Popcorn Science Podcast: Daily Summaries Delivered

Pluribus

In this episode of "Popcorn Science," discuss the AppleTV show Pluribus. Topics Science Gripes Genetic code from the stars? Disease Transmission: fast and slow How does the virus do what it does? Information Density / Communication Bandwidth Science Shine VLA! Signal! Repetition, rule out local PWM Base4... DNA... er RNA! USAMRIID Lab rat protocol Balanced centrifuge! Extras with lab experience Rat Science Simple Machine: Lever Kepler-22 Signal Strength Of It's Time Ratings References Pluribus Vince Gillian X-Files: Je Souhaite (S7E21) X-Files: Roadrunners (S8E4) USAMRID The Hot Zone Kepler-22

Project Hail Mary

In this episode of "Popcorn Science," discuss the 2026 film Project Hail Mary

The Martian

In this episode of "Popcorn Science," we discuss the 2015 film The Martian

The Abyss

In this episode of "Popcorn Science," discuss the 1989 film The Abyss

Close Encounters

In this episode of "Popcorn Science," discuss the 1977 film Close Encounters of the Third Kind

The Expanse

Jurassic Park

God creates dinosaurs, God destroys dinosaurs. God creates Man, Man destroys God. Man creates podcasts. Dinosaurs eat man, woman inherits the Earth. In this episode of "Popcorn Science," discuss the 1993 film Jurassic Park Topics Science Gripes DNA from mosquitoes = impossible. Half life is too short. Humans cannot produce lysine either, we're alright. Not "billions of strands" in a drop of blood. T-Rex, from brain casts: Good sense of smell, vision, and hearing... sitting still not a good strategy. Velociraptors: not so big, not so fast. Humans can probably outrun dinosaurs $112k/yr. Enough for fieldwork? What do dinosaurs sound like? Mating tortoises. Science Shine Dinosaurs related to birds, checks out. Animals fail to show up at the safari ride. Cloning is a thing, sequencing older samples produce good science Mosquitoes did exist contemporaneously with dinosaurs. Chicxulub impact described well Dinosaur gizzards / gastroliths. Sex switching does happen in some species. Chaos Theory Of it's time What could have been James Cameron: Dark Jurassic Park Jim Carey as Malcolm? Groundbreaking CGI, but also practical effects. Clothing is firmly rooted in the 90s CRTs and floppy disks, adjusted refresh rates. "That's not what unix looks like". This was an actual unix system called IRIX running a real program called fsn ("File System Navigator for cyberspace"). 90s hacker tropes and fat shaming John Williams: Wrote the score for everything in the 70s, 80s and 90s Ratings References Jurassic Park (1993) Amplification and sequencing of DNA from a 120–135-million-year-old weevil Chicxulub Gastrolith Chaos Theory File System Navigator

The Fifth Element

In this episode of "Popcorn Science," discuss the 1997 film The Fifth Element. Topics Science Gripes Technobabble "Memo-groups", the perfect being, genetic memory Generate skin by exposure to UV Gravity will mess you up 3D grid lock? Fog layer in NYC? How big is the death sphere anyway? New Moon? What about tides, tho? How do shadows work? -5000 degrees? Parable of the Broken Window Science Shine Aziz! Light! The fifth element is... Boron... err... Ether Languages Planetary Protection Diva Dance We bring the evil with us where we go Single-use beds Garbage strike 65 trillion served, plausible? Hallway disguise Of it's time 23rd century look an awful lot like the 90s. Phonebooks? CDs? Bruce Willis is in every 90's action film. Space Die Hard! Misogyny. Luc Besson is a creep as are most of the male characters. Ruby Rod is ahead of his time. Zorg is a techbro, but what's his motivation. Ratings References The Fifth Element (1997) Luc Besson - director New York 2140 - Kim Stanley Robinson Kármán line Parable of the Broken Window Divine Language Toki Pona Laura sings the "Diva Dance" from the Fifth Element