The Science of Fiction

To celebrate the release of Star Trek Into Darkness, serial guest James Grime has taken on the arduous task of re-watching the original series to study the mathematics featured on the screen. He joins us for a podcast-only special to tell us all about it, with audio clips of the relevant episodes. We'll talk about cicadas, morphogenesis (or “waves on cows”), deceiving androids from first principles, and the biggest question of them all: does the redshirt always die? If you want to check James’ working, he's published a series of posts over at The Aperiodical on the same themes: part I, part II, part III. Please enjoy this photograph of Gödel, which we mention towards the end of the show. Please also enjoy further information on the remarkable Valais goat. The short skirt uniform worn by both men and women in early episodes of The Next Generation is called a skant, and it was occasionally worn with trousers. JIM: Science and medics, those are the blue shirts. HOST: Where do mathematicians go? Scientists? JIM: That’s right, yes, science. HOST: You’re safe? JIM: Yes, I am, I’m in the blue shirt category. as quoted by Peter Rowlett in What colour shirt do mathematicians wear? Tracklist Theme from Star Trek Nerf Herder – Mr. Spock Beach House – Zebra Leonard Nimoy – The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins William Shatner – Real Valais Blackneck family by Jos James Grime with a tribble by Andrew Holding Send feedback and comments to [email protected].

Oliver Marsh studies science-media interactions at the department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge, occasionally performs at Bright Club, and blogs about “the human side of science”. He joins Andy in the studio for the final episode of season 6! Tracklist KT Tunstall – Funnyman David Bowie – Life on Mars Ethel Merman – There's No Business Like Show Business The Smiths – That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore Mother Mother – Infinitesimal Mystery Hunt 2011 Coin - Megaman, Prince and ? Block by Alex Send feedback and comments to [email protected].

Picking up where What if… we could all become cyborgs?, a show Andy produced for the BBC World Service, and last week's episode both left off, Andy and Will discuss cyborgs, hive minds, extending the senses, and the alleged emasculating effects of smartphones. Bionic eyes; artificial synæsthesia; lab rats with brain implants sense invisible infrared light; powering an artificial heart; Google Glass; Sergey Brin: Smartphones are ‘emasculating’; Steve Mann (Will mentioned the hit-and-run anecdote in this article but didn't realise it was the same man who was assaulted in McDonald's); the many strands of Ghost in the Shell; brain hacking; typing with twenty fingers; Nigel Shadbolt and AIs for the elderly; the Borg; the Ood; Intercontinental mind-meld unites two rats; Rats ARE like the Borg; faint memories of a Dark Angel plotline; Lab-grown human brains could control robots, says Kevin Warwick; aaaaaaand rat kings. Tracklist The Six Million Dollar Man theme Faded Paper Figures – Information Runs On Scott Matthew – Lithium Flower (from the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex soundtrack) Pet Shop Boys – Always On My Mind Kraftwerk – The Robots Rat King: King Rat by Cle0patra Window Color Sound Sculpture 6 by Dennis Skley Send feedback and comments to [email protected].

Cam Robinson hosts GameSpot's The What If Machine, where he explores how close the wonder of modern science fact can bring us to gaming science fiction. He joins us to discuss cybernetics, autonomous robots, nanotechnology, and more, with his choice of excellent tunes. Deus Ex: Human Revolution, implants, augmented reality, Call of Duty, Noel Sharkey on The Life Scientific, ethical risks of robotics, Crysis 3, wipE'out", levitation, Punch the Custard (Will misremembered how the hit detection works), space travel, and Cam’s recommendation of the one recent game non-gamers should play. Tracklist Radiohead – Paranoid Android Nine Inch Nails – Discipline AC/DC – TNT Sabrepulse – City at Speed Muse – Space Dementia levitating magnet by Camilla Hoel Send feedback and comments to [email protected].

Spoken nerd and songstress Helen Arney lends her voice to the show. Video games, fossils, AIs, cat chat, and almost no ukuleles. Tracklist Buckner & Garcia – Pac-Man Fever They Might Be Giants – I Am A Palaeontologist A.F. Harrold – Science Party Poem Tim Minchin – When I Grow Up (from Matilda) Jonathan Coulton – Good Morning Tucson Helen Arney – The Sun Has Got Its Huff On Cramped up by philip hay Send feedback and comments to [email protected].

