFollow us on Bluesky!Mike: https://bsky.app/profile/miquai.bsky.socialCaleb: https://bsky.app/profile/calebscharf.bsky.social
where Picard and crew encounter the Tamarians, a species who only speak in metaphor. Why do we use metaphors? How would you lie in Tamarian? And can the universal translator ever exist?Follow us on Bluesky!Mike: https://bsky.app/profile/miquai.bsky.socialKristina: https://bsky.app/profile/epiphenomenal.bsky.social
: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2514534122Follow us on Bluesky!Mike: https://bsky.app/profile/miquai.bsky.socialAnirudh: https://bsky.app/profile/anirudhprabhu.bsky.social
: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2310223120Learn more about Mindscape: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/Follow us on Bluesky!Mike: https://bsky.app/profile/miquai.bsky.socialSean: https://bsky.app/profile/seanmcarroll.bsky.social
: https://vernonpress.com/book/2348?srsltid=AfmBOoryKvMaSjTZ6mTVevEgwGA2dg9LiHWD7Y8Jt1WpR-r05UoA4Imh
musical: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdtBArmWHdYFollow us on Bluesky!Mike: https://bsky.app/profile/miquai.bsky.socialBob: https://bsky.app/profile/robertpicardo.bsky.socialThe Planetary Society: https://bsky.app/profile/planetarysociety.bsky.social
Mike reads his Noema Magazine essay "What Searching For Aliens Reveals About Ourselves."Read the essay: https://www.noemamag.com/what-searching-for-aliens-reveals-about-ourselves/Watch Mike's Royal Astronomical Society of Canada talk that inspired the essay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bewJxOCdM5I
Mike beams aboard Deep Space Love—a podcast that explores love, in all its forms, throughout the final frontier—to discuss the relationship between D'Vanna Tendi and Samanthan Rutherford on Star Trek: Lower Decks.Check out more Deep Space Love: https://www.podpage.com/deep-space-love/Follow us on Bluesky!Mike: https://bsky.app/profile/miquai.bsky.socialDeep Space Love: https://bsky.app/profile/dslovepod.bsky.social
Guest: Emilie Lafleche Astrobiologist Emilie Lafleche beams aboard to introduce us to the Habitable Worlds Observatory, a next-generation space-based telescope that will be designed specifically to seek out new life in the cosmos. Then, she and Mike discuss two collaborations at the intersection of science and society: principles of astrobioethics and the PortAL Linking Artists and Scientists (PALLAS).Learn more about the Habitable Worlds Observatory: https://habitableworldsobservatory.org/homeEmilie & Mike's paper "How to chart a moral future for space exploration": https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02070-3Join the PALLAS mailing list: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScocUP4sZ9S4CF3BUnC85Tm2QPKLe39qE6cN5hFp5q7kep0rg/viewform
Guest: Dr. Shi En Kim Science journalist Dr. Shi En Kim joins Mike to unpack his op-ed about how impending cuts to federal science funding will impact astrobiology—the search for life in the universe."Federal Budget Cuts Would Sabotage NASA’s Plans to Find Alien Life" by Mike Wong: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/trumps-budget-cuts-would-sabotage-nasas-plans-to-find-alien-life/Follow us on Bluesky!Mike: https://bsky.app/profile/miquai.bsky.socialKim: https://bsky.app/profile/goesbykim.bsky.social
Guest: Dr. Una McCormack New York Times bestselling Star Trek author Dr. Una McCormack beams aboard to discuss the development of and themes within her latest Trek novel, "Strange New Worlds: Asylum.""Asylum" by Una McCormack: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Star-Trek-Strange-New-Worlds-Asylum/Una-McCormack/Star-Trek-Strange-New-Worlds/9781668051368Follow us on Bluesky!Mike: https://bsky.app/profile/miquai.bsky.socialUna: https://bsky.app/profile/unamccormack.bsky.social
Guest: Prof. Lisa Kaltenegger Professor Lisa Kaltenegger, Director of the Carl Sagan Institute at Cornell University, beams aboard to talk about her book, Alien Earths, the search for life in the cosmos, what exoplanets teach us about our home world, and her love for Star Trek.Alien Earths: The New Science of Planet Hunting in the Cosmos, by Lisa Kaltenegger: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250283641/alienearths/
Guest: Thomas White Mike speaks to propulsion engineer Thomas White about their experience participating in The Planetary Society's 2025 Day of Action, where they met with six Congressional offices to lobby in support of space science at a critical time.Inspired to take action? Visit The Planetary Society's Action Center: https://www.planetary.org/action-centerFollow us on Bluesky!Mike: https://bsky.app/profile/miquai.bsky.socialThe Planetary Society: https://bsky.app/profile/planetarysociety.bsky.social
Guest: Dr. Shi En Kim Fungi are everywhere—from forests to deserts to cities to Star Trek! Science journalist Dr. Shi En Kim beams back aboard to talk about some of the latest developments in fungal research."Can Fungi Save This Endangered Hawaiian Tree?" by Shi En Kim for Smithsonian Magazine: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/can-fungi-save-this-endangered-hawaiian-tree-180985171/"Why scientists are enlisting fungi to save endangered plants" by Shi En Kim for Knowable Magazine: https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/food-environment/2025/mycorrhizal-fungi-help-save-endangered-plants-ecosystems"Biocrusts: The secret world living at the surface of drylands" by Shi En Kim for BioScience: https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/advance-article/doi/10.1093/biosci/biae119/7927803"The Netherlands’ Surprising Bus Stop Bounty" by Shi En Kim for bioGraphic: https://www.biographic.com/the-netherlands-surprising-bus-stop-bounty/Follow us on Bluesky!Mike: https://bsky.app/profile/miquai.bsky.socialKim: https://bsky.app/profile/goesbykim.bsky.social
In a few weeks, Professor Lisa Kaltenegger—the Director of the Carl Sagan Institute at Cornell University—will be a guest on Strange New Worlds to talk about the search for life in the universe.To prime us for that discussion, on this episode, Mike shares his review of Professor Kaltenegger's new book, "Alien Earths: The New Science of Planet Hunting in the Cosmos."Want to read Mike's review instead? Just click here: https://www.americanscientist.org/article/earth-2.0-could-be-just-around-the-corner
Guest: Dr. Erin Macdonald Star Trek science consultant Dr. Erin Macdonald returns to unpack the quantum mechanical themes in the mind-bending and universe-hopping fifth and final season of Star Trek: Lower Decks.Crowdfunding for Erin's short film "Long Away": https://seedandspark.com/fund/long-away?token=c03b8b5fafc2effbb976d3c5566c1bddbb1154cb4a8b856e4ccde26c259585c4#storyFollow us on Bluesky!Mike: https://bsky.app/profile/miquai.bsky.socialErin: https://bsky.app/profile/drerinmac.bsky.social
Guest: David Mack Award-winning Star Trek writer David Mack beams aboard to discuss his Star Trek: Picard novel Firewall, which tells the story of how Seven of Nine becomes a Fenris Ranger.More about Firewall: https://davidmack.pro/writing/firewall/Follow us on Bluesky!Mike: https://bsky.app/profile/miquai.bsky.socialDavid: https://bsky.app/profile/davidmack.bsky.social
Guest: Bernadette Mary Dineen Astrochemist Bernadette Mary Dineen speaks about her love for Star Trek: The Original Series, her quest to search for life on Mars, her experience participating in the NASA Astrobiology Mission Ideation Factory, and her TEDxTufts talk "Looking Out Is Looking In."Bernadette's TEDxTufts talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nT7g3nOWxs
Guest: Dr. Shi En Kim Science journalist Dr. Shi En Kim joins Mike to discuss the final episodes of Star Trek: Lower Decks, from Tendi and T'Lyn's competitive relationship in "Fully Dilated" to Malor's crucial insight in "The New Next Generation."Follow us on Bluesky!Mike: https://bsky.app/profile/miquai.bsky.socialKim: https://bsky.app/profile/goesbykim.bsky.social
Guest: Dr. Anirudh Prabhu Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming a part of every aspect of our lives—and science is no exception. Data scientist Dr. Anirudh Prabhu returns to the show to discuss the 2024 Nobel Prizes involving AI. Then, Anirudh and Mike use the Lower Decks episode "The Stars at Night" as a launchpad to talk about how they're using AI to help search for signs of life in the universe.Anirudh & Mike's paper "A robust, agnostic molecular biosignature based on machine learning": https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2307149120Mike & Anirudh's paper "Toward Network-Based Planetary Biosignatures": https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2022JE007658Follow us on Bluesky!Mike: https://bsky.app/profile/miquai.bsky.socialAnirudh: https://bsky.app/profile/anirudhprabhu.bsky.social
Guest: Dr. Shi En KimMike and science journalist Shi En Kim discuss the first half of Star Trek: Lower Decks' fifth season. Is solar sailing a real thing? When is it advantageous to play dead?Follow us on Bluesky!Mike: https://bsky.app/profile/miquai.bsky.socialKim: https://bsky.app/profile/goesbykim.bsky.social
Guest: Prof. Amitai Shenhav On this episode, Mike is joined by his fellow TEDxNewEngland speaker Amitai Shenhav, a professor of psychology at UC Berkeley who is known for his work on decision making. How does Prof. Shenhav use Star Trek (or attempt to, at least) in his psychology classes? And what does his research reveal about how to make tough decisions?Follow us on Twitter!Strange New Worlds: twitter.com/scienceoftrekMike: twitter.com/miquaiAmitai: twitter.com/amitaishenhav
On this short solo episode, Mike shares his TEDxNewEngland experience.Mike's paper, "On the roles of function and selection in evolving systems": https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2310223120Follow us on Twitter!Strange New Worlds: twitter.com/scienceoftrekMike: twitter.com/miquai
Guest: Dr. Erin Macdonald Dr. Erin Macdonald, the official science advisor for the Star Trek universe, joins us to discuss the science behind Season 5 of Star Trek: Discovery and Season 2 of Star Trek: Prodigy."Chromatin remodeling in tribbles in Star Trek: Prodigy" by Prof. Mohamed Noor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2PePbR3FPkErin's Nerd Nite talk, "Faster-Than-Light Travel in Science Fiction": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Lw7JOgQ_MIMike's Nerd Nite talk, "The Astrobiology of Star Trek": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtgcaVg7puMFollow us on Twitter!Strange New Worlds: twitter.com/scienceoftrekMike: twitter.com/miquaiErin: twitter.com/drerinmac
Guests: Prof. Jason A. Kaufman & Prof. Aaron M. Peterson Professors Jason A. Kaufman and Aaron M. Peterson join us to discuss their sweeping book "Leadership in Star Trek: Lessons from the Captain's Chair." Learn how communication, patience, and relationship underpin every good leader, from Burnham to Picard.Book: https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/leadership-in-star-trek/Follow us on Twitter!Strange New Worlds: twitter.com/scienceoftrekMike: twitter.com/miquaiJason: twitter.com/vagabondkaufman
Guest: Prof. Mary-Jane Rubenstein Professor Mary-Jane Rubenstein joins us to talk about her book "Astrotopia: The Dangerous Religion of the Corporate Space Race," which explores the religious narratives that underpin commercial space exploration, and its connections to Star Trek.Follow us on Twitter!Strange New Worlds: twitter.com/scienceoftrekMike: twitter.com/miquai
