Fascinating Gadgets, Gizmos, and Gear Based Technologies

What do you get if you combine the danger of military-grade weapons with the excitement of 70’s muscle cars? Why the world’s most dangerous demolition derby, that’s what! This week we look at Twisted Metal, the video game/tv show that follows a group of people as they prepare for a winner-take-all battle royale tournament. We will give you tips for maximizing your offensive weapo...

From the outside, Barbie seems to have it all:  She’s attractive, smart, rich, and made of plastic.  Her resume is a little suss, given that she has been everything from a cat burglar, to an astronaut without any sort of job stability, but I digress.  Part of that uncertainty may be governed by her world.  The houses are cut in half, her legs don’t bend, she is devoid of genitals, and...

Dreams are a place where anything can happen, where our fantasies can become realities.  The great thing is that these personal mini-movies are free, and happen on a nightly basis.  But what if they weren’t entirely pro-bono?  What if there was a “Dream Tax” that you had to pay, and the best dreams came at a premium?  And in order of offset that cost, some companies project adver...

Halloween is the time to get dark, and this episode is definitely that. While we have discussed the various ways the apocalypse can happen, we haven’t even considered the most important piece of all:  How it an it be stopped.  Earth’s history is littered with many mass extinction events, including one that wiped out 95% of life on the planet!  We talk about the possibility that one of...

When Henry Gee Wrote “The Science of Middle Earth”, there was one thing he couldn’t figure out:  The One Ring.  It can read thoughts, it holds the mind of Sauron, it makes the wearer invisible, and it can change size and shape at will.  Developing a “Unified Theory of the One Ring” was thought to be impossible…until now.  This week, with the combined power of He...

While summer may be officially over, talking about it had just begun!  Some of our favorite movies are about summer camp, and this week we sit around the campfire with camping expert Andrew Keener as he spins yarns about all the fun science that you need to know while surviving outdoors.  From Friday the 13th, to Meatballs we look at what you need to know to make it through each move.  Plus we fin...

Between the three of us, we have been playing D&D for decades, which is a VERY long time.  Being inspired by the latest movie “Honor Among Thieves”, we decided to look back at some of our favorite creatures, including the terrifying Mimic!  This is a treasure chest that can eat you.  It has a teeth-filled maw, and is easily mistaken for your typical box of loot.  This is not to be...

Are you sick of relying on word of mouth, or better yet an algorithm, to find TV shows you like?  Wouldn’t it just be better if an AI-powered quantum computer just instantly made shows perfectly catered to your taste?  Or better yet, you could just plug your brain into your TV and have the computer scan your neurons directly for your preferences.  While this certainly seems like a utopia, th...

While summer may be officially over, talking about it had just begun!  Some of our favorite movies are about summer camp, and this week we sit around the campfire with camping expert Andrew Keener as he spins yarns about all the fun science that you need to know while surviving outdoors.  From Friday the 13th, to Meatballs we look at what you need to know to make it through each move.  Plus we fin...

Are you sick of relying on word of mouth, or better yet an algorithm, to find TV shows you like?  Wouldn’t it just be better if an AI-powered quantum computer just instantly made shows perfectly catered to your taste?  Or better yet, you could just plug your brain into your TV and have the computer scan your neurons directly for your preferences.  While this certainly seems like a utopia, th...

Current transportation technology is soooo slow.  Sure you can get to another continent in an airplane, but it takes hours.  What if you could instantly send your mind into a replica body anywhere in the world?  How about into space?  Well that is exactly what we talk about on today’s episode, using the Black Mirror episode “Beyond The Sea” as the template.  We discuss remote vie...

Most action movies border on the ridiculous:  unlimited ammo, cars that defy gravity, and everything is on the verge of exploding, but there is one series that I think is actually totally explainable:  John Wick. They count bullets, John does get hit, and the martial arts is designed to gain an advantage, not just impress.  Admittedly John Wick does seem to avoid death in impossible ways, but in a...

This may be one of the weirder episodes we have done in a long time. FROM is a hit TV show about a family that becomes trapped in a small town in rural wherever.  In truth they aren’t the only ones trapped, lots of other people are as well.  If the strangeness of the world was the only problem, it wouldn’t be so bad, but unfortunately they have to deal with nocturnal monsters that look...

