Episode 16: As You Know, All Good Generals Quote Shakespeare | Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

From NASA

Also from NASA

From pointing my iPhone to the sky and zooming in a lot … just kidding, also from NASA

The internet, the final frontier. These are the voyages of That’s Not How Science Works. To expose strange new science. To fact check new movies and new TV shows. To boldly go where no podcaster has gone before! Yes, that’s right folks. We’ve come to the mother of all science fiction shows: Star Trek. Caitlin and Nicole are joined by their friend Amanda to discuss one of the underrated Star Trek movies, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. We discuss some of the less plausible science in this movie specifically, such as the fact that you will not go into a hypothermia coma in under a minute and how it’s strange that you could pick up neutron radiation with a torpedo but not, say, a sensor on the bridge of your spaceship built to detect such things. We also touch on some of the science of Star Trek more broadly, including the implausibility of teleportation. (Sorry, Scotty!) However, maybe it’s just the fact that we’re used to the trash science of The Flash, but really, this science isn’t half bad. As it turns out, caring about “accuracy” and having “science advisors” that you actually “listen to” can make a world of difference in the plausibility of your show. Good work Star Trek! Now, if they had only done the same thing for Kirk’s combat skills…

Articles:

The Science of Star Trek

• From NASA: https://www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/star_trek.html

• From National Geographic: https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/06/star-trek-science-space-astronomy-technology-fazekas

• From Thought Co: https://www.thoughtco.com/the-science-of-star-trek-3072121

• From the History Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YP6XhyDRuK4

Hypothermia

• Narrative from Outside magazine about freezing: https://www.outsideonline.com/2152131/freezing-death

• Hypothermia symptoms from the Mayo clinic:

  https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hypothermia/symptoms-causes/syc-20352682

• CDC PDF infographic about hypothermia and frostbite: https://www.cdc.gov/cpr/documents/hypothermia-frostbite_508.pdf

Science Corner

• Liquid-like behavior in granular particles of different densities: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190422151035.htm

• Cool antique toaster video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OfxlSG6q5Y

• YouTube video about fact checking non-fiction books: https://youtu.be/3jfBoEChdEU

• Using Sea Hero Quest to help in early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s: https://www.beingpatient.com/alzheimers-test-video-game and https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190424153518.htm

Fun Stuff

• Article on the history of cloaking in the Star Trek universe: https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Cloaking_device

• Click on this link to send your name to Mars! https://mars.nasa.gov/participate/send-your-name/mars2020/