Strange New Worlds: A Science & Star Trek Podcast

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/scienceoftrek Mike: https://twitter.com/miquai Peter: 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/scienceoftrek Mike: twitter.com/miquai Anirudh: 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.10511201.2 Follow us on Twitter! Strange New Worlds: https://twitter.com/scienceoftrek Mike: https://twitter.com/miquai Anirudh: 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/scienceoftrek Mike: https://twitter.com/miquai Emilie: 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/scienceoftrek Mike: 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/scienceoftrek Mike: 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=VirtualTrekCon Marta's book chapter "Fungal Biotechnology in Space: Why and How?": https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-29541-7_18 Marta's paper "Aspergillus niger Spores Are Highly Resistant to Space Radiation": https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2020.00560/full Marta's paper "Colony growth and biofilm formation of Aspergillus niger under simulated microgravity": https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/1

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=ParamountPlus Homoploid 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%21 Follow us on Twitter! Strange New Worlds: https://twitter.com/scienceoftrek Mike: https://twitter.com/miquai Erin: 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/scienceoftrek Mike: 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%26PlanetsLaboratory Mike 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=SciFri Mike on the Infinite Diversity podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id-124-lower-decks-the-stars-at-night/id1522356073?i=1000584610845 Mike on NASA's "Ask An Astrobiologist!": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLKGosgMTIs&ab_channel=NASAAstrobiology Follow us on Twitter! Strange New Worlds: https://twitter.com/scienceoftrek Mike: 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/scienceoftrek Mike: 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/scienceoftrek Mike: twitter.com/miquai Rica: 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