In this episode, returning guests Daniel and Ross discuss the Multiverse from two very different angles, with broadly the same conclusion about Avengers: Endgame that Ant-Man had about Back to the Future.
Science Expert: Daniel Whiteson (UC-Irvine, CERN, Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe)
Philosophy Expert: Ross Cameron (University of Virginia)
(Updated with fixed audio on 3/15/23)
I'm back! There's one more episode to be edited, and then it'll probably be a big long wait again. Thanks for sticking around!
This episode, we talked all about meteor impacts, both real and vibranium. Rock turns to gas, giant craters are formed, and we take a detour to Mars!
Science Expert: Johns Hopkins Planetary Science PhD Student Miché Aaron (@Astrenome)
Color Commentator: Jenny McConnell Frederick (@rorschachdc, @jennymcfred)
Special Guest: T
Images Link: https://imgur.com/a/Cb7wL1a
(Updated episode title and fixed music timing on 1/19/23.)
This is the final episode of Phase 2 of The Marvels of Science the first episode of Comic Book Science, all about the science and tech of the DC Cinematic Universe. This episode is all about The Caped Crusader and his inspiration: Bats! Where do they live? Are they blind? Are they really so scary? All this and more!
Science Expert: Dr. Kristen Lear of Bat Conservation International
Color Commentator: Adam Roth-Saks
Important note: this is a one-time thing! The podcast is not changing formats, and your regular Marvel-ous content will resume in Phase 3!
Watch the Bracken Bat Cave FlyThrough here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSQlVJUQyuY
Build your own bat house with this information: https://www.batcon.org/about-bats/bat-houses/
In Guardians of the Galaxy 2, our plucky heroes fly through a "quantum asteroid field," zipping around and flying between them until they eventually go kablooie. Sorry to get technical. But what are real asteroid belts like? And why isn't our neighborhood Asteroid Belt a planet instead? Who is Kuiper? What's an Oort? Find out the answers to these questions (and far more sensible ones) in this episode!
Science Expert: Planetary Astronomer Stephanie Deppe
Color Commentator: Lauren Wilson
Wait, is it "prosthetic" or "prosthesis?" How do they work in real life? Is there anything like Bucky's arm out there in the real world? What's the best we can do and what's the best we can imagine? This time I got TWO Science Experts: one in residency and one with 10 years of clinic experience. This is fascinating stuff.
Thor once said that his hammer, Mjolnir, was forged in the heart of a dying star. We see in Avengers: infinity War that what he really meant was that the forge is encapsulating a neutron star. Not the same, Thor. But what is a neutron star? Is it dying? What's at the heart? Why do we always talk about teaspoons of neutron stars?
When I emailed ecologist Tara Stewart Merrill and asked if she'd help me consider the ecological impact of Thanos wiping out half all of creatures on Earth (and everywhere else), she said that she had just gone on a long rant about that very thing! A scientist who also rants about Marvel movies?? Perfectly balanced, as all things should be (and as the Earth's ecosystems are definitely not, thanks to Thanos).
Science Expert: Ecologist Tara Stewart Merrill
Color Commentator: Janet Rankin
What is a planet? How many are there in the Galaxy? I mean, what even is a Galaxy, really, and why is ours Milky? Is there life out there? Can we visit it? How could we possibly even define what life is before we search it out? And how did I work in a reference to the musical 1776? Will I ever stop asking so many questions? No.
Science Expert: Planetary Scientist Tim Livengood
Color Commentator: Cassandra Scarpino
Find the Folklore Society of Greater Washington at https://fsgw.org!
There are a few direct mentions of nanotechnology in the MCU, but there are a LOT of applications that these tiny processes can explain. Is Black Panther's suit possible? What is a nanite? We continue the conversation we started about nanotech in Episode 4: Vibrrrranium, and we stray pretty far into why conspiracy theories exist. Don't worry, we bring it back around to the science.
Science Expert: Materials Scientist Eric Breckenfeld
Color Commentator: Sarah Miller
My podcast, my rules! This episode, we break the format and leave science behind in favor of a different set of tools: Philosophy!
With Philosophy Expert Professor Ross P. Cameron and Color Commentator Sarah Rice Scott (who has seen exactly one MCU movie), we take a look at the ethics and metaphysics of the MCU and its characters. Should Cap have been the one to make the final Snap? Is Vision right, and trading lives is okay? And what is the Ship of Theseus anyway?
We return to our regularly scheduled programming next week, but right now it's The Marvels of Philosophy!
We return to the topic of artificial intelligence, briefly touched upon in Episode 5: Robots! What's the Singularity? How close are we to making Alexa more like JARVIS? Is it harder to teach a computer how to play chess or process an image? What even is intelligence? What happens if we make real intelligence and release a new life form upon the world? And what are our social responsibilities when figuring out how best to apply these artificial intelligences?
To answer these questions, Color Commentator Caroline Bailey and I chat with Science Expert and AI researcher Ronen Tamari. I'm very proud - I almost understand all of what we talked about!
The Marvels of Science is a podcast that I make about the science and tech of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Each 30ish-minute episode, I sit down with a Science Expert and a Color Commentator to discuss the plausibility of a character, bit of technology, or sci-fi phenomenon in the MCU. It's a sneaky way to expose listeners to some science education while they think they're just listening to a movie podcast.
