Unobtainium Podcast

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1. Realistic Aliens? Space Travel? Darth Vader’s Suit? What is Sci-fi? We Take Your Questions for Our Season Wrap Up: Are we more likely to discover intelligent life or have they already discovered us and Why do Hollywood aliens almost always look human?

   3 november 2026 · 46 min

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   In this special season wrap-up mailbag episode of Unobtanium, astrophysicist Dr. Amy Mainzer and filmmaker Adam Sigel answer questions from listeners, exploring the fascinating intersection of science, storytelling, and our favorite sci-fi movies. Lees meer

   From breaking down what truly defines the science fiction genre to deconstructing alien biology, exoplanet habitability, and scientific literacy, this episode bridges hard astrophysics and screenwriting logic.

   Full Summary

   What Defines Science Fiction?

   Sci-fi acts as an experimental sandbox exploring the impact of technology and science on human lives and societal stakes.

   The hosts dissect Philip K. Dick’s premise that the scientific concept itself is often the protagonist.

   Genre blending in cinema: Why Inception functions as a sci-fi heist movie, Blade Runner merges tech with film noir, and Alien balances sci-fi with haunted-house horror in space.

   Alien Evolution & Astrobiology:

   The Goldilocks Zone & Earth’s Climate: How our G-type dwarf star, stable circular orbit, and plate tectonic cycle created the ideal conditions for liquid water and human vision tuned to visible wavelengths.

   Why Do Movie Aliens Look Humanoid? The breakdown between Hollywood budget constraints (zipper suits vs. CGI) versus narrative empathy, alongside the concept of convergent evolution.

   Non-Humanoid Life: The evolutionary plausibility of infrared-sensing eyes around cooler stars, deep-sea aquatic aliens (The Abyss), atmospheric floaters in gas giants, and the prevalence of microbial life in the galaxy.

   What Is an Astrobiologist? How modern astronomers search for exoplanetary biosignatures and atmospheric gases to identify life beyond Earth.

   The Scientific Method vs. Pop Culture Skepticism:

   Demystifying scientific terminology: The critical distinction between an everyday "guess" and a rigorously tested scientific hypothesis or theory (e.g., gravity, quantum mechanics).

   Why scientific self-correction and mathematical uncertainty repres…

2. What is a Black Hole? The Science, the Madness, and the Mystery of Disney's THE BLACK HOLE: We look at how the 1979 film is one of the strangest, darkest, and most ambitious science fiction movies of its era.

   23 oktober 2026 · 42 min

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   What is a Black Hole? Lees meer

   Core Definition: A black hole is a region of space with an extraordinarily powerful gravitational field created when massive amounts of matter are packed into a tiny volume.

   The "Divide-by-Zero" Error: In simple terms, a black hole represents a point where our current understanding of physics breaks down—a mathematical singularity where space-time equations result in an undefined state.

   Event Horizon: The absolute point of no return. Gravity is so strong within the event horizon that not even light can escape, causing its trajectory to loop back inward.

   Star Collapse & Supernovas

   Stellar Evolution: Stars roughly 10 times more massive than our Sun fuse elements up the periodic table (hydrogen to helium, carbon, oxygen, etc.) until they reach iron.

   Supernova Collapse: Once iron is reached, nuclear fusion stops providing outward pressure. The star's outer layers collapse inward onto the core in a fraction of a second, bouncing off and causing a catastrophic supernova explosion.

   Core Remnant: If the remaining core mass is sufficient, it continues to crush down into a super-dense object just a few kilometers across, forming a stellar-mass black hole.

   Anti-Gravity Fields

   In-Movie Use: Dr. Reinhardt uses an anti-gravity energy reactor to keep the Cygnus suspended near the event horizon and to provide artificial Earth gravity aboard the ship.

   Real World Physics: Repulsive gravity does not exist in real physics. Unlike electromagnetism (which has positive and negative poles that can attract or repel), gravity is strictly an attractive, one-way force between masses.

   Einstein-Rosen Bridges & Wormholes

   In-Movie Use: The characters discuss an Einstein-Rosen bridge as a pathway through the black hole to travel across space and time.

   Real World Physics: Theoretically, an Einstein-Rosen bridge connects a black hole to a hypothetical "white hole" (a region that strictly expels matter). However, there is zero observational evidence that white holes…

3. Could You ACTUALLY Survive on Mars? Planetary Scientist Dave Paige Breaks Down Ridley Scott's blockbuster film The Martian, breaking down what the film got right, what was exaggerated, and what real NASA missions face when exploring the Red Planet.

