『Science Faction Podcast』のカバーアート

Science Faction Podcast

Science Faction Podcast

著者： Devon Craft and Steven Domingues and Benjamin Daniel Lawless
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概要

 A science and science fiction based podcast hosted by two high school friends, and two college friends. Listen and learn and geek out. In this podcast, science meets fact, meets fiction.Devon Craft and Steven Domingues and Benjamin Daniel Lawless 科学
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  • Episode 601: Thank You, Flea!

    Episode 601: Thank You, Flea!
    2026/03/25
    This week we bounce from toy-filled offices and pirate obsessions into brain-powered computers and philosophical robot chaos—before wrapping things up with a very French film discussion and next week's Book Club pick. Real Life Devon kicks things off by giving some Texans a tour of his office—which, unsurprisingly, is packed with what can only be described as adult toys. Naturally, this spirals into a broader conversation about how we're all just kids with slightly more expensive hobbies. No shame there. Ben brings us into the world of VR with Walkabout Mini Golf's Hollywood course (check it out here: https://www.mightycoconut.com/hollywood). But it's not all smooth putting—there's some concern about rising course prices, less frequent releases, layoffs, and reduced iOS support. The vibe is shifting a bit, and not necessarily in a good way. Devon also caught Project Hail Mary in IMAX and came away seriously impressed—calling it one of the best book adaptations he's seen. High praise. That leads into some appreciation for Andy Weir's writing style and a detour into the Cheshire Crossing webcomic, because apparently we're doing high-concept sci-fi and surreal fairy tale mashups in the same breath now. Meanwhile, Steven has fully committed to pirates. A Pirates of the Caribbean rewatch has set the tone, but instead of just watching, he's gearing up to run a full-on Pirate Borg game (https://www.limithron.com/pirateborg). There's also a shoutout to Land of Eem, a muppet-inspired TTRPG being run by Christina's husband—which sounds delightfully weird—but yeah… pirates won this week. Future or Now Devon brings in something that sounds like it's straight out of a dystopian sci-fi script: data centers powered by human brain cells. Yes, actual biological neurons. https://futurism.com/robots-and-machines/staff-brain-data-center-spine-fluid https://futurism.com/new-computer-neural-network-human-brain-cells These systems require daily maintenance—including swapping out cerebrospinal fluid—which is not a sentence you expect to hear in a tech discussion. What started as experiments where neurons learned to play Pong (https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/10/14/1128875298/brain-cells-neurons-learn-video-game-pong) has now escalated to… potentially running DOOM. Because of course it has. If you want to go deeper into the company behind it, check out https://corticallabs.com/. But the real question is: at what point does this stop being "cool innovation" and start being "ethically complicated nightmare fuel"? Ben counters with some technophilosophy, specifically the Three Inverse Laws of Robotics (https://susam.net/inverse-laws-of-robotics.html). It's a fun twist on Asimov's classic rules—basically flipping the script to highlight how things could go very wrong. If Devon's segment is about can we do this?, Ben's is asking should we? Book Club Next week's read: Through the Machine by P.A. Cornell https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/through-the-machine/ This week, the crew dives into Arco!—which you can find here: https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/arco/umc.cmc.16jgcgmdg48xptfayroel0yvy Ben gives a full rundown of the film, clearly coming in as the biggest fan of the group. Steven jumps in with context on the cast and sums up the experience as "very French," which tells you a lot if you've ever watched… well, anything French. Devon lands somewhere in the middle—appreciating a lot of what the movie does, even if it doesn't fully sweep him away. If you're into sci-fi that edges a little too close to reality, pirate RPG chaos, or just three guys trying to figure out where the line is between "cool tech" and "we've gone too far," this episode's got you covered. And if you want more—bonus episodes, unedited chaos, Discord access, and all the weird extras—head over to patreon.com/sciencefactionpodcast and join us there.
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    1 時間 21 分
  • Episode 600: Almost Shakespearean

