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PODCAST

Strange New Worlds: A Science & Star Trek Podcast

Michael L. Wong

Hosted by planetary scientist and astrobiologist Dr. Michael L. Wong, Strange New Worlds examines science, technology, and culture through the lens of Star Trek!

science

All Episodes

00:17:45

DSC 301: Hverfjall

Strange New Worlds: A Science & Star Trek Podcast ·

2020/10/18

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

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00:55:24

Episode 104: The Cosmic Casino

Strange New Worlds: A Science & Star Trek Podcast ·

2020/10/12

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

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00:49:25

Episode 103: Professor Borg

Strange New Worlds: A Science & Star Trek Podcast ·

2020/09/13

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

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00:25:22

Episode 102: It's Lyfe, Jim, but Not as We Know It

Strange New Worlds: A Science & Star Trek Podcast ·

2020/08/16

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

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00:30:58

Episode 101: Q&A with Mike

Strange New Worlds: A Science & Star Trek Podcast ·

2020/08/09

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

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00:45:42

Episode 100: Reunion

Strange New Worlds: A Science & Star Trek Podcast ·

2020/08/01

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:

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00:44:16

Episode 99: Mok'bara & Tai Chi

Strange New Worlds: A Science & Star Trek Podcast ·

2020/07/07

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

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00:16:54

Episode 98.5: BONUS! The Journey Towards Justice

Strange New Worlds: A Science & Star Trek Podcast ·

2020/06/08

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

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00:42:06

Episode 98: Retconning the Romulan Supernova

Strange New Worlds: A Science & Star Trek Podcast ·

2020/05/24

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.

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00:55:51

Episode 97: Memory Battles

Strange New Worlds: A Science & Star Trek Podcast ·

2020/05/10

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

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00:55:14

Episode 96: Going Viral

Strange New Worlds: A Science & Star Trek Podcast ·

2020/04/20

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:

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00:29:58

Episode 95: Picard Bingo

Strange New Worlds: A Science & Star Trek Podcast ·

2020/04/05

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:

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00:50:09

Episode 94: Medical Ethics

Strange New Worlds: A Science & Star Trek Podcast ·

2020/04/01

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

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00:22:00

Episode 93: The Science of Staying at Home

Strange New Worlds: A Science & Star Trek Podcast ·

2020/03/23

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

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00:34:15

Episode 92: The Power of Math

Strange New Worlds: A Science & Star Trek Podcast ·

2020/03/20

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:

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00:08:52

Episode 91.5: BONUS! A Sip of Earl Grey

Strange New Worlds: A Science & Star Trek Podcast ·

2020/03/18

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/

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00:46:14

Episode 91: Astrobiology, the Comic Book

Strange New Worlds: A Science & Star Trek Podcast ·

2020/03/12

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

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00:31:49

Episode 90: En Garde

Strange New Worlds: A Science & Star Trek Podcast ·

2020/02/24

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

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00:28:14

Episode 89: Strange New Melts

Strange New Worlds: A Science & Star Trek Podcast ·

2020/02/11

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

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00:33:15

Episode 88: So Recognizably Mars

Strange New Worlds: A Science & Star Trek Podcast ·

2020/02/02

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

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