The Science in The Fiction

May 15 2024 14
The Science in The Fiction Podcast artwork

Our goal is to do a deep dive into the biggest ideas in science fiction.  We'll be talking to sci-fi authors about science, and talking to scientists about sci-fi, and catalyzing conversations between the two.  We'll ask both authors and scientists to envision the sci-fi future of our world.  We use science fiction as a vehicle to promote scientific education, curiosity and vision.

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Ep 29: Jim Al-Khalili on Dark Matter in 'Sunfall'

May 15 2024 51 mins  
Our theme in the next two episodes is dark matter, the kind of far-out science that is stranger than fiction and presents realms of possibility that are both more plausible and more interesting than parallel worlds or extra dimensions or even wormholes. In this episode we talk to Jim Al-Khalili, who is many things: physicist, author of both fiction and non-fiction, educator, broadc

Ep 28: Edward M. Lerner on Planetary Protection in 'Life and Death on Mars'

May 01 2024 55 mins  
In this episode we return to the theme of Planetary Protection, continuing the conversation we started in episodes 19 and 20 where we discussed the return of samples from Asteroid Bennu to Earth in NASA’s recent OSIRIS Rex mission. There we talked about what measures were taken to protect the biosphere of Earth from any unforeseen biological agents that such a sample may harbor,

Ep 27: Peter Gorniak and Cydney Nielsen on Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality in 'Stealing Worlds'

Apr 19 2024 68 mins  
Marty sits down with his university pals Drs. Peter Gorniak and Cyndey Nielsen, to discuss Karl Schroeder's book 'Stealing Worlds'. As it happens, they both have PhD's and lifelong careers working in their fields of expertise - Peter in artificial intelligence and Cydney in data analytics and virtual/mixed reality, so they were the perfect people to bring their professional and per

Ep 26: Karl Schroeder on Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality in 'Stealing Worlds'

Apr 04 2024 64 mins  
Karl Schroeder is a science fiction author and foresight analyst. His fiction is known for both its scientific rigour and its visionary quality of bearing witness to what we can expect just around the corner – especially with his latest book 'Stealing Worlds'. This book is jam packed with big ideas about artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR). We talk about the cre

Ep 25: Peter Watts (Part 2) on Intelligence and Consciousness in 'Blindsight'

Mar 20 2024 58 mins  
In the second part of our interview with Peter Watts, we delve into his ideas about intelligence and consciousness. Does consciousness serve any function, or can all cognitive processes get along just fine without it? In his novel Blindsight, Peter postulates a hostile entity whose intelligence outcompetes our own, because it is not weighed down by the slow, clunky machinery of sap

Ep 24: Peter Watts (Part 1) on Intelligence and Consciousness in 'If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal'

Mar 13 2024 51 mins  
We talk to acclaimed science fiction author Peter Watts about Justin Gregg's book 'If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal'. We ask if the human flavour of intelligence is maladaptive, and other creatures are smarter because they are so well adapted to their evolutionary niche - or are we comparing apples with moon rocks? Ultimately, the question is whether the animal wisdom of bedbugs and cro

Ep 23: Justin Gregg on Intelligence and Consciousness in 'If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal'

Feb 28 2024 58 mins  
Marty and Holly sit down with zoologist Justin Gregg to discuss his book 'If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal: What Animal Intelligence Reveals About Human Stupidity'. We discuss which aspects of human intelligence (and stupidity) are unique in the animal world, and what sets our mental faculties apart from those of other animals. We talk about our capacity for causal reasoning, the creati

Ep 22: Heidi Sevestre on Geoengineering in Kim Stanley Robinson's 'The Ministry For The Future'

Feb 14 2024 56 mins  
Marty and Holly sit down with Dr. Heidi Sevestre for a conversation about climate change and geoengineering, as portrayed in The Ministry For The Future by Kim Stanley Robinson. Dr. Sevestre is a glaciologist who is leading the call to action on climate change through her research and education initiatives. We talk about her recent expedition to Svalbard with Climate Sentinels, a z

Ep 21: Kim Stanley Robinson on Geoengineering in 'The Ministry For The Future'

Jan 31 2024 69 mins  
In this episode we are super excited to present our conversation with Kim Stanley Robinson, one of the greatest science fiction writers of all time, whose legacy will surely last deep into our sci-fi future. We discuss his latest book The Ministry for the Future, and some of the many extraordinary ideas in that book for getting humanity through to the other side of the climate cris

Ep 20: Tim Swindle on Planetary Protection in the OSIRIS-REx Mission and 'The Andromeda Strain'

Jan 17 2024 63 mins  
This conversation was a great example of what we’re trying to do with this podcast, the perfect balance between Science and Science Fiction. Marty sits down with Dr. Tim Swindle to discuss The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton and The Andromeda Evolution by Daniel H. Wilson, in relation to NASA's OSIRIS REx mission which has returned a sample of Asteroid Bennu to Earth, as wel