Popcorn Science Podcast

In this episode of "Popcorn Science," we discuss the 1902 film Le Voyage dans la Lune.

Topics

• Science Gripes (5:36)

• Space gun?
• "Raspberry jam" problem
• 600 km long gun
• Pressure suits, life support?
• Breathable air? Snow? Aliens?
• Anthropomorphic... everything?
• Return trajectory... by falling off a cliff.
• Two solar eclipses?

• SCIENCE Shine (21:30)

• Academic Dress
• Man in the Moon
• Mythology
• Ice and caves on the Moon!
• Celebration parade.
• Earth rise

• What did we know about the Moon in 1902 (36:00)

• Robert Hook (1665): Moon made of rock, modified by volcanism.
• No atmosphere, limb darkening
• Did not know what process made the craters.
• Did not know how the moon was formed.

• Of It's Time (41:36)
• Ratings (49:30)

References

• La Voyage dans la Lune (1902)
• Gerald Bull - Behind the Bastards Podcast
• Project Harp

In this episode of "Popcorn Science," we discuss the 1996 film Independence Day.

Topics

• Science Gripes (7:00)

• Infecting alien spacecraft with MacOS virus?
• Fatal case of hubris
• 90 billion light-years (10:20)
• What is Jeff Goldblum's job?
• Smart people can do anything instantly.
• Can a laser destroy a city? (14:45)
• Mothership, size of Enceladus, 25x density of Fe (17:15)
• Tidal problems (18:30)
• Outrun an explosion in a plane... nope.
• How does sunlight and seasons work? (24:19)
• Medical nonsense (26:23)

• Science Shine (29:22)

• Moon Plaque (31:25)
• Aliens like the earth since it is habitable (32:30)
• Ejecting at zero speed, zero altitude.
• Area 51
• Line of sight (39:02)

• Of It's Time (43:02)
• Ratings (55:03)

References

• Independence Day (1996)

In this episode of "Popcorn Science," discuss the 2013 film Gravity.

In this episode of "Popcorn Science," discuss the AppleTV show Pluribus.

Topics

• Science Gripes (6:40)

• Genetic code from the stars? (7:07)
• Disease Transmission: fast and slow (8:48)
• How does the virus do what it does? (15:00)
• Information Density / Communication Bandwidth (17:40)

• Science Shine (19:38)

• VLA! Signal! (20:00)

• Repetition, rule out local
• PWM
• Base4... DNA... er RNA!

• USAMRIID (22:40)
• Lab rat protocol
• Balanced centrifuge!
• Extras with lab experience
• Rat Science (29:54)
• Simple Machine: Lever (30:58)
• Kepler-22 (32:24)
• Signal Strength (36:10)

• Of It's Time (41:45)
• Ratings (57:14)

References

• Pluribus
• Vince Gillian
• X-Files: Je Souhaite (S7E21)
• X-Files: Roadrunners (S8E4)
• USAMRID
• The Hot Zone
• Kepler-22

In this episode of "Popcorn Science," discuss the 2026 film Project Hail Mary

In this episode of "Popcorn Science," we discuss the 2015 film The Martian

In this episode of "Popcorn Science," discuss the 1989 film The Abyss

In this episode of "Popcorn Science," discuss the 1977 film Close Encounters of the Third Kind

God creates dinosaurs, God destroys dinosaurs. God creates Man, Man destroys God. Man creates podcasts. Dinosaurs eat man, woman inherits the Earth.

In this episode of "Popcorn Science," discuss the 1993 film Jurassic Park

Topics

• Science Gripes (5:30)

• DNA from mosquitoes = impossible. Half life is too short.
• Humans cannot produce lysine either, we're alright.
• Not "billions of strands" in a drop of blood.
• T-Rex, from brain casts: Good sense of smell, vision, and hearing... sitting still not a good strategy.
• Velociraptors: not so big, not so fast.
• Humans can probably outrun dinosaurs (19:15)
• $112k/yr. Enough for fieldwork?
• What do dinosaurs sound like? Mating tortoises.

