Ever get hit with the realization that you should have asked for help three mistakes ago? One incident from when I was a science apprentice continues to haunt me. I was an undergrad working in a cell biology lab. Among my regular tasks were two that involved different kinds of cuvettes--small rectangular tubes. One was used to assess bacterial growth; you put a sample of bacteria in liquid culture in the cuvette and measured how much light was blocked by the bacteria. That one was clear; the other cuvette had metal … [Read more...] about Science Corner: Was Canceling The Acolyte a Mistake?
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Science Corner: The Force of Cuteness
Large swaths of the Internet have fallen under the spell of Baby Yoda, and I guess I'm not immune to those charms either. (Yes, I recognize they're not actually young Yoda, but the character doesn't have an actual name and Baby Yoda has a satisfying lilt.) Actually, part of the charm is intrinsic to our biology and psychology as humans; certain features common to human babies, like big eyes and proportionately large heads, read as cute to nearly all of us across a variety of contexts. One might expect baby chimps and … [Read more...] about Science Corner: The Force of Cuteness
Sci-Fi Film Fest: Talking The Phantom Menace with Mike Beidler (Pt 2)
Welcome back to our Sci-Fi Film Festival. This week, I continue my conversation with Mike Beidler about Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (TPM) as we chat about canons and legends. You can find the first half of the conversation here, including details about Mike's own role in the storytelling of Star Wars and his in-universe counterpart Myk Bidlor. … [Read more...] about Sci-Fi Film Fest: Talking The Phantom Menace with Mike Beidler (Pt 2)
Sci-Fi Film Fest: Talking The Phantom Menace with Mike Beidler (Pt 1)
Welcome to the first Emerging Scholars Network Sci-Fi Film Festival! I'll be having a conversation here on the blog on various classic and current science fiction movies. Feel free to watch along and join the conversation. This week's film is 1999's Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. I'm joined by Mike Beidler. Mike is a retired U.S. Navy commander who is active with the American Scientific Affiliation (ASA) and BioLogos and who has connections to Star Wars stories that I'll let him explain. … [Read more...] about Sci-Fi Film Fest: Talking The Phantom Menace with Mike Beidler (Pt 1)
Science in Review: A Droid in Every Garage
This week's discussion covers some specific, spoiler-y details from Solo: A Star Wars Story. Proceed accordingly. Last week we took a look at how Solo: A Star Wars Story interrogates the role of spaceships and interstellar travel in the Galactic Empire. The abstract concept of transportation (as opposed to specific transportation technology) is not an obvious theme for science fiction, but artificially intelligent robots are. What it does with ships, Solo also does for droids, taking a ubiquitous feature of the … [Read more...] about Science in Review: A Droid in Every Garage