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This week the crew deals with sick kids, travel chaos, and kitten catastrophes before diving into ancient supervolcanoes, bizarre retro coding experiments, and a deeply unsettling sci-fi moral dilemma inspired by Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Real Life Steven's week turned into a strange mix of California road trips, tactical miniatures combat, and disease management. Devon came out for a visit, which meant plenty of hanging out, board games, and attempts to squeeze hobby time into an already overloaded week. Steven got to play some Robo Rally with Greg and Robert, along with trying out Let's Dig for Treasure, a game whose title sounds wholesome but absolutely invites goblin behavior. Meanwhile, Steven continued the noble quest of teaching Star Wars: Shatterpoint to Devon while Ben allegedly "rested," which is apparently code for strategically avoiding rules explanations and measuring tools. Steven also spent another week in solo dad mode, which became significantly harder once kid sickness entered the arena and started critting morale checks. Ben, meanwhile, remains trapped in the ongoing kitten saga. The kittens continue producing biological surprises at an industrial pace, while Ben contemplates the eternal debate between older gaming hardware and modern VR technology. Specifically: the Wii may have looked ridiculous, but at least it wasn't trying to strangle your family with cords every time somebody turned around. According to Ben, the Wii was "for moms," which honestly may have been Nintendo's most successful market strategy ever. Devon was not present for this segment because he was likely somewhere over the western United States eating airport pretzels and regretting flight delays. Future or Now Ben descended into the strange and fascinating world of the demoscene with "Wake Up, Neo," a tiny 16-byte x86 program capable of turning cascading Matrix-style code into sound. Yes: sixteen bytes. Not sixteen kilobytes. Sixteen actual bytes. The conversation spiraled into appreciation for the demoscene itself — a long-running culture of programmers creating absurdly impressive audiovisual experiments under ridiculous technical limitations. "Wake Up, Neo" writeup: Wake Up, Neo Demoscene overview: Demoscene Wikipedia Page Steven brought humanity to the brink of extinction with the story of the Toba supereruption. Scientists believe the eruption may have darkened skies and cooled the planet so severely that early human populations nearly collapsed. But newer archaeological evidence suggests humans may have been far more adaptable than previously believed. Instead of folding under pressure, ancient communities appear to have shifted strategies, developed new tools, and survived conditions that should have wiped them out. In other words: humanity's greatest evolutionary trait may not be intelligence, strength, or speed — it may simply be the stubborn refusal to quit. ScienceDaily article: Toba Supereruption Research Devon once again contributed by existing somewhere inside the airline system. "Big Question" This week's Big Question was deeply uncomfortable in exactly the way a good science fiction premise should be: Would you rather have actually killed someone and have absolutely no memory of it… or have vivid memories of killing someone when it never actually happened and could never be proven true? Ben immediately pointed out the horrifying lack of control involved in the first option. Somewhere out there, a terrible thing happened, and you were responsible for it without even knowing. That uncertainty alone could eat someone alive. Steven argued the second option might actually be worse for him personally. Even if the memory were false, the emotional weight would still feel real. Guilt doesn't necessarily care whether something objectively happened. If your brain fully believes you murdered someone, your nervous system probably isn't going to politely wait for evidence before spiraling. The conversation naturally drifted into Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and the famous episode Hard Time, where Chief O'Brien receives implanted prison memories so traumatic they permanently alter him psychologically. Episode reference: Hard Time (DS9) It turns out fake trauma may still just be… trauma. Which is a pretty bleak realization for a podcast episode that also contained kitten poop discussions. Thanks for listening to another episode of The Science Faction Podcast! If you enjoy weird science, existential sci-fi questions, retro tech rabbit holes, and hearing exhausted dads attempt coherent conversation, consider supporting the show on Patreon for bonus episodes, Discord access, AI art, unedited recordings, and more. You can also subscribe on YouTube and help spread the word to fellow science-fiction weirdos.
