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Strange New Worlds: A Science & Star Trek Podcast

Strange New Worlds: A Science & Star Trek Podcast

Written by: Michael L. Wong
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 Hosted by planetary scientist and astrobiologist Dr. Michael L. Wong, Strange New Worlds examines science, technology, and culture through the lens of Star Trek!All rights reserved Science
Episodes
  • Episode 194: The Giant Leap

    Episode 194: The Giant Leap
    Jan 23 2026
    Guest: Dr. Caleb Scharf Becoming a spacefaring civilization is a major transition in the story of life on Earth. Senior scientist for astrobiology at NASA Ames Dr. Caleb Scharf beams aboard to discuss the themes in his latest book, "The Giant Leap: Why Space Is the Next Frontier in the Evolution of Life," and what it all means for achieving a Star Trek future. "The Giant Leap: Why Space Is the Next Frontier in the Evolution of Life" by Caleb Scharf: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/caleb-scharf/the-giant-leap/9781541604186/?lens=basic-books "Teaching A.I. to Detect Life: Carnegie Scientist Co-Leads NASA-Funded Effort": https://carnegiescience.edu/news/teaching-ai-detect-life-carnegie-scientist-co-leads-nasa-funded-effort Follow us on Bluesky! Mike: https://bsky.app/profile/miquai.bsky.social Caleb: https://bsky.app/profile/calebscharf.bsky.social
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    1 hr and 8 mins
  • Episode 193: The Linguistics of "Darmok"

    Episode 193: The Linguistics of "Darmok"
    Jan 18 2026
    Guest: Dr. Kristina Šekrst Philosopher, linguist, and AI researcher Kristina Šekrst beams aboard to discuss the TNG episode "Darmok," where Picard and crew encounter the Tamarians, a species who only speak in metaphor. Why do we use metaphors? How would you lie in Tamarian? And can the universal translator ever exist? Follow us on Bluesky! Mike: https://bsky.app/profile/miquai.bsky.social Kristina: https://bsky.app/profile/epiphenomenal.bsky.social
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    52 mins
  • Episode 192: Whispers of Life in Ancient Rocks

    Episode 192: Whispers of Life in Ancient Rocks
    Nov 17 2025
    Guest: Dr. Anirudh Prabhu Mike brings aboard Dr. Anirudh Prabhu to discuss an exciting new study of theirs that uses machine learning trained on organic chemical data to detect the "whispers" of life—including photosynthetic life—in ancient rocks. This exciting technique could one day be used to seek out new life on strange new worlds. Mike & Anirudh's paper, "Organic geochemical evidence for life in Archean rocks identified by pyrolysis–GC–MS and supervised machine learning": https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2514534122 Follow us on Bluesky! Mike: https://bsky.app/profile/miquai.bsky.social Anirudh: https://bsky.app/profile/anirudhprabhu.bsky.social
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    30 mins
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