   6 oktober 2026 · 47 min

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   Episode Description Lees meer

   In this episode of Unobtainium, hosts Adam and Amy sit down with UCLA Planetary Science Professor Dave Paige to dissect the science behind Ridley Scott's blockbuster film The Martian. From the atmospheric physics of Martian dust storms to the realities of growing potatoes in extraterrestrial soil, Professor Paige breaks down what Hollywood got right, what they exaggerated, and what real NASA missions face when exploring the Red Planet.

   Full Summary

   Why couldn’t the movie’s massive Martian dust storm really happen? Could you actually grow potatoes in Martian soil? How cold is Mars? Is there liquid water beneath the surface? Could microbial life exist there today? How realistic are NASA and JPL’s response to Mark Watney’s predicament? And what would it actually take to keep human beings alive on a journey to Mars? But the conversation ultimately raises a bigger question: Should humans be going to Mars at all?

   Paige makes the case that increasingly capable robots may be able to explore Mars more safely, cheaply and extensively than astronauts—without risking human lives or contaminating a planet that could harbor indigenous life. That leads to the most consequential scientific question of all: Is there life on Mars, and how far should we go to find it?

   Along the way, the conversation explores:

   Mars Environment & Atmospheric Physics: Mars has an atmospheric pressure less than $1/100^{\text{th}}$ that of Earth, composed primarily of carbon dioxide. While daytime temperatures at equatorial regions can approach room temperature, nighttime temperatures drop far below any location in Antarctica.

   The Dust Storm Exaggeration: The film's inciting incident—a severe dust storm that forces mission abort—is pure science fiction. Although wind speeds on Mars can be fast, the atmospheric density is so low that high-speed winds exert only a mild breeze's force, insufficient to knock down an astronaut or damage heavy equipment.

   NASA Technical Realism & JPL …

4. We came for Star Wars. We found something much bigger. Inside the Lucas Museum: Star Wars, Narrative Art, and the Power of Myth

   22 september 2026 · 44 min

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   Why does the museum look like a spaceship? What does Luke Skywalker have in common with a scientist? And could an N-1 Starfighter actually fly? Lees meer

   Come inside with us.

   What’s really inside George Lucas’s new Lucas Museum of Narrative Art? We got a sneak peek—and it wasn’t quite what we expected.

   UNOBTAINIUM hosts planetary scientist Dr. Amy Mainzer and writer/producer Adam Sigel head inside the spectacular new Los Angeles museum expecting plenty of Star Wars. And yes, there are spaceships, droids and enough Death Star vibes to keep two lifelong fans happy. But Star Wars represents only a small part of what Lucas is trying to do here.

   The museum is really an exploration of narrative art: the images societies have used to tell stories. These are the stories that people need to come to understand who they are, from ancient cave paintings and mythology to illustration, comics, movie posters and science fiction. That leads Amy and Adam straight to Joseph Campbell, the Hero’s Journey and the Power of Myth—ideas that profoundly influenced George Lucas and the creation of Star Wars.

   And then things get very UNOBTAINIUM.

   Amy makes a surprising connection between the Hero’s Journey and the scientific process itself: leaving what we know, venturing into the unknown, facing uncertainty, gaining new knowledge and bringing it home.

   Along the way, we explore the museum’s spaceship-like architecture, its unusual argument about “high” and “low” art, the science behind Star Wars technology—and an N-1 Starfighter that raises the inevitable question: how much energy would it actually take to make that thing fly?

   Come with us for a sneak peek inside the Lucas Museum—and a journey through Star Wars, science, mythology and the stories human beings use to understand the universe and ourselves.

   UNOBTAINIUM: Where great movies meet real science.

   #LucasMuseum #StarWars #GeorgeLucas #LucasMuseumOfNarrativeArt #ScienceFiction #JosephCampbell #HeroJourney #Science #UnobtainiumPodcast #Lo…

5. Neil deGrasse Tyson on Superheroes, Time Travel, Aliens, Bad Movie Science and growing up in the geekosphere.

   15 september 2026 · 24 min

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   What superhero would Neil deGrasse Tyson be? Where would he go if he could travel through time? And how much bad science will he forgive if a movie tells a great story? And how he grew up an athlete who lived in the geekosphere. Lees meer

   In this special bonus mini-episode of UNOBTAINIUM, planetary scientist Dr. Amy Mainzer and producer Adam Sigel revisit their conversation with Neil deGrasse Tyson for a wide-ranging trip through science, science fiction and geek culture.

   Neil reveals why he once imagined himself as “Protector of the Geeks,” explains why the Marvel Universe has a scientific edge over other superhero worlds, and shares his personal rule for giving filmmakers a “hall pass” when the physics isn't quite right.