Political ecologist Ivan Scales—McGrath Lecturer and Director of Studies in Geography at St Catharine's College, Cambridge—joins the show to discuss natural resource use and environmental change. Ivan is the McGrath Lecturer and Director of Studies in Geography at St Catharine's College. Tracklist Villagers – Mercy, Mercy Me R.E.M. – It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine) Grandaddy – Broken Household Appliance National Forest Radiohead – Idioteque Joni Mitchell – Big Yellow Taxi Pixies – Monkey Gone To Heaven Biofuel project in Iba, Zambales by Trees ForTheFuture Send feedback and comments to [email protected].

Biomedical gerontologist Aubrey de Grey of the SENS Foundation joins Will by phone to discuss reversing the effects of ageing, the accurate or counterproductive ways life extension and immortality are presented in fiction, and public perception and acceptance of new medical technology. Repairing the body vs. uploading human consciousness; Buying Time (aka The Long Habit of Living) by Joe Haldeman; whither implants; prosthetics and improving on baseline humans; the state of the art of rejuvenation research. By around 2050, I'm fairly sure that the human-driven automobile will be a specialised race-track toy for gear-heads, much as horse-drawn carriages in the developed world are a quaint hobby or a deliberate affectation. Charles Stross Tracklist Death Cab for Cutie – What Sarah Said Barcelona – Obsoletion 65daysofstatic – When We Were Younger & Better Ume – Pendulum old & young by SriHarsha PVSS Send feedback and comments to [email protected].

Andy and Will round off the year with a show on intoxicants: real or fantastical, legal or outlawed, poison or cure (or sometimes both…). James Bond’s heart, curare, Charles Waterton’s donkey- and bellows-based hobbies, counteracting poisons with poisons, deadly beauty treatments, glass swans, penicillin, recycling a policeman's urine, K-Pax, alkaloids, opiates, the works of Jeff Noon, Hofmann, tripping babies, Equilibrium, mood stabilizers, and a surprisingly large number of emails! The claim that Dolophine, a brand name for methadone, was chosen in honour of Hitler was sadly too good to be true. This is a fantastically interesting show! an anonymous listener Tracklist Alice Cooper – Poison The National – All The Wine Skunk Anansie – She’s My Heroine Massive Attack – Rush Minute Plus, if you were listening live: Nirvana – Lithium Belladonna (Atropa Belladonna) (Deadly Nightshade) by Paul Belson Donkey-Face by Rachael Send feedback and comments to [email protected].

Alexandra Kamins, a researcher at the University of Cambridge and IOZ, brings us the messy reality behind the spread of disease, everyone's favourite apocalyptic scenario. Pestilence galore! Zoonotic disease, pandemics/epidemics, fruit bats, Contagion, Outbreak, Ebola, badgers, the imposition of quarantine, (not) being a “helping-people doctor”, Good Omens and more. Tracklist Metallica – Four Horsemen Toto – Africa Peter, Paul and Mary – Leaving on a Jet Plane They Might Be Giants - Doctor Worm Colorized Marburg virus particles viewed with a transmission electron microscope by Microbe World Send feedback and comments to [email protected].

Serial guest Michael Conterio joins the show to discuss the fiction and fact of technology enabled by quantum mechanics. Michael co-hosts Burst The Bubble—which airs just before The Science of Fiction—and is the ringleader of Sci Cam, a new magazine-style live video show with interviews, beginner's guides and news. 101 Housework Songs, wave-particle duality, A Quantum Murder, A Quantum of Solace, teleportation, lasers, Boeing YAL-1, semiconductors, Qubit Slip, and many other things. Tracklist Katrina and the Waves – Walking on Sunshine Jonny Berliner – Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle Chris Cornell – You Know My Name The Firm – Star Trekkin’ Entangled [19/365] by Thanakrit Gu Send feedback and comments to [email protected].