This episode contains: Steven starts this episode with talking about how he’s gone ‘full dad’ and now ‘enjoys’ yard work. It’s weird. Ben talks about his epic playing of Danger Zone 2, which temps Steven into talking about Valheim for too long. Don’t worry, we make up for it in science.
Is There Anyone Out There, ‘Cause It’s Getting Harder and Harder to Breath: NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover extracts oxygen from Red Planet. We talk about the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (or MOXIE). Creating oxygen on Mars is sooo cool!
https://mars.nasa.gov/news/8926/nasas-perseverance-mars-rover-extracts-first-oxygen-from-red-planet/
They Did What Now?: Scientists have generated human-monkey chimeric embryos. We have some ethical concerns about the human-monkey chimeric embryos, but not too many. Steven asks the question of why repeatedly, and is eventually answered.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/04/210415142904.htm
I Only Miss You When I’m Breathing: Artificial photosynthesis device improves its own efficiency over time. Scientists have now demonstrated a process to produce clean hydrogen fuel, which improves over time. It has something to do with gallium nitride, but the article is a bit confusing.
https://newatlas.com/energy/self-improving-artificial-photosynthesis-device-hydrogen-efficiency/
Yay SpaceX!: SpaceX wins $2.9 Billion NASA contract for lunar lander being developed in Texas. We just kinda wanted to mention it.
Science Fiction: We find some time to talk about a little bit of science fiction. Ben watched The Ewok Adventure: Caravan of Courage and, oh boy, it’s not as bad as you expected and not as good as you’d hoped. Steven has started watching the Mortal Kombat movie, and he’s not having the worst time with it. Ben also watched 80’s sci-fi classic Explorers with his family. We talk about how unique it is, and it’s the only movie we know about that has a rat that tells the protagonist to “go to hell.” We end with touching on the ending of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, with promises of circling around back to it once Devon has finished the series.