For the first time ever, we have a special guest on the show.  Kalapana Pot, of the popular TikTok account TokNerdyToMe, is here to discuss one of her favorite movies ever:  Arrival.  What would you do if aliens came down and parked their ships over every major city?  Can a language help you see through time?  What do you do if friendly aliens look like some terrifying monster out of an H. P. Love...

It has taken us 155 episodes, but we are finally talking about the science of shrinking!  Whether it’s “Fantastic Voyage”, “Honey I Shrunk The Kids”, or the latest Ant-Man Movie “Quantumania”, humans enter dangerous territory when they become microscopic.  In this episode we discuss the potency of bacterial toxins, how Pym Particles could be a real thing,...

We open Season 8 with one of the best sci-movies of all time:  Return of the Jedi!  Celebrating it’s 40th anniversary this year, this movie was a game changer.  It had gigantic slug aliens, Boba Fett getting launched into a gigantic mouth, and more force power than you can shake a lightsaber at.  We here at FGGGbT LOVE Star Wars, but wanted to cover the untraveled road, talk about novel thin...

How many of us have sliced a few mushrooms on our salad, or paid extra for a little truffle oil? It is true, fungus can be delicious, but what if you were delicious to a fungus? The Cordyceps fungus has evolved as a predator to certain insects, and when infected, They eat these insects from the inside out. Luckily for us humans, we have nothing to fear…or do we? In The Last of Us, the Cordyceps ha...

Like most people, we love a good murder mystery.  One of the often overlooked elements to creating an excellent experience is the invitation.  How do you get everyone together in a memorable way?  Well in the movie Glass Onion, they nailed it by creating the most elaborate puzzle box ever made.  We take a look at all the elements, including Magic Eye, a Japanese Sliding box, the music of Sebastian...

Prison is a place you definitely don’t want to find yourself, but if you do, I can guarantee you will want to get out.  This would especially be true if the prison was the size of Manhattan Island, like we see in the 1980’s classic “Escape From New York”.  Here, anti-hero Snake Plissken has to rescue the President from the very Prison Industrial Complex that he helped creat...

We have all seen Jurassic Park, and despite the obvious flaws and clear security risks, I think we all want to see real dinosaurs.  This will probably never happen BUT what if we could bring something back that was a bit smaller, cuddlier, and way more possible?  In this episode, the Brain Trust contemplates opening up a park occupied by woolly mammoths.  There may be a scientific path to this, gi...

In this day and age, who wants to go through the hassle of being pregnant.  I know you sure don’t.  Luckily, now there is Build-A-Baby.  Out state of the art facility baby factory will let you experience the joys of having a child without the inconvenience.  Remotely monitor your baby’s growth through our video system, which has a 360 degree view of our fully transparent artificial wom...

Whether it’s extreme climate change, a robot uprising, the zombie apocalypse, or the elite getting itchy feet, human beings are leaving this planet.  The only question that remains is where.  Do we make a new home on our nearby neighbor The Moon, or do we make the trek across the solar system to Mars, the Red Planet?  In this episode we break down the pros and cons of each, and give you ever...

It is official, Artificial Intelligence is here and it is slowly taking over.  But is that a bad thing?  Yes. But is it really?  Also yes, BUT we do have a member of the Brain Trust who is much more optimistic.  In this episode, Dr. Michael Dennin lays out his argument on how AI isn’t really intelligent, isn’t dangerous, and will NOT cause the apocalypse.  We talk about psychopathic ro...

Technology is a way to mark Man’s progress through time.  With only a few exceptions, as a species we are constantly advancing forward, with each new gadget being built on the foundation of an old gizmo.  Modern cell phones replaced the home phone that was connected to your wall, which replaced letters sent from far away.  Before paper, people just went over to each other’s hut to talk...

I know we have done several shows lately on the technology of the Victorian Era, but the TV show 1899 is completely unique.  There are weird portals, black pyramids, and retro computers controlling steamships.  Where to begin?  Well this week The Brain Trust explains it all.  Could you retrofit a steam ship with 1970’s computers?  Is it possible to completely freeze time and still walk aroun...