Nerd Exchange with Abi James

Abi James
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A discussion podcast where I speak with scientists, artists, designers, writers, communicators and all nerds across pop culture. We delve into what we know and understand about the universe and how we use that to create stories and art. It's all about doing what you love. Join us in the nerd club and tell us your favourite things to nerd out about.

Episodes

  1. Jul 13

    Microgravity, the ISS & Floating for Science with Erin Winick Anthony

    In this episode of Nerd Exchange, I sit down with Erin Winick Anthony; science communicator, competitive pinball player and broadway cast album lover! We discuss science onboard the International Space Station, what it's like to experience a parabolic flight, ocean expeditions, dreams of antartica and why we should all be reading Dungeon Crawler Carl.This is a proper nerd out!🎙️ Guest: Erin Winick Anthony 🎬 www.erinwinick.com📸 www.instagram.com/erinwinickChapters00:00 Introduction07:38 NASA, The ISS and Scicomm30:30 Parabolic Flights and Ocean Expeditions50:08 Heading to the MoonNerd Exchange is a long-form conversation series exploring science, science fiction, technology, creativity, and the people behind the ideas that inspire us.Stay nerdy.My Links:Patreon: patreon.com/c/popculturescientist/membershipInstagram: instagram.com/popculture_scientist/#NASA #ISS #SciFi #microgravity #NerdExchange

  2. Jun 14

    Rory Cheyne on Foundation, Galactic Empires & Worldbuilding | Nerd Exchange Ep. 3

    In this episode of Nerd Exchange, I sit down with Rory Cheyne, Production Designer for Apple TV's Foundation, to talk about the challenges of bringing one of science fiction's most ambitious worlds to the screen.We discuss the visual language of the Galactic Empire, building worlds that feel thousands of years old, and how architecture, history, culture, and storytelling all shape the look of a civilisation spanning the galaxy.Whether you're a Foundation fan, a sci-fi lover, a filmmaker, or just fascinated by how fictional worlds are brought to life, I think you'll enjoy this conversation.🎙️ Guest: Rory Cheyne🎬 Production Designer – Foundation (Apple TV)Chapters00:00 Introduction12:59 Building Trantor21:51 Mycogen28:16 Building the Future42:12 Future Tech1:02:26 InspirationsNerd Exchange is a long-form conversation series exploring science, science fiction, technology, creativity, and the people behind the ideas that inspire us.Stay nerdy.#Foundation #ScienceFiction #AppleTV #IsaacAsimov #Worldbuilding #ProductionDesign #SciFi #FilmMaking #Architecture #NerdExchange

  3. May 31

    Neil deGrasse Tyson on Aliens, Intelligence & the Unknown

    Are we alone in the universe?In this episode of Nerd Exchange, I sit down with Neil deGrasse Tyson to discuss aliens, intelligence and humanity's fascination with the unknown.Our conversation centres around Neil's new book, 'Take Me To Your Leader', exploring why the idea of alien life has captured our imagination for generations and what the search for extraterrestrial intelligence can teach us about ourselves.If intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe, how would we recognise it? And if aliens arrived tomorrow, what would we actually say?Neil deGrasse Tyson is an astrophysicist, author, and science communicator. He is the Director of the Hayden Planetarium and host of StarTalk.Timestamps:00:00 Introduction10:48 Scifi and Aliens20:15 Alien Intelligence27:04 The Fermi Paradox39:25 Alien Abductions53:37 First Contact#NeilDeGrasseTyson #Aliens #Astronomy #SciencePodcast #SETI #FermiParadox #NerdExchange

  4. May 30

    Miguel Alcubierre on Star Trek, Black Holes and Warp Drives

    Hey Nerds!It's time for something new! I've started a discussion series (ok come on it's totally a podcast...) where I'll be speaking with scientists, artists, communicators, writers and just all types of nerds from all over pop culture. This is episode one with Professor Miguel Alcubierre. In 1994 while working on his PhD at Cardiff, Miguel was inspired by Star Trek to write a paper about a potential spacetime curvature. He called it a 'warp bubble' and the rest, as they say, is history. But while the warp bubble paper is interesting to us nerds, his extensive work throughout his career makes him the perfect person to ask what General Relativity is really about and to help us properly understand what it actually means to have a 'solution to Einstein's Field Equations'. I'm so excited that Miguel agreed to this and am genuinely honoured to have him as my first guest. I hope you all enjoy the episode. Lots more fun conversations are on the way. Stay Nerdy! About Me: My name is Abi James and I go by Pop Culture Scientist online. I've spent the past 5 years making videos explaining the science that we see in fiction and pop culture and finally decided it was time to reach out to some experts to get closer to the source. I have a bachelors and masters degree in Physics and am a final year DPhil candidate in Physics at the University of Oxford. My research is in plasma acceleration where I use lasers to probe plasma wakefields and try to see what's happening inside. Below is a list of papers, books or videos on topics that we talked about that you might find interesting. All papers linked are the open access version so are freely available to all. -The warp drive: hyper-fast travel within general relativity - Miguel Alcubierre, Class. Quantum Grav. 11-5, L73-L77 (1994) -What no one has seen before: gravitational waveforms from warp drive collapse - Katy Clough et al, The Open Journal of Astrophysics 7 (July) - Challenge of the Stars: Book by David A. Hardy and Patrick Moore- Interstellar – Building A Black Hole – Official Warner Bros. - Black holes and the Milky Way’s darkest secret, Nobel Prize Information Leaflet 2020, - Evolution of Binary Black-Hole Spacetimes - Frans Pretorius, Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 121101 – Published 14 September, 2005 - Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger - LIGO Collaboration, Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 061102 – Published 11 February, 2016 My Links: YouTube: Pop Culture Scientist I post weekly short science and scifi explainers as well as monthly deep dives into big topics in physics and science fiction. Patreon: I post monthly bonus videos and newsletters along with bts content and news. Instagram: instagram.com/popculture_scientist/Chapters:00:00: Introduction08:32: Scifi & Science22:56: General Relativity33:39: Wormholes & Warp Drives44:53: Warp Bubbles01:02:48: Gravitational Waves

  • 4 Episodes

About

A discussion podcast where I speak with scientists, artists, designers, writers, communicators and all nerds across pop culture. We delve into what we know and understand about the universe and how we use that to create stories and art. It's all about doing what you love. Join us in the nerd club and tell us your favourite things to nerd out about.

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