Another week, another episode where we somehow go from broccoli discourse to self-driving cars to limb regeneration technology and then cap it all off with rogue timestreams on a college campus. Just a normal day for The Science Faction Podcast. Real Life Ben opens the show with an important culinary clarification: broccoli is the green one. Not the other green one. Also maybe "broccolini" exists? Science remains divided. Meanwhile, Ben's household has become a temporary kitten sanctuary. Tiny baby cats are everywhere, and while Ben is trying his best, he freely admits his wife appears to be significantly more qualified in the art of keeping tiny creatures alive. On top of that, his son has started developing an actual social life, which Ben correctly identifies as a direct threat to traditional family hanging-out time. The family also continues debating the orbital mechanics of For All Mankind, with Ben's 12-year-old officially unconvinced by the show's space logistics. Devon reports back from a Dallas anniversary trip with his wife celebrating ten years of marriage. The trip included visits to the Perot Natural History Museum, multiple Waymo sightings, an improv show with front-row seats, and a self-driving Uber ride that still included a human technician nervously supervising the robot future. Steven survived a busy week while his wife was out of town and also got some bonus hangout time with Devon during the visit. Naturally, this somehow led to new miniatures for Cyberpunk Red: Combat Zone entering the house. The crew also stumbles into Texas voter registration statistics, discovering that as of August 2025 there were reportedly more registered Democrats than Republicans in Texas, which sparks discussion about perception versus raw registration numbers. According to reporting from Independent Voter News, Democrats accounted for approximately 46.52% of registered voters compared to 37.75% registered Republicans. Future or Now (~10 min ea) Devon brings in one of the wildest science stories of the week: researchers may have identified a key genetic pathway involved in limb regeneration. Scientists studying axolotls, zebrafish, and mice uncovered a family of "SP genes" connected to regeneration. By disabling these genes, proper bone regrowth stopped entirely. Researchers then used zebrafish-inspired gene therapy techniques to partially restore regeneration in mice. The long-term dream? Moving beyond prosthetics and eventually regrowing living tissue and limbs in humans. Tiny salamanders may once again be carrying the future of medicine on their weird smiling backs. Read more from ScienceDaily. Ben follows that up with a double nostalgia feature. First up is The Thirteenth Floor, the underrated 1999 sci-fi film that had the misfortune of arriving alongside The Matrix. Decades later, removed from direct comparisons, Ben argues the movie absolutely holds up and deserves a second look. Then comes a glowing recommendation for Mixtape, a coming-of-age game centered around three teenage friends spending one final night together before life changes forever. Ben describes it as emotionally sincere, genuinely hilarious, visually stunning, and powered by an incredible soundtrack. The animation style apparently evokes Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse energy, while the tone lands somewhere between Dazed and Confused, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and High Fidelity. Ben strongly recommends it even for non-gamers, suggesting that simply watching a playthrough could still deliver a great experience. Check it out at Mixtape Official Site. Steven unfortunately runs out of time this week, proving once again that reality remains the greatest enemy of podcast scheduling. Book Club Next Week's Story Next week the crew will be reading: Narcissus Meets the Ghost of AI in a Dark Alley Behind a Fusion Restaurant by Lesley Hart Gunn "I suppose you want my wallet. No? My body then." This Week's Story This week's discussion focused on: Update on Rules for the Spatiotemporal Use of Campus Spaces by Andrea Kriz The story presents a university campus slowly unraveling under the pressure of a rogue timestream, delivered through increasingly absurd administrative announcements and policy updates. "Dear Members of the Community, As we begin yet another fall semester in the throes of the rogue timestream unleashed on our campus…" The crew spends a lot of time trying to piece together exactly what catastrophic event caused the university to devolve into bureaucratic temporal chaos. Everyone agreed the story was fantastic, weird in exactly the right ways, and surprisingly effective at balancing humor with unsettling implications. Read it here: Lightspeed Magazine – Update on Rules for the Spatiotemporal Use of Campus Spaces Thanks for listening to the show! If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to subscribe, share it around, and check out the Patreon for bonus episodes, Discord access, behind-the-scenes content, and more sci-fi chaos.
REAL LIFE Devon: We celebrated Nolan's Mario-themed birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's, and it was pure Mario madness—even down to LEGO sets! At home, we dove into the SNES Classic, revisiting classics like Super Mario World and Mario Kart. Speaking of Mario Kart, Ben has a lot of thoughts about kart racing games. Oh, and let's not forget Super Metroid made a cameo in our gaming nostalgia. Steven: Exciting news! We're now on YouTube! Check out The Science Faction Podcast for all our latest episodes and content. Also, Steven got his hands on the 5-disc Complete Collector's Edition of Blade Runner. Talk about sci-fi collector goals! Ben: Ben's been under the weather—boo! But that meant more movie time—yay! He's here to defend rewatching so-called "terrible" films like Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. But hey, the Indiana Jones videogame nails the adventure vibe. Steven couldn't agree more—there's nothing better than punching Nazis! Also, fun fact: The Matrix reused sets from Dark City, which Roger Ebert loved so much he even recorded commentary tracks for it. And yes, both Ben and Devon admit to falling asleep during The Phantom Menace... in theaters. Oops! FUTURE OR NOW Ben: "The Buddhists Know How to Party" might sound like an odd statement, but Ben dives into the Five Remembrances of the Buddha, a reflection on aging, illness, and impermanence. It really got Devon thinking about Stoicism. Curious? You can read them here: I am of the nature to grow old. There is no way to escape growing old. I am of the nature to have ill-health. There is no way to escape having ill-health. I am of the nature to die. There is no way to escape death. All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change. There is no way to escape being separated from them. My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground on which I stand. Steven: Steven brings up a serious topic: the insurance crisis in California. State Farm is pulling out of the state due to restrictions on raising rates, leaving them unable to cover major disasters like the LA fires. They currently have about $3 billion, but with an estimated $4 billion needed for payouts, this gap could lead to insolvency. Who's at fault—the state for blocking rate hikes or the companies for not adjusting sooner? Steven urges us not to "Luigi the wrong people" in this situation. BOOK CLUB This Week: We took a deep dive into Ursula K. Le Guin's "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" from The Wind's Twelve Quarters. You can read it here. Ben found it "super fascinating," while Devon unpacked its core themes: a utopia sustained by the suffering of one child and the moral quandary of staying or walking away. Ben summed it up with, "The terror of not knowing keeps people away." Also, Devon joked that Omelas could just be Salem spelled backward—thanks, Oregon road signs! Devon also mused, "Ethics cannot be logically discerned." Next Week: Get ready for Philip K. Dick's "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" (1966). Here's a PDF. And no, Devon—you can't just watch Total Recall instead!
