This episode contains: Devon and Steven start out this episode lamenting Ben’s absence. We talk about Devon’s upcoming trip to California, and Steven’s journey with the Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps game. Devon is going to a sort-of costume party while dressing up as a starfleet officer with an alien chestburster coming out. We also chat about kids and xenomorphs. Steven’s house should have burned down, but several thousand dollars later, everything is fine.

This Week in Space: Water world? Methane, carbon dioxide in atmosphere of massive exoplanet. K2-18 b, an exoplanet 8.6 times as big as earth, has revealed the presence of carbon-bearing molecules including methane and carbon dioxide. It could be a Hycean exoplanet, one which has the potential to possess a hydrogen-rich atmosphere and a water ocean-covered surface. We chat about how we could possibly know anything about this planet.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/09/230911141059.htm

Spit Take: Why People Hate Words Like “Moist”. This one is all about word aversion. We talk about how the New York Times and the Guardian asked it’s readers for words they had an aversion to. Some responses were: moist, slacks, loin, panties, crevice, phlegm, bulge, nugget etc. It turns out that word aversion may be caused by the literal sound of the word and/or it’s connection to bodily functions. Or is it just pop-culture? We also talk about our own experiences with these words.

https://www.iflscience.com/why-people-hate-words-like-moist-70709

Science Fiction: Ben joins us for the sci-fi side of this episode. We talk about the latest episode of Very Short Treks, Moopsy (from the episode of Lower Decks from last week) and Megastructures from this week’s episode. Devon tells us all about Little Shop of Horrors, and it’s alternate ending. Ben and Steven chat about Simulant, a movie that was recommended to us by a listener (Thanks Tom!). Ben makes connections to the game Detroit: Become Human, and Steven had some issues with the unfocused nature of the story. Simulant definitely has some great ideas and it worth a watch.