    Episode 600: Almost Shakespearean
    2026/03/18
    This week we bounce from the eternal debate over pie superiority (and some truly questionable anti-pie opinions) into sci-fi revivals, strange travel stories, and the art of a good ending—before closing things out with a genuinely unsettling short story that may or may not leave you side-eyeing your bathroom forever. Real Life We kick things off with the most important topic we've ever covered: pie. Favorites, non-favorites, and a few takes that might genuinely damage friendships. No spoilers—but some of us have very strong opinions. Ben brings a little sci-fi hope (and caution) with talk of a possible return to the world of Firefly. Between comics and expanded universe material—like the recent developments covered over at SYFY Wire (https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/firefly-brand-new-verse-comic-boom-studios) there's clearly still life in the 'verse. But as always, the question is: should it come back, or is it better left alone? Meanwhile, the planned Buffy reboot/sequel has officially stalled out at Hulu, which… honestly might be for the best. [bad opinion AI] Devon takes us on a trip to Eureka Springs, a town built on the idea that its waters had healing properties. It's got that old-world charm mixed with just enough weird to make it interesting—complete with a glass-and-wood beam church, ziplining adventures, and a full-on St. Patrick's Day parade. A little history, a little adrenaline, a little chaos. Steven celebrates Pie Day the right way, follows it up with an all-day beach trip, and then pivots straight into Pirate Borg prep. There's a game on the horizon, and the hype is real. Future or Now Ben takes the wheel with a surprisingly thoughtful discussion about endings—what makes them work, why they matter, and how often they completely fall apart. This leads into Babylon 5 (with a shoutout to Josh), and if you want a refresher or a reason to revisit it, check this out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z54XNJivHOs From there, it's all about what's next in Star Trek. Starfleet Academy Season 1 has people talking, and the future lineup is stacked: Strange New Worlds Season 4 is on the way this summer, with Season 5 already lining up some heavy hitters—including Thomas Jane stepping in as Dr. McCoy and Kai Murakami as Sulu. And then there's the truly baffling situation: Star Trek: Prodigy just won an Emmy… and is basically impossible to watch. If you want to feel equal parts excited and frustrated, here's the breakdown: https://trekmovie.com/2026/03/04/star-trek-prodigy-wins-emmy-for-animation/ Steven dives into some fun (and slightly chaotic) tech territory with green screen experimentation. Corridor Crew breaks it down here: https://youtu.be/3Ploi723hg4?si=Mu_9whhpY_gvJldY and if you want to mess with it yourself, the open-source tool Corridor Key is here: https://github.com/nikopueringer/CorridorKey Book Club Next week, we're checking out Arco!—you can find it on Apple TV right here: https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/arco/umc.cmc.16jgcgmdg48xptfayroel0yvy We'll report back on whether it's worth your time (and money). This week, we read What We Mean When We Talk About the Hole in the Bathroom by Angela Liu: https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/what-we-mean-when-we-talk-about-the-hole-in-the-bathroom/ And look—this one sparked some debate. Ben tries to walk Steven through it… because it didn't quite click at first. But Devon cuts straight through the noise and nails it: this is a horror story. Not loud, not obvious—but deeply, quietly unsettling in a way that sticks with you longer than you'd like. One More Thing Ben's got boots on the ground this weekend at the Beacon Art Show Ekphrastic Poetry Reading, happening Saturday (3/21) at 2pm at the SLO United Methodist Church. If you're local, go check it out—support some art, hear some poetry, and maybe report back. If you've got strong pie opinions, thoughts on whether Firefly should come back, or theories about that bathroom story, we want to hear them. And if you haven't yet—subscribe, follow, and share the show with someone who enjoys a good mix of chaos, sci-fi, and questionable food takes.
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    1 時間 11 分
  • Episode 599: Devon Sold a Guitar for THIS?