   Along the way, we get Neil’s takes on the scientifically impossible storm that launches The Martian, why we happily accept the flux capacitor in Back to the Future, whether real physics could make time travel possible, why he'd rather visit the future than the past, and which ideas might someday let us cross the enormous distances between the stars.

   Plus: faster-than-light travel, cryosleep, alien civilizations, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Comic-Con, superheroes, atomic wedgies, and the Revenge of the Nerds.

   If you enjoyed this conversation, check out our full episode with Neil deGrasse Tyson on STAR WARS, the Force, and the science behind a galaxy far, far away.

   UNOBTAINIUM explores the real science behind the movies and television we love, with scientists, filmmakers and other extraordinary guests.

   Subscribe for more conversations at the intersection of science, movies, television and pop culture.

   Follow Unobtainium Podcast!

   Website: unobtainiumpodcast.com

   Watch full episodes on https://www.youtube.com/@unobtainiumpod

   Stay connected:

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6. What’s lurking in the unexplored deep? Liquid Breathing, Decompression Issues, & Alien Sea Life in James Cameron’s mysterious film The Abyss with marine geomicrobiologist Dr. Tina Treude

   8 september 2026 · 46 min

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   Episode Description Lees meer

   Could humans really breathe liquid? Could we actually live hundreds of meters beneath the ocean—and what might be waiting for us in the unexplored deep?

   In this episode of UNOBTAINIUM, hosts Amy and Adam “dive” into the science behind James Cameron’s 1989 sci-fi classic THE ABYSS with Dr. Tina Treude, UCLA professor and expert in marine geomicrobiology.

   The biggest mystery of all is how much of the deep ocean have we actually explored. Scientists continue to encounter species they’ve never seen before, reminding us that some of the most alien environments we know of are right here on Earth. James Cameron imagined an alien world at the bottom of our own ocean. The remarkable thing is how alien the real one already is.

   Hosts Dr. Amy Mainzer and Adam Sigel welcome guest Dr. Tina Treude, a UCLA professor of marine geomicrobiology. They analyze James Cameron's 1989 sci-fi film The Abyss, noting its accurate depiction of deep-sea pressure dynamics.

   Gas Solubility & The Bends: Under high pressure, gases like nitrogen dissolve faster into a diver's bloodstream. Rapid ascents cause dissolved nitrogen to form gas bubbles, causing decompression sickness ("the bends"), which can block nervous system connections and prove fatal.

   Decompression Protocols: To avoid decompression sickness, technical divers entering high-pressure environments must undergo controlled decompression in chambers—often lasting days or weeks—to allow nitrogen to slowly diffuse out of the body.

   2. The Science of Liquid Breathing

   The famous scene where a rat breathes oxygenated fluorocarbon fluid reflects real scientific experiments.

   Mechanism & Benefits: Breathing oxygenated fluorocarbon emulsion prevents lung collapse at extreme depths because liquids are incompressible under pressure.

   The Physical Limitation: While fluorocarbons can deliver adequate oxygen to the lungs, human respiration with liquids is bottlenecked by fluid viscosity and CO2 removal. Moving dense fluid in a…

7. Could a Snake Robot Find Alien Life? | Mars, Enceladus & the Future of Space Robotics

   1 september 2026 · 10 min

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   What does it take to build a robot that can explore another world—and maybe even help us find extraterrestrial life? Lees meer

   In this special bonus mini-episode of UNOBTAINIUM, roboticist Dr. Hiro Ono takes us from the surface of Mars to the hidden ocean of Enceladus, Saturn’s icy moon.

   Hiro, who joined us for our episode on BLADE RUNNER and the future of robotics, worked on the Mars Perseverance rover, helping develop autonomous vision systems that allow a robot millions of miles from Earth to understand its surroundings and navigate the Martian landscape. With signals between Earth and Mars taking minutes to arrive, a rover can't simply wait for a human to tell it what to do—it needs some ability to perceive, decide and act for itself. Then we travel much farther out.

   Hiro explains the thinking behind EELS (Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor), a snake-like robot designed to tackle one of the wildest challenges in planetary exploration: navigating the cracks in the icy crust of Enceladus, where scientists believe a vast liquid-water ocean lies beneath the surface. Could an adaptable robot someday follow those pathways beneath the ice—and search an alien ocean for signs of life? It’s a fascinating look at AI, machine vision, autonomous robots, Mars exploration, astrobiology, Enceladus and the engineering we may need to explore some of the most promising places for life beyond Earth.

   And if you enjoy Hiro here, check out our full BLADE RUNNER episode, where we explore how close today's robots and artificial intelligence are getting to the science fiction imagined on screen.

