Science, Actually Presents : The Nerd and the Scientist

Are there alien civilizations out there looking for us like we're looking for them? Do they want to eat us? Meet us? Or fulfill this episode's guest's secret desire to merge into a hive mind with them? Dr. Graham Lau has watched all the 'Trek', read all the books, and talks to Kovi and Benjamin about the variety of societal and evolutionary impacts astrobiologists dream of as the result of coming into contact with another civilization.
Find Graham at : https://cosmobiota.com/ and https://www.bluemarblespace.org/affiliates/graham-lau
Follow Benjamin at Science, Actually : https://www.scienceactually.com/ & https://www.facebook.com/actuallyscience
Follow Kovi at Fun Fact Science : https://www.funfactscience.com/ & https://www.facebook.com/funfactscience
Books mentioned on this episode:
Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon
Billions and Billions by Carl Sagan
Dawn by Octavia Butler
Ascent of Information by Caleb Scharf
The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin
The Dark Forest by Liu Cixin
The Tragic Life of Yahoo Serious : https://cosmobiota.substack.com/p/young-einstein-and-the-tragic-life

In the beginning... ...the was this huge bang from which all this ionized stuff came into the universe. Then a Recombination came along and cooled everything down and changed matter from ionized to neutral. Then the first stars and galaxies came to be, and produced enough UV light to re-ionize everything. So... Kovi and Benjamin ask the REALLY big question... How could there be an ionization before a REionization, but no combination a REcombination? Huh? Answer THAT, Dr. Jaiden Cook.
Find Jaiden at : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaiden-cook-250929115/ & https://www.atnf.csiro.au/daily-picture/2025/07/22/welcome-jaiden-cooke/
Follow Benjamin at Science, Actually : https://www.scienceactually.com/ & https://www.facebook.com/actuallyscience
Follow Kovi at Fun Fact Science : https://www.funfactscience.com/ & https://www.facebook.com/funfactscience

Our very first guest and our very first return guest - Dr. Dimos Katsis - becomes our second 'third timer'. He's the principal engineer at Overview Energy - a company that's building the infrastructure to gather solar energy in space with satellites each as big as two football fields, and then beam it down to us here on Earth. To sum it up real quick... Kovi and Benjamin asked, "so, the microwave power plant from the video game Sim City 2000 is for real!?" Dimos, "yep."
Find Dimos at : https://www.linkedin.com/in/dimoskatsis/ & https://www.overviewenergy.com/
Follow Benjamin at Science, Actually : https://www.scienceactually.com/ & https://www.facebook.com/actuallyscience
Follow Kovi at Fun Fact Science : https://www.funfactscience.com/ & https://www.facebook.com/funfactscience

Moondial! Get it? Like 'Mundial' but we made it say 'Moon' because we're space nerds? FIFA World Cup 2026 is over (congrats, Spain!), so get your vuvuzelas ready as Kovi and Benjamin get into some of the science behind soccer. Over time the ball was reengineered to be smoother until it actually ruined its aerodynamics, one venue is almost 1 1/2 miles above sea level where the air is 23% less dense, players lose up to 2% body mass due to sweat each game, and penalty kicks happen faster than the goalie's brain can process what's happening - so it's all chance.
Follow Benjamin at Science, Actually : https://www.scienceactually.com/ & https://www.facebook.com/actuallyscience
Follow Kovi at Fun Fact Science : https://www.funfactscience.com/ & https://www.facebook.com/funfactscience

Kovi and Benjamin talk about things that explode in space. Well Kovi talks about things that explode in space, and then Benjamin says something along the lines of, "you mean like in Star Trek VI - The Undiscovered Country!?" Tune in and clearly see where the line's drawn between nerd and scientist. The boys talk micronovae, novae, supernovae, and 'movie physics'. (spoiler - those 'launch a nuke at it' solutions in the movies? yeah, they won't work)
Follow Benjamin at Science, Actually : https://www.scienceactually.com/ & https://www.facebook.com/actuallyscience
Follow Kovi at Fun Fact Science : https://www.funfactscience.com/ & https://www.facebook.com/funfactscience