This week we have Devon Craft, a bit exhausted, but willing to endure. As we discuss his journey to his career, his days as a father, and we dive into multiple game. Let see how he handles this with us. Check him out with his co-host Steven on The Science Faction Podcast. Website | https://bspodcastnetwork.com/ Science Faction Podcast | https://tinyurl.com/yyrw2gkf/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
How's it going, today we have Steve Domingues AKA SteveZer0 from The Science Faction Podcast and The Save Point Podcast. We have a chat about school, life choices, movies, and Fallout 76. An erie tale to be told to say the least and some fun games. Site: http://www.stevendomingues.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/stevezer0 The Science Faction Podcast: https://sciencefactionpodcast.com/ The Save Point Podcast: https://thesavepoint.podbean.com/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Clint pulls off a nifty bit of sleight of hand as Steven takes the place of Steve, co-host of Science Faction Podcast & head of BS Podcast Network! The guys talk about live shows & streaming, baby on the way, proud Papa & Uncle moments, tastes in video games, "motherf***ers" of instinct, trying Fortnite, PUBG, Monster Hunter World, how MHW multiplayer SHOULD be, Clint explains Tinder, Clint's geeking out over a girl, Sea Of Thieves, toxic chat in Rocket League, Legos, showing off our toys, closings & plugs, and more!
On this episode of W.S.E.G. we sit down with the boys of the Science Faction Podcast( http://roberttimothy.podbean.com/) . Robert (archaeologist) and Damien (stand up comic) make up one of the funniest, yet, informative podcast duos, ever, in the whole wide universe and beyond.... (a little space humor wink wink **) We talk about The "god" particle, fake science, and Damien channels a dead scientist. Find the podcast on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/science-faction/id816090927?mt=2 Discover the latest science breakthrough and write the show at: wespeakenglishgood@gmail.com Leave a review on itunes if you have time. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/we-speak-english-good/id1050508321?mt=2 wespeakenglish.net
Today we talk about the Science Faction Podcast, answer a couple of questions about Mormons, look at MRIs of brains having spiritual experiences, have a quick Grand Tour Episode 4 spoilercast, talk about Top Gear and Ken Block, Dirk Gently gets a mention, we talk tasting garlic through your feet and dissolving gum with chocolate, inflatable habitats on the ISS and future space hotel magnates, Jeff Gordon's IMSA plans, and finally bad password advice from the FBI. Links from this episode: - Science Faction Podcast - This Is Your Brain on God - The BS Podcast Network - The Expanse - The Grand Tour - 4. Enviro-mental* - Ken Block Drifts London – EXTENDED Director's Cut - Top Gear - BBC - Ken Block Gymkhana Series - Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency - Can You Taste Garlic... With Your FEET!? (Weird Food Tricks #2) - Gum + Chocolate = ????? (Weird Food Tricks #1) - After six months in orbit, that space inflatable habitat is holding up well - Robert Bigelow - Jeff Gordon to join Cadillac team for Rolex 24 at Daytona - The FBI Is Wrongly Telling People To Change Passwords 'Frequently'
This episode contains: Steven still doesn’t follow the news, being a single dad, EpiPen, IotaMan1701, Charlotte is burning down, the state of race relations in America, distrust of police, historic perspective, story about getting pulled over, policing the cops, dangerous places in Boston, more stories about getting pulled over, racial profiling, Trump, racial progress under Obama, how presidents have been treated, Obama’s policies, disrespecting Obama, Arizona is a racist, growing up racist, stereotypes, Tuskegee Airmen, black pilots, racial jokes, Empire, TV shows, Iota is also a giant nerd, Science Faction Podcast, Star Trek collection, Power Rangers, Transformers, Ghost Busters, Iota needs a podcast.