    Episode 599: Devon Sold a Guitar for THIS?
    2026/03/11
    Real Life This week's episode begins the way many of our weeks began: confused, slightly annoyed, and one hour short on sleep thanks to the time change. Ben kicks things off by voicing what everyone is feeling — daylight saving time is rough. Losing an hour never gets easier, and the collective fog hangs over the whole episode like a mild but persistent headache. Devon isn't exactly escaping the chaos either. Between a hockey game down in Louisiana and spring break activities with the kids, his schedule is all over the place. Add the time shift on top of that and it's a miracle anyone is awake enough to record. Ben quickly pivots into defending Starfleet Academy, which he insists is a "tremendously good show." According to him, the loudest critics clearly aren't watching it. During the conversation Steven realizes he somehow made it this far in life without fully understanding what the Omega Particle is, which becomes a small but hilarious rabbit hole. Meanwhile the group grumbles about the Voyager game releasing day-one DLC — a move that feels more than a little gross. Steven brings a literary palate cleanser to the table. After wrestling with the famously labyrinthine House of Leaves, he recommends another unsettling architectural mystery: Strange Houses by Uketsu. If eerie homes and unsettling mysteries are your thing, it might be worth checking out here: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/strange-houses-uketsu/1146276773 Ben contributes a strange internet gem called Pricemaster, a bizarre and hypnotic video that quickly becomes one of those "you just have to see it" moments during the episode. If you want to experience the same confusion we did, you can watch it here: https://youtu.be/CUmmxW7Ksc8?si=6s1IRr2FuGy72Zo8 Devon then unveils the real headline of the Real Life segment: a brand-new guitar amp. He picked up a Fender Mustang GTX 100, and the excitement level is off the charts. The amp includes digital modeling, built-in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth connectivity, and an accompanying app that lets him endlessly tweak tones. Devon is talking about it so much that it raises a bigger question — he actually sold a guitar to buy the amp. If you know Devon, that's a shocking development. Future or Now Ben kicks off this segment with a fascinating animated project called Arco, produced by Natalie Portman. The story follows a ten-year-old boy from the year 2932 who isn't supposed to time travel yet. Naturally, he steals a time-travel cape and gemstone, aiming for the age of dinosaurs… and instead crash-lands in the year 2075. There he meets a girl named Iris and her robot nanny, and the unlikely trio may be the only ones who can prevent a global catastrophe. You can read more about the project here: https://collider.com/arco-streaming-online-natalie-portman/ Devon brings a science question that sounds simple but gets weird fast: why aren't mammals as colorful as reptiles, birds, or fish? If you look around the animal kingdom, mammals mostly stick to browns, blacks, and muted tones. The explanation has a lot to do with fur structure and evolutionary pressures — bright pigments are much easier to display in feathers, scales, and bare skin than in thick mammalian fur. The article that sparked the discussion is here: https://www.livescience.com/animals/why-arent-mammals-as-colorful-as-reptiles-birds-or-fish Steven rounds out the segment with something even stranger — humans secretly have stripes. Not visible stripes, unfortunately, but real biological patterns called Blaschko's lines. These lines emerge from the way skin cells divide and migrate during development. Under certain lighting conditions or medical circumstances, these patterns can actually appear, meaning everyone is walking around with hidden tiger stripes or cow-like patterns built into their skin. You can read more about that discovery here: https://www.sciencealert.com/humans-actually-have-secret-stripes-and-other-strange-markings Book Club Next week's reading is "What We Mean When We Talk About the Hole in the Bathroom" by Angela Liu, a title that raises several questions before you even start the story. If you want to read ahead with us, you can find it here: https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/what-we-mean-when-we-talk-about-the-hole-in-the-bathroom/ This week the group dives into "Presence" by Ken Liu, which you can read here: https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/presence/ The story centers on an elderly parent living abroad and the adult children trying to care for them remotely through telepresence technology. The discussion quickly expands beyond the story itself. The hosts talk about the stark contrast between elder care in America and in other countries where multi-generational households are more common. That leads into a broader conversation about American individualism — the cultural idea that success means leaving home, chasing opportunity, and building an independent life. While that independence can open doors,...
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    1 時間 10 分
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