   Subscribe to UNOBTAINIUM for more conversations about the surprising science behind the movies and TV we love.

   Follow Unobtainium Podcast!

   Website: unobtainiumpodcast.com

   Stay connected:

   Instagram: @unobtainiumpod

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   #Unobtainium #SpaceExp…

8. Could the Rage Virus in 28 Days Later actually happen? Dr. Seema Yasmin joins us to unpack the terrifying real science of viruses, outbreaks, R-naught, and why this horror classic hits very differently after COVID.

   25 augustus 2026 · 42 min

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   Is the "Rage Virus" in 28 Days Later scientifically plausible? Amy and Adam sit down with Dr. Sima Yasmin—medical doctor, former CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service officer, author and disease detective! – to separate the real science of viruses and pandemics from one of cinema’s most frightening fictional outbreaks. What exactly is a virus—and is it even alive? Could scientists really use a virus to alter human behavior? Why are viruses used as vectors in cutting-edge gene therapies (like CAR-T cancer therapy)? They also discuss incubation periods, the math of R-naught, split-brain Klüver-Bucy syndrome, and how real is the "Rage Virus" in Danny Boyle and Alex Garland's classic 2002 film 28 Days Later. Lees meer

   Full Summary

   Hosts Dr. Amy Mainzer (UCLA planetary scientist) and Adam Sigel (Hollywood writer/producer) welcome guest Dr. Sima Yasmin, a medical doctor and former CDC Epidemic Intelligence Officer.

   Are Viruses Alive? Dr. Yasmin explains that viruses are non-living packages of genetic material (DNA or RNA) enclosed in a protein capsid. They cannot replicate independently and must hijack host cellular machinery to reproduce.

   Viral DNA in Humans: Estimates suggest that 10% to 12% of the human genome is viral in origin. Over millions of years, ancestral viral infections integrated permanently into human DNA.

   2. Viral Vectors: Science vs. Cinematic Tropes

   In 28 Days Later, scientists at a Cambridge laboratory use an Ebola-based viral vector to alter primate behavior.

   Real-World Viral Vectors: Humans have used viruses as delivery mechanisms since 1972. In modern medicine (such as CAR-T cancer therapy), harmless viruses (like Adeno-Associated Viruses or AAVs) are modified to carry therapeutic genes into human cells to train the immune system against cancer.

   Movie vs. Reality: In real life, medical researchers use non-pathogenic viruses as vectors rather than lethal filoviruses like Ebola. Furthermore, while Ebola in movies is depicted as causing external bleeding fro…

9. More on Astrobiology with Dr. Betül Kaçar

   18 augustus 2026 · 10 min

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   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

10. Why We Deny Scientific Warnings? A Deep Dive into the Science of Climate Change, Searching for Hope, and the Art of Integrating Science into Emotional and Evocative Storytelling

    11 augustus 2026 · 35 min

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    Episode Description Lees meer

    What begins as a discussion of climate change expands into a deep dive into the science as well as the misinformation, political inertia, corruption and the psychology behind why societies struggle to respond to existential threats—even when the evidence is clear.

    McKay discusses the real-world inspiration for the film, Leonardo DiCaprio's performance, and why science and storytelling must work together if humanity hopes to solve its greatest challenges.

    Full Summary

    The Holocene Epoch & The Greenhouse Effect

    Host Dr. Amy Mainzer (UCLA astrophysicist) and director Adam McKay open with a discussion on the fundamental stability of Earth's climate over the past 12,000 years (the Holocene epoch). This stable climate enabled the rise of organized human agriculture.

    The Physics of Greenhouse Gases: Amy emphasizes that climate change physics is rooted in standard quantum mechanics. Molecules of greenhouse gases like CO2 absorb specific infrared light wavelengths emitted by the Earth, increasing molecular motion which manifests as trapped thermal energy.

    Earth Energy Imbalance (EEI): McKay highlights the extreme rate of trapped energy entering the biosphere—equivalent to the energy of roughly 12 Hiroshima bombs per second—moving the global climate past normal seasonal variations at an unprecedented pace.

    Science vs. Political Inaction & Media Gaslighting

    McKay shares his experiences speaking with scientists, politicians, and media professionals. Despite unequivocal empirical data, political structures and profit-driven media ecosystems frequently downplay or miscommunicate existential threats.

    Scientific Communication Dilemma: Scientists often struggle to convey urgent warnings without being labeled as alarmist or shut out of public discourse.

    Evolutionary Blindspots: Humans are evolutionarily hardwired to react to immediate, visible threats (e.g., an approaching predator) rather than invisible or complex systemic crises (e.g., viruses, green…

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