Recorded April 8th, 2015

This episode contains: Outlets in airports, R2-D2 dome lighting, Astromech.net, plastic v. metal droid, Pure BS Twitter, R2 drive systems, tank driving, ultra fast aluminum battery, metallic pouch of hot chocolate, hot chocolate = energy, lithium-ion batteries, safer batteries, airlines ban boxes of batteries on commercial flights, pros of aluminum, Earth’s surface, how batteries work (sort of), quick recharge, how many recharges can  a particular batter take, power v. energy density, never needing to recharge your smart device, Elijah Wood in Back to the Future, wireless charging history, bending batteries and screens, new sci fi ideas, twists on familiar stories, Factoring Humanity (by Robert Sawyer, 1998), collective conscience in higher dimensions, Being John Malkovich, Grant Morison, two collective consciences in higher dimensions, The Matrix blew Steven’s mind, questioning reality, Simulacra and Simulation (by Jean Baudrillard, 1981), Plato’s The Republic (380 BCE ish), The Allegory of the Cave, brain in a vat, Descartes (before the horse), Dooms Day (2008), hide from zombies in castles, alternate dimensions, Ultima (by Stephen Baxter, 2014), Timeline, alternate realities as time travel, Source Code (2011), pointless robot on robot wars, Star Trek TOS episode A Taste of Armageddon, Devon’s mystery sci fi show from childhood, Devon’s Tatooine upbringing, My Teacher is an Alien (by Bruce Coville, 1989), The Long Blue Blazer (by Jeanne Willis and Susan Varley, 1988), Futurama quote, what Devon learned.