Guest: Dr. Shi En Kim Science journalist Shi En Kim joins Mike to reflect on the last three episodes of Star Trek: Discovery's fifth and final season, DSC: "Labyrinths," "Lagrange Point," and "Life, Itself." How do Mike and Kim process their fears? What is a Lagrange point? And what do they make of the Progenitor's technology?Follow us on Twitter!Strange New Worlds: twitter.com/scienceoftrekMike: twitter.com/miquaiKim: twitter.com/goes_by_kim
Guest: Dr. Shi En Kim Mike and Kim chat about themes in DSC: "Whistlespeak" and "Erigah." Is cloud seeding a real thing, how do you create ultra-distilled water, and what are some contaminants that plague our waterways here on Earth?Follow us on Twitter!Strange New Worlds: twitter.com/scienceoftrekMike: twitter.com/miquaiKim: twitter.com/goes_by_kim
Guest: Dr. Shi En Kim Mike and Kim unpack DSC: "Face the Strange" and "Mirrors." Can you use relativity to defeat a temporal shield? What do they make of Moll and L'ak's backstory?Follow us on Twitter!Strange New Worlds: twitter.com/scienceoftrekMike: twitter.com/miquaiKim: twitter.com/goes_by_kim
Guest: Dr. Shi En Kim Mike and Kim take a closer look at DSC: "Jinaal." What do they make of the Trill's test? And why was Stamets so bubbly about isotope half-lives?Follow us on Twitter!Strange New Worlds: twitter.com/scienceoftrekMike: twitter.com/miquaiKim: twitter.com/goes_by_kim
Guest: Dr. Shi En KimMike and Kim examine the themes in DSC: "Under the Twin Moons." What does it take to get a double solar eclipse? And what do they make of Captain Rayner's advice?Follow us on Twitter!Strange New Worlds: twitter.com/scienceoftrekMike: twitter.com/miquaiKim: twitter.com/goes_by_kim
Guest: Dr. Shi En Kim Science journalist Dr. Shi En Kim joins Mike to talk about DSC: "Red Directive," from sand avalanches to the big revelation at the end of the episode.Follow us on Twitter!Strange New Worlds: twitter.com/scienceoftrekMike: twitter.com/miquaiKim: twitter.com/goes_by_kim
Guest: Dr. Stuart Bartlett Complexity scientist, astrobiologist, and artificial life researcher Dr. Stuart Bartlett joins us to discuss how information processing has been a key feature of life, from its emergence 4 billion years ago to artificial intelligence today.Stuart's paper "Provenance of life: Chemical autonomous agents surviving through associative learning": https://journals.aps.org/pre/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevE.106.034401Mike & Stuart's paper "Searching for Life, Mindful of Lyfe’s Possibilities": https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/12/6/783Follow us on Twitter!Strange New Worlds: twitter.com/scienceoftrekMike: twitter.com/miquai
Guest: Prof. Paul Rimmer In the Star Trek: The Next Generation finale, Q and Picard time travel to the origin of life on Earth. How does that scene compare to our modern scientific understanding of life's emergence? Prof. Paul Rimmer walks us through what Star Trek gets right and wrong—and what we still don't know—about our humble beginnings."Could Dune really exist? What scientists think of our favorite sci-fi worlds" featuring Mike & Prof. Mohamed Noor: https://www.npr.org/2024/03/01/1198909447/dune-part-two-arrakis-habitable-planets-star-trek-warsFollow us on Twitter!Strange New Worlds: https://twitter.com/scienceoftrekMike: https://twitter.com/miquai
Guest: Jaime Green Author Jaime Green beams aboard to talk about how we imagine alien life in science and in science fiction. Her new book is "The Possibility of Life: Science, Imagination, and Our Quest for Kinship in the Cosmos.""The Possibility of Life" by Jaime Green: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-possibility-of-life-jaime-green?variant=40643758391330"Uncertain Contact" by Jaime Green: https://aeon.co/essays/alien-life-might-not-be-something-science-can-ever-discover"An Existential Problem in the Search for Alien Life" by Jaime Green:https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2023/12/defining-life-existentialism-scientific-theory/676238/Follow us on Twitter!Strange New Worlds: https://twitter.com/scienceoftrekMike: https://twitter.com/miquaiJaime: https://twitter.com/jaimealyse
Guest: Kayla Smith Getting accepted to grad school isn't something that happens every day. Episode 167 of Strange New Worlds is dedicated to celebrating Kayla Smith, an undergraduate who works with Mike, and her recent acceptances to PhD programs in planetary science. Kayla talks about watching her first Star Trek episode, her journey in academia, her research on Mars, her aspirations to look for life on exoplanets, and why studying planets is both a science and an art.Mike's Carnegie Postdoc Spotlight: https://epl.carnegiescience.edu/michael-l-wong-explores-strange-new-worldsFollow us on Twitter!Strange New Worlds: twitter.com/scienceoftrekMike: twitter.com/miquai
Guest: Elise Cutts Science journalist Elise Cutts returns to reflect on Caltech's 2016 Star Trek musical, "Boldly Go!", and dissect the 2023 Star Trek: Strange New Worlds musical episode, "Subspace Rhapsody."Watch "Boldly Go! A Star Trek Parody Musical": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdtBArmWHdY&ab_channel=BoldlyGo%21"The Simple Geometry That Predicts Molecular Mosaics" by Elise Cutts: https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-simple-geometry-that-predicts-molecular-mosaics-20230621/"The Mysterious Case of Ireland’s Missing Earthquakes" by Elise Cutts: https://eos.org/articles/the-mysterious-case-of-irelands-missing-earthquakesFollow us on Twitter!Strange New Worlds: https://twitter.com/scienceoftrekMike: https://twitter.com/miquaiElise: https://twitter.com/elisecutts
On the first episode of 2024, we present Mike's interview on the Dice in Mind podcast, where hosts Jason and Brad ask Mike about his scientific journey, his podcasting journey, and his Star Trek journey.Follow us on Twitter!Strange New Worlds: https://twitter.com/scienceoftrekDice in Mind: https://twitter.com/diceinmindMike: https://twitter.com/miquaiJason: https://twitter.com/vagabondkaufman
Guests: Jason von Stietz & David SmithSport psychologists Jason von Stietz and David Smith return for the final installment of our trilogy about Data as a strategist. In this episode, we analyze how Data defeats Lore in PIC: "Surrender" and saves the galaxy with his gut instinct in PIC: "The Last Generation."Follow us on Twitter!Strange New Worlds: twitter.com/scienceoftrekMike: twitter.com/miquaiJason: twitter.com/CBTSportPsychDavid: twitter.com/StonewallFit
Guests: Jason von Stietz & David SmithSport psychologists Jason von Stietz and David Smith return for part two of our trilogy about Data as a strategist. In this episode, we examine how Data deals with prejudice from his subordinates while commanding of the U.S.S. Sutherland in TNG: "Redemption, Part 2." Then, we talk about how Data foils the Borg Queen's plans in "Star Trek: First Contact."Follow us on Twitter!Strange New Worlds: twitter.com/scienceoftrekMike: twitter.com/miquaiJason: twitter.com/CBTSportPsychDavid: twitter.com/StonewallFit
Guests: Jason von Stietz & David Smith Sport psychologists Jason von Stietz and David Smith join Mike to explore Data's evolution as a strategist. In Part I of this conversation, they focus on TNG: "Peak Performance," where Data faces off against Strategema master Sirna Kolrami and learns how to deal with defeat.Follow us on Twitter!Strange New Worlds: https://twitter.com/scienceoftrekMike: https://twitter.com/miquaiJason: https://twitter.com/CBTSportPsychDavid: https://twitter.com/StonewallFit
Guest: Desun Oka Historian Desun Oka beams aboard to talk about the intersection of nationalism and Star Trek. The United Federation of Planets is often likened to the United States of America, but in space. In what ways is the Federation like a modern nation state? In what ways is it not? And how might Star Trek reflect, examine, and critique what nationalism is all about?"Imagined Communities" by Benedict Anderson: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imagined_Communities"Ancient Earth" from PBS NOVA—featuring Mike! https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/ancient-earth-birth-of-the-sky/Follow us on Twitter!Strange New Worlds: https://twitter.com/scienceoftrekMike: https://twitter.com/miquai
On this short solo episode, Mike shares his address to the students of the 2023 International Society for Artificial Life summer school.
Read more about the concept of "lyfe": https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/10/4/42
Read more about the concept of "genesity": https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/12/6/783
"Life Evolves. Can Attempts to Create ‘Artificial Life’ Evolve, Too?" by Shi En Kim for Scientific American: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/life-evolves-can-attempts-to-create-artificial-life-evolve-too/
Follow us on Twitter! Strange New Worlds: twitter.com/scienceoftrek Mike: twitter.com/miquai
Guests: Tim Russ & Dr. Kayla Iacovino
On this episode of Strange New Worlds, we're bringing you a panel that Mike hosted for the Nichelle Nichols Foundation's "Hailing Frequencies Open!" speaker series. This panel features Star Trek actor and citizen scientist Tim Russ as well as NASA volcanologist and TrekMovie.com editor Dr. Kayla Iacovino. Together, they explore strange new worlds and seek out new life!
Watch the YouTube version of this panel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29NtHNVuGwY&ab_channel=NichelleNicholsFoundation
The Nichelle Nichols Foundation: https://nichellenichols.foundation/
Follow us on Twitter! Strange New Worlds: https://twitter.com/scienceoftrek Mike: https://twitter.com/miquai Kayla: https://twitter.com/kaylai Tim: https://twitter.com/timruss2
On this short solo episode, Mike reflects on his trip to the "Oxygen in Planetary Biospheres" workshop at Green Bank Observatory.
"Can You Decode an Alien Message?" by Shi En Kim: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/can-you-decode-an-alien-message/
A Sign in Space: https://asignin.space/
Follow us on Twitter! Strange New Worlds: twitter.com/scienceoftrek Mike: twitter.com/miquai
On this short solo episode, Mike reflects on his trip to the "Cosmic Visions" conference at Johns Hopkins University.
Follow us on Twitter! Strange New Worlds: twitter.com/scienceoftrek Mike: twitter.com/miquai
Guest: Walter Koenig
Star Trek actor Walter Koenig joins Mike to reflect upon his friendship with Nichelle Nichols and her boundary-breaking legacy. Both Walter and Mike are on the advisory board for the Nichelle Nichols Foundation, a non-profit organization whose mission is to increase diversity and inclusion in STEAM fields. Find out more about the organization and consider donating at: https://nichellenichols.foundation/.
Follow us on Twitter! Strange New Worlds: https://twitter.com/scienceoftrek Mike: https://twitter.com/miquai Walter: https://twitter.com/GineokwKoenig
Guest: John Jackson Miller
New York Times bestselling author John Jackson Miller joins Mike to discuss his Star Trek: Strange New Worlds novel "The High Country"—the first piece of the Star Trek Universe that features Mike's name in it!
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: The High Country, by John Jackson Miller: https://farawaypress.com/2022/04/08/strange-new-worlds-high-country/
Follow us on Twitter! Strange New Worlds: https://twitter.com/scienceoftrek Mike: https://twitter.com/miquai John: https://twitter.com/jjmfaraway
Guest: Dr. Scott Perl
NASA JPL astrobiologist Dr. Scott Perl joins us to discuss the science of biosignatures and his work on developing ways to explore strange new worlds and seek out new life in the Solar System and beyond.