This week, I expand the show's scientific umbrella to include psychology as I discuss Tony Stark's apparent (though denied) Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Iron Man 3. What makes PTSD different from healthy ways of recalling trauma? For that matter, what is trauma? And what are panic attacks and panic disorders? Is the movie's portrayal of Tony's symptoms in line with these disorders, and do we feel comfortable diagnosing a fictional character?
Psychologist Kelsey Myers is the Science Expert this week, helping Color Commentator and social worker Caitlin Levine (returning from Episode 3: Ultron and the Internet) and I understand the ins and outs of these questions and more.
Links:
Welcome back to Marvels of Science! Season...uh, PHASE 2 has a lot more science and a lot more Marvel! Come to think of it, probably the same amount.
Here's a promo to whet your appetite! See you on Episode 11 next week!
The Marvels of Science is a podcast that I make about the science and tech of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Each 30ish-minute episode, I sit down with a Science Expert and a Color Commentator to discuss the plausibility of a character, bit of technology, or sci-fi phenomenon in the MCU. It's a sneaky way to expose listeners to some science education while they think they're just listening to a movie podcast.
This episode looks back on the meteoric rise of The Marvels of Science and looks ahead to Season, err...Phase 2.
Here again I wish to express my gratitude to all my guests, Science Expert and Color Commentator alike.
Thanks for listening, and cross your fingers there's a Phase 2!
-Dave Reinersmann
The Marvels of Science is a podcast that I make about the science and tech of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Each 30ish-minute episode, I sit down with a Science Expert and a Color Commentator to discuss the plausibility of a character, bit of technology, or sci-fi phenomenon in the MCU. It's a sneaky way to expose listeners to some science education while they think they're just listening to a movie podcast.
I tracked down an expert on Alaskan wood frogs, Don Larson, to talk about Captain America, no joke. See, they regularly freeze themselves to survive super-cold winters. And Captain America was frozen in the Arctic ice for 70 years - is he part frog? Would that have helped? How does hibernation work? Can Adam Correia design a frog better than natural selection? Let's find out!
I chatted with spider enthusiast and researcher Sebastian Echeverri (host of, I'm not kidding, www.spidernightlive.com) and Emily Osterhus, a former DC-er, current North Carolinian, and friend of mine, all about what spiders can and cannot do compared to what we see teenage superhero Peter Parker accomplish. Can spiders balance homework, MJ, and fighting super villains? I didn't ask that, but I did ask how spiders stick to walls, shoot webs, and do they have a sixth sense? #tomhollandismyspider-man #respectthehyphen
Check out Sebastian's favorite piece of writing about spiders and Spider-Man here: https://www.inquirer.com/science/superhero-spider-science-spider-man-far-from-home-20190712.html
Welcome to The Marvels of Science, a podcast from me, Dave Reinersmann, about the science and tech of the MCU! Each episode, I sit down with a science expert and a "color commentator" to discuss the plausibility of a character, bit of technology, or sci-fi phenomenon in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Episode 8 stars nuclear physicist Lumen Wright and the mild-mannered* Danny Mortensen who talk with me about gamma radiation and how to make it work for you (spoiler: get a nuclear physics degree)! What's a gamma ray? How many bananas will give me radiation poisoning? Should I work on a ball of plutonium with a screwdriver? Find out in this episode!
Head to davereinersmann.com/marvelsofscience for info on past and future episodes, and do me a favor by sharing this far and wide.
If you know any science experts or funny people, send them my way!
*...for now
Welcome to The Marvels of Science, a podcast from me, Dave Reinersmann, about the science and tech of the MCU! Each episode, I sit down with a science expert and a "color commentator" to discuss the plausibility of a character, bit of technology, or sci-fi phenomenon in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Episode 7 stars Daniel Whiteson and Liesel Reinersmann who talk with me about Ant-Man and his incredible shrinking tech. Ant-Man plays it pretty fast and loose with the quantum physics, but do they hit the mark ever?
If you know any science experts or funny people, send them my way!
Welcome to The Marvels of Science! Normally, I sit down with a Science Expert and a Color Commentator for 30 to 45 minutes and dig in to a science topic presented to us in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (with varying degrees of plausibility). But if we just get a taste or a mention of something in the MCU, we'll present a Minisode!
Here in Minisode 1, we briefly discuss a mention of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation in WandaVision episode 4. What is it, and did the show get it right? Daniel Whiteson (of UC Irvine, Large Hadron Collider, and Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe) and Liesel Reinersmann (of being my sister) tackle the topic for a couple minutes.
SPOILERS (very mild) for WandaVision Episode 4, "We Interrupt this Program."
Welcome to The Marvels of Science, a podcast from me, Dave Reinersmann, about the science and tech of the MCU! Each episode, I sit down with a science expert and a "color commentator" to discuss the plausibility of a character, bit of technology, or sci-fi phenomenon in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Episode 6 stars Jill Oberski and Jordi Rozenman who talk with me about Ant-Man and his teeny tiny friends. They can fly, build, farm, and bite, and they are endlessly fascinating. But can we control them with prop hearing aids? Find out in this episode!
If you know any science experts or funny people, send them my way!