Fascinating Gadgets, Gizmos, and Gear Based Technologies

Inspired by the latest Spider-Man movie No Way Home, this week we discuss how you could make the world forget that you exist.  This is no easy task, but believe it or not, it can be done.  We are going to go over how you can disappear from public view, much like spies or people in Witness Protection, but also how you could alter memories on a mass scale and delete yourself from history.  It is pos...

The bow and arrow is one of man’s very first technologically advanced projectile weapons. Throwing a rock was probably first, but archery was leaps and bounds ahead of that. Gunpowder made the bow basically obsolete by replacing it with the significantly more accurate and deadly boomstick. Or did it? As it turns out, archery is alive and well, and not just relegated to renaissance fairs and...

The land of Hyrule is like no other:  It is filled with monsters that both can kill our main character Link, but they also hold key items that ensure his survival such as hearts and rupies.  Guiding from behind the scenes is the powerful Princess Zelda who seems to know a lot about the inner workings of this world.  The question we have before us is this:  Is Princess Zelda a benevolent overlord w...

Every superhero has an origin story, and Mario is no exception.  Back in 1981 he was just a carpenter minding his own business until a large gorilla saw King Kong one too many times and stole his girlfriend Pauline.  Thrust into the spotlight, Mario was forced to use his carpentry skills to destroy barrels being chucked at him by an angry ape while climbing a destroyed skyscraper to rescue his lov...

The goal of nature is always to reach equilibrium, whether it is the ratio of predator to prey, or the proper amount of salt in the ocean.  Three seems to be the magical number of balance, and nowhere is that more apparent than the classic game Rock-Paper-Scissors.  The key is that no one choice is all powerful:  They all beat one other option, and are defeated by the other.  Perfect harmony.  Thi...

Let’s say you find yourself on a deserted island in the middle of the ocean, and your entire life has been spent playing Minecraft and watching Gilligan’s Island reruns.  Will you survive?  After listening to this episode, of course you will!  This week, you will learn the importance of following (not planting) a tech tree, how to make simple tools out of your environment without the n...

Steampunk is a retro science fiction genre taking place in the steam powered world of the Victorian Era. It is known for gear-based robots, hydrogen airships, and of course a reliance on steam engines to power their society. This week we break down what it would be like to advance society without electricity, in including why miniaturization of technology is a huge problem, how we can make hydroge...

Whether you are a fan of H. P. Lovecraft, curious about other parallel dimensions, or just want to escape our reality, we have all wondered what it would take to open a portal to another world.  In other episodes we discussed the science behind portals, but most of our solutions require advanced technology.  Is there a low tech way to travel to other worlds?  Taking the show Archive 81 as our insp...

We have talked a lot on this show about superpowers: Where they come from, how they are related to genetic mutations, and why your gut biome always seems to be involved.  But we have never questioned why every superpower seems to be so great.  This week we explore what it would be like if superpowers were actually random, and what to do if you get a perfectly average or even subpar superpower.  We...

The world of Doctor Who obviously revolves around the eponymous main character, but what does it take to save the universe over, and over, and over?  How hard is that job really, and in the end, would you want it?  That is the ultimate question we have had over our series, and one we answer in this episode.  To come to a proper conclusion, we have to look at all of the advantages The Doctor has at...

It is true that every hero has their share of villains they must contend with. Superman has Lex Luthor, Spider-man has Doc Ock, Batman has The Joker, and Doctor Who has The Daleks. While the Daleks might be the most scary with their catchphrase of “Exterminate”, the Cybermen are also terrifying with their threats of deletion, and the Weeping Angels are silent assassins that move when y...

Doctor Who is a show based in logic, science, and reason. Oh and also strange alien monsters.  One of the fun things the show does is take creatures we are familiar with through myth and legend and give them entirely new histories.  In this episode we will look at three of these creatures including Vampires, Werewolves, and Satan.  While appearing on the surface to be something you recognize, you...

