Fascinating Gadgets, Gizmos, and Gear Based Technologies

Everybody loves a good time travel story, and Star Trek has MANY to choose from.  Whether it’s Red Matter, Black Holes, Anti-matter, or performing a slingshot technique around a giant planet, if you make a major mistake, there are many ways to fix it.  In this episode, The Brain Trust looks the original series and the 2009 movie, and explains what happens using the Block Universe theory.  Th...

When is comes to hologram technology, Voyager really perfected the application of this into their everyday lives.  They were the first series to have a hologram crew member:  The Doctor.  As the Chief Medical Officer, he outranks the Captain on matters of health and well being, which is odd because he doesn’t physically exist. Not only that, but their holodeck is something to be marveled.  T...

Deep Space Nine was the first of the Star Trek series to be set on a space station, and not on a traveling space ship.  The stories centered around a battle between The Federation, and The Dominion.  This is important, because The Dominion was a race of people who used genetic engineering to both enhance other races, and develop their own from scratch.  In this episode we take a look at the benefi...

TNG revived in the Star Trek franchise and lead it in all new directions, including the introduction of one of the most iconic Star Trek enemies:  The Borg.  Listen as we discuss all the cybernetic advancements this series introduced, including the advantages of a cubed ship, removing biological parts in favor of superior technological ones, and how to digitize the brain and upload it to the entir...

The original series of Star Trek premiered in 1966, and even then it was ahead of its time.  From machines that create food out of thin air, to medical devices that can diagnose you with the wave of a wand, Star Trek has accurately predicted several technological advancements.  The Brain Trust takes a look at the major gadgets from the series, and shows you how they were the inspiration for the te...

Have you ever noticed a sudden shift in a friend’s demeanor, or felt like something about them was a little off?  It is quite possible that they fell asleep close to an alien plant, and were replaced with a similar, albeit insidious facsimile.  How could this happen?  If Invasion of the Body Snatchers is any template, pod people are everywhere, and are working hard to get you to join their r...

Even in the rising tide of Flat Earth theories, one thing we do know for certain is that the Earth is solid and not hollow.  However, if it was, what would it be like to adventure there?  That is the exact question Jules Verne asked over 100 years ago.  The result:  One of his masterpieces called Journey to the Center of the Earth.  The Brain Trust takes a look at the movie from the 50’s and...

Logan’s Run is a classic 70’s Sci-Fi in every sense.  It captures the hopes and fears of the future, the carefree 70’s culture, and the outlandish fashion that made this time period stand out.  There are also a ton of technologies to discuss, including a real life chat roulette, a tube-based transportation system, and a tracking crystal embedded in your hand that knows when you a...

The Fly is a movie about one of the biggest “whoops” moments in science fiction history, and is a shining example of Murphy’s Law.  Scientist Seth Brundle accidentally splices his DNA with that of a housefly while trying to teleport himself across the room.  This causes him to slowly turn into a fly.  The question is, what would really happen:  Would Brundle become more fly like,...

In the realm of science fiction, nothing is more multi-faceted than the Protomolecule from The Expanse.  Is an invasive species, a construction team, and a warp gate all rolled into one.  A true Swiss army knife of Sci-Fi.  The Brain Trust got together to explain this complicated and wondrous particle, and managed to come up with a Unified Theory of Protomolecule. Link to The Expanse Real Life Exa...

In the world of The Expanse, one’s relationship with gravity is really separates people in the future.  Are you a 1G person, and therefore from Earth, or are you a Belter who grew up in very low gravity?  What is the biological effect of this force?  How can we make artificial gravity?  What is that weird S-Shaped lasagna pan that Alex is always using?  The Brain Trust answers all of these q...

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is a thoughtful and rich remake of the fun but vapid cartoon of the 80’s.  This reboot has it all:  power crystals, a planet sized weapon, flying unicorns, and prehensile hair.  It’s a lot to tie together, but never fear:  The Brain Trust has the answers.  You will never see Etheria the same way again. Link to She-Ra Real Life Examples LAPD’ Bol...