• Science Shine (27:34)

• Dinosaurs related to birds, checks out.
• Animals fail to show up at the safari ride.
• Cloning is a thing, sequencing older samples produce good science
• Mosquitoes did exist contemporaneously with dinosaurs.
• Chicxulub impact described well
• Dinosaur gizzards / gastroliths.
• Sex switching does happen in some species.
• Chaos Theory

• Of it's time (40:39)

• What could have been

• James Cameron: Dark Jurassic Park
• Jim Carey as Malcolm?

• Groundbreaking CGI, but also practical effects.
• Clothing is firmly rooted in the 90s
• CRTs and floppy disks, adjusted refresh rates.
• "That's not what unix looks like". This was an actual unix system called IRIX running a real program called fsn ("File System Navigator for cyberspace").
• 90s hacker tropes and fat shaming
• John Williams: Wrote the score for everything in the 70s, 80s and 90s

• Ratings (54:44)

References

• Jurassic Park (1993)
• Amplification and sequencing of DNA from a 120–135-million-year-old weevil
• Chicxulub
• Gastrolith
• Chaos Theory
• File System Navigator

In this episode of "Popcorn Science," discuss the 1997 film The Fifth Element.

Topics

• Science Gripes (5:10)

• Technobabble

• "Memo-groups", the perfect being, genetic memory
• Generate skin by exposure to UV
• Gravity will mess you up (10:05)
• 3D grid lock? Fog layer in NYC?

• How big is the death sphere anyway?
• New Moon? What about tides, tho?
• How do shadows work? (18:41)
• -5000 degrees? (22:57)
• Parable of the Broken Window (22:37)

• Science Shine (24:23)

• Aziz! Light!
• The fifth element is... Boron... err... Ether (25:40)
• Languages (29:40)
• Planetary Protection (32:12)
• Diva Dance (33:40)
• We bring the evil with us where we go (36:32)

• Single-use beds
• Garbage strike
• 65 trillion served, plausible?

• Hallway disguise

• Of it's time (41:05)

• 23rd century look an awful lot like the 90s. Phonebooks? CDs?
• Bruce Willis is in every 90's action film. Space Die Hard!
• Misogyny. Luc Besson is a creep as are most of the male characters.
• Ruby Rod is ahead of his time.
• Zorg is a techbro, but what's his motivation.

• Ratings (56:52)

References

• The Fifth Element (1997)
• Luc Besson - director
• New York 2140 - Kim Stanley Robinson
• Kármán line
• Parable of the Broken Window
• Divine Language
• Toki Pona
• Laura sings the "Diva Dance" from the Fifth Element

In this episode of "Popcorn Science," we discuss the 2019 series For All Mankind.

Topics

• Science Gripes (6:05)

• Dumbest way to move an Asteroid

• No reaction control thrusters
• Do not need a tower to push
• Spike in a rubble-pile asteroid
• Sending out crew to asteroid while under thrust?

• Living on Mars (14:50)

• Radiation on the Surface, aristocracy live above ground?
• Happy Valley Base near the equator, but ice is near the poles
• Korolev Crater harboring life? No Methane or lava tubes.

• Untethered EVA? Risky.

• Science Shine (27:08)

• Asteroid depiction

• A dark rubble pile
• Initial contact, asteroid more like a wall than a planet.

• Space is quiet!
• Phoenix station has 0.2g gravity
• Sol is a Mars day
• Johnson / Molly Cobb Spacecenter Details
• Astrobiology

• Methane as a biomarker
• Lavatubes are a reasonable place to look for life

• Asteroid Mining

• Worth the effort?
• Flooding the market with rare earths
• 122g of asteroid for $1B (OSIRIS-REx)

• Of it's time (52:47)
• Ratings (1:04:35)

References

• For All Mankind (Wikipedia)
• Asteroid Redirect Robotic Mission (ARRM)
• A City on Mars
• Mars Phoenix
• Korolev Crater
• Mars Odyssey
• Bruce McCandless II
• Mars Watch
• Methanogenesis
• OSIRIS-REx

In this episode of "Popcorn Science," discuss the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Topics

• Science Gripes (7:00)

