Episode 502: Remember It

Science Faction Podcast

This episode contains: Everyone is here and accounted for, but earlier than usual. We talk about why. Steven played some Fallout Wasteland Warfare and watched the entire Amazon Prime Fallout series, because of course he did. Devon has been watching as well, Ben is still in progress. If you liked the show, you should play Fallout 4 (or maybe Fallout 76). Steven and Ben are watching X-Men '97 and if you're not, you're really missing out (Devon, looking at you). It's a mutant soap opera and we're here for it. Steven comments that it's not a Wolverine show, and that makes it different and makes it feel more X-Men-y. We chat about the Life/Death storyline in the show and in the comics. Ben is super excited to talk about Star Trek Discovery and it's latest time-loop episode.

Sweet Dreams Til Sunbeams Find You: 50 Years Later, This Apollo-Era Antenna Still Talks to Voyager 2. Deep Space Station 43 (DSS-43), an antenna located at the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex, has been instrumental in space exploration for over 50 years. It is responsible for over 40% of all data retrieved by celestial explorers and is the only antenna capable of communicating with Voyager 2. DSS-43 was honored with an IEEE Milestone in March during a ceremony held at the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex.

https://spectrum.ieee.org/apollo-era-antenna-voyager-2

This Week In Space: Astrophysicist explains science behind once-in-a-lifetime nova outburst that will light up the sky this year. The nova will create a "new" star in the night sky, and will light up sometime between now and September. It will be as bright as the North Star. We also talk about what a Type 1a supernova is.

https://phys.org/news/2024-03-astrophysicist-science-lifetime-nova-outburst.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_Ia_supernova

Book Club: The Long Game (The Far Reaches Collection) by Ann Leckie.

https://www.amazon.com/Long-Game-Far-Reaches-collection-ebook/dp/B0C4QPCYZ4

Steven and Ben both read the short story, while Devon completely forgot. Boo Devon. Both Ben and Steven enjoyed the story, but had a few little nitpicks. We also talk about where this segment is going in the future.

Next week: Void (The Far Reaches Collection) by Veronia Roth.