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21:38People want to feel supported and safe at work – and inspired to innovate. What can people working at large corporations do to create this kind of environment? Saskia Mureau is the Director of Customer Digital at the Port of Rotterdam where she is harnessing digital systems to reduce emissions. She is passionate about creating inclusive workplaces where psychological safety and collaboration drive meaningful change. In this episode, Kamila sits down with Suchi to talk about why she chose to work at large corporations rather than startups. Saskia also reflects on her personal experiences, including navigating IVF while at work, and discusses how organizations can foster environments where employees feel empowered to bring their whole selves to work. Links: Saskia Mureau on Linkedin WHO infertility research BCG 2024 report on psychological safety in the workplace Suchi Srinivasan on LinkedIn Kamila Rakhimova on LinkedIn About In Her Ellement: In Her Ellement highlights the women and allies leading the charge in digital, business, and technology innovation. Through engaging conversations, the podcast explores their journeys—celebrating successes and acknowledging the balance between work and family. Most importantly, it asks: when was the moment you realized you hadn’t just arrived—you were truly in your element? About The Hosts: Suchi Srinivasan is an expert in AI and digital transformation. Originally from India, her career includes roles at trailblazing organizations like Bell Labs and Microsoft. In 2011, she co-founded the Cleanweb Hackathon, a global initiative driving IT-powered climate solutions with over 10,000 members across 25+ countries. She also advises Women in Cloud, aiming to create $1B in economic opportunities for women entrepreneurs by 2030. Kamila Rakhimova is a fintech leader whose journey took her from Tajikistan to the U.S., where she built a career on her own terms. Leveraging her English proficiency and international relations expertise, she discovered the power of microfinance and moved to the U.S., eventually leading Amazon's Alexa Fund to support underrepresented founders. Subscribe to In Her Ellement on your podcast app of choice to hear meaningful conversations with women in digital, business, and technology.…
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11 episódios
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Conteúdo fornecido por The Science Faction Podcast. Todo o conteúdo do podcast, incluindo episódios, gráficos e descrições de podcast, é carregado e fornecido diretamente por The Science Faction Podcast ou por seu parceiro de plataforma de podcast. Se você acredita que alguém está usando seu trabalho protegido por direitos autorais sem sua permissão, siga o processo descrito aqui https://pt.player.fm/legal.
where science meets fact meets fiction
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11 episódios
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The Science Faction Podcast
This episode contains: Steven is under the weather and Devon had to run fast for Sonic 3 . Ben’s making his way through the Knuckles TV show (lots of bowling in this one) before seeing the absolute zaniness turned up to 11 of Sonic 3 . Do y’all remember “Dumb Running Sonic” on Tumblr? Devon recommends Jury Duty (Amazon Prime): Imagine a prank show where everyone’s an actor… except one guy. Chaos ensues. Devon says it’s a must-watch, as is The Wild Robot . It’s all about nature, death, and a reminder that “nature is real.” Production babies galore! Ben explains how he got a Virtual Boy emulator on his 3DS, while Steven has been reading the book Filter World . Ben’s also been playing GRIP Combat Racing, which is kinda like Mario Kart if you prefer ecstasy to mushrooms. You can get it for free right now from Amazon Gaming. Devon’s contemplating getting Mario Maker, but then he’d have to get a Switch and that’s, like, a lot of work, man… Dumb Running Sonic: https://dumbrunningsonic.tumblr.com/ 3DS Virtual Boy Emulator: https://github.com/skyfloogle/red-viper Filterworld: https://www.kylechayka.com/filterworld My Video Went Viral. Here’s Why: Veritasium: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHsa9DqmId8 Tokyo Override: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32581509/ GRIP Combat Racing on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/396900/GRIP_Combat_Racing/ GRIP Combat Racing on Amazon Gaming: https://gaming.amazon.com/grip-gog/dp/amzn1.pg.item.d2358a22-76ef-4c8a-aa76-17b9a10543f5?ingress=amzn Future or Now: The Magic Schoolbus meets Rick and Morty: Ben recommends WTF 101 from Dropout TV. A quartet of kids in detention are schooled by an eccentric and sometimes cynical teacher who takes them on often horrifying field trips with the help of a time-traveling/teleporting/shrinking device. Their travels take them face to face with nature’s most ruthless parasites, humanity’s dumbest failed inventions, and much, much more. If WTF 101 had just made up all of these lessons, it’d still be a funny watch thanks to the clever storytelling, fast-paced plot, and punched-up dialogue. But it’s the fact that the show seeks to educate audiences on real-world factoids that