• Tapir do not live in Africa
• Arid environment, but humans likely evolved in arboreal environment
• Little evidence for humans living in caves
• Humans are not the only tool users, monolith didn't grant unique advantage
• Artistic placement of the moon
• Random equations / diagrams on screen: Sci-Fi jibberish
• Space craft: No thrusters
• Moonwalking: Too much gravity, too little falling down
• EVA without tether or thruster packs, gardening gloves
• Discovery:

• Moving too fast: 3 weeks to Mars? 18 weeks to Jupiter?
• Habitation ring too slow (or too much gravity)
• For every action, these wasn't an equal reaction

• Jupiter:

• Too many (major) moons

• Science Shine (31:00)

• Centripetal gravity, close enough
• Decent job showing zero-gravity life
• Clavius station under ground, close enough to Tycho for a shuttle
• Infectious disease concerns in space
• Predicted Magnetic anomalies on the Moon!: Lunar Swirls
• Earth phases
• 13 seconds in vacuum, plausible!
• HAL wins at chess
• Smooth space turns: Reaction wheels
• Commercial travel looks modern

• Of it's time (46:33)
• Ratings (59:03)

References

• 2001: A Space Odyssey (film, 1968)
• 2001: A Space Odyssey (novel, 1968)
• Stargate Effect
• Arthur C. Clarke
• Stanley Kubrick
• Also sprake Zarathustra - Richard Strauss
• Sapians
• Homo Habilus (tool users)
• Stanford Torus
• Andromeda Strain: Book (1969), Film (1971)
• Lunar Swirls
• Vacuum Suit Accident
• Reaction Wheel
• Computer sings "Daisy Bell" (1961)
• Douglas Rain
• Universe (1960) - National Film Board of Canada

Cities fall, but they are rebuilt. And heroes die, but they are remembered. We honor them with every podcast we record. Our planet, our home.

In this episode of "Popcorn Science," discuss the 1998 film Deep Impact.

Topics

• Science Gripes (4:30)

• Nobody notices the comet
• Sublimation / thermal inertia
• Gravity on a comet
• Sun visor, facial boils
• Travel time
• Communication failure
• Impact effects (earthquake, airburst)
• Temperature increase due to many small impactors (>10 degrees)

• Science Shine (28:05)

• Comet naming
• Comet stats: Reasonable size, mass, density and rotation
• More likely scenario than Armageddon (comet from Ort cloud, off the plane of solar system)
• Visuals: Cometary Jets, dark colouration
• 2 years of darkness (maybe)
• Nuclear propulsion

• Of it's time (45:45)
• Ratings (56:29)

References

• Deep Impact (1998)
• Carolyn Shoemaker
• Gene Shoemaker
• Meteor Crater
• DART
• Orion
• Deep Impact (NASA Mission)

A new life awaits you in the Popcorn Science Podcast. The chance to begin again in a golden land of opportunity and adventure!

In this episode of "Popcorn Science," discuss the 1982 cult classic Blade Runner. Catherine and John have seen things you people wouldn't believe. If you don't listen to this episode, all those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.

References

• Blade Runner (1982)

In this episode of "Popcorn Science," John and Catherine hear nothing but the rain while discussing the 2003 Battlestar Galactica miniseries. So grab your gun and bring the cat in.

References

• Battlestar Galactica (2003)

Many Bothans died to bring us this episode.

In this episode of "Popcorn Science," John and Catherine discuss the science behind the movie Rogue One.

References

• Star Wars: Rogue One

References

• Thor

Misc

In this episode of "Popcorn Science," John and Catherine discuss the science behind the movie Thor!

References

• Clara (film)
• Clara on YouTube

Misc

In this episode of "Popcorn Science," John and Catherine discuss the science behind the 2018 movie "Clara." Clara tells the sotry of a down-on-his-luck astronomer who succeeds in making a momentous discovery with the help of a mysterious artist. Featured in the Toronto International Film Festival, this movie has a familiar science advisor - Dr. John Moores!

References

• The Core
• Stevenson (2003)

Misc

In this episode of "Popcorn Science," John and Catherine discuss the science behind the movie everyone loves to hate: "The Core"! First released in 2003, this movie explores what would happen if the Earth's outer core stopped spinning, and sends a courageous group of "terranauts" down to start it up again.