Dr Erin Macdonald: Is there any science in Star Trek?

This week we’re boldly going where no Science Focus Podcast has gone before.

Dr Erin Macdonald is the new science consultant for the Star Trek franchise. With the release of Star Trek: Picard on Amazon Prime, she takes us through the science of both the new and classic series.

She tells our production assistant and resident Trekkie Holly Spanner about supernovae, what a science consultant really does, and whether warp drive is possible.

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Listen to more episodes of the Science Focus Podcast:

• What if the Earth’s magnetic field died? – Jim Al-Khalili
• Building a base on the Moon, and crafting believable sci-fi – Andy Weir
• Dr Becky Smethurst: How do you actually find a black hole?
• Kathryn D. Sullivan: What is it really like to walk in space?
• Mark McCaughrean: How do you launch a successful space mission?
• Colin Stuart: The most mysterious objects in the Universe

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