gives it that extra shine. It’s hilarious, gross, weird, profane, and mostly true! It is NOT FOR KIDS and very much NSFW. Devon reflects on debates between theists and atheists. Why does evil exist? Maybe the animal kingdom knows. Watch the first episode for free on Youtube (The Gruesome Truth About Parasites): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aZVgyUlSng Check out the entire series on Dropout: https://www.dropout.tv/wtf-101 Burn it all down: Steven presents a groundbreaking study that reveals RNA — not DNA — might trigger sunburns. Sunburn has traditionally been attributed to UV-induced DNA damage. However, a new study by the University of Copenhagen and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, reveals that RNA, another vital cellular molecule, plays a major role in triggering acute sunburn reactions. Read more at Sciene Daily: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/01/250117112413.htm Now for something a little more cheerful from Devon: Quantum suicide and immortality, a thought experiment exploring the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. The experiment involves repeatedly engaging in an activity with a 50/50 chance of death, with the idea that consciousness will always exist in the universe where the individual survives. Ben is reminded of the short film “One-Minute Time Machine” where a man repeatedly uses a time machine to retry a conversation with a woman, but what happens in the realities he leaves behind? More on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_suicide_and_immortality One-Minute Time Machine on Youtube: https://youtu.be/CXhnPLMIET0 “Book Club”: This week: Philip K. Dick’s short story “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale” (1966). The story follows Douglas Quail, a man obsessed with Mars who seeks out a company to implant fake memories of a Martian trip. It’s very different from the 1990 film adaptation of Total Recall, the film’s action-oriented approach was very different from the story’s focus on psychological elements. Is remembering something the same as living it? “I remember recording a good podcast once.” “Steven, we’ve never recorded a good podcast.” Read it here: https://philosophy.as.uky.edu/sites/default/files/We%20Can%20Remember%20It%20for%20You%20Wholesale%20-%20Philip%20K.%20Dick.pdf Next week: Alfred Bester’s Fondly Fahrenheit . Though the story’s disturbing premise—that a servile android-robot could turn on its human superiors and commit murder—was probably radical at the time, without Bester’s way with words, Fondly Fahrenheit wouldn’t have become the classic science fiction short story that it is today. It’s still cited as one of the best sci-fi stories ever. Read it here: http://www.sfsfss.com/stories2/Bester,%20Alfred%20-%20Fondly%20Fahrenheit%20v1.0.htm…
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REAL LIFE Devon: We celebrated Nolan’s Mario-themed birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese’s, and it was pure Mario madness—even down to LEGO sets! At home, we dove into the SNES Classic, revisiting classics like Super Mario World and Mario Kart . Speaking of Mario Kart , Ben has a lot of thoughts about kart racing games. Oh, and let’s not forget Super Metroid made a cameo in our gaming nostalgia. Steven: Exciting news! We’re now on YouTube! Check out The Science Faction Podcast for all our latest episodes and content. Also, Steven got his hands on the 5-disc Complete Collector’s Edition of Blade Runner . Talk about sci-fi collector goals! Ben: Ben’s been under the weather—boo! But that meant more movie time—yay! He’s here to defend rewatching so-called “terrible” films like Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. But hey, the Indiana Jones videogame nails the adventure vibe. Steven couldn’t agree more—there’s nothing better than punching Nazis! Also, fun fact: The Matrix reused sets from Dark City , which Roger Ebert loved so much he even recorded commentary tracks for it. And yes, both Ben and Devon admit to falling asleep during The Phantom Menace … in theaters. Oops! FUTURE OR NOW Ben: “The Buddhists Know How to Party” might sound like an odd statement, but Ben dives into the Five Remembrances of the Buddha, a reflection on aging, illness, and impermanence. It really got Devon thinking about Stoicism. Curious? You can read them here : I am of the nature to grow old. There is no way to escape growing old. I am of the nature to have ill-health. There is no way to escape having ill-health. I am of the nature to die. There is no way to escape death. All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change. There is no way to escape being separated from them. My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground on which I stand. Steven: Steven brings up a serious topic: the insurance crisis in California. State Farm is pulling out of the state due to restrictions on raising rates, leaving them unable to cover major disasters like the LA fires. They currently have about $3 billion, but with an estimated $4 billion needed for payouts, this gap could lead to insolvency. Who’s at fault—the state for blocking rate hikes or the companies for not adjusting sooner? Steven urges us not to “Luigi the wrong people” in this situation. BOOK CLUB This Week: We took a deep dive into Ursula K. Le Guin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” from The Wind’s Twelve Quarters . You can read it here . Ben found it “super fascinating,” while Devon unpacked its core themes: a utopia sustained by the suffering of one child and the moral quandary of staying or walking away. Ben summed it up with, “The terror of not knowing keeps people away.” Also, Devon joked that Omelas could just be Salem spelled backward—thanks, Oregon road signs! Devon also mused, “Ethics cannot be logically discerned.” Next Week: Get ready for Philip K. Dick’s “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale” (1966). Here’s a PDF. And no, Devon—you can’t just watch Total Recall instead!…