Scott's paper, "A Proposed Geobiology-Driven Nomenclature for Astrobiological In Situ Observations and Sample Analyses": https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/ast.2020.2318
Follow us on Twitter! Strange New Worlds: twitter.com/scienceoftrek Mike: twitter.com/miquai Scott: https://twitter.com/ScottPerl
Guest: Dr. Peter Gao Planetary scientist Dr. Peter Gao beams back aboard Strange New Worlds to discuss the latest JWST exoplanet findings and the Star Trek: Picard series finale. Warning: we don't hold back on spoilers!Follow us on Twitter:Strange New Worlds: https://twitter.com/scienceoftrekMike: https://twitter.com/miquaiPeter: https://twitter.com/PlanetaryGao
Guest: Dr. Anirudh Prabhu What's the history of artificial intelligence, and where is A.I. headed next? Most importantly, how close are we to creating Data? In the second half of Mike's conversation with data scientist Dr. Anirudh Prabhu, we explore all of these questions—and more!Anirudh's website: https://www.anirudhprabhu.com/Follow us on Twitter!Strange New Worlds: twitter.com/scienceoftrekMike: twitter.com/miquaiAnirudh: twitter.com/Anirudh_14
Guest: Dr. Anirudh Prabhu Mike speaks to his Carnegie Science officemate, data scientist Dr. Anirudh Prabhu, about the groundbreaking field of mineral informatics and how mineral association analysis can revolutionize Earth and planetary exploration.Anirudh's paper, "What is mineral informatics?" https://www.authorea.com/doi/full/10.1002/essoar.10511201.2Follow us on Twitter!Strange New Worlds: https://twitter.com/scienceoftrekMike: https://twitter.com/miquaiAnirudh: https://twitter.com/Anirudh_14
Guest: Emilie Lafleche On the 150th episode of Strange New Worlds, Mike speaks to Emilie Lafleche, who recently commanded an analog astronaut mission that simulated a visit to Tsiolkovskiy crater on the far side of the Moon. They chat about why do we do analog astronaut missions, the science that Emilie and her crew performed on their mission, what makes a good leader, and more!Follow us on Twitter!Strange New Worlds: https://twitter.com/scienceoftrekMike: https://twitter.com/miquaiEmilie: https://twitter.com/astroemilie
On this short solo episode, Mike reflects on his trip to the "What Is Life?" conference at UC Santa Cruz.Follow us on Twitter!Strange New Worlds: twitter.com/scienceoftrekMike: twitter.com/miquai
On this short solo episode, Mike reflects on his trip to his first-ever network science conference, #NetSciX2023 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.Follow us on Twitter!Strange New Worlds: https://twitter.com/scienceoftrekMike: https://twitter.com/miquai
Guest: Dr. Marta Cortesão Star Trek: Discovery introduced us to the mycelial network, a subspace superhighway that astromycologist Paul Stamets learns to navigate using a piece of technology called the spore drive. On this episode of Strange New Worlds, Mike speaks to real-life astromycologist Dr. Marta Cortesão about the wonderful world of fungi: their mycorrhizal networks, their ability to survive in space, and how they may be vital partners on long-duration space missions.The Virtual Trek Con version of this podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFkeQy5Jj1c&ab_channel=VirtualTrekConMarta's book chapter "Fungal Biotechnology in Space: Why and How?": https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-29541-7_18Marta's paper "Aspergillus niger Spores Are Highly Resistant to Space Radiation": https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2020.00560/fullMarta's paper "Colony growth and biofilm formation of Aspergillus niger under simulated microgravity": https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.975763/fullMarta's paper "MARSBOx: Fungal and Bacterial Endurance From a Balloon-Flown Analog Mission in the Stratosphere": https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2021.601713/fullFollow us on Twitter!Strange New Worlds: https://twitter.com/scienceoftrekMike: https://twitter.com/miquaiMarta: https://twitter.com/martacortesao
Guest: Dr. Erin Macdonald Star Trek science advisor Dr. Erin Macdonald joins Mike to discuss the science behind Star Trek: Prodigy’s first season, from protostars to red giants, damped sine waves to scientific ethics. Mike also asks Erin about her new children’s book, Star Trek: My First Book of Space, and her cameo appearance in the Prodigy finale!Star Trek: My First Book of Space, by Dr. Erin Macdonald: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/710867/star-trek-my-first-book-of-space-by-erin-macdonald-phd-illustrated-by-jason-kayser/Dr. Erin on Star Formation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWIVImXW3yY&ab_channel=ParamountPlusHomoploid hybrid speciation in the real world and in Star Trek: Prodigy by Prof. Mohamed Noor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PJbeySsqn0&ab_channel=BioTrekkieExplains%21Follow us on Twitter!Strange New Worlds: https://twitter.com/scienceoftrekMike: https://twitter.com/miquaiErin: https://twitter.com/drerinmac
Guest: Lisa Wong We embark on 2023 with a conversation between Mike and his book editor sister, Lisa Wong. Together, they pick apart Ensign Boimler's holonovel from the Star Trek: Lower Decks episode "Crisis Point II: Paradoxus" (Season 3, Episode 8), using it as a case study to discuss everything from romantic subplots to writer flow states to exploring the human condition.Soulful Editing, Lisa's website: https://sites.google.com/view/bookbeta/home"We Need More Books Without Romance" by Angela Chen: https://electricliterature.com/we-need-more-books-without-romance/Follow us on Twitter!Strange New Worlds: https://twitter.com/scienceoftrekMike: https://twitter.com/miquai
Mike reflects on 2022 and the most recent American Geophysical Union (AGU) meeting in Chicago, IL.Mike's Carnegie Science Neighborhood Lecture on "The Science of Star Trek": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYRUnpAtJ3A&ab_channel=CarnegieEarth%26PlanetsLaboratoryMike on Science Friday's episode "Searching For Life On The Red Planet Prompts Deeper Questions": https://www.sciencefriday.com/person/mike-l-wong/Mike on Science Friday's "Sun Camp: Beyond the Sun": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMUEvEtZGGI&list=PLB2w1JNHV4HR0vBq5XLbsrnVCrDs-9o1h&index=5&ab_channel=SciFriMike on the Infinite Diversity podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id-124-lower-decks-the-stars-at-night/id1522356073?i=1000584610845Mike on NASA's "Ask An Astrobiologist!": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLKGosgMTIs&ab_channel=NASAAstrobiologyFollow us on Twitter!Strange New Worlds: https://twitter.com/scienceoftrekMike: https://twitter.com/miquai
Guest: Daniel Nicholls From Badgey to Peanut Hamper, AGIMUS to the Aledo, artificial intelligence is rife in Star Trek: Lower Decks. Daniel Nicholls, the Information Systems Manager at Carnegie Sciences's Earth & Planets Laboratory, joins Mike to discuss how these fictional examples of AI reflect our fears and desires for AI in the real world.Follow us on Twitter:Strange New Worlds: https://twitter.com/scienceoftrekMike: https://twitter.com/miquai
Guest: Prof. Rica French Mike speaks to Rica French, Professor of Astronomy at MiraCosta College and the Associate Director of the Center for Astronomy Education, about how she engages Trekkies at Star Trek conventions and students at MiraCosta about the wonders of the universe.Follow us on Twitter!Strange New Worlds: twitter.com/scienceoftrekMike: twitter.com/miquaiRica: https://twitter.com/ricadink
Guest: Prof. Mohamed Noor
Dr. Mohamed Noor—Professor of Biology and Interim Dean of Arts & Sciences at Duke University—returns to Strange New Worlds to talk about how being a science consultant for the Star Trek universe inspired his latest paper, "Thinking outside Earth’s box—how might heredity and evolution differ on other worlds?"
Mohamed's paper, "Thinking outside Earth’s box—how might heredity and evolution differ on other worlds?": https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12052-022-00172-4
Follow us on Twitter! Strange New Worlds: https://twitter.com/scienceoftrek Mike: https://twitter.com/miquai Mohamed: https://twitter.com/mafnoor
Guest: Lucas Fifer
We've given Europa a lot of attention this year, but Enceladus, an icy moon of Saturn, is also one of the most intriguing places to seek out new life in our solar system. On this episode of Strange New Worlds, we learn all about Enceladus's subsurface ocean, as revealed by NASA's Cassini orbiter and a new computer model developed by planetary scientist and astrobiologist Lucas Fifer. Is Enceladus's ocean habitable? What's the best strategy for looking for biosignatures? And what would it mean to find life out there?
Lucas's paper, "Chemical Fractionation Modeling of Plumes Indicates a Gas-rich, Moderately Alkaline Enceladus Ocean": https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/PSJ/ac7a9f
Follow us on Twitter! Strange New Worlds: https://twitter.com/miquai Mike: https://twitter.com/scienceoftrek Lucas: https://twitter.com/fifebeyondearth
Guest: Dr. Jason von Stietz
In Part 2 of our most recent conversation with clinical psychologist Dr. Jason von Stietz, we tackle psychological themes from Season 1 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, from Spock unleashing his rage to Pike managing the trauma of experiencing his own, gruesome future.
Jason's new podcast, Movie House Sport Psychology: https://anchor.fm/moviehousesportpsychology
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: twitter.com/miquai Jason: twitter.com/CBTSportPsych Strange New Worlds: twitter.com/scienceoftrek
Guest: Dr. Jason von Stietz
Clinical psychologist Dr. Jason von Stietz returns to discuss some of the psychological themes in the first two seasons of Star Trek: Lower Decks, from Mariner's therapy in "Crisis Point" to Boimler's perfectionism in "I, Excretus."
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: https://twitter.com/miquai Jason: https://twitter.com/CBTSportPsych Strange New Worlds: https://twitter.com/scienceoftrek
Guest: Prof. Sheri Wells-Jensen
In Part 2 of a conversation with Professor Sheri Wells-Jensen, we learn about Dr. Wells-Jensen's academic work on disability and inclusion in space exploration: why there should be blind astronauts, how disability can be a model for first contact, and portrayals of disability in Star Trek.
"The Case for Disabled Astronauts" by Sheri Wells-Jensen: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/the-case-for-disabled-astronauts/
"Models of Disability as Models of First Contact" by Wells-Jensen & Zuber (2020): https://doi.org/10.3390/rel11120676
"An alternate vision for colonization" by Wells-Jensen et al. (2019): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2019.02.012
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: https://twitter.com/miquai Strange New Worlds: https://twitter.com/scienceoftrek
Guest: Prof. Sheri Wells-Jensen
In Part 1 of a conversation with Professor Sheri Wells-Jensen, we chat about Dr. Wells-Jensen's involvement in creating Species 10-C's language for Season 4 of Star Trek: Discovery, how deciphering alien languages might work in reality, and the connections between language and thought, mind and body.
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: https://twitter.com/miquai Strange New Worlds: https://twitter.com/scienceoftrek
Guest: Dr. Bob Pappalardo
On the grand finale of our #EuropaWatch mini-series based on Season 2 of Star Trek: Picard, the Project Scientist for NASA's Europa Clipper mission, Dr. Bob Pappalardo, joins us to tell us about the real-life spacecraft launching for Europa in 2024.
Find out more about the Europa Clipper mission here: https://europa.nasa.gov/
Carnegie Earth & Planets Laboratory's Neighborhood Lecture on The Science of Star Trek, featuring Mike Wong: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYRUnpAtJ3A&ab_channel=CarnegieEarth%26PlanetsLaboratory
Follow us on Twitter: Mike: https://twitter.com/miquai Bob: https://twitter.com/RPappalardo Strange New Worlds: https://twitter.com/scienceoftrek
On this short solo episode, Mike reflects on the 2022 Astrobiology Science Conference, his first in-person science conference in nearly 3 years.
Galactic Journey: http://galacticjourney.org/
Register for Mike's virtual "Science of Star Trek" Carnegie Neighborhood Lecture (June 16): carnegiescience.edu/events/lectures…ience-star-trek
Follow Mike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/miquai
Guest: Dr. Anastasia Klimchynskaya
Science fiction—like all forms of literature, art, and media—fossilizes a slice of the way that people made sense of the world at the time in which it was created. Dr. Anastasia Klimchynskaya joins Mike to explain the technoscientific paradox behind science fiction’s emergence as a brand-new genre in the 19th century and how Star Trek continues to reflect its themes to this day.
Register for Mike's virtual "Science of Star Trek" Carnegie Neighborhood Lecture (June 16): https://carnegiescience.edu/events/lectures/science-star-trek
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: https://twitter.com/miquai Anastasia: https://twitter.com/anaklimchy
Guest: Adriana Gómez-Buckley
On the final episode of the Europa Watch mini-series, Mike speaks to University of Washington astrobiologist Adriana Gómez-Buckley about her new scientific paper on simulating bacterial and viral ecosystems in Europa's subsurface ocean.
"Modeling Virus and Bacteria Populations in Europa’s Subsurface Ocean" by Adriana Gómez-Buckley et al.: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/12/5/620
Follow us on Twitter! Strange New Worlds: https://twitter.com/scienceoftrek Mike: https://twitter.com/miquai Adriana: https://twitter.com/astro_agb
Guests: Dr. Erin Macdonald & Prof. Mohamed Noor
The official Star Trek science consultants, Dr. Erin Macdonald and Prof. Mohamed Noor, beam aboard to discuss the science behind Star Trek: Discovery's fourth season. We cover the Dark Matter Anomaly, gravitational waves, on-screen physics equations, gas giant aliens, epigenetic clocks, communicating with hydrocarbon pheromones, and more!
