Strange New Worlds: A Science & Star Trek Podcast

Episode 118: The Last Best Hope

12 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Dr. Una McCormack New York Times bestselling science fiction writer Dr. Una McCormack joins us to talk about the scientific themes in her 202...

Episode 117: The History of Women in Space & Star Trek

07 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Dr. Margaret Weitekamp Special Co-Host: Dr. Ingrid Ockert Historian of science Dr. Ingrid Ockert joins Mike as a special co-host in this epi...

Episode 116: Balance of Nature

16 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Justin Oser In Part 2 of a conversation with Trek podcaster and Star Trek novel enthusiast Justin Oser, we discuss the science in the Starfle...

Episode 115: Ishtar Rising

03 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Justin Oser In Part 1 of a conversation with Trek podcaster Justin Oser, we dive into the multiverse of Star Trek novels and pick apart the V...

Episode 114: Time, Togetherness, & Sci-Fi Stuff

16 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Dr. Peter Gao Mike beams Dr. Peter Gao aboard to discuss the barrage of Star Trek news from #FirstContactDay 2021 and some personal news abou...

Episode 113: I Never Met a Magnetic Field I Didn't Like

03 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Guests: Tiffany Jansen & Dr. Jim Green In Part 2 of a conversation with NASA Chief Scientist Jim Green and Columbia University astronomer Tiffany Jan...

Episode 112: Habitable Worlds 2021

27 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Guests: Tiffany Jansen & Dr. Jim Green Columbia University astronomer Tiffany Jansen and NASA Chief Scientist Jim Green join Mike to discuss factors...

Episode 111: Writing Galadjian & Georgiou

12 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: John Jackson Miller In Part 2 of an interview with New York Times bestselling author John Jackson Miller, we discuss characters, planets, and...

Episode 110: Show Your Homework

07 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: John Jackson Miller In Part 1 of an interview with New York Times bestselling author John Jackson Miller, we learn about John's career journe...

Episode 109: Preparing for Perseverance

08 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Eva Scheller On February 18, 2021, NASA's Perseverance rover will touch down on Mars. Eva Scheller, a planetary scientist at Caltech, preview...

Episode 108: Science Consulting for Season 3 of Discovery

17 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Guests: Dr. Erin Macdonald & Prof. Mohamed Noor The Star Trek science consultants themselves join us to discuss the science of Discovery's third sea...

DSC 313: Polyploidy

11 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Response to DSC: "That Hope Is You, Part 2" Dr. Culber suspects that Su'Kal is a polyploid, which could help explain the Kelpien's role in causing t...

DSC 312: Capitalism

02 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Desun Oka Response to DSC: "There Is A Tide..." On the latest episode of Star Trek: Discovery, Osyraa and Admiral Vance attempt to negotiat...

Episode 107: Mice Muscles in Space & a Rapping Robot

29 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Shi En Kim On the final episode of 2020, Mike is joined by freelance science writer Shi En Kim to discuss what space can teach us about aging...

DSC 311: The Verubin Nebula

26 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Response to DSC: "Su'Kal" Expectation vs. reality: scientific commentary on what Mike thought was going to be in the Verubin nebula and what the U.S...

DSC 310: Yin and Yang

21 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Response to DSC: "Terra Firma, Part 2" This week on Strange New Worlds, reflections (pun fully intended) on our latest visit to the Mirror Universe....

Episode 106: The Dreamer and the Dream

12 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Rebecca Pierce Writer, filmmaker, and activist Rebecca Pierce joins Mike to discuss the intersection of racial justice, protest movements, #B...

DSC 308: Kwejian Is and Isn't Venus

05 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Response to DSC: "The Sanctuary" Planet Kwejian's orbital parameters, as seen on Lt. Bryce's computer, are exactly identical to that of Venus. So wh...

DSC 307: In Search of Truth

28 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Response to DSC: "Unification III" Mike reflects on the T'Kal-in-ket. This ancient Vulcan tradition was billed as a search for new scientific truths...

DSC 306: Triangulation

21 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Response to DSC: "Scavengers" On the latest episode of Star Trek: Discovery, Commander Burnham explains how she plans on using the black boxes of st...