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Real Life Devon shared his thoughts on Red One , a Christmas action movie involving a military operation to save Santa, describing it as “a slog and not clever,” though his kid loved Home Alone . Steven wrapped up holiday cleanup and started reading Future Noir , a deep dive into the making of Blade Runner . He also reflected on the differences between narration in Blade Runner and Dark City . Ben has been dealing with his son’s walking pneumonia and spent time playing Inertial Drift (check out the free prologue ). On the music side, he enjoyed 311’s cover of The Offspring and The Offspring’s cover of 311 . Future or Now Note this : Exploring the Obsidian Digital Garden Plugin , a tool to publish notes from Obsidian directly online. Supports static site generation and free hosting on Vercel or Netlify. Obsidian Digital Garden Docs | Ben’s Demo All Around the Globe : Discussed Flat-Earthers’ humbling experience in Antarctica while attempting to prove their theories. Article: Flat-Earthers Travel to Antarctica Nevermind That Noise You Heard : Highlighted research on the link between poor sleep and mental health issues due to brain deficits that block unwanted thoughts. Related to themes from Reminiscence . Science Daily Article Reminiscence IMDB link Book Club Next Week : The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin Read Online This Week : Arthur C. Clarke’s The Nine Billion Names of God Read Online | Audiobook on YouTube Discussion on its themes appearing in works like Three-Body Problem , Spin , and Blindsight . Steven and Devon brainstorm the logistics of a Futurama -style “smell-o-scope,” inspired by Godfellas . Futurama Wiki: Godfellas Devon : Talked about philosopher Philipp Mainländer and his fascinating, existential ideas. Wikipedia: Philipp Mainländer…
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Real Life Devon shared highlights from their recent trip to Oregon, where they visited the coast, skipped skiing, and explored a lighthouse. The visit to Tillamook stood out, especially encountering a hilariously judgy giant cow head. Check out Tillamook here . Steven went on a major upgrade spree, adding a new desk chair, soundboard, and computer to their setup. They also delved into tabletop RPGs, including Perils & Princesses ( official site ), The Princess in Black ( learn more ), and Slugblaster , with its iconic quantum centipede kickflips. Ben talked about navigating a family challenge with their kid’s walking pneumonia, which led to a movie marathon featuring The Martian and Sandlot . They’re also looking forward to the upcoming adaptation of Project Hail Mary ( movie details ). On the gaming side, they played Void Crew . The team also reflected on the Lower Decks season finale, discussing intentionality in media consumption, and debated the myth of multitasking. More about Lower Decks here . Future or Now Ben reviewed the film Hidden Figures , celebrating the incredible achievements of NASA’s “human computers” while highlighting anachronisms like gum-chewing in the 1960s. Read more about the film . Devon recapped the year’s biggest science stories, from a total solar eclipse to Europa mission updates and record-breaking heat. Other highlights included mapping the fruit fly brain, Icelandic eruptions, and bird flu concerns. Full list of 2024’s top science stories . Steven explored a groundbreaking AI-based therapeutic platform that mimics virus structures to develop innovative treatments. Learn more here . Book Club This week, the team discussed Ray Bradbury’s A Sound of Thunder , diving into its themes of time travel, the butterfly effect, and unintended consequences. Read the story here . Next week, they’ll tackle Arthur C. Clarke’s The Nine Billion Names of God , a fascinating tale blending religion and technology. The story follows two programmers hired by Buddhist monks to list all possible names of God—a task that might just end the universe. Read it here .…