Erin's Spacetime Productions: https://www.spacetimeproductions.net/
Mohamed's YouTube channel "BioTrekkie Explains!": https://www.youtube.com/c/BioTrekkieExplains
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: https://twitter.com/Miquai Erin: https://twitter.com/drerinmac Mohamed: https://twitter.com/mafnoor
Inspired by the events of PIC: "Two of One," Mike interviews random Trekkies at Star Trek: Mission Chicago to see if they would want to board a mission to Europa.
Follow Mike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Miquai
Guest: Dr. James T. Keane
On the third episode of #EuropaWatch, we talk about Io (surprise!) and life on Io (even bigger surprise!) with Io evangelist Dr. James T. Keane (best surprise!) based on the revelations from PIC: "Fly Me to the Moon."
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: https://twitter.com/Miquai James: https://twitter.com/jtuttlekeane
Mike's second spontaneous Europa-themed episode takes an in-depth look at the LA Times article in Q's hands from the Star Trek: Picard episode "Watcher."
Follow Mike on Twitter: twitter.com/Miquai
Guest: Thomas Marrone
Designing Star Trek ships is both a science and an art. Thomas Marrone, Star Trek Online's Associate Art Director, joins Mike to talk about the process of creating starships and how his STO designs found their way into Star Trek: Picard's second season.
Thomas' ArtStation: https://www.artstation.com/thomasmarrone
"My Life at Warp Speed," a short documentary about Thomas' work: https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11510833-star-trek-online%3A-my-life-at-warp-speed
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: https://twitter.com/Miquai Thomas: https://twitter.com/thomasthecat
Let's try something completely new! Every time there is an appearance or a mention of "The Europa Mission" in Season 2 of Star Trek: Picard, Mike will do a spontaneous episode about some cool Europa science. Here's the first episode of #EuropaWatch, based on PIC: "Assimilation."
Follow Mike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Miquai
Response to DSC: "Species Ten-C"
On the latest episode of Star Trek: Discovery, the crew makes first contact with Species 10-C, and Captain Burnham decides to relay the concept of "us" using the chemical composition of air. Mike reflects on this utterly brilliant choice.
Follow Mike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Miquai
Guest: Dr. Anjali Piette
Astronomer and exoplanetary scientist Dr. Anjali Piette joins Mike to respond to DSC: "Rosetta"—in particular, how gassy planets can transform into rocky ones, just like the 10-C's homeworld did.
Follow Mike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Miquai
Guests: Katie Nickolaou & Dr. Simon Clark
Meteorologist and storm chaser Katie Nickolaou as well as science communicator and atmospheric physicist Dr. Simon Clark join us to discuss their favorite instances of weather and climate in Star Trek. Together, they take us on a journey to the beaches of Risa, the cauldron of Caldos, a Borgified Earth, and more!
"Star Trek Fandom Forecast" by Katie Nickolaou: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N24mG3ZU6y4&ab_channel=SoManyRandomFandoms
"Which planets from Star Trek TNG could really exist?" by Dr. Simon Clark and Dr. Hannah Wakeford: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ykkmlwdgdys&ab_channel=SimonClark
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: https://twitter.com/Miquai Katie: https://twitter.com/weather_katie Simon: https://twitter.com/simonoxfphys
Guest: Dr. Stuart Bartlett
Caltech astrobiologist and complexity scientist Dr. Stuart Bartlett joins us to discuss the relationship between complex systems and life, a novel way to assess planetary complexity, and how this technique may one day help us look for new life and new civilizations.
Stuart's paper, "Assessing planetary complexity and potential agnostic biosignatures using epsilon machines": https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-021-01559-x
"Bleeding edge tech could help us find unusual alien life" by Charles Q. Choi for Inverse: https://www.inverse.com/science/epsilon-machines-alien-life
Follow Mike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Miquai
Response to DSC: "All In"
We take a closer look at how Michael Burnham inspects Haz Mazaro's isolynium to verify its authenticity on the latest episode of Star Trek: Discovery.
Follow Mike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Miquai
Guest: David Mack
Star Trek novelist David Mack—one of the architects of the Star Trek: Coda trilogy and the author of its final installment, "Oblivion's Gate"— joins Mike to explore the scientific themes in Coda, the symbiosis between science and science fiction, and the power of living in the moment.
More about "Oblivion's Gate" on David Mack's website: https://davidmack.pro/writing/oblivions-gate/
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: https://twitter.com/Miquai David: https://twitter.com/DavidAlanMack
Guest: Dr. Peter Gao
Planetary scientist Dr. Peter Gao beams aboard to discuss: the first half of Star Trek: Discovery's fourth season; the latest Star Trek: Prodigy episode, "Kobayashi"; and the successful launch and deployment of JWST, humanity's most powerful space telescope ever built.
"The Five Big Ways the James Webb Telescope Will Help Astronomers Understand the Universe" by Shi En Kim: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/five-big-ways-james-webb-telescope-will-help-astronomers-understand-universe-180978303/
Articles discussing why JWST should be renamed: 1. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/nasa-needs-to-rename-the-james-webb-space-telescope/ 2. https://www.dailyuw.com/news/discoveries/article_7122ec66-353c-11ec-9731-b72c140e93b2.html 3. https://astrobites.org/2021/12/19/jwst_renaming/
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: https://twitter.com/Miquai Peter: https://twitter.com/PlanetaryGao
Guest: Jon Wong
Thanks to the development of COVID-19 vaccines, many people around the world could once again feel safe gathering with loved ones over the holidays. In this episode, we celebrate the science of vaccines by talking to medical student Jon Wong about the Deep Space Nine episode "The Quickening," where Dr. Julian Bashir develops a vaccine that saves an entire planet from a horrendous viral blight.
Follow Mike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Miquai
Response to DSC: "The Examples"
On the latest episode of Star Trek: Discovery, Tarka deduces that the DMA has the power of a hypergiant star. Can we use that info to estimate some key stats of the USS Discovery?
Follow Mike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Miquai
Response to DSC: "All Is Possible"
On the latest episode of Star Trek: Discovery, Lt. Sylvia Tilly leads a cadet training exercise to survey a planetary body. Along the way, she makes a profound personal discovery. Mike shares his reaction to Tilly's mission and her revelation.
Interdisciplinary organizations that Mike mentions: The Virtual Planetary Laboratory: https://depts.washington.edu/naivpl/content/welcome-virtual-planetary-laboratory The AEThER Project: https://planets.carnegiescience.edu/aether The Keck Institute for Space Studies: https://kiss.caltech.edu/
Follow Mike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Miquai
Response to DSC: "Choose to Live"
In an attempt to unravel the mystery of the Dark Matter Anomaly, President T'Rina mind melds with Book to reexamine his memories of Kwejian's destruction. Can personal memories of traumatic events be trusted?
Memory distortion references:
Strange & Takarangi's paper "Memory distortion for traumatic events: the role of mental imagery": https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2015.00027/full
An interview with neuroscientist Donna Bridge: https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2012/09/your-memory-is-like-the-telephone-game
The accuracy of 9/11 memories: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/911-memory-accuracy/
"Boldly Go!" a Star Trek parody musical: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdtBArmWHdY&ab_channel=BoldlyGo%21
Follow Mike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Miquai
Response to DSC: "Anomaly"
In the second episode of Discovery's fourth season, the crew goes face-to-face with the dangerous anomaly that radiates gravitational waves and leaves only destruction in its wake. Can you ride a gravitational wave? And why could the anomaly have a seemingly chaotic trajectory through space?
A helpful Astrobites article about black hole "superkicks": https://astrobites.org/2018/03/08/recoil-detectives-searching-for-black-hole-kicks-using-gravitational-waves/
Follow Mike on Twitter: twitter.com/Miquai
Response to DSC: "Kobayashi Maru"
In the first episode of Discovery's fourth season, we meet the Alshain, who navigate by their planet's magnetic field, which is in the processes of reversing polarity. Do planetary magnetic fields actually flip? And do real-life organisms use magnetism to orient themselves?
Paper about protist–magnetic bacteria symbiosis: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-019-0432-7
Paper about human magnetoreception: https://authors.library.caltech.edu/90480/
Follow Mike on Twitter: twitter.com/Miquai
Guests: Dr. Caleb Scharf & Dr. Stuart Bartlett
One thing—perhaps the thing—that sets humans apart is the way we encode information in our environment. In his book "The Ascent of Information," Caleb Scharf, Director of Astrobiology at Columbia University, coined a new name for this externalization of data. It's the "dataome"—like the "biome" because this information can be seen as a living system in its own right.
On this exciting episode of Strange New Worlds, Mike is joined by Dr. Scharf as well as astrobiologist and artificial life researcher Dr. Stuart Bartlett to discuss how the concept of the dataome interfaces with themes in Star Trek. Why is AI such a prevalent villain in the Trek universe? Will we ever become the Borg? What can we learn about biology by creating synthetic life?
"The Ascent of Information," by Caleb Scharf: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/621175/the-ascent-of-information-by-caleb-scharf/
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: https://twitter.com/Miquai Caleb: https://twitter.com/caleb_scharf
Guest: Shi En Kim
Science journalist Shi En Kim joins Mike to read their StarTrek.com article about how scientists are transplanting tardigrade genes into human cells à la Stamets in Star Trek: Discovery. Then, Kim joins Mike to share some science stories from her AAAS Mass Media Fellowship at Smithsonian Magazine and their connections to Star Trek.
Kim & Mike's StarTrek.com article "Discovery's Tardigrades Are Making a Name For Themselves in Our World": https://www.startrek.com/news/discoverys-tardigrades-are-making-a-name-for-themselves-in-our-world
Kim's space debris article: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/can-worlds-first-space-sweeper-make-dent-orbiting-debris-180978515/
Kim's spider silk article: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/fourteen-ways-spiders-use-their-silk-180978354/
Kim's website: https://shienkim.wordpress.com/
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: https://twitter.com/Miquai Kim: https://twitter.com/goes_by_kim
Guest: Basem Al-Shayeb Special Co-Host: Elise Cutts
Scientists recently announced the discovery of Borgs (yes, Borgs), which they describe as giant genetic elements that assimilate DNA from their archaeal hosts. We speak to the lead author of the Borg paper—UC Berkeley graduate student Basem Al-Shayeb—about finding the Borgs, their global implications, and, of course, the story behind their naming.
Basem's paper, "Borgs are giant extrachromosomal elements with the potential to augment methane oxidation": https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.07.10.451761v1
Two recent science news articles by Elise: "Desert Life Conjures Organic Carbon from Thin Air" in EOS: https://eos.org/articles/desert-life-conjures-organic-carbon-from-thin-air "Missing Antarctic microbes raise thorny questions about the search for aliens" in Science News: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/antarctica-microbes-habitability-aliens-extraterrestrial
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: https://twitter.com/Miquai Basem: https://twitter.com/themicrobeguy Elise: https://twitter.com/elisecutts
Luke Tower is a high school student with a passion for science and engineering who is trying to figure out what he wants to study. As part of this journey, he's been interviewing different kinds of STEM professionals on his podcast, Atomic Interviews. On this BONUS episode of Strange New Worlds, we're listening to an interview that Luke did with Mike about planetary science, astrobiology, and Mike's career path. Enjoy!
Atomic Interviews: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/atomic-interviews/id1550208265
Follow Mike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Miquai
Guests: Prof. Myriam Telus, Dr. Jessie Christiansen, Dr. James T. Keane, and Dr. Tiffany Kataria
Mike hosts a panel discussion about diversity in science & Star Trek, which initially aired live on July 18, 2021, at the IDIC Podcast Festival hosted by Women at Warp.
Rewatch all of the IDIC Podcast Festival sessions: https://www.womenatwarp.com/idic-fest/
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: https://twitter.com/Miquai Jessie: https://twitter.com/aussiastronomer James: https://twitter.com/jtuttlekeane
Guest: Dr. Maddie Stone
Can Star Trek help us solve climate change? Science journalist Dr. Maddie Stone joins Mike to recap specific instances of environmentalism in Star Trek—TNG: “Force of Nature,” VOY: “Thirty Days,” and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home—and imagine how contemporary Star Trek can more directly address our present-day climate crisis.
