Video Thoughput: The Science of Contact
Contact digs deep into the weeds on SETI and radio astronomy and I go in with it to see what it got right and what it got wrong.
Contact digs deep into the weeds on SETI and radio astronomy and I go in with it to see what it got right and what it got wrong.
When it all started, the “OMG You Should Try Out This ChatGPT Thing!” craze, I thought I’d give it a whirl.
Maybe there will come a day when a computer-generated AI Sexbot can pass a sexual Turing Test. But we are a long way away from that.
Consign the Doomsday Clock to complete irrelevancy. They can stand next to the people with sandwich boards claiming the end is nigh.
In this video, I use a scene from the Hobbit as a jumping off point to talk about astronomical calendars, eclipse and how old civilizations knew way more about the universe than we give them credit for.
In the end, I think a case can be made for notifying the public of the potential risk and encouraging better ventilation and/or the use of oils that produce less chemical emissions.
Just to put it all in one place, so we can appreciate how much happened this year, here are the ten biggest science stories of the year.
This week, you get a twin spin: I look at science in the movie Alien and its sequel Aliens. Is the xenomorph possible? Do reactors really explode like that?
Nuclear fusion, if successful and widespread, would solve the ‘climate crisis’ Gen Z is so worried about
The running joke is fusion power is always twenty years away. I would say that we are now to the point where fusion power is ten years away.
Raise a glass to our friends Siri, Alexa, Cortana, Bixby, and… uhh.. Google Assistant.
In today’s episode, I call in some help in ranking starship captains, generals and other sci-fi leaders. What makes a great leader? What makes a poor one? What are the most compelling portrayals in sci-fi?
In this video, you get a look at my live reaction to the successful launch of Artemis 1. While waiting through the launch delay, I talk about the Lego kits
While this COVID lab leak theory fire has burned for a while, the last week saw two deluges of rocket fuel poured on it.
In this video, I look at multiverses, which have become the big thing in movies and TV shows. Is there any science meat on that bone? Let’s take a look:
The picture below was produced by my colleague Andy Beardmore from Swift data. It shows the X-rays scattering off dust grains in our own galaxy.
In fairness, not all collective failures are like the stock photos above, however.Sometimes there are systems involved that encourage collective failure.
The devil is in the details for something like this, though at baseline I prefer something like this to speeding cameras.
In this video, from science fiction to real time history of what DART did, why it matters, what the future of space defense might look like
Apple and others will tell you that their phones don’t need cases. Do not believe them.