Real Life Steven shares his recent battle with the flu, updates to his computer and recording setup, and his deep dive into World’s Finest from the Superman: The Animated Series . He’s also been watching That Christmas on Netflix, a cozy seasonal pick. Meanwhile, Ben recounts his creative ventures, like shadow boxing the Moon Lord, experimenting with black paper and sharpies, and recommends Perfect Days . This Tokyo-based film follows the quiet, reflective life of Hirayama, a janitor whose mundane routines uncover profound beauty. With its oldies-filled cassette soundtrack, the film is perfect for anyone craving a refreshed outlook on life’s simple joys. Perfect Days on IMDb . Future or Now? This Week in Space: In space exploration news, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe is making history this week by flying closer to the Sun than ever before—just 3.8 million miles from its surface. It’s the fastest human-made object, designed to brave temperatures over 2,500°F as it ventures into the Sun’s corona to unlock mysteries about the solar wind. That’s Nuts!: Meanwhile, on Earth, scientists have observed California ground squirrels defying their herbivorous stereotype by hunting and eating voles. This unexpected carnivorous behavior highlights their adaptability and raises new questions about the flexibility of animal diets in response to environmental changes. Read more about this discovery in the ScienceDaily article and watch a detailed breakdown on YouTube . Book Club This week, we dive into spoiler-heavy discussion for the short film Where Rabbits Come From , a moving tale set in a dystopian world. Ben reviews the story of a widowed father rabbit who defies an authoritarian government to spark hope and magic in his daughter’s life. They escape oppression, finding solace and a possible reunion in the meadow. Learn more on Letterboxd . On a lighter note, Steven gives a glowing review of Skeleton Crew , a family-friendly Star Wars show featuring kid pirates and Shistavanen aliens, which ties back to some classic lore. Check out Shistavanen lore here . Next week, we’ll explore Ray Bradbury’s time-travel classic, A Sound of Thunder . Read the story here or listen to an audio reading on YouTube . For a fun twist, watch this TV show adaptation .…
Real Life: Steven is sick or dead, we don’t remember, so Ben and Devon take over the show. Devon is traveling for the holidays so needs to bill as much as possible at work. Devon explains what it’s like to be an independent contractor. Ben’s work is a little less reliable. Snoop Dogg records a holiday message for Ben’s parent, parent, parent company. Snoop Dogg is somehow still as famous as ever. Future or Now: This Week in Space Astrophysicists capture astonishing images of gamma-ray flare from supermassive black hole M87. The jet is tens of millions of times larger than the black hole’s event horizon. The galaxy M87, located in the Virgo constellation, provided the first-ever photo of a black hole in 2019, when the Event Horizon Telescope captured an image of the supermassive black hole at the galaxy’s center. An international research team has now observed a teraelectronvolt gamma-ray flare seven orders of magnitude — tens of millions of times — larger than the event horizon, or surface of the black hole itself. A flare of this intensity — which has not been observed in over a decade — can offer crucial insights into how particles, such as electrons and positrons, are accelerated in the extreme environments near black holes. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/12/241213140634.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_87 Black holes and why they look like that: https://youtu.be/zUyH3XhpLTo?si=7drAgoVloX9hytmo New Technology Could Keep Communications Going During Disasters RNZ (12/6) News from New Zealand: “The ‘mesh node’ is a small black walkie-talkie sized box that connects to a cellphone through Bluetooth. It then connects to a network of solar powered nodes across the region, which allows users to send short text messages, even when all other communications are down. It has been tailor-made by Tai Rāwhiti Civil Defence, and emergency manager Ben Green said it is “a cost-effective solution for reliable communications in a disaster.” https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/535819/new-technology-could-keep-communications-going-during-disasters Book Club: Next week book club: WHERE RABBITS COME FROM, a French animated short film that’s being shopped around for awards this season. The answer will surprise you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH_TgDEuCfI&ab_channel=StudioNiloc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAkqGMU-mug&list=PLwDe6hrCodhk0k3qCN0QTqixXu6g2R5Nh&index=6 Lower Decks The 947th episode of Star Trek was the penultimate episode of Lower Decks. This episodes has awesome cameos and did multiverse right. Devon still likes the show but doesn’t feel it’s actually Star Trek canon. We wish Loer Decks had gone for seven seasons. There’s plans for more comedic Star Trek in the future. Will it be as good as Lower Decks? More Star Trek News The Section 31 movie is coming in January. Ben is looking forward to it, Devon has no plans to watch it. Ben is excited by the secondary cast of the movie. Are there Xindi in the movie? The movie is set in the “Lost Era”.…