“It's Time for Star Trek to Tackle Climate Change” by Maddie Stone: https://gizmodo.com/its-time-for-star-trek-to-tackle-climate-change-1833261411
“Five times Star Trek biology plots went off the rails” by Maddie Stone: https://www.sciof.fi/five-times-star-trek-biology-plots-went-off-the-rails-2/
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: https://twitter.com/Miquai Maddie: https://twitter.com/themadstone
Guest: Thea Weiss
According to one line of thought, the emergence of robots and artificial intelligence has engendered a brand-new category of being. How should we flesh-and-blood creatures treat these synthetic entities? In part two of an interview with University of Washington psychologist and astrobiologist Thea Weiss, we discuss a study that examined whether children ascribed mental states, civil rights, and moral standing to a robot named Robovie—and how this study relates to the battle over Data's self-determination in TNG: "The Measure of a Man."
Short video describing Thea's lab's research: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEKrTa_z-zk&t=2s
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: https://twitter.com/Miquai Thea: https://twitter.com/TheaWeiss17
Guest: Thea Weiss
As technology becomes increasingly pervasive, more and more people are perceiving the natural world through screens and simulated experiences. One day, astronauts on long-duration missions may only know natural environments through virtual reality...or perhaps the holodeck. What does this mean for our mental and physical health? In the first of two episodes featuring University of Washington psychologist and astrobiologist Thea Weiss, we discuss whether simulated nature imparts the same restorative benefits as actual nature, the concept of the uncanny valley, and a phenomenon known as "environmental generational amnesia."
Also, check out UW Astrobiology's brand-new series of public science panels, hosted by Mike! Panel 1 "Where is the best place to look for life in the universe?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nd9nGwH6DpA&t=3s&ab_channel=UWAstrobiology Panel 2 "What is life and how did it begin?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eA595wUW5PI&ab_channel=UWAstrobiology Panel 3 "How will we find and recognize life out there?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlTsw7ZR8I8&t=1s&ab_channel=UWAstrobiology
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: https://twitter.com/Miquai Thea: https://twitter.com/TheaWeiss17
Guest: Dr. Una McCormack
New York Times bestselling science fiction writer Dr. Una McCormack joins us to talk about the scientific themes in her 2020 Star Trek: Picard novel The Last Best Hope—from allegories for climate change and science denialism to the pursuit of synthetic sentience.
Info about the IDIC Podcast Festival, July 17 & 18, 2021: https://www.womenatwarp.com/idic-fest/
The Last Best Hope, by Dr. Una McCormack: https://unamccormack.co.uk/?books=star-trek-picard-the-last-best-hope
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: https://twitter.com/Miquai Una: https://twitter.com/unamccormack
Guest: Dr. Margaret Weitekamp Special Co-Host: Dr. Ingrid Ockert
Historian of science Dr. Ingrid Ockert joins Mike as a special co-host in this episode, in which they beam aboard Dr. Margaret Weitekamp to talk about the history of women in space and the history of women in Star Trek. Dr. Weitekamp is the author of "Right Stuff, Wrong Sex: America's First Women in Space Program" and is the Curator and Department Chair of the Space History Department at the Smithsonian's National Air & Space Museum in Washington, DC. Together, they delve into the role of women during the earliest days of the American space program, how Nichelle Nichols helped recruit a more diverse workforce for NASA, and how women have been portrayed in Star Trek over the generations.
Info about the IDIC Podcast Festival, July 17 & 18, 2021: https://www.womenatwarp.com/idic-fest/
Dr. Weitekamp's book "Right Stuff, Wrong Sex: America's First Women in Space Program": https://airandspace.si.edu/research/publications/right-stuff-wrong-sex-americas-first-women-space-program
The Nichelle Nichols documentary "Woman In Motion": https://twitter.com/WIMthefilm
The Atlantic article about Wally Funk's selection as a Blue Origin astronaut, by Marina Koren: https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/07/jeff-bezos-wally-funk-blue-origin/619344/
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: https://twitter.com/Miquai Margaret: https://twitter.com/mgtwspace Ingrid: https://twitter.com/ingrid_rocket
Guest: Justin Oser
In Part 2 of a conversation with Trek podcaster and Star Trek novel enthusiast Justin Oser, we discuss the science in the Starfleet Corps of Engineers novella "Balance of Nature" by Heather Jarman, a story in which we visit the homeworld of the Nasat, a species of sentient insectoids.
UW Astrobiology presents "Where is the Best Place to Look for Life in the Universe?" hosted by Mike Wong: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/uw-astrobiology-presents-where-is-the-best-place-to-look-for-life-tickets-152784280897
This episode features original music by EEP, a band founded by Justin Oser's wife, Rosie Varela: https://eepshoegaze.bandcamp.com/
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: https://twitter.com/Miquai Justin: https://twitter.com/trekfan4747 Infinite Diversity Podcast: https://twitter.com/IDICPodcast EEP: https://twitter.com/eepshoegaze
Guest: Justin Oser
In Part 1 of a conversation with Trek podcaster Justin Oser, we dive into the multiverse of Star Trek novels and pick apart the Venus science in the Starfleet Corps of Engineers novellas "Ishtar Rising, Parts 1 & 2" by Michael A. Martin and Andy Mangels.
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: https://twitter.com/Miquai Justin: https://twitter.com/trekfan4747
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
Response to DSC: "Su'Kal"
Expectation vs. reality: scientific commentary on what Mike thought was going to be in the Verubin nebula and what the U.S.S. Discovery actually found.
Paul Stamets' TED talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/paul_stamets_6_ways_mushrooms_can_save_the_world?language=en
Follow Mike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Miquai
Response to DSC: "Terra Firma, Part 2"
This week on Strange New Worlds, reflections (pun fully intended) on our latest visit to the Mirror Universe.
Follow Mike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Miquai
Guest: Rebecca Pierce
Writer, filmmaker, and activist Rebecca Pierce joins Mike to discuss the intersection of racial justice, protest movements, #BlackLivesMatter, and Star Trek using the poignant Deep Space Nine episodes "Far Beyond the Stars" and "Past Tense" as launch points.
Rebecca Pierce: https://www.rebeccapiercefilms.com/
Diasperse: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/diasperse/id1533908402
Infinite Diversity: A Star Trek Universe Podcast: https://www.ufp.earth/infinite-diversity/
"Is Anybody Out There?" on Flash Forward: https://www.flashforwardpod.com/2020/12/08/is-anybody-out-there/
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: https://twitter.com/Miquai Rebecca: https://twitter.com/aptly_engineerd Diasperse: https://twitter.com/Diasperse
Response to DSC: "The Sanctuary"
Planet Kwejian's orbital parameters, as seen on Lt. Bryce's computer, are exactly identical to that of Venus. So why is Kwejian habitable? Mike discusses a few possibilities.
Photo of Kwejian's planetary parameters: http://discovery.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/promo-photos/season3/308/308-bridge-bryce.jpg
Way & Del Genio's 2020 paper on Venus's climate history: doi.org/10.1029/2019JE006276
Infinite Diversity podcast: www.ufp.earth/infinite-diversity/
Follow Mike on Twitter: twitter.com/Miquai
Response to DSC: "Unification III"
Mike reflects on the T'Kal-in-ket. This ancient Vulcan tradition was billed as a search for new scientific truths via the crucible of logic and peer review, kind of like doctoral thesis defense. But in Michael Burnham's case, it quickly pivoted to a search for a different kind of truth.
Link to register for Mike's "Science of Star Trek" talk at 7 pm on December 2, 2020: https://kcls.bibliocommons.com/events/5f99e67f9aadc72f00582f3a
Follow Mike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Miquai
Response to DSC: "Scavengers"
On the latest episode of Star Trek: Discovery, Commander Burnham explains how she plans on using the black boxes of starships destroyed during the Burn to triangulate the disaster's point of origin. Mike remarks on how this is similar to how real-life gravitational wave observatories around the world work together to locate cataclysmic astronomical events in space and time.
Interactive skymap of gravitational wave detections: https://www.virgo-gw.eu/skymap.html
Follow Mike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Miquai
Guest: Dr. Ingrid Ockert
Science and Star Trek share an intimate association in popular culture. This alliance only grows stronger as Star Trek continues to inspire new generations of scientists and as real-life discoveries continue to underpin the show's stories. But was this all planned or just an accident? On this episode of Strange New Worlds, Mike is joined by Dr. Ingrid Ockert, a historian of science and media, who studied Star Trek's relationship with science in the time surrounding the show's inception.
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: https://twitter.com/Miquai Ingrid: https://twitter.com/ingrid_rocket
Response to DSC: "Die Trying"
This week's episode of Star Trek: Discovery featured a neurological disease caused by prions. Mike discusses prions, how they can cause diseases, and how some scientists consider them contenders for the origin of life.
Prof. Mohamed Noor's YouTube channel, BioTrekkie Explains! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5zvlD5RnkzhIegG0gnSeSw
Follow Mike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Miquai
Response to DSC: "Forget Me Not"
On the most recent episode of Star Trek: Discovery, "Forget Me Not," the crew travels to the Trill homeworld to retrieve the memories of the Tal symbiont, which currently resides inside of Adira. Most of us may not be Trill, but we all have endosymbionts in our bodies nonetheless. These microorganisms help us digest our food, synthesize vitamins, and even affect our central nervous system. On this episode of Strange New Worlds, Mike discusses the human gut microbiome, as well as the microbiomes of a few other remarkable animals, before drawing a parallel to the symbiosis between the Sphere Data and the U.S.S. Discovery.
"I Contain Multitudes" by Ed Yong: https://edyong.me/i-contain-multitudes
Follow Mike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/miquai
Response to DSC: "People of Earth"
On the latest episode of Star Trek: Discovery, we learn that a research base on Titan has suffered a catastrophic accident. Mike hypothesizes how this might have occurred and makes an argument, based on energy availability, for why a dilithium-starved human outpost on Titan might resort to desperate measures.
"Energy Options for Future Humans on Titan" by Amanda R. Hendrix & Yuk L. Yung: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1707.00365.pdf
Follow Mike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/miquai
Guest: Dr. Ingrid Ockert
Dr. Ingrid Ockert, a historian of science, joins Mike to respond to DSC: "Far From Home." While the first episode of Season 3 was reminiscent of 1970s sci-fi, Ingrid explains why this week's episode was more of a 1950s mold. They also discuss the journeys of Saru and Tilly, and Mike closes with remarks on parasitic ice.
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: https://twitter.com/Miquai Ingrid: https://twitter.com/ingrid_rocket
Let's try something new! This is the start of a series of short, weekly reactions to Discovery's third season—from a scientific perspective, of course!
This week, DSC 301: "That Hope Is You, Part 1."
Learn how your host Mike Wong looked for biosignatures in Iceland's Hverfjall crater in 2016, the same crater that served as the setting for Michael Burnham's crash landing and subsequent biosignature scan in 3188!
Follow Mike on Twitter: @Miquai
Guest: Professor David Kipping
Star Trek depicts a galaxy teeming with life, including many variations of intelligent life. Is that the nature of our universe? Or could it be that life is exceedingly rare? Or that intelligence takes an absurdly long time to evolve? Might we be the lucky, lonely ones?
Although we don't yet know the answer, we can use our knowledge of the emergence and evolution of life on Earth to create betting odds for how quickly life and intelligence emerge. That's exactly what Professor David Kipping of Columbia University did in a paper published earlier this year.
David's scientific paper: https://www.pnas.org/content/117/22/11995.short
David's Cool Worlds channel on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGHZpIpAWJQ-Jy_CeCdXhMA
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai David: @david_kipping
Guest: Prof. Darsa Donelan
"They know what they're getting themselves into when they sign up for my class," says Professor Darsa Donelan, who is well known for melding her love for cosplaying with her love for physics. On this episode of Strange New Worlds, Professor Donelan shares how they cosplay to enhance the learning experience, motivate physics problems with clips from Star Trek, built a Borg costume out of recycled materials, and are working with NASA to revamp space science curricula. Resistance is futile!