Episode 105: The History of Science & Star Trek

17 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Dr. Ingrid Ockert Science and Star Trek share an intimate association in popular culture. This alliance only grows stronger as Star Trek cont...

DSC 305: Prions

14 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Response to DSC: "Die Trying" This week's episode of Star Trek: Discovery featured a neurological disease caused by prions. Mike discusses prions, h...

DSC 304: Symbionts

07 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Response to DSC: "Forget Me Not" On the most recent episode of Star Trek: Discovery, "Forget Me Not," the crew travels to the Trill homeworld to ret...

DSC 303: Catastrophe on Titan

30 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Response to DSC: "People of Earth" On the latest episode of Star Trek: Discovery, we learn that a research base on Titan has suffered a catastrophic ...

DSC 302: Flashback to the '50s

26 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Dr. Ingrid Ockert Dr. Ingrid Ockert, a historian of science, joins Mike to respond to DSC: "Far From Home." While the first episode of Season...

DSC 301: Hverfjall

18 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Let's try something new! This is the start of a series of short, weekly reactions to Discovery's third season—from a scientific perspective, of cour...

Episode 104: The Cosmic Casino

12 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Professor David Kipping Star Trek depicts a galaxy teeming with life, including many variations of intelligent life. Is that the nature of ou...

Episode 103: Professor Borg

13 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Prof. Darsa Donelan "They know what they're getting themselves into when they sign up for my class," says Professor Darsa Donelan, who is wel...

Episode 102: It's Lyfe, Jim, but Not as We Know It

16 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On Episode 102, Mike introduces the concept of lyfe, which he and Dr. Stuart Bartlett coined in a paper earlier this year, through the lens of Star Tr...

Episode 101: Q&A with Mike

09 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Which Star Trek character does Mike identify with most? What aspect of the Star Trek future does he wish were a part of the present? What if Star Trek...

Episode 100: Reunion

01 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Guests: Elise Cutts & Dr. Peter Gao For Episode 100, Mike reunites with his crew from the very first episode of Strange New Worlds, geobiologist Eli...

Episode 99: Mok'bara & Tai Chi

07 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Ray Wong In Star Trek: The Next Generation, Lt. Worf practices and teaches a form of Klingon martial arts called the Mok'bara, which is strik...

Episode 98.5: BONUS! The Journey Towards Justice

08 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

As the Black Lives Matter movement sweeps across the United States and the world in the wake of George Floyd's tragic death at the hands of the police...

Episode 98: Retconning the Romulan Supernova

24 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Dr. Andy Howell In the 2009 Star Trek movie, Romulus is destroyed by a supernova that exploded 500 lightyears away, a cataclysm that is said ...

Episode 97: Memory Battles

10 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Desun Oka History is not just a list of facts, but a process of memory making; we get to decide how and why certain events from the past are ...

Episode 96: Going Viral

20 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Guests: Aditi Narayanan & Dr. Stuart Bartlett How do viruses shape life on Earth? Well, the Coronavirus pandemic is just the tip of the iceberg. Usin...

Episode 95: Picard Bingo

05 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Guests: Dr. Peter Gao & Dr. James T. Keane Which TNG characters appeared in Picard? Who dies in the show? Were there any facepalms? Dr. James T. Kea...

Episode 94: Medical Ethics

01 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Jon Wong Aspiring medical doctor Jon Wong returns to Strange New Worlds to discuss the intertwining ethical predicaments in the Star Trek: Th...

Episode 93: The Science of Staying at Home

23 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We are living in a strange new world. The novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2, which causes the disease COVID-19) has disrupted every aspect of daily life. ...

Episode 92: The Power of Math

20 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Amy Nelson "This is the power of math, people!" —Ensign Silvia Tilly Mike is joined by math teacher Amy Nelson, who, like Tilly, is passio...

Episode 91.5: BONUS! A Sip of Earl Grey

18 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Hear Mike talk about one of his favorite planets in Star Trek: The Next Generation (and the science behind it, of course!) as a guest on TrekFM's Earl...

Episode 91: Astrobiology, the Comic Book

12 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Seth Jacob Mike speaks to writer Seth Jacob, the author of a brand-new comic book called "Astrobiology." They discuss Star Trek's influence o...

