Sci Fi / Sci Fact
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Sci Fi / Sci Fact
MacDiarmid Institute experts talk to Bryan Crump about an idea from science fiction, if it holds up to scientific scrutiny & if it'd work in reality. (Yeah, the Big Bang Theory guys would love this).
Episodi recenti
55 episodi
Tinfoil Hats | Faraday Cages
Claims that a tinfoil hat will protect the wearer from electromagnetic fields and mind control have been around for many years but do they actually wo...
Superman | Kryptonite
Kryptonite is a green crystal-like material found on Superman's home planet - Krypton. The radiation from the rock weakens Superman. Professor Bill Wi...
Black Widow | Pheromones
Scarlett Johansson's character in Black Widow has to fight pheromones in order to beat the evil villain. Anindita Sen explains how pheromones work and...
MacGyver | Optical Pump
MacGyver was an 80s icon, with his mullet and ability to turn anything into a tool to save the day. Karen Thorn looks at one episode where the action...
Harry Potter | The Philosopher's Stone
The Philosopher's Stone in the Harry Potter books can change metal into gold and create an elixir of life. Erin Leitao tells Bryan Crump whether eithe...
Total Recall | Turbinium
In Total Recall Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a construction worker who recovers memories as life as secret agent trying to stop the mining of Turbinium...
Ghostbusters | Proton Packs
The Ghostbusters would never have caught their prey without proton packs. Emily Kendall talks to Bryan Crump about how they worked in the movies and w...
Discworld | Octiron
Kate Andrew tackles Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of books in this episode, with a particular focus on the Octiron, the element of magic which ma...
Spiderman | Web
Spiderman swings from the top of New York's high-rises, fighting crime and beating super-villains. But could spider silk really hold up a full-grown m...
The Terminator | Exoskeleton
Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator is a cyborg sent back in time to change the future. Duncan McGillvray discusses the metal that makes up the murdero...
Wonder Woman | Feminum
Wonder Woman can stop bullets with her Feminum bracelets but, apart from needing the reflexes to achieve this, could any material that's light enough...
Theranos | Blood Testing
Elizabeth Holmes is serving prison time for fraud after convincing the world she had developed a simple blood test that could diagnose a range of dise...
Harry Potter | Invisibility Cloak
Colm Healy chats about the magic of material science and possible real life equivalents to Harry Potter's invisibility cloak.
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Interstellar | Black Holes
Spoiler Alert: In the Christopher Nolan movie Interstellar, an astronaut gets sucked into a black hole but manages to communicate with his daughter an...
Avatar | Unobtainium
Greedy corporations seeking Unobtainium are the bad guys in James Cameron's Avatar movie franchise. Associate Professor Nicola Gaston discusses the pa...
Batman | Caped Crusader
Rodrigo Martinez Gazoni chats with Bryan Crump about the scientific plausibility of Batman's cape and some of his other gadgets.
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Star Trek | Tricorder
The Starship Enterprise crew's tricorders have a multitude of uses, from scanning a new planet's surface to staff health checks. Dr Michel Nieuwoudt c...
Ringworld | Construction in Space
In Larry Niven's 1970 science fiction novel, Louis Wu and his companions crash land on a rotating ring world constructed by aliens. Dr Chris Bumby and...
Spiderverse | Symbiote
Symbiotes are extraterrestrial parasites that appear in the Marvel Comics Spiderverse. In particular, Venom is a symbiote who attaches to journalist E...
Ironman | Badassium
Dr Krista Steenbergen takes a look at 'A New Element' as invented by Tony Stark and used in Ironman 2.
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more...
Space Sci Fi | Exoplanets
Many of the planets that feature in sci fi storylines end up sounding and looking a bit like Earth. Associate Professor Jan Eldridge chats about the c...
Tenet | Time Travel
In Christopher Nolan's Tenet a CIA operative is tracing the origin of objects that are travelling back through time. Professor Bill Williams talks abo...
Ben 10 | Corrodium
Mutants feature heavily in many sci fi stories, from X-men to Godzilla. Chemistry expert Bill Jia talks Corrodium, a mutant-making material from the B...
Ironman | Arc Reactor
Tony Stark's arc reactor fuels his flying Ironman suit. James Rice joins Bryan Crump to discuss the real life equivalents to this palladium core fusio...
His Dark Materials | The Subtle Knife
The subtle knife slices through the fabric of reality to different worlds. Dr Mike Price discusses the science behind alternate universes and implemen...
Jack and the Beanstalk | Supersized Plants
We know a lot of work goes into getting plants to grow bigger and produce more. But what are the chances of getting a beanstalk to reach the clouds? D...
Game of Thrones | Wildfire
Wildfire is a liquid so flammable, unstable and explosive it doesn't stop burning until you put sand on it. UK science communicator Kit Chapman discus...
The Man in the White Suit | Fantastic Fabrics
It would at first appear to a solution to all laundry woes, but the White Suit from the 1950's movie The Man in the White Suit is not without its issu...
The Wheel of Time | Cuendillar
Dr Matt Cowan, from the McDiarmid Institute and Engineering department of Canterbury University, talks about Cuendillar - a substance from the Wheel o...
Black Panther | Vibranium
Black Panther's suit and Captain America's shield are both made of Vibranium, but realistically could any metal absorb, store and release kinetic ener...
Star Wars | Baakonite
Baakonite is a metal used heavily in Klingon weaponry and communications equipment in the world of Star Trek. Associate Professor Duncan McGillivary t...
The Incredibles | Zero Point Energy
This episode we look at a villain's secret weapon - Zero Point Energy. In The Incredibles Syndrome uses Zero Point Energy to freeze the heroes and get...
Sci Fi Substance | Neutronium
Neutronium comes up in Star Wars, Star Trek and many of the Marvel Comics. It's a hypothetical substance made purely of neutrons. Jan Eldridge, Associ...
Antman | Strength in Size
Marvel's Antman can shrink down to the size of an ant but still pack the punch of Mike Tyson. The McDiarmid Institute's Dr Mike Price discusses the di...
Dr Who | Axonite
Axonite is a 'thinking' material that can replicate and spread across the cosmos to feed. The MacDiarmid Institute's Professor Bill Williams discusses...
DC Comics | Nth Metal
Nth Metal is a hyper-conductive metal that negates gravity. It features heavily in DC comics, but how does it stack up in the real world Professor Pen...
Ender's Game | Philote
In the Ender's Game series, philote is a particle that enables communication across the galaxy. Dr Krista Steenbergen talks to Bryan Crump about the r...
The Multiverse
Professor Nicola Gaston, MacDiarmid Institute Co-Director and Professor of Physics at the University of Auckland, explores the science behind the mult...
Space Sci Fi | Supernovae
Jan Eldridge, Associate Professor of Physics at the University of Auckland, explores the use of supernovae (or exploding/dying stars) in fiction.
Magic | Wands
Dr Natalie Plank, MacDiarmid Institute Principal Investigator and Senior Lecturer in Physics at Victoria University of Wellington investigates the pow...