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai Darsa: @DarsaDonelan Darsa's alter ego: @BanalBorg
On Episode 102, Mike introduces the concept of lyfe, which he and Dr. Stuart Bartlett coined in a paper earlier this year, through the lens of Star Trek. Lyfe is defined as any system that performs the following four pillars: dissipation, autocatalysis, homeostasis, and learning. Life is therefore a subset of lyfe—it's the specific instance of lyfe that we are aware of on Earth. The concept of lyfe allows us to understand life in the context of other phenomena in the universe, more clearly define "life as we don't know it," and frame astrobiological research questions in new ways.
"Defining Lyfe in the Universe: From Three Privileged Functions to Four Pillars," Mike and Stuart's paper in the journal Life: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/10/4/42
"Thinking About Life (or Lyfe) Through The Prism of Star Trek," Mike's blog post for Many Worlds: https://manyworlds.space/2020/06/17/thinking-about-life-or-lyfe-through-the-prism-of-star-trek/
Lyfe as The Guardian's word of the week: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/aug/06/lyfe-a-new-word-for-aliens-that-takes-a-leaf-out-of-life
Lyfe in The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/jul/30/is-there-lyfe-on-mars-new-concept-broadens-search-for-alien-organisms
Lyfe in Chemistry World: https://www.chemistryworld.com/its-lyfe-jym/4012266.article
Lyfe in the Danish broadsheet newspaper Weekendavisen: https://www.weekendavisen.dk/2020-26/ideer/livet-som-vi-ikke-kender-det
Follow Mike on Twitter: @Miquai
Which Star Trek character does Mike identify with most? What aspect of the Star Trek future does he wish were a part of the present? What if Star Trek had been created in another country? Mike answers these audience submitted questions and more on Episode 101 of Strange New Worlds!
Virtual Trek Con: https://www.virtualtrekcon.com/
Virtual Trek Con "Star Trek Science Q&A Panel": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvEwpmXA9rU
Follow Mike on Twitter: @Miquai
Guests: Elise Cutts & Dr. Peter Gao
For Episode 100, Mike reunites with his crew from the very first episode of Strange New Worlds, geobiologist Elise Cutts and planetary scientist Peter Gao, to look forward to three upcoming Star Trek series: Strange New Worlds, Lower Decks, and Prodigy. What planets should Pike et al. explore? How can comedy mesh with Star Trek's storytelling? And what do we hope to give the next generation of young Trekkies?
Strange New Worlds announcement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OD6kUZwMOjQ
Lower Decks trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3RkBKedKWw
Prodigy name reveal: https://www.startrek.com/news/star-trek-prodigy-has-arrived
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai Peter: @PlanetaryGao
Guest: Ray Wong
In Star Trek: The Next Generation, Lt. Worf practices and teaches a form of Klingon martial arts called the Mok'bara, which is strikingly similar to the Chinese martial art tai chi. Mike sits down with his dad, Ray Wong, who has studied tai chi and other forms of kung fu for nearly 40 years, to examine the parallels between the Klingon and Earthly traditions.
Ray Wong's tai chi and kung fu YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmF0FwnRI9E90MaJVeLjq1g
Follow Mike on Twitter: @Miquai
As the Black Lives Matter movement sweeps across the United States and the world in the wake of George Floyd's tragic death at the hands of the police, Mike takes a moment to reflect on racial injustice and social inequity in America, academia, and Star Trek.
"Race and racism in the geosciences" by Kaheli Dutt, 2020: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-019-0519-z
"Double jeopardy in astronomy and planetary science: Women of color face greater risks of gendered and racial harassment" by Kathryn B. H. Clancy et al., 2017: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2017JE005256
"Making Black Women Scientists under White Empiricism: The Racialization of Epistemology in Physics" by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, 2020: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/704991
Follow Mike on Twitter: @Miquai
Guest: Dr. Andy Howell
In the 2009 Star Trek movie, Romulus is destroyed by a supernova that exploded 500 lightyears away, a cataclysm that is said to threaten the entire galaxy. But on Star Trek: Picard, the star that goes supernova is Romulus' own star, and there's no mention of galactic destruction. Why the change? There's no one better to ask than Dr. Andy Howell, an astronomer who leads the Global Supernova Project and also produces and hosts a YouTube series called Science vs. Cinema.
Science vs. Cinema's Star Trek: Picard episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmvRvFqqTCw
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai Andy: @d_a_howell Science vs. Cinema: @ScienceVsCinema
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
Guest: Emily Lakdawalla
Mars appears both beautifully and accurately in Star Trek: Picard—that is, until it gets fried to a crisp. Emily Lakdawalla, a world-renowned science communicator at The Planetary Society, shares her experience watching Mars's destruction on the big screen at the LA premiere of Star Trek: Picard, her eagle-eyed observations of its appearance, and her interview with visual effects supervisor Jason Zimmerman about creating a realistic Mars for Star Trek.
Emily's Planetary Society blog post "Star Trek: Picard Gets the Martian Landscape Right": https://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/star-trek-picard-mars.html
Follow us on Twitter: Mike: @Miquai Emily: @elakdawalla
Mike unleashes a random smattering of pre–Star Trek: Picard thoughts and feelings on this BONUS episode of Strange New Worlds! Engage!
Guest: Dr. Jim Davenport
The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) seems to be running out of steam, but Dr. Jim Davenport has an idea that could awaken this sleeping giant of astronomical research. Together, we examine the history of SETI, its perception in the public and among scientists, and it's portrayal in the Star Trek: Voyager two-part episode "Future's End." Then, we talk about Jim's new way of performing SETI, creatively utilizing facilities and data that we already have.
Jim's SETI paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/1907.04443
Jim's AstroVlog: https://www.youtube.com/james-davenport
The AstroVlog version of this podcast episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueRbCY7ZzE8&feature=youtu.be
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai Jim: @jradavenport
Guest: Dr. Morgan Cable
In the various renditions of Star Trek, the Klingons travel in Birds-of-Prey, the Romulans fly Warbirds, Spock pilots the Jellyfish vessel, and a squid-like future probe attacks Captain Pike's shuttlecraft. This connection between spacecraft and animals is not just science-fiction fantasy. NASA is developing real-life mission concepts that take after biological creatures in name and function, and Dr. Morgan Cable, a scientist and technologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, is here to tell us about two of those projects!
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai Morgan: @starsarecalling
Guest: Dr. Andrew Rader
Mike speaks to aerospace engineer, SpaceX mission manager, history geek, Trekkie, and author Dr. Andrew Rader about his new book, "Beyond the Known: How Exploration Created the Modern World and Will Take Us to the Stars." This book is basically the Star Trek: Enterprise opening credits sequence spread out over 352 pages and jam-packed with extraordinary facts. Its fourth and final section is called "Becoming Star Trek" and takes an in-depth look at the technologies and incentives that could launch our civilization to the stars.
Purchase your copy of "Beyond the Known": https://smile.amazon.com/Beyond-Known-Exploration-Created-Modern/dp/1982123532
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai Andrew: @marsrader
Guest: Dr. Andrew Rushby
Terrestrial exoplanets orbiting red dwarf stars are among the most promising targets in our search for extraterrestrial life. But are these planets likely to be habitable? Mike sits down with Dr. Andrew Rushby, a postdoc at UC Irvine who studies the possible climates of these strange new worlds—especially the way that ice interacts differently with red dwarf starlight than it does with starlight from our Sun. Also, they speak about Andrew's impressions from his ongoing binge of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
TrekFM's Earl Grey Episode 237, featuring Mike Wong and Elise Cutts on panspermia: http://www.trek.fm/earl-grey/237
"Habitability: A Review": https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/ast.2015.1295
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai Andrew: @andrewrushby Exocast: @exo_cast
Guest: Haukur Guðmundsson
While in Iceland for the Extreme Solar Systems IV conference, Mike received an odd hailing frequency via Twitter from someone named Haukur Guðmundsson. Investigating further, Mike discovered that Haukur was a devout Trekkie, Strange New Worlds listener, and a Reykjavík-based physical therapist, teacher, and researcher. After making first contact, they decided to record an impromptu podcast episode, discussing Haukur's field of exercise oncology, depictions of training and healthy lifestyles in Star Trek, what it's like to be a Star Trek fan in Iceland, and more! Enjoy!
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai Haukur: @toreadoris
Guest: Dr. James Kirk
Nicknamed "Tiberius" and "Captain" by his friends, Dr. James Kirk, the astronomer, spends his days exploring real-life strange new worlds! Mike met Dr. Kirk at the Extreme Solar Systems conference in Reykjavík, Iceland, where they chatted about growing up with that famous name, loving another science-fiction franchise, and two of the most intriguing planets that James has recently revealed.
Follow Mike on Twitter: @Miquai
Guest: Elise Cutts
Former Strange New Worlds co-host Elise Cutts returns to the show to discuss Dr. Una McCormack's Star Trek: Discovery novel "The Way to the Stars." We compare and contrast Elise's experiences as a young, early career scientist with those of Sylvia Tilly, exploring the themes of discovering one's scientific passion, making personal sacrifices, finding mentors in unexpected places, the nature of transformative experiences, and more.
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai Una McCormack: @unamccormack
Guests: Rekha Sharma & Dr. Erin Macdonald
Mike brings you two interviews with incredible people at the 2019 Star Trek Las Vegas convention: (1) actress Rekha Sharma on portraying two versions of Commander Ellen Landry in Star Trek: Discovery's first season; (2) Dr. Erin Macdonald on science of gravitational waves and LIGO—and how that relates to the fictional Star Trek technologies of warp drive and cloaking devices.
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai Rekha: @TheRekhaSharma Erin: @drerinmac
Guest: Lori Dajose
Caltech science writer Lori Dajose takes a turn in the captain's chair as she interviews your host, Mike Wong, on Strange New Worlds. Together they explore the various scales of astrobiological questions, from the electron transport that powers our cells to planetary phenomena, and from Mike's personal scientific journey to the societal impact of the search for extraterrestrial life.
Guests: Aida Behmard & Shreyas Vissapragada
At the 2019 Sagan Workshop, Caltech graduate students Aida Behmard & Shreyas Vissapragada give Mike peeks at three of their recent research projects—the first being laboratory work, the second astronomical observation, and the final one utilizing machine learning (a subset of artificial intelligence)—demonstrating that there is no single way to be a planetary scientist. At the end of the episode, Mike presents a clip from his StoryCorps interview at the 2018 AGU Fall Meeting.
Aida's "binding energies of hydrocarbons" paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/1903.09720
Shreyas' "infrared observations of exoplanets" paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/1907.04445
Aida's "machine learning/stars" paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/1904.00094
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai Aida: @abehmard Shreyas: @astroshrey
Guest: Dr. Peter Gao
Unable to travel to distant objects of interest, astronomers use powerful telescopes to examine celestial phenomena from afar. However, telescope time is extraordinarily limited, so scientists must write convincing proposals to win the time they need to make their observations. On this episode, Dr. Peter Gao tells Mike about the process of writing a successful proposal to make the Hubble Space Telescope stare at a strange new world that he is passionate about studying.
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai Peter: @PlanetaryGao
Guest: Dr. Baptiste Journaux
Besides captaining the Enterprise, the thing that Jean-Luc Picard is most famous for is his affection for wine. Coming from a long line of winemakers in La Barre, France, we see Jean-Luc returning to Chateau Picard in the TNG episode "Family" and once again to retire from Starfleet in the 2019 Star Trek: Picard trailers. But what does it take to make wine? Are there scientific principles that govern its taste and color? And what can we infer about the state of the world in the 24th century from the wine bottles in the Picard trailer? Mike welcomes Dr. Baptiste Journuax to Strange New Worlds for a deep dive into the science of wine. Cheers!
PBS Nova article about savagnin blanc's unchanging genetics: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/savagnin-blanc-genetics
Get your own Chateau Picard wine: https://startrekwines.com/
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai Baptiste: @B_jour
Guests: Dr. Kim Bott & Rudy Garcia
On this bonus episode of Strange New Worlds, Dr. Kim Bott and Rudy Garcia describe the science behind the popular video game series Mass Effect.