The world of Doctor Who spans 39 non-consecutive seasons, several movies, and the obligatory spin-offs. This means there is a TON of material on the last Timelord, so we had to do a 4 part series to cover everything. In this first episode, we take a look at the time-traveling TARDIS, The Doctor’s faithful companion. We talk about its defining characteristic: How it can be so much bigger on t...

The Matrix is one of the most influential Sci-fi movies of all time.  In it, human beings are born into pods where they power an entire race of machines.  Humans are not aware of this, because at birth everyone is plugged into a vast digital universe called The Matrix that everyone believes is the real world.  From MMORPG, to large scale VR games, and now with Facebook unveiling their Metaverse, p...

It is highly likely that this Holiday season you will see some iteration of the classic Charles Dickens tale “A Christmas Carol”.  I would imagine apart from Hamlet, this is the most performed story in human history.  While the narrative is always basically the same, the twists that make it unique to the time are also the things that prove it is a timeless tale of Scrooge’s redem...

It is no secret that humans have been pursuing immortality ever since the first one died.  How does one achieve eternal life without becoming a vampire?  Upgrades of course.  As your body breaks down, it is only natural that would want to either replace your body parts with robotic improvements or hack into your existing biology and make it more robust.  This week we debate which is the better way...

In just the past 100 years, we have seen an exponential growth in our technological abilities.  We have instantaneous communication across the world, weapons that can annihilate whole countries, and we can customize our genetics at birth.  Using the Marvel movie Shang Chi as our inspiration, we ponder the question:  “Could you take over all of human antiquity using only one piece of modern t...

This episode comes out on Thanksgiving, and I can’t help but wonder what the holiday would be like if the pilgrims landed on an America that was one giant desert.  Would we spend it eating sandworm and mashed cactus?  What would pumpkin pie taste like if it was seasoned with the mind-altering spice found on Dune’s Arrakis?  These are all questions that we intend to answer this week as...

As we sit an experience a worldwide viral pandemic, one can not help but wonder what would happen if it morphed into a full-blown viral apocalypse.  How would you survive?  That is the question we answer this week as we explore the various possibilities using Y The Last Man as our guide.  The show adds an interesting twist, as the virus wipes out all genetic males, making natural reproduction almo...

The main technology in Reminiscence centers around storing, projecting, and reliving your memories.  This is a really cool idea, and in some ways it goes along really well with our digital upload episode.  We definitely get into this, but this show takes a very interesting turn by discussing the urban effects on massive climate change and worldwide flooding.  I have to admit, this was a little une...

We all have dreams, be them metaphorical or literal.  When we dream, we are in our perfect place, one where all our deepest desires come true.  In them, we achieve greatness, and can be anything we want to be.  It is our ultimate safe place, unless of course you live with Freddy Krueger on Elm Street.  Reality on the other hand, can be hard, grueling, and tough to deal with.  So what if you could...

This episode is coming out just in time for Halloween, and the only thing that is scarier than getting old is getting aging as an accelerated rate.  This week, we use the M. Night Shyamalan movie “Old” as the template for our discussion about animals that live an extremely short time, including the mayfly, which famously only lives one day.  We also apply those principles to human life...

The Marvel TV series “What If…?” is about alternate timelines where your favorite superheroes choose a different path which completely alters their world.  Some have devastating consequences. Others, like Peggy Carter taking Super Soldier Serum and becoming Captain Carter, represent an ideal timeline.  We are going to discuss the advantages of the butterfly effect in a quantum un...

Every human on this planet has two things in common:  We are all going to die one day.  This goes hand in hand with our other common trait:  We don’t want to.  Surviving as long as possible is built right into our DNA.  Billionaires all over the world are pouring money into life extension technologies, which given our current world population, is just not a sustainable solution.  What if we...

When it comes to the perfect form of renewable energy, I think the good creatures at Monsters, Inc. have cracked the code.  Originally harnessing the power of children’s screams, they quickly found out that laughter is a much more efficient way to power a city.  There is the obvious exploitation of children angle, but we will save that conversation for another day.  In this episode, we discu...