Episode 90: En Garde

24 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Shi En Kim Aside from Shakespeare, archaeology, and Earl Grey, Jean-Luc Picard's greatest love in the universe is fencing. As a captain, he w...

Episode 89: Strange New Melts

11 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Kara Brugman Unless we invent warp drive pronto, our generation will never set foot on an exoplanet, much less sample its constituents. So, i...

Episode 88: So Recognizably Mars

02 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Emily Lakdawalla Mars appears both beautifully and accurately in Star Trek: Picard—that is, until it gets fried to a crisp. Emily Lakdawall...

Episode 87.5: BONUS! Pre-Picard Ponderings

22 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Mike unleashes a random smattering of pre–Star Trek: Picard thoughts and feelings on this BONUS episode of Strange New Worlds! Engage!

Episode 87: Reimagining SETI

21 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Dr. Jim Davenport The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) seems to be running out of steam, but Dr. Jim Davenport has an idea tha...

Episode 86: Dragonfly & EELS

10 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Dr. Morgan Cable In the various renditions of Star Trek, the Klingons travel in Birds-of-Prey, the Romulans fly Warbirds, Spock pilots the Je...

Episode 85: Beyond the Known

19 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Dr. Andrew Rader Mike speaks to aerospace engineer, SpaceX mission manager, history geek, Trekkie, and author Dr. Andrew Rader about his new ...

Episode 84: Worlds Where Ice Is Dark

13 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Dr. Andrew Rushby Terrestrial exoplanets orbiting red dwarf stars are among the most promising targets in our search for extraterrestrial lif...

Episode 83: An Icelandic Treat

09 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Haukur Guðmundsson While in Iceland for the Extreme Solar Systems IV conference, Mike received an odd hailing frequency via Twitter from som...

Episode 82: Meet the Real James Kirk

30 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Dr. James Kirk Nicknamed "Tiberius" and "Captain" by his friends, Dr. James Kirk, the astronomer, spends his days exploring real-life strange...

Episode 81: The Way to the Stars

23 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Elise Cutts Former Strange New Worlds co-host Elise Cutts returns to the show to discuss Dr. Una McCormack's Star Trek: Discovery novel "The ...

Episode 80: Rekha Sharma & Dr. Erin Macdonald at #STLV

10 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Guests: Rekha Sharma & Dr. Erin Macdonald Mike brings you two interviews with incredible people at the 2019 Star Trek Las Vegas convention: (1) actre...

Episode 79: Interconnectedness

25 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Lori Dajose Caltech science writer Lori Dajose takes a turn in the captain's chair as she interviews your host, Mike Wong, on Strange New Wor...

Episode 78: Three Ways to Be a Planetary Scientist

06 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Guests: Aida Behmard & Shreyas Vissapragada At the 2019 Sagan Workshop, Caltech graduate students Aida Behmard & Shreyas Vissapragada give Mike peek...

Episode 77: The Hubble Proposal

27 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Dr. Peter Gao Unable to travel to distant objects of interest, astronomers use powerful telescopes to examine celestial phenomena from afar. ...

Episode 76: Chateau Picard

11 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Dr. Baptiste Journaux Besides captaining the Enterprise, the thing that Jean-Luc Picard is most famous for is his affection for wine. Coming ...

Episode 75.5: BONUS! The Science of Mass Effect

27 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Guests: Dr. Kim Bott & Rudy Garcia On this bonus episode of Strange New Worlds, Dr. Kim Bott and Rudy Garcia describe the science behind the popular...

Episode 75: Anthony Rapp at #AbSciCon2019

14 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Anthony Rapp Anthony Rapp (Paul Stamets on Star Trek: Discovery) was the keynote speaker at the 2019 Astrobiology Science Conference, where h...

Episode 74: The Fulbright Scholar & The Paley Center

30 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Guests: Elise Cutts & Dr. Peter Gao Former Strange New Worlds co-host Elise Cutts is back on the show to describe her Fulbright Scholar project, whi...

Episode 73: Laced with Perchlorate Dust

17 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Ellen Leask In the Star Trek: Discovery episode "The Red Angel," the crew travels to an inhospitable planet called Essof IV, which Spock repo...

