Our second Q&A episode, wherein we ask our friends to help us answer the the MOST INTERESTING QUESTIONS FROM THE INTERNET!
Question: “Could you have x-ray vision?”
Answerer: Fraser Cain
X-ray vision. Cybernetic eye replacements. Wavelengths of light. The visible spectrum. Ghost in the Shell. Riddick. Light amplification. Gamma rays. Cancer avoidance.
Question: “What if numbers are wrong?”
Answerer: Adrian Falcone
Math. Numbers. Logic. Ted Chiang’s short story “Divide by Zero” was in the collection Stories of Your Life and Others. Adrian mentioned Faith Physics.
Question: “What if black holes didn’t exist?”
Answerer: Daniel James Barker
Physics! Black holes. Neutron stars. Gravity. Collapse.
Question: How long before all the gasoline spoils in the zombie apocalypse?
Answerer: James Peterson
The eternally-unanswered concern that zombie shows ignore always. How long after the zombie apocalypse before all the gas is spoiled? Chemical engineers vs chemists. Oxidation. Inert gas vapor displacement.
Question: Could there be a Star Trek-style universal translator?
Answerer: Nick Farmer
Please also see our Arrival episode with Nick for a ton more on alien languages. Machine learning. Man vs machine. Man vs alien languages. Universality of language. GIF communication.