Westworld is marketed as a place where you can be anyone, do anything.  It is a wild west themed amusement park that is populated by robots called “hosts”.  You can help them, kill them, fornicate with them, or just watch them go about their day.  Both the show and the park are so complex that we have dedicated three episodes to the technology. Season 3 Here we have our first glimpse o...

Westworld is marketed as a place where you can be anyone, do anything.  It is a wild west themed amusement park that is populated by robots called “hosts”.  You can help them, kill them, fornicate with them, or just watch them go about their day.  Both the show and the park are so complex that we have dedicated three episodes to the technology. AI & Consciousness One of the most in...

Westworld is marketed as a place where you can be anyone, do anything.  It is a wild west themed amusement park that is populated by robots called “hosts”.  You can help them, kill them, fornicate with them, or just watch them go about their day.  Both the show and the park are so complex that we have dedicated three episodes to the technology. The Park A sprawling desert, Westworld ha...

“Gotta Catch Em All” was the catchphrase of this incredibly popular series, but with 896 different species of Pokemon out there, it’s is getting more and more difficult to do that.  Luckily The Brain Trust is here to help.  We explain how Pokemon fit into that small Pokeball, the significance of Planck’s Constant in catching one of these critters, and how Blastoise is able...

In the world of Supernatural, the Winchester Bros. have faced off against some pretty scary monsters including vampires, ghosts, werewolves, demons, angels, and even pagan gods.  Each one requires specific, hard to find items to defeat them, some of which you may not have on hand.  That is where convenience of The Colt comes in.  Built by Samuel Colt, it has the ability to kill anything in creatio...

With the ability to teleport instantly across universe, have singular knowledge of his entire timeline, and create life on other planets, Dr. Manhattan is the most powerful being in the comic book realm.  In this episode, the Brain Trust tries to get a handle on his god-like abilities, and to do so, they discuss immortal jellyfish, time-defying tachyons, and how Dr. Manhattan turned his apathy int...

The Watchmen TV series is a continuation of the groundbreaking graphic novel of the same name.  It takes place in an dark alternate timeline, where superheroes are required to hide their identity for fear of retribution.  Luckily for us, it is also full of incredible gadgets and gizmos for the Brain Trust to examine, including x-ray specs, pills that store your memories, teleportation windows, and...

How would your brain react if you could basically cut out and store pieces of your memory?  Would you make up the gaps between events?  If so, what types of memories would you remove and why?  We discuss this as well as several other technologies from the Rick & Morty episode Morty’s Mind Blowers, as well as the princess and the pea, Dr. Doolittle, and the Accio spell from Harry Potter....

For our annual March Madness bracket, this year we are going to vote on Science Fiction’s top 16 movies of all time, which we are dubbing “Sci-Fi’s Sweet 16”.  Listen as The Brain Trust breaks down their picks and favorite movies. Play along on Twitter!  Download your bracket at @fgggbtpod, and be sure to vote on your favorite movies, starting March 19th. FGGGbT On Social M...

Think about the last time you were 50/50 on a decision.  You obviously remember making one choice, but according to the Many Worlds theory, you also made the OTHER choice, and there is a separate universe where you are living a similar life except for that one small difference.  This concept is perfectly exemplified in the Rick & Morty episode “A Rickle in Time”, which The Brain Tr...

First popularized in the novel The Invisible Man, the idea of becoming invisible has always been envisioned in pop culture.  While that is an actual person disappearing, Harry Potter’s cloak is probably the best example of an item that can make someone seem to vanish into thin air.  Listen as The Brain Trust discusses how we have attempted invisibility, from simple camouflage to actually ben...

We are all going to get old right? Our bodies are going to inevitably break down and there is nothing you can do about it…or is there? What would you need if you just want to transfer your mind into a new body every 40-50 years? The answer: A clone! But not just any clone, but a fast growing clone, one you would develop at a rate faster than human growth, or it wouldn’t be ready in tim...

Taken from Daniel J. Glenn’s favorite movie franchise Back to the Future, the pizza hydrator epitomizes the ultimate ‘on the go’ meal.  Mini pizzas are compact, lightweight, and cook in exactly 7 seconds.  Some would argue that this is even more Space Age than astronaut ice cream.  The Brain Trust attempts to perfect this process, utilizing Dr. Dennin’s fav go-to:  foam!  T...