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This episode contains: Ben welcomes a special guest host: Flint Lawless. Steven and Devon are off dealing with family illness and work commitments, so you know what that means! Well, we don’t actually talk about video games at all this one (I know, right?). Future or Now: The Magic Eye: Remember autostereograms ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autostereogram )? Stereograms are 2D images that create the illusion of a 3D scene by exploiting the way our eyes perceive depth. “Magic Eye” images are a popular form of autostereogram. Learn how to see Magic Eye images here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdWNYdk-vWY . As a kid, Ben would spend hours looking at Magic Eye books, and it felt like magic because most everybody else didn’t see them. He was like a wizard. Recently, he came across an article about using Excel of all things to create Magic Eye images ( https://divisbyzero.com/2024/11/30/make-a-magic-eye-image-using-excel/ ) but guess who has two thumbs and doesn’t have Excel? This guy! Turns out there’s an easy to use free online tool for making autostereograms ( https://www.easystereogrambuilder.com/ ). He also found a music video that was a moving stereogram ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AKtp3XHn38 ). Flint was curious, but completely perplexed because he doesn’t know how to see them yet. “Book Club”: Next week: WHERE RABBITS COME FROM, a French animated short film that’s being shopped around for awards this season. The answer will surprise you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAkqGMU-mug&list=PLwDe6hrCodhk0k3qCN0QTqixXu6g2R5Nh&index=6 This week: No time for book club: the first two episodes of the new Star Wars show Skeleton Crew is out. It’s good! And we start comparing it to Farscape, Star Trek: Prodigy and One Piece . It’s a sweet Goonies -like mystery. The Republic likes to hide planets for some reason… maybe they’re not exactly the good guys? Flint and Ben discuss the morally gray areas of stories where the “forces of good” make questionable decisions that lead to positive and negative consequences.…
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This episode contains: We three hosts gobbled up Thanksgiving, celebrating with families, parents and in-laws. Why did Ford call their electric car a Mach-E? Or is it Maquis? A Mockery? Ben gives a slightly different (and more positive) take on Beetlejuice Beetlejuice than Devon’s review from a couple months ago ( https://sciencefactionpodcast.com/2024/09/11/episode-522-incomprehensibly-gravelly/ ). The first half hour is definitely rough but it comes together, in the back half especially. Big shout-out to the production design of the afterlife and the cameos. Devon’s a pickleball-player now, and we contrast it with racquetball. Steven and his family saw Moana 2 and opinions varied wildly among the family. Don’t expect a Lin Manuel Miranda soundtrack, but do expect them to set up a bunch of sequels. Future or Now: Right now, in the 1960s: Ben’s ready to spoil The Twilight Zone episode “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street.” On a peaceful suburban street, strange occurrences and mysterious people stoke the residents’ paranoia to a disastrous intensity. This is nearly REQUIRED VIEWING for anyone on the internet these days. “The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices to be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill, and suspicion can destroy, and a thoughtless frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all of its own for the children, and the children yet unborn. And the pity of it is that these things cannot be confined to the Twilight Zone.” Despite this being a story very inspired by McCarthyism ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism ), our current paranoia about our neighbors needs to stop. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0734664 Three things to ponder (“Eat the 1%”): Devon wonders why don’t we eat turkey eggs? It’s all about the downsides: even though they’re not hazardous, turkeys have slower egg production, larger size and space requirements, and tougher egg shells than chickens. Why will some pets (especially dogs) eat their dead owners, even when there’s food available? The current hypothesis is that the dogs are trying to frantically wake up their owners, and after biting the face, their instinct takes over. Also, the Higgs particle only accounts for 1% of the mass of an object. https://www.iflscience.com/turkey-eggs-why-dont-we-eat-them-77017 Get over here! (Don’t “TOASTY” me): Steven brings us this morsel of news: a tiny, four-fingered ‘hand’ folded from a single piece of DNA can pick up the virus that causes COVID-19 for highly sensitive rapid detection and can even block viral particles from entering cells to infect them, researchers report. Dubbed the NanoGripper, the nanorobotic hand also could be programmed to interact with other viruses or to recognize cell surface markers for targeted drug delivery, such as for cancer treatment. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/11/241127165721.htm “Book Club” This week: Big Oxygen by exurb1a A janitor on a spaceship wakes up from an emergency alarm to complete bedlam. Every group he runs across has a different ideology, in fact, their baseline ideologies have been erased, and it doesn’t go well for anyone. Turns out belief without facts and reason will destroy, but also just getting facts without context is disastrous. It’s about how you digest facts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKouPOhh_9I Also, ChatGPT cheats against Stockfish in Chess: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSCNW1OCk_M Next week: WHERE RABBITS COME FROM, a French animated short film that’s being shopped around for awards this season. The answer will surprise you.…