Kim's Astronomy on Tap Seattle talk on the "Astrobiology of Video Games": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Nz5ghccwzA
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai Kim: @HumanBott
Guest: Anthony Rapp
Anthony Rapp (Paul Stamets on Star Trek: Discovery) was the keynote speaker at the 2019 Astrobiology Science Conference, where he talked about what it's like to travel the mycelial network, the symbiosis between science and Star Trek, and his excitement for astrobiology. In this exclusive interview from AbSciCon, Mike sits down with Anthony to chat about the scientific themes of Star Trek: Discovery, Anthony's portrayal of astromycologist Paul Stamets, and his experience interacting with scientists at the meeting.
Mike's #AbSciCon2019 slide featuring the Discovery, Stamets, and Spock: https://twitter.com/Miquai/status/1143761835377565696
Third Pod From the Sun's interview with Anthony Rapp: https://thirdpodfromthesun.com/2019/06/28/third-pod-live-anthony-rapp/
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai Anthony: @albinokid
Guests: Elise Cutts & Dr. Peter Gao
Former Strange New Worlds co-host Elise Cutts is back on the show to describe her Fulbright Scholar project, which will take her to the University of Southern Denmark to study how ancient microbes built the atmosphere that we breathe today. Then, Mike and Elise are joined by Dr. Peter Gao to recap their visit to the Paley Center for Media's Star Trek: Discovery exhibit.
Caltech's feature on Elise's Fulbright: https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/geobiology-student-selected-fulbright
The Paley Center's Star Trek: Discovery "Fight for the Future" exhibit (until July 7, 2019): https://www.paleycenter.org/2019-star-trek-discovery-exhibit-la/
Mike & Peter's winning Star Trek Beyond video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7jsQEr_2Ts
The Star Trek: Discovery Season 2 poster featuring real planetary images: https://twitter.com/Miquai/status/1145371724461903872
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai Peter: @PlanetaryGao
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Guest: Dr. James T. Keane
On January 1, 2019, the New Horizons spacecraft flew past the Kuiper belt object MU69. Mike sat down with Dr. James T. Keane, a member of the New Horizons team, to ask him about being at this unique planetary encounter, what we've learned about the mysterious MU69 so far, and the Trekkiest thing about the flyby. Then, Mike and James discuss the physics behind the criss-crossing rings of planet Terralysium in the Star Trek: Discovery episode "New Eden."
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai James: @jtuttlekeane
Guest: Dr. Jason von Stietz
Whether you're running a half-marathon in Starfleet's Command Training Program, forming a baseball team on Deep Space Nine, or fencing a clever El-Aurian, Dr. Jason von Stietz is here to tell you how to overcome your opposition—with your mind! Jason, a PhD in clinical psychology, works as a sport psychologist at Whittier College and Cognitive Behavior Therapy of Southern California. Mike talks to Dr. von Stietz about the mental side of sports and how it relates to various situations in Star Trek and real life.
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai Jason: @NextGen_Perform
Guest: Joshua Zeller
Mike sits down with playwright, actor, and director Joshua Zeller to discuss the writing of science-driven stories. Joshua is the author of "The God Particle Complex," a play about the search for the Higgs boson. Then, they discuss a range of Star Trek topics, including the latest DSC episode, "An Obol for Charon,"
Follow us on Twitter: Mike: @Miquai Joshua: @madcapofscience
Guest: Diana Windemuth
What do Gallifrey from Doctor Who, Tatooine from Star Wars, and Talos IV from Star Trek have in common? They all orbit binary stars! On Episode 60 of Strange New Worlds, Diana Windemuth tells Mike about her hunt for circumbinary planets and why it's a much harder quest than looking for planets around single stars. Then, they discuss aspects of Star Trek Discovery's second season, including the latest episode, "New Eden," the Marvel-ization of Star Trek, and why Diana doesn't want to find Spock.
Follow Mike on Twitter @Miquai!
Guests: Dr. James T. Keane & Dr. Peter Gao
Mike, James, and Peter recap Star Trek: Discovery's Season 2 premiere in a totally unique way—through their bingo sheets! That's right, they're playing Disco Bingo! Find out who's in the lead after the first episode, what made Mike cry, and who stole "the tardigrade returns" just to lord it over Mike if it ever does.
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai James: @jtuttlekeane Peter: @PlanetaryGao
Guests: Erika K. Carlson, Voon Hui Lai, Dr. Jamie S. Rankin, Cecilia B. Sanders, Hima J. Hassenruck Gudipati, and Dr. James T. Keane
The theme of the American Geophysical Union meeting in December 2018 was "What Science Stands For," so Mike went around asking scientists and science communicators, "What DOES science stand for?"
Follow us on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai Erika: @erikakcarlson James: @jtuttlekeane
Welcome to 2019! In this first episode of what's bound to be a Star Trek–packed year, Mike gears up for Season 2 of Star Trek: Discovery by reviewing the first four Short Treks episodes. Also inside: how science is benefitting restoration and preservation projects in the Angkor region of Cambodia!
Brandon-Shea Mutala's recent interviews with Star Trek composer's on TrekFM's Melodic Treks podcast: Dennis McCarthy: http://www.trek.fm/melodic-treks/89 Nicholas Meyer: http://www.trek.fm/melodic-treks/93 Cliff Eidelman: http://www.trek.fm/melodic-treks/94
Follow me on Twitter! Mike: @Miquai
Guest: Elise Cutts
In the final episode of 2018, Michael interviews former co-host Elise Cutts about the Short Treks episode "Calypso." Also, there's plenty of space news—from InSight to OSIRIS-REx to Voyager 2.
Astro Vlog: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vl__Ae2qk1Y&t=2s
Michael's Planetary Report story on the emergence of life: http://www.planetary.org/explore/the-planetary-report/the-making-of-life.html
Follow us on Twitter! Michael: @Miquai Elise: @emcuttsy
Guests: Dr. Peter Gao, Dr. Laura Mayorga, Danica Adams
Michael is joined by Dr. Peter Gao, Dr. Laura Mayorga, and Danica Adams to recap the 2018 Division for Planetary Science meeting. Each summarizes the science that they presented at #DPS18 and shares their favorite aspect of the conference. Also, Peter talks about how he hid subtle Star Trek references in his conference talk and faculty applications.
Follow us on Twitter! Michael: @Miquai Peter: @PlanetaryGao Laura: @mayorgalc
Michael recaps the exciting science from the first three days of the 2018 Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) Meeting in a series of Captain's Logs. DPS is the annual conference for planetary scientists of the American Astronomical Society (AAS).
Follow me on Twitter! Michael: @Miquai
Guest: Dr. Peter Gao
In this BONUS episode of Strange New Worlds, Michael and Dr. Peter Gao pick apart the Discovery Season 2 trailer (released at the New York Comic Con in October) from a science and Star Trek perspective.
NYCC Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6eoD9rQHL4
Oxygen on Mars, from PBS/NOVA: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/living-mars-oxygen/
Follow us on Twitter! Michael: @Miquai Peter: @PlanetaryGao
Guest: Dr. Peter Gao Postcard: Dr. James T. Keane
Dr. Peter Gao visits Michael in Seattle to share his research on how atmospheric oxygen can be made without life. Such copious amounts of oxygen might fool astronomers as false-positive biosignatures—but there are clever ways to combat this uncertainty. Then, Michael and Peter respond to Dr. James T. Keane's digital postcard reviewing the first-ever Short Treks episode, "Runaway."
Follow us on Twitter! Michael: @Miquai Peter: @PlanetaryGao James: @jtuttlekeane
In this BONUS episode of Strange New Worlds, Michael wishes you a Happy Thanksgiving and talks about the recent groundbreaking discovery of the amino acid tryptophan deep below the bottom of the ocean—and what that might mean for the origin of life.
Follow us on Twitter! Michael: @miquai
Guests: Dr. Tony Del Genio, Maria Steinrueck, Ryan MacDonald
Clouds and hazes play important roles in controlling planetary climates and can both help and get in the way of astronomers who are trying to learn about an exoplanet. In this episode, Michael interviews scientists at The Cloud Academy at the Les Houches Advanced School for Physics, and stumbles upon some surprising connections to Star Trek.
Follow us on Twitter! Michael: @Miquai NASA NExSS (contributed to by Tony): @nexssinfo Maria: @MariaSteinrueck Ryan: @MartianColonist
Guest: Desun Oka
The Kepler Space Telescope has discovered thousands of exoplanets—perhaps some of them are ripe for future human colonies. But is colonialism the right framework to think about humanity's expansion into the cosmos? Or is it a problematic concept mired in our own Eurocentric/Amerocentric mythologies? Historian Desun Oka helps me discuss how colonialism is reflected in science fiction at large, whether the Space Force an extension of manifest destiny, and why Vulcans are the Orientals of Star Trek.
Follow us on Twitter: Michael: @Miquai Desun: @desunoka
Guests: Dr. Laura Mayorga, Dr. Peter Gao, Dr. Alex Lockwood, Dr. James T. Keane, Dr. Rob Zellem, Josh Lothringer
We time travel to Day 4 of the 2018 DPS Meeting, where Michael interviews planetary scientists about the breaking news of Star Trek: Lower Decks, an animated comedy series coming to CBS All-Access.
Follow us on Twitter! Michael: @Miquai Laura: @mayorgalc Peter: @PlanetaryGao Alex: @AskAstroAlex James: @jtuttlekeane Josh: @JDLothringer
For their final episode together at Caltech before Michael leaves for the University of Washington, Elise and Michael choose a random Star Trek episode and comment on the exciting science that they find within! Get ready for a random journey of asteroids, life detection, and facepalms.
Follow us on Twitter: Michael: @Miquai Elise: @emcuttsy
Guest: Celeste Labedz
"The Vulcans say that the desert teaches men the meaning of endurance, but it's the ice that forges real strength." In Episode 48, cryoseismologist Celeste Labedz talks about the science of glaciers and how knowing more about the physics of ice could have helped Captain Archer and Shran during their visit to Andoria in ENT: "The Aenar."
Follow us on Twitter: Michael: @Miquai Celeste: @celestelabedz
Guest: Brian Brophy
BREAKING! We have our very first Star Trek alumnus on Strange New Worlds! Brian Brophy portrayed Commander Bruce Maddox in the seminal episode of TNG "The Measure of a Man" and is now the director of Theater Arts at Caltech. In this episode, Brian tells us about going face-to-face with Patrick Stewart on the set of Star Trek, putting on a Star Trek parody musical at Caltech, and how he believes that the art of storytelling can bring scientists to their full potential.
Watch "Boldly Go!" on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdtBArmWHdY&t=1s
Follow us on Twitter! Michael: @Miquai Theater Arts at Caltech: @CaltechPlayers
Guest: Cecilia Sanders
The pages of Earth's history are written in its rocks, and geobiologist Cecilia Sanders is interested in a sequence of rocks that tell the story of one of Earth's coldest periods: the Cryogenian. In order to read those pages—and the fossilized fine-print that describes life some 600-700 million years ago—she has to embark on an away mission to Namibia.
Follow us on Twitter! Michael: @Miquai Elise: @emcuttsy
In Episode 45, Dr. Peter Gao takes over Strange New Worlds to interview Michael and Dr. James T. Keane about their experiences at the 2018 Star Trek Las Vegas convention.
Follow us on Twitter: Michael: @Miquai Peter: @PlanetaryGao James: @jtuttlekeane
Guests: Dr. Kayla Iacovino & Dr. David Williams
Can you really get high off of volcanic gases, like Cadet Tilly did in Star Trek: Discovery? Or stop a volcano from erupting, like Spock did in Into Darkness? Volcanologists Kayla Iacovino and David Williams are here to set the record straight about how volcanoes work both on Earth and across the solar system.
Follow us on Twitter: Michael: @Miquai Kayla: @kaylai David: @davidaw222
Guest: Ollie Stephenson
In Episode 43, Michael chats with geophysicist Ollie Stephenson about the science of earthquakes, using examples of earthquakes in Star Trek to guide the discussion.
