UCF scientists talk space, sci-fi in live MegaCon podcast
Before Joshua Colwell, Addie Dove and Hannah Sargeant began diving into the new episode of the Walkabout the Galaxy podcast Saturday at MegaCon, Colwell had an icebreaker — if you could have the superpower to see in other light waves, which would you choose?
Sargeant went first, choosing infrared. Dove selected ultraviolet. Brendan Byrne, space reporter for WMFE who joined the podcast, said he was “contractually obligated” to choose radio waves. Colwell didn’t pick one, instead going after Superman’s supposed X-ray vision, which he said is technically the power to see in millimeter waves, which are used for things like airport scanners.
“It lets him see through clothes or thin barriers, but if you’re able to see X-rays, you’re not going to see anything. There aren’t any X-rays flying around,” Colwell said.
“I have to say, it’s so much fun to talk comic books with scientists,” Byrne replied. Colwell, a planetary scientist and UCF physics professor, shot back, “Because we ruin it
for you.”
For about 40 minutes, the four talked telescopes, the recently-released first photographs of a black hole, trivia on the movie “Avatar” and marsquakes in front of a live audience for the first time at MegaCon in the Orange County Convention Center. Colwell and Dove, also a planetary scientist as well as an assistant professor of physics at UCF, have hosted the podcast since it began in 2014. Sargeant, a postdoctoral research associate, was a new addition in recent months.
They were the opening event at MegaCon’s Creator Stage on Saturday.
It’s the second time the podcast was recorded at the event, where thousands of cosplayers dressed as their favorite characters and perused the hundreds of exhibitions and celebrity meet-and-greets.
It was the second year of MegaCon since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, with Saturday’s crowd appearing bigger than last year’s event, where organizers required using masks while indoors.
“It’s just amazing, and it really lifts the energy of what we’re talking about,” said Sargeant, whose visit to MegaCon marked her first time at a convention. “When you’ve got people there and they’re nodding along and listening, you’re like, ‘Yeah, what we’re talking about is interesting.’ It’s not just interesting to us three.”
The marriage between science fiction and its fans, scientists and others alike, could be seen throughout the convention. Nestled in a corner near the convention center’s north concourse were the Southern R2 Builders, a group of fans and robotics enthusiasts, showed off their creations inspired by R2-D2, the beloved blue and white droid from “Star Wars.”
Fans gathered around the exhibit, with many waiting in line throughout the day to take photos with the character and C-3PO, the gold-colored humanoid protocol droid who often accompanies R2. Doug Bigalke, a droid builder, said the excitement by fans comes from being able to see and interact with the characters in real life.
Since taking on building droids in 2014, he’s even seen parents take photos every year with R2 to watch how their kids grow against it.
“With cybernetics and robotics, we can envision them. We have people actually working on them on a daily basis in real life,” said Bigalke, whose favorite “Star Wars” character is R2. “It’s the escapism of the fiction side of it, but the relatability of the science side.”
With about 10,000 listeners a month, the Walkabout the Galaxy podcast is growing steadily, attracting scientists and others who are interested in learning about scientists and physics while following along the banter between the hosts.
“We’d like to say it’s accidentally educational,” Colwell said.
But when it comes to science fiction, Colwell said scientists can stereotypically be killjoys. For instance, he said he loves to hate the movie, “Interstellar,” calling that and similar discussions “good fodder for argument and banter.”
Some of those discussions will be released soon as added content for the podcast, called “Walkabout Trax.”
“We all watched ‘Moonfall,’ ” Dove said. “It was really terrible and we watched it and did a live commentary.”