The Maths of Star Trek: The Original Series (with James Grime)
To celebrate the release of Star Trek Into Darkness , serial guest James Grime has taken on the arduous task of re-watching the original ser...
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The Science of Fiction
Each episode of The Science of Fiction picks a theme and discusses the science and non-science in fiction involving that theme, with hilarious results, a selection of tenuously-related music...
Episodes
20 of 47 episodesThe Human Side of Science (with Oliver Marsh)
Oliver Marsh studies science-media interactions at the department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge, occas...
Cyborgs
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 o...
Gaming Science Fiction vs. Modern Science Fact (with Cam Robinson)
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 sc...
Helen Arney
Spoken nerd and songstress Helen Arney lends her voice to the show. Video games, fossils, AIs, cat chat, and almost no ukuleles. Tracklist B...
Natural Resources (with Ivan Scales)
Political ecologist Ivan Scales —McGrath Lecturer and Director of Studies in Geography at St Catharine's College, Cambridge—joins the show t...
Ageing and Rejuvenation (with Aubrey de Grey)
Biomedical gerontologist Aubrey de Grey of the SENS Foundation joins Will by phone to discuss reversing the effects of ageing, the accurate...
Intoxicants
Andy and Will round off the year with a show on intoxicants: real or fantastical, legal or outlawed, poison or cure (or sometimes both …). J...
Contagion (with Alexandra Kamins)
Alexandra Kamins , a researcher at the University of Cambridge and IOZ , brings us the messy reality behind the spread of disease, everyone'...
Quantum (with Michael Conterio)
Serial guest Michael Conterio joins the show to discuss the fiction and fact of technology enabled by quantum mechanics. Michael co-hosts Bu...
Perceptions of Scientists (with Sam Gregson)
Andy is joined by Sam Gregson —who works on a “ very big thing in Geneva ”—to discuss public perceptions of scientists, as revealed through...
The Tortured Genius (with James Grime)
James Grime , “ resident tamed mathematician ” of The Enigma Project and past guest , returns to the show to discuss the cliché of depicting...
Oceans in Fiction (with Helen Scales)
We're joined by Helen Scales —marine biologist, broadcaster and author of Poseidon’s Steed —to discuss watery lairs, submariners, cephalopod...
Dead Mammals (with Nick Crumpton)
Nick Crumpton —zoologist, co-editor of BlueSci Films , freelance journalist, occasional beard-haver and ukulelist—joins the show to talk pri...
A Tale of 2² Cities
Your intrepid hosts have spent their summers in two unfamiliar cities apiece. To kick off the new season, we'll be discussing fiction which...
Games in Fiction, Fiction in Games (with Leonard Richardson)
Leonard Richardson joins the show from across the Atlantic to talk about games as plot devices, generative content, storytelling, games whic...
Communication
Andy and Will discuss the ways people converse in fiction: some archaic, some fantastical. Causality-violating quantum entanglement How the...
Mediæval Science and Literature (with Daisy Scholten)
Daisy Scholten joins Andy to talk about saintly medical techniques, the afterlife, and absolutely no Dan Brown. Don't forget to get your tic...
Apocalypse
How might the world end? This week, The Science of Fiction investigates the myriad of scenarios for the downfall of humanity. Plus, we intro...
Economics and Game Theory
With Andy having fled the country, Will is joined by Trevor Wood to talk about Nash equilibria, reputation-based currency, and the 16th-cent...