Caltech Letters: https://caltechletters.org/ Michael's story, "Stolen": https://caltechletters.org/science/stolen
Follow us on Twitter! Michael: @Miquai Ollie: @SeismoOllie Caltech Letters: @caltechletters
Guest: Nicole Wallack
In Episode 42, Michael sits down with Nicole Wallack to talk about the lighting, cinematography, and costuming of Season 1 of Star Trek: Discovery.
Follow us on Twitter! Michael: @Miquai Nicole: @Nicole_Wallack
Guest: Professor Jonathan Lunine
In Episode 41, Michael talks to Professor Jonathan Lunine about ocean worlds, the Cassini–Huygens mission, and searching for life on Enceladus.
Guest: Dr. Peter Gao
In Episode 40, Michael chats with Dr. Peter Gao about various science and Star Trek topics, from Michael's thesis defense to DS9: "Starship Down" to whether or not Cancri IV in Star Trek: Discovery is a real exoplanet.
Follow us on Twitter! Michael: @Miquai Peter: @PlanetaryGao
Guest: Dr. Peter Gao
In this emergency episode of Strange New Worlds, Michael tags up with Dr. Peter Gao to dissect the BRAND-NEW Star Trek: Discovery Season 2 trailer that dropped at Comic-Con on Friday, June 20, 2018!
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDIlBDRkPDI
Follow us on Twitter! Michael: @Miquai Peter: @PlanetaryGao
Guest: Erika Carlson
In Episode 39, Michael opens a hailing frequency to speak to Erika Carlson—a AAAS Mass Media Fellow at Discover magazine—about what it's like to be a science writer and why science communication is important, both in our society and in Star Trek.
Erika's bibliography at Discover: http://discovermagazine.com/authors?name=Erika+K.+Carlson
Follow us on Twitter! Michael: @Miquai Erika: @erikakcarlson
In Episode 38, Michael and Elise cover some recent Star Trek news, tell the story of how they met, watch ENT: "Two Days and Two Nights" and recap their own shore-leave adventures, and watch TNG: "Genesis" to facilitate a discussion of the theory of evolution.
The Star Trek: Discovery Season 2 teaser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tgohe_W_0Po
"Boldly Go!" Caltech's Star Trek parody musical: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdtBArmWHdY&t=1s
Follow us on Twitter! Michael: @Miquai Elise: @emcuttsy
In this bonus episode of Strange New Worlds, Dr. Peter Gao helps Michael prepare for his PhD thesis defense and reminisces about his own Star Trek–themed dissertation talk.
Follow Peter (@PlanetaryGao) on Twitter to watch a live stream of Michael's (@Miquai) thesis defense on Thursday, May 31, at 1:30 pm Pacific.
Guest: Harriet Brettle
In Episode 37, Michael asks first-year Caltech planetary science graduate student Harriet Brettle, "Can science fiction predict the future?" We also talk about The Planetary Society—an international nonprofit foundation advocating for space exploration—that Harriet and Star Trek: Voyager's Bob Picardo are heavily involved in.
Follow us on Twitter: Harriet: @harriet_brettle The Planetary Society: @exploreplanets Michael: @Miquai
Guest: Jon Wong
In Episode 36, Michael brings aboard his brother, Jon Wong, to talk about diet and nutrition and critique the breakfast that Burnham orders for Tilly in DSC: "Lethe."
Follow us on Twitter! Michael: @Miquai
Guest: Desun Oka
In Episode 35, Michael and Desun Oka chat about Star Trek: Discovery's bonus scene featuring Section 31, clandestine organizations in general, and the metaphor behind the Battle of the Binary Stars.
Bonus Scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGRJ4CvOvhc
Follow us on Twitter! Michael: @Miquai
Guest: Dr. Pushkar Kopparla
In Episode 34, Michael invites Dr. Pushkar Kopparla to speculate on what "polarize the hull plating" means and explain how he uses polarization in real life to characterize the properties of exoplanets.
Follow us on Twitter! Michael: @Miquai
Guest: Dr. Stuart Bartlett
In Episode 33, Michael and Elise continue their discussion about the origin and nature of life by bringing in Dr. Stuart Bartlett to share his "four pillars of life" and how molecular machines drive life's functions in the face of Brownian chaos.
Follow us on Twitter! Elise: @emcuttsy Michael: @Miquai
In Episode 32, Michael and Elise watch TNG: "All Good Things..." and discuss different theories for the origin of life.
Follow us on Twitter! Elise: @emcuttsy Michael: @Miquai
Guests: Cecilia Sanders, Shreyas Vissapragada, & Dr. James T. Keane
In Episode 31, Michael recaps Star Trek: Discovery Season 1 by hosting a roundtable discussion featuring Cecilia Sanders, Shreyas Vissapragada, and Dr. James T. Keane, who are all joined by Elise Cutts via transporter midway through.
Follow us on Twitter: James: @jtuttlekeane Elise: @emcuttsy Michael: @Miquai
Guest: Dr. Morgan Cable
In Episode 30, Michael sits down with NASA JPL's Dr. Morgan Cable to talk about the exotic chemistry on Saturn's moon Titan and the possibility of life not as we know it.
Follow us on Twitter: Morgan: @starsarecalling Michael: @Miquai
Guests: Dr. James T. Keane & Dr. Peter Gao
In Episode 29, Michael and Elise are joined by Dr. James T. Keane & Dr. Peter Gao to talk about James' scientific illustrations from the 38th New Horizons Science Team Meeting, the #SuperBlueBloodMoon, and all of the wildest developments in Star Trek: Discovery.
Follow us on Twitter! James: @jtuttlekeane Peter: @PlanetaryGao Elise: @emcuttsy Michael: @Miquai
In Episode 28, Michael and Elise use TOS: "The Devil in the Dark" and "The Tholian Web" to spark a discussion about Earth's subsurface biosphere and silicon-based life.
Cosmic Motivations, by Michael and Prof. Katie Mack (@AstroKatie): https://www.redbubble.com/people/astrokatie/collections/835103-cosmic-motivations?asc=u
Follow us on Twitter! Elise: @emcuttsy Michael: @Miquai
Guest: Dr. Peter Gao
In Episode 27, Michael opens a subspace channel to Dr. Peter Gao, who recently gave a talk at the 38th New Horizons Science Team Meeting.
Follow us on Twitter! Peter: @PlanetaryGao Michael: @Miquai
In Episode 26, Michael and Elise rewatch VOY: "Future's End" and discuss the Drake equation and SETI as they appear in Star Trek and in reality.
Mike & Denise Okuda's article: http://1701news.com/node/939/drake-equation-shaped-star-trek-universe.html
Follow us on Twitter! Elise: @emcuttsy Michael: @miquai
In Episode 25, Michael is rejoined by Elise Cutts to talk about Mars: Astronomy & Culture, an exhibition at ArtCenter College of Design. Did you know that Mars has already made an appearance in Star Trek: Discovery?
Visit Mars: Astronomy & Culture: http://www.artcenter.edu/connect/events/mars-astronomy-and-culture.html
Follow us on Twitter! Elise: @emcuttsy Michael: @Miquai
Guest: Dr. Peter Gao
In Episode 24, Michael catches up with Dr. Peter Gao at the AGU Fall Meeting to recap the conference and the first nine episodes of Star Trek: Discovery.
Michael was recently on two trek.fm podcasts: The Edge, Episode 23: http://trek.fm/the-edge/23 Warp Five, Episode 128: http://trek.fm/warp-five/128
Follow us on Twitter! Peter: @PlanetaryGao Michael: @Miquai
Guest: Qicheng Zhang
In Episode 23 of Strange New Worlds, Michael chats with Qicheng Zhang about ʻOumuamua, the first interstellar asteroid ever detected.
Follow us on Twitter! Michael: @Miquai
Guests: Dr. Sarah Brothers & Dr. Shawn Domagal-Goldman
In Episode 20, Michael sits down with Dr. Sarah Brothers & Dr. Shawn Domagal-Goldman at the Habitable Worlds conference to discuss what makes a planet habitable, what Star Trek's "M-class" designation means, and how to search for life in the cosmos.
Follow us on Twitter: Shawn: @shawndgoldman Mike: @Miquai
Guest: Cecilia Leung
For Halloween, Cecilia Leung dressed up as Captain Phillipa Georgiou: https://twitter.com/CelestialCess/status/925787276587679744. In Episode 21, Michael asks her about making that costume, her thoughts on Star Trek: Discovery, and her PhD thesis about water in Mars's atmosphere.
Follow us on Twitter: Cecilia: @CelestialCess Michael: @Miquai
Guests: Nathan Stein & Alistair Hayden
In Episode 20, Michael sits down with Nathan Stein and Alistair Hayden to hear the true tale of their geologic survey of Little Ambergris—an adventure sandwiched between two monstrous hurricanes.
Guest: Professor Jonathan Fortney
In Episode 19, Michael interviews Professor Jonathan Fortney about how we know what's inside of giant planets both within and beyond our Solar System.
Follow us on Twitter! Jonathan: @jjfplanet Michael: @Miquai
Guests: Maria Steinrück & Peter Gao
At the 2017 Division for Planetary Sciences meeting in Provo Utah, Michael interviews Maria Steinrück & Peter Gao about their research on hot Jupiter atmospheres and their thoughts on Star Trek: Discovery so far.
Follow us on Twitter! Maria: @MariaSteinrueck Peter: @PlanetaryGao Michael: @Miquai
Guest: Elise Cutts
In Episode 17, Michael opens a channel to Edinburgh to discuss the first three episodes of Star Trek: Discovery with Elise Cutts.
Follow us on Twitter: Elise: @emcuttsy Michael: @miquai
Guest: Jamie Sue Rankin
In Episode 16, we celebrate the 40th anniversary of NASA's Voyager mission to the outer Solar System and beyond with a chat with Jamie Sue Rankin, who studies the radiation environment outside the heliopause...where no spacecraft has gone before.
Guests: Peter Gao, Desun Oka, Aida Behmard, Shreyas Vissapragada, and Cecilia Sanders
Our minute-old thoughts on the first two episodes of Star Trek: Discovery!
Guests: James Keane & Peter Gao
In Episode 14, we talk about The Art of Planetary Science, what gives planets their colors, and offer our final thoughts on what we hope to see in Star Trek: Discovery.
The Art of Planetary Science: https://www.sites.google.com/site/lpltaps/
Follow us on Twitter: James: @jtuttlekeane Peter: @PlanetaryGao Michael: @Miquai
Guests: James Keane & Peter Gao
In Episode 13, Michael sits down with James Keane and Peter Gao to talk about the quickly rotating planet in VOY: "Blink of An Eye" and how a glacier reoriented Pluto over millions of years.
In this bonus episode of Strange New Worlds, Michael recaps his experience seeing Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan during its 35th-anniversary screening and shares some new science-related tidbits that he noticed in the end credits of the movie.
Phil Plait's "Wrath of Khan at 35: Entering the Mutara Nebula": http://www.syfy.com/syfywire/wrath-khan-35-entering-mutara-nebula
Guest: Nathan Stein
In Episode 12, Mike and Elise interview Nathan Stein about his adventure to a remote Caribbean island to study microbial mats using a drone outfitted for science.
Guests: Mari-Liis Aru, Philippe Nauny, Umesh Bhat, Aswin Manohar
In Episode 11, Michael brings back stories and clips from his recent trip to Estonia for an astrobiology conference.
You can follow Mari-Liis on Tumblr (http://sci-universe.tumblr.com/) and Instagram (@aspacecolonizer).
And you can find Michael on Twitter (@miquai) and Instagram (@miquai).
In Episode 10, Mike and Elise speak to Jane Liu about her master's thesis on the role of emotions in science and science communication.
In part two of our discussion with Cecilia Sanders, we learn more about her research on chemosynthetic life forms and discuss how Star Trek's tricorder might work.
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.
Guest: Cecilia Sanders
In Episode 8, Mike and Elise chat with Cecilia Sanders about how to look for signs of life in the universe.
In Episode 7, Mike, Elise, and Desun look towards the future of humanity and of Star Trek from a historian's point of view.
In Episode 6, Mike and Elise speak with historian Desun Oka about the historical context from which Star Trek emerged.
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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
In Episode 0, Michael introduces the mission of Strange New Worlds and beams in a co-host!