Episode 129: The Mormons, the Nauvoo and You

This episode contains: After only a few days of rest, our plucky heroes get back on the mic to once again to talk science and science fiction into your ears. Steven talks about how  much “dadding” he’s been doing, and Devon is getting ready for a trip to Mexico. We don’t talk about the WestWorld season finale, because we haven’t seen it yet!

Full of the Holy Science: Scientists in Utah do experiments with members of the Mormon church to see if their “spirituality” can be measured. It turns out that it can, and it has a lot in common with drugs, gambling, sex and other feel-good things. Devon gives us a brief story about his time in the Mormon Church and also tells us, once again, how great “The Book of Mormon” musical was.

This week in space: Astronauts that have been on long duration missions are having vision problems. Microgravity is causing a lasting effect on the Cerebrospinal Fluid and Optic Nerve. We talk about various hurdles we need to cross to be a successful space faring species. Devon talks about Packing for Mars by Mary Roach.

The Expanse / Rogue One: Devon has read all the books! Slight spoilers in this section for The Expanse novels, but nothing major. Devon couldn’t help himself and read/listened to all of the available books. We talk about how great the books are at using artificial gravity as not only world building, but as a viable plot device as well. In an attempt to talk about Rogue One, the boys criticize Force Awakens and tells their hopes for Episode 8. When the Rogue One talk does pop in, we talk about our hopes and expectations.

Q&A: How long would it take to get to Mars at 1G acceleration?

http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2012/08/30/flying-to-mars-in-three-days/

http://nathangeffen.webfactional.com/spacetravel/spacetravel.php