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REAL LIFE Devon is dealing with a sick family and Ben is wiped, despite finally having a chance to rest. Ben has been covering for his boss and teaching a beginning HTML class to kids. Most of the kids are awesome but some are “chaos gremlins.” Ben also just drove to Burbank and back for a roller derby tournament. Ben had to be the father to 15 kids. Ben’s wife had to stay home for work and to take care of a geriatric cat. For Steven this was conference week so his kids got off school early. He forced them to play outside with the extra time. Steven’s kids have been “bruh-ing.” Steven has jumped back into Caves and Qud. ( https://www.cavesofqud.com/ ). It’s a fantastic, weird, fun game. Steven is reading Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer, which is… interesting. Steven also built a Lego Nano Gauntlet. FUTURE OR NOW First up, Mothership RPG (check it out here ), the award-winning sci-fi horror game where surviving outer space is just the beginning. With streamlined character creation and easy session prep, it’s perfect for both new and experienced players. Steven’s even offering to run a game for our listeners—join our Discord if you’re in! Next, Ben explores a breakthrough in carbon capture with UC Berkeley’s COF-999 powder, which removes CO2 from the air at record rates and promises a more energy-efficient future. Read about it here . Lastly, Devon dives into panpsychism, the philosophical idea that consciousness is a fundamental property of the universe. Hear his take, complete with debates from thinkers like Sean Carroll and Philip Goff. Want to learn more? Check out the Wikipedia entry or this intriguing Mind Chat video . BOOK CLUB Renee has been watching Prodigy. We mention needing to discuss the new episodes of Lower Decks and the short film Unification . The High Test by Fredrik Pohl (1983) Originally published in Asimov Science Fiction Magazine. A story of a man working as a driving instructor on a distant planet. He’s actually a flight instructor teaching humans and aliens how to fly their spaceships. A cozy slice of life according to Ben. According to Devon the story felt like a product of the 50s despite being written in the 80s. Was the inspiration for this story: what if an alien needed to pass a driving test before attempting to destroy humans? Next Week Big Oxygen by exurb1a…
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Real Life Devon shared about their recent visit to Fredericksburg, aka “Texas wine country,” where the German settlers brought their food and flair. While there were tempting wine tastings, Devon was not about to wait 30 minutes for a sip. Oh, and they’re currently battling a cold, which sounded something like SNNNOOORRRRTTT . Meanwhile, Steven recapped an out-of-town trip that included a stop at Black Diamond Games in Concord, CA, where he picked up the RPG Mothership and The Electric State . On the D&D front, Steven is on the hunt for elf druid miniatures for his daughter’s character. Ben, on the other hand, discovered Walkabout Mini Golf on iOS, which offers touch-to-putt and AR modes—sounds like a hole-in-one! He also dove into the world of Star Trek fan edits, sharing a link to Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Season 0 . However, Ben admitted to only watching Voyager once ( FOR SHAME! ), while his son has decided Worf is the best ( double shame! ). Devon, ever resourceful, uses Star Trek as a threat to keep his kids in line. Future or Now Ben stumbled into the world of web design and shared the new CSS logo—designed with a squircle, of all things. The logo’s hex color, #663399 , is known as “Rebecca Purple” and has a meaningful backstory. Devon switched gears to science, geeking out about tardigrades (a.k.a. water bears), which are radiation-resistant extremophiles with 15,000 known species. These tiny creatures can repair their DNA after radiation damage and even borrow genes through horizontal gene transfer. Talk about resilient! For more details, check out this article . For some sci-fi vibes, we also pondered if the Netflix show Away about going to Mars might scratch your space-loving itch. Steven wrapped up this section with a discussion on the psychology of money. A recent study from ScienceDaily suggests that digital money doesn’t create the same emotional connection as physical cash. Devon thinks of cash as “free money,” while Steven questions if digital currency even feels real. Book Club This week, we read Ray Bradbury’s The Crowd , a story rich with layers of meaning. It sparked discussions about collectivism vs. individuality, Red Scare-era anti-communism, and a lingering mystery: are they aliens, ghosts, or demons? Regardless of the interpretation, we thoroughly enjoyed this one! For next week, we’re diving into Frederik Pohl’s short story The High Test . You can check it out here .…
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