Episode 72: Live Long & Evolve

10 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Prof. Mohamed Noor Dr. Mohamed Noor is a professor of biology at Duke University and the author of "Live Long and Evolve: What Star Trek Can ...

Episode 71: The DS9 Doc

02 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Guests: Meredith Durbin & Tyler Gordon Mike is joined by astronomers Meredith Durbin & Tyler Gordon to review "What We Left Behind," the Star Trek: ...

Episode 70: Discovery Season 2 Review

05 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Guests: Dr. Peter Gao & Dr. James T. Keane Mike recaps Discovery's second season with help from Dr. Peter Gao & Dr. James T. Keane. What were our fa...

Episode 69: Attitude Control

30 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Steve Collins On Episode 69, Mike talks to NASA JPL Senior Engineer Steve Collins about designing and flying spacecraft to numerous extraterr...

Episode 68: Looking Forward to Section 31

21 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Guests: Dr. Henry Ngo & Laura Ngo Now that the second season of Star Trek: Discovery has wrapped up, it's time to look forward to the multitude of Tr...

Episode 67: Xahea

15 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In DSC: "Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 1," we get a brief glimpse of Xahea's planetary characteristics on the main viewscreen. Using this information alone,...

Episode 66: In & Out of Shadow

11 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Desun Oka In Star Trek: Discovery (23rd century), Section 31 seems like a legitimized intelligence agency operating well within the collectiv...

Episode 65: Flying Through a Flare

02 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Dr. Jim Davenport Every Star Trek: Voyager episode begins with the U.S.S. Voyager sailing through a stellar flare. But what are flares? Why d...

Episode 64: The Worst Best Hug

22 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Elise Cutts In Star Trek: Discovery, Ensign Tilly finds out that she has a "eukaryotic organism" growing inside of her—what's that? And why...

Episode 63: The MU69 Flyby & Terralysium's Rings

09 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Dr. James T. Keane On January 1, 2019, the New Horizons spacecraft flew past the Kuiper belt object MU69. Mike sat down with Dr. James T. Kea...

Episode 62: The Sport Psychology of Star Trek

23 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Dr. Jason von Stietz Whether you're running a half-marathon in Starfleet's Command Training Program, forming a baseball team on Deep Space Ni...

Episode 61: Driving Stories with Science

12 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Joshua Zeller Mike sits down with playwright, actor, and director Joshua Zeller to discuss the writing of science-driven stories. Joshua is t...

Episode 60: The Search for Circumbinaries

31 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Diana Windemuth What do Gallifrey from Doctor Who, Tatooine from Star Wars, and Talos IV from Star Trek have in common? They all orbit binary...

Episode 59: Disco Bingo

24 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Guests: Dr. James T. Keane & Dr. Peter Gao Mike, James, and Peter recap Star Trek: Discovery's Season 2 premiere in a totally unique way—through t...

Episode 58: #AGU18: What Science Stands For

19 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Guests: Erika K. Carlson, Voon Hui Lai, Dr. Jamie S. Rankin, Cecilia B. Sanders, Hima J. Hassenruck Gudipati, and Dr. James T. Keane The theme of th...

Episode 57: Short Treks Review

15 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to 2019! In this first episode of what's bound to be a Star Trek–packed year, Mike gears up for Season 2 of Star Trek: Discovery by reviewin...

Episode 56: The Beginning of an Odyssey?

21 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Elise Cutts In the final episode of 2018, Michael interviews former co-host Elise Cutts about the Short Treks episode "Calypso." Also, there's...

Episode 55: #DPS18 Day 5: Who Let J.J. Abrams Direct Reality?

16 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Guests: Dr. Peter Gao, Dr. Laura Mayorga, Danica Adams Michael is joined by Dr. Peter Gao, Dr. Laura Mayorga, and Danica Adams to recap the 2018 Divi...

Episode 54: #DPS18 Days 1–3: Captain's Logs

08 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Michael recaps the exciting science from the first three days of the 2018 Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) Meeting in a series of Captain's Logs....

Episode 53.5: BONUS! Discovery NYCC Trailer Analysis

04 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Dr. Peter Gao In this BONUS episode of Strange New Worlds, Michael and Dr. Peter Gao pick apart the Discovery Season 2 trailer (released at th...

Episode 53: Oxygen Isn't Everything & A "Runaway" Postcard

01 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Dr. Peter Gao Postcard: Dr. James T. Keane Dr. Peter Gao visits Michael in Seattle to share his research on how atmospheric oxygen can be made...

Episode 52.5: BONUS! Happy Tryptophan Day

22 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In this BONUS episode of Strange New Worlds, Michael wishes you a Happy Thanksgiving and talks about the recent groundbreaking discovery of the amino ...

Episode 52: The Cloud Academy

11 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Guests: Dr. Tony Del Genio, Maria Steinrueck, Ryan MacDonald Clouds and hazes play important roles in controlling planetary climates and can both he...

Episode 51: The Sun Never Sets

04 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Desun Oka The Kepler Space Telescope has discovered thousands of exoplanets—perhaps some of them are ripe for future human colonies. But is...

Episode 50: #DPS18 Day 4: Laugh Lots & Prosper

30 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Guests: Dr. Laura Mayorga, Dr. Peter Gao, Dr. Alex Lockwood, Dr. James T. Keane, Dr. Rob Zellem, Josh Lothringer We time travel to Day 4 of the 2018...

Episode 49: Parting Gift of Laughter

22 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

For their final episode together at Caltech before Michael leaves for the University of Washington, Elise and Michael choose a random Star Trek episod...

Episode 48: Andoria, Winter Wonderland

15 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Celeste Labedz "The Vulcans say that the desert teaches men the meaning of endurance, but it's the ice that forges real strength." In Episode...

Episode 47: Ten Percent Bones, Thirty Percent Spock, Sixty Percent Kirk

07 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Brian Brophy BREAKING! We have our very first Star Trek alumnus on Strange New Worlds! Brian Brophy portrayed Commander Bruce Maddox in the s...

Episode 46: How to Find a Snowball in a Desert

03 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Cecilia Sanders The pages of Earth's history are written in its rocks, and geobiologist Cecilia Sanders is interested in a sequence of rocks ...

Episode 45: Star Trek Las Vegas 2018 Recap

30 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In Episode 45, Dr. Peter Gao takes over Strange New Worlds to interview Michael and Dr. James T. Keane about their experiences at the 2018 Star Trek L...

Episode 44: Volcanologist, Not Vulcanologist

22 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Guests: Dr. Kayla Iacovino & Dr. David Williams Can you really get high off of volcanic gases, like Cadet Tilly did in Star Trek: Discovery? Or stop ...

Episode 43: Duck, Cover, and Hold On

17 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Ollie Stephenson In Episode 43, Michael chats with geophysicist Ollie Stephenson about the science of earthquakes, using examples of earthquak...

Episode 42: The Cinematography of Discovery

11 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Nicole Wallack In Episode 42, Michael sits down with Nicole Wallack to talk about the lighting, cinematography, and costuming of Season 1 of S...

Episode 41: Ocean Worlds and the Search for Life

30 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Professor Jonathan Lunine In Episode 41, Michael talks to Professor Jonathan Lunine about ocean worlds, the Cassini–Huygens mission, and sea...

Episode 40: A Lungful of Fluorine & The Cancri Confusion

25 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Dr. Peter Gao In Episode 40, Michael chats with Dr. Peter Gao about various science and Star Trek topics, from Michael's thesis defense to DS9...

Episode 39.5: BONUS! Discovery Season 2 Trailer Analysis

21 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Dr. Peter Gao In this emergency episode of Strange New Worlds, Michael tags up with Dr. Peter Gao to dissect the BRAND-NEW Star Trek: Discover...

Episode 39: The New Communications Officer

25 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Guest: Erika Carlson In Episode 39, Michael opens a hailing frequency to speak to Erika Carlson—a AAAS Mass Media Fellow at Discover magazine—abo...

Episode 38: Reg Barclay is Spider-Man

23 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In Episode 38, Michael and Elise cover some recent Star Trek news, tell the story of how they met, watch ENT: